Fire Sealing Penetrations | Fire Stopping

Monday, January 23, 2012

Intumescent Paint – Fire resistance paints

Intumescent paint is a type of fire retardant paint. When exposed to the flames of a fire it expands to become a black foam or "char barrier" which can be almost an inch thick and coats the surface that the paint has been applied to. This char barrier cuts off much-needed fuel to the burning fire and protects the underlying structures giving precious extra time for the evacuation of the occupants of a building and allowing fire fighters longer to arrive and quench the blaze so that the damage is minimized.

Intumescent paint  were lumpy in texture and their application required a trained operator with special equipment. Some contained toxic or carcinogenic chemicals or had a foul stench. Others were based on fire retardant chemicals held in water. This meant that they did not bond well with the surfaces that they were applied to and other paints or coatings did not bond as well to them. In the event of a fire the char barrier was easily broken and would become ineffective. Despite these problems, however, the early types of Intumescent paint still played an important role in certain situations including chemical manufacturing plants, oil rigs and oil refineries.

Nowadays, these Intumescent paint are much improved. They can be easily applied with a brush, roller or paint sprayer and are polymer based so will bond to many different types of surfaces. They are non toxic and not irritating to the skin so they are completely harmless to children and pets. Two coats of this paint will give adequate protection for most situations and they are much more affordable than the old types. These improved Intumescent paints are now being used in many situations. They can be used on steel, aluminum, timber and drywall as well as any porous surface. Steel structures need to be protected because when subjected to enough heat they will weaken and eventually the building will collapse.

All in all the recent improvements in these paints make it the right kind of passive fire protection to limit fire damage in a circumstance where you would need it most. Intumescent paint  has become one of the most valuable ways of protecting your property from the catastrophic effects of an uncontrolled fire.

Use Fire Stopping To Prevent Industrial Fire Disaster


Fire Stopping is a passive fire protection process though various features used to close out joints and openings in walls or other floor and wall assemblies. Openings left without protection do not have fire resistance, and subdue the effect of fire separations meant to contain blazes. Such spaces let fire infringe the limits of fire safety plans of the entire facility. Fire stopping is meant to restore and pacify fire resistance ratings of floor assemblies and rated walls. This is done through hindering the spread of fire through openings by sealing them with fire resistant materials.



Fire Stopping  is required at all those places which show vulnerability towards escalating the effect of the blaze. Joints and openings can be closed down and major disasters can be avoided. Fire stopping does not allow the fire to go beyond a certain point and stringently limits its range which gives the end user ample time to stop the fire. There are several passages which instigate fire stopping, including the likes of electrical through penetrations, mechanical through penetrations, structural and non penetrated openings, re-entries of incumbent firestopping, junctions between walls and sway joints.

There are many avenues where the service of Fire Stopping  is necessary. Industrial outfits, mines, oil fields, factories, warehouses, commercial centers, facilities etc. all need the fire stopping service so that work proceeds as smoothly as it can over a due course of time. Industries where work goes ahead on a very large scale need fire stopping service all the time. They have to make sure there is no particular void anywhere for even the slightest of one can potentially lead to disaster. There is a lot of work going on through electricity and the slightest of sparks can instigate a fire. The fire can spread and become an inferno if it keeps spreading and going past openings. This is where fire stopping comes handy and stops those fires.


Fire Stopping products for the safety of your industry goods is necessary and very important. Stay away from the risk of fires, for more information on fire protection systems like fire stopping and fireproofing just check 
 http://www.greyton.com.au/
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tina_Hope

Monday, January 9, 2012

About Fire Dampers And Importance of Annual inspections


 Fire Dampers are generally passive fire protection systems which are specially designed in the way that it gets close when there is a rise in temperature so as to stop the spread of fire. 

 Fire Dampers are used for avoiding fire, so proper steps should be taken for proper maintenance of these dampers. It is useful to stop the spread of fire which is caused inside the ductwork and also prevent transmission of flame where air ducts penetrate fire barriers.



Initially, proper testing should be done at the time of its installation that is operational testing should be done of 
Fire Dampers in order to ensure that it is working properly and there is full access to it as well as its components, verification should be done that all the devices are placed properly in their appropriate places, and other important verifications. All this testing done should then be documented which has all detailed information about the fire damper and instructions regarding its installation.

After the period of one year of installation of fire and smoke dampers, it is necessary to be
Annual  inspections according to the National Fire Protection Standard and then the frequency should be every 4 years and 6 years for hospitals.


The following activities must be performed at the time of Annual  inspections:-

1] The fusible links where it is applicable should be removed for testing purpose.

2] All dampers should be operated so as to verify that they close properly and fully to stop spread of fire.

3] If the latch is being provided than it should be checked and moving parts lubricated if necessary.

4] There is no interference due to rust, misalignment, damaged frames or blades, defective hinges or parts, or bent tracks should be confirmed.

5] All inspections done of fire and smoke dampers should be documented properly which includes the details like the location of inspection, date of inspection, inspector, and applicable deficiencies.

6] If the damper is not operating properly than the repairs shall begin without doing any delay.

Annual  inspections are nothing new to property managers, landlords and others who word in the "rental property" industry. The inspection is designed to document the condition of the property at the time of inspection and identify any malfunctions and inconsistencies. In most parts of the world this activity is mandatory under various "Tenant Protection" regulations, and usually contributes to a well-kept properties, happy residents, and decrease in capital expenses

fire dampers are intended for installation in ducts and air transfer openings that are specially designed to resist the passage of air and smoke. Testing and safety measures are very important to be done so as to make sure that it works at its best at the time of fire and life safety event where it is most important to work. It is necessary for doing
Annual  inspections  regularly so that the system is always ready because we never know when the unexpected event is going to occur.

for more detail visit http://www.greyton.com.au/