What to do if soot catches fire in the chimney?

Is it conceivable that a regular accumulation of soot in the chimney can cause a fire? It turns out that this is a common phenomenon. After all, carbon black, which is 98% carbon, is almost identical to coal. Let’s see how this all happens.

Imagine a situation: you haven’t cleaned the chimney of your stove or boiler in a long time and notice that the draft has weakened. This is the first sign that carbon deposits have reduced the space for smoke. To increase the draft, you open the ash pit and damper, and that’s when the problem begins. As the oxygen content in the pipe increases, the temperature rises sharply, and the carbon particles absorbed by the increased draft cause the soot to ignite, which may go unnoticed. Often, the first signs of an impending problem are a buzzing sound in the chimney and sparks shooting out of the chimney.

Regarding the physics of the process, it is important to note that the combustion temperature of soot reaches +1200°C, which leads to the destruction of the chimney pipe and the potential ignition of surrounding materials. In one of the cases described on social media, soot in an asbestos-cement pipe ignited in the absence of the owner, causing an explosion that destroyed the pipe.

What to do if soot catches fire in the chimney?

see continuation on next page