Fire Protection is the foremost key topic which is faced by both building owners and facility managers. Intumescent Coatings is the passive fire protection method which plays an important role in fire protection.
Fire protection systems are pioneer requirements to the operations of the facility for several reasons. However, the first as well as most important reason is to save lives. Nowadays, many fire protective coatings systems have been invented and out of them “Intumescent Coatings” is passive fire protection method.
What is Intumescent Coating?
It is a passive fire protection specialist paint which chemically reacts in a fire. The coating expands in size to form a char that protects the steelwork for a specified period of time from the heat of the fire.
Intumescent Coating:
The function of passive fire protection as well as protecting structural steel is to offer people inside the building time to leave the building. Steel is a very strong building material but at temperatures of 550C it starts to lose its structural integrity.
To cope up with such condition steel is protection is done through intumescent coating by commonly thick as well as solid coat which finished with a thin protective fire retardant, like a gloss. Such coating is normally applied by airless spray to offer a smooth decorative finish that remains stable at ambient temperatures. Compositions of intumescent coating are based on organic resin binders (Typically acrylated rubber or epoxy).
Passive Fire Protection - Intumescent coatings offer steel structures with corrosion protection, fire protection (fire stop) and a visual decorative element if required. However, passive fire protection coating is a reactive layer, so it is very important to accomplish the correct thickness of dry film for obtaining the required fire resistance. There are several coats may require to be applied to construct up to a total dry coat thickness to give the required time protection.
In recent years, airless unit for applying intumescent coatings was a pneumatic pump having an air motor and it is capable of providing up to 4 - 5,000 psi at the pump. However, a unit requires a road compressor of about 150 cfm and is a heavy unit.
As technology steps ahead, improvements in Passive Fire Protection intumescent formulation have been reduced the weight of coatings as well as the need for high pressure application. Nowadays, almost all intumescent coatings can be applied with a more compact self contained unit with either a petrol engine or an electric motor.
Today, there are many online sources which offer Intumescent Coatings, cable penetration Seals, Mastic paint, KBS Coating, Cable Spraying, Cable Coating and more.
