Table Of ContentF.H.PragerandH.Rosteck
PolyurethaneandFire
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Franz H. Prager and Helmut Rosteck
Polyurethane and Fire
Fire Performance Testing under Real Conditions
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V
Table of Contents
1 Introduction 1
2 Fire-ProtectionProblems 3
2.1 DefinitionoftheFire-PerformanceCriteria 5
2.1.1 FormationofFlames 6
2.1.2 CourseofFire 7
2.1.3 CharacteristicsofFireBehavior 9
2.2 EssentialFireScenarios 21
2.2.1 Pyrolysis 21
2.2.2 OxidativeDecomposition 22
2.2.3 PropagationofaSelf-sustainedSmolderingFire 24
2.2.4 FullyDevelopedFirewithaFlashoverSituation 28
3 ResearchofCausesofFires 35
3.1 GeneralExperienceofFireStatistics 35
3.2 KnowledgeofFireRisks 37
3.3 ExperiencewithFireSpread–Fire-DetectionUnitsandSprinklers 46
3.4 TheTimeoftheFireInitiationasaClassificationCriterion 55
4 PreventiveFireProtection–NationalRequirementand
ClassificationSystems 57
4.1 BuildingSection 60
4.1.1 UnitedStatesofAmerica 62
4.1.2 EuropeanRequirementandClassificationProfiles 73
4.1.3 EasternEuropeandFarEast 104
4.1.4 InternationalStandardisation–EuropeanHarmonisation 112
4.2 FurnitureandFurnishing 121
4.2.1 AmericanTestingandEvaluationCriteria 121
4.2.2 EuropeanTestandEvaluationCriteria 125
4.2.3 FarEast,e.g.Australia 132
4.3 Transportation 133
4.3.1 RoadTraffic 133
4.3.2 AviationSector 134
4.3.3 ShipbuildingSector 137
PolyurethaneandFire.FranzH.PragerandHelmutRosteck
Copyright©2006WILEY-VCHVerlagGmbH&Co.KGaA,Weinheim
ISBN:3-527-30805-9
VI TableofContents
4.3.4 RailwaySector 140
4.4 ElectricalEngineering 146
4.4.2 ProofoftheResistanceagainstOverheated(HotandGlowing)
Wiring 148
4.4.3 ThermalStresswithFlames 152
4.4.4 SideEffectsofaFire 154
5 Material-specificFire-PerformanceCharacteristicsofPUR 157
5.1 PolyurethaneProduction 157
5.2 RiskofIgnitionintheProductionandStorageArea 161
5.2.1 PURRawMaterials–BasicCharacteristics 161
5.2.2 LaboratoryResearchWorkwiththeTewarsonApparatus 163
5.2.3 DrumTestsandSupplementaryPool-FireExperiments 165
5.3 Polyurethanes 176
5.3.1 Material-relatedIgnitingRisksofPolyurethanes 177
5.3.2 Material-specificBurningBehaviorofPolyurethanes 193
6 UseandInterpretationofPUR-TestResults
DeterminedunderEnduseConditions 267
6.1 RelevanceofCombustionSystems 267
6.1.1 RelevanceoftheProceduresfortheRiskofIgnition 268
6.1.2 RelevanceoftheProceduresfortheAssessmentoftheSide
EffectsofaFire 306
6.2 RelevanceoftheEvaluationCriteria 366
6.2.1 RiskofIgnition 368
6.2.2 BurningDripping 371
6.2.3 RelevanceoftheCriteriafortheEvaluationoftheHeatRelease 371
6.2.4 RelevanceoftheEvaluationCriteriaoftheSmokePotential 378
6.3 RelevanceoftheRequirementProfiles 417
6.3.1 RelevanceofFull-scaleFieldTrials 422
6.3.2 RelevanceoftheInvestigationResultsConcerningthe
CauseofFires 441
6.3.3 OrdersConcerningtheRiskofIgnition 452
6.3.4 DemandsConcerningtheHeatandFire-GasLiberation 458
Summary 473
References 477
Abbreviationslist 491
Normlist 495
Index 501
1
1
Introduction
Thisbookgivesadviceoftherelevanceofthemostimportantcharacteristicsoffire
reactiontestinginthevariousnationalandinternationallaboratory,benchscaleand
largescalefirereactiontestmethods.Adetailedanalysisisgivenconcerningthefire
hazardandthecharacteristicsignitability,flamespreadandsideeffectslikeburning
dripping,heatandsmokereleaserate.Thevariousfacetsoffirereactiontestingand
evaluation/classificationsystemsarehandledonthebasisofmeaningfulfirestatistic
recordsontheexampleofflexibleandrigidpolyurethanefoamsandrawmaterialas
well.Itisfact,thatmostlivesbeinglostthroughfiresoccurringinthehome,espe-
ciallybyselfsustainedsmolderingfiresinitiatedbysmokersmaterial.Becauseigni-
tionisthestartofthefire,itisnecessarytoknowhowfiresstartandtobeabletopre-
vent starting a fire, to get the knowledge to reduce the chance of starting a fire.
