Intumescent fire protective coating

Definition
A coating which reacts to heat by swelling in a controlled manner to many times its original thickness to produce a carbonaceous char, which acts as an insulating layer to protect the steel substrate. It is a form of passive fire protection which attempts to contain or slow the spread of the fire in steel strutures. Intumescent fire protective coatings are widely used as passive fire protection in oil and gas industries, civil buildings, chemical plants and other facilities in developed countries. Intumescent coatings are composed of three fire retardant additives: an acid source (such as ammonium polyphosphate), a carbon source (such as pentaerythritol), and a blowing agent (such as melamine) bound together by a binder. The formulation of the coating has to be optimized in terms of physical and chemical processes in order to produce an effective protective char layer upon exposure to fire.

Types of intumescent coating

There are two types of intumescent coating: 1) Thin film intumescent coating 2) Thick film intumescent coating

Thin film intumescent coating

Thin film intumescent coating is composed of 3 components: a primer, a basecoat(the chemical which will react upon contact with fire) and a sealer coat. The basecoat comprises of the following ingredients:

A catalyst which decomposes to produce a mineral acid such as phosphoric acid. A carbonific such as starch which combines with the mineral acid to form a carbonaceous char. A binder or resin which softens at a predetermined temperature. A spumific agent which decomposes together with the melting of the binder, to liberate large volumes of non-flammable gases. These gases include carbon dioxide, ammonia and water vapour. The production of these gases causes the carbonaceous char to swell or foam and expand to provide an insulating layer many times the original coating thickness.

Thin film intumescent coating is mainly used in buildings where the fire resistance requirement are 30, 60 and 90 minutes. Later, researchers have been able to develop thin intumescent coating of 120 minutes resistance. Both on site and off site application is possible.

In general, most on-site application is carried out using water based materials. However, where the structure to which the material is applied is not to have an end use in a dry, heated environment, solvent based materials are commonly used. Solvent based materials also tend to be able to cover a wider range of section factors than water based materials and can be used on-site to protect smaller sections requiring high thicknesses. Typical expansion ratios are about 50:1, i.e. a 1mm thick coating will expand to about 50mm when affected by fire.

Thick film intumescent coating

Thick film intumescent coatings are epoxy based and have a much higher dry film thickness than thin film. These materials are tough and durable and were originally developed for use with hydrocarbon fires, where the test heating regime is much more severe than that used for most industrial and commercial applications. A number of manufacturers have modified their materials for use in cellulosic fires. These modified materials are usually used in situations where the benefits of intumescent coatings in terms of appearance, weight and thickness are required but where circumstances are too severe, or maintenance too difficult, to allow the use of thin film materials . Typical recent examples have occurred in external steel in high rise buildings and exposed marine environments.

INTUMESCENT CHAR FORMATION

Epoxy resin filled with active ingredients which react (intumesce) and swell in a fire (typically expanding 5 to 10 times in volume), producing a tough, carbonaceous char insulating layer. This char formation restricts the rate of temperature increase of the steel & prolongs its load bearing capacity.

INTUMESCENT EARLY STAGES OF FIRE

INTUMESCENT INTERMEDIATE STAGES OF FIRE

INTUMESCENT FINAL PHASE OF FIRE

Before & After Fire Exposure

The intumescent coating behaviour is characterized by expansion and mass loss, producing a foam char with a volume that varies from 5 to 200 times its original volume. Heat transfer analysis through the protection material, during the initial stage and its intumescence, assumes great importance to define and design this thermal protection.