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ISSN Online: 2379-1748

ISBN Flash Drive: 978-1-56700-469-4

ISBN Online: 978-1-56700-470-0

Second Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference
April, 2-5, 2017, Las Vegas, NV, USA

THERMOCHEMICAL MODEL OF INTUMESCING FIRE PROTECTION COATING

Get access (open in a dialog) pages 843-857
DOI: 10.1615/TFEC2017.cma.018058

Abstract

Protective coatings are in wide use to limit damage to equipment and facilities at risk of fire hazards. The effectiveness of a commercially available intumescing fire-protection coating was quantitatively assessed in laboratory tests simulating a half-hour hydrocarbon fuel fire. The coating was applied to a stainless steel metal substrate and exposed to thermal radiation from a parallel plate driven to 1024°C to simulate the fire boundary condition. Chemical reactions occurring from approximately 300 to 900°C outgas and expand the material to approximately twenty times its initial volume and one-third of its initial mass. The rates of chemical decomposition were characterized through thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) and used to inform Arrhenius kinetics models.

A finite element model formulation incorporates the chemistry to describe the transient conversion of the layer to the expanded state. The unreacted layer is opaque to radiation and of relatively high thermal conductivity. In the expanded/reacted condition the layer provides significant insulating benefit to slow the thermal insult to the substrate. At elevated temperatures the reacted layer's heat transfer is dominated by thermal radiation which is adequately represented by the diffusion method. Comparisons are included between the experimental data and the model.