Advice is given, that a risk-relevant estimation needs the linkage to meaningful
decomposition models and risk-relevant assessment criteria. The prediction of fire
hazard by mathematical modelling has been advanced to a great extent during the
lastdecades,veryhelpfulforfiresciencebutstillnotvalidforregulatorypurposes.
Thelimitationofpurematerialdataandtheneedforclassificationcriteriarelatedto
enduseconditionsisdemonstrated.
Thetemperaturehistoryandthesmolderingpropagationrateareveryimportant
parametersfortheconcentrationofsmoke,whichistheamountofsmokeproduced
inafiremixedwithairanddistributedintheendangeredvolume.
Thenumberofpublicationsconcerningfiretestingandfireresearchhasconsider-
ablyincreasedduringrecentyears.Ingeneral,onlylimitedaspectsoffireareconsid-
ered, because of the complexity of the fire phenomena. The numerous results and
theextensiveresearchshowtheimportanceofthesetopicsfortheprotectionofper-
sonsandproperties.Thebasicrequirementsoffireprevention,whichguaranteepri-
oritytothefireprotectionofpeople,canbeoptimizedifthefindingsofthefirestatis-
ticsandtheoutcomeofnaturalfiresareproperlyconsidered.Becauseoffiredisas-
ters,fireresearchisorientatedasaruletowardsthetwokeyquestions:
Haveexistingrequirementsbeenviolated?and
Havethelegalrequirementsbeenupdatedandadopted?
Asarulenofundamentalexaminationoftherelevance oftestingandevaluating
criteriafortheestimationofdangertakesplace.
The key question of every preventive fire-safety action should be whether labora-
torytestproceduresareabletosimulatethemain/mostimportantfirescenariosand
PolyurethaneandFire.FranzH.PragerandHelmutRosteck
Copyright©2006WILEY-VCHVerlagGmbH&Co.KGaA,Weinheim
ISBN:3-527-30805-9
2 1 Introduction
todeterminetherelevanceofthecharacteristicfirescenarios.Theimportanceofthis
questionincreasedallthemoreaslarge-scaleinvestigationsareevidencethatlabora-
tory testsdo notdelivermeaningful results. Basedontheoutcome ofrelevantfire-
statisticsdataaswellasonthefindingsoffiredisasters,themostusedfire-reaction
tests including classification systems/criteria are discussed in detail. The signifi-
canceoftherequirementsconcerningthereactiontofireparameterswillnotbefully
discussedduetomajorinputslikeshapeandarrangement,ventilationandpossibly
thermalfeedbackeffects.Thelatter,preheatingeffects,willbemoredominantthan
material-relateddata.Thepossiblereductionofvisibilitybythermaldecomposition
productswillalsobeakeyaspectaswillthedangerofthetoxicandcorrosiveacting
effluents.
Whilethepurematerial-relatedclassificationisgiveninallsectionsofthedesign
constructionpartofaneffectivequalitycontrolandmeaningfulsupplyarrangement,
the safety requirements are dominated by realistic tests under enduse conditions.
The adherence of preventive fire requirements to pure material test procedures
neglects any safety aspects that have been recommended, e.g. by the commissions
final report [1]. The proposed harmonized European fire-reaction test procedures
andclassificationcriteriawill,inthefuture,applytothemajorityandalsotoprod-
ucts classifications and material-related classifications. Neither the regulation nor
theassurancefire