A Review of Smoldering Wildfire: Research Advances and Prospects

Smoldering wildfire in humus layers and peatlands is one of the largest and longest combustion phenomena on Earth, leading to a huge economic loss and regional haze event as well as destroying the ecosystems. In this paper, we reviewed the fundamental combustion theory and chemical kinetics of smoldering wildfires and summarized their behavioural characteristics with an emphasis on ignition, fire spread and extinction. The research advances of smoldering peat fire in recent years were also summarized, including the understanding of large-scale smoldering wildfire through small-scale experiments, establishment of numerical model and other key scientific issues. Particularly, this review discussed the multidisciplinary research advances and prospects of smoldering wildfires in combustion science, fire science, forestry, ecology, environmental science and geophysics in order to provide necessary references and scientific guidance for multidisciplinary research in the future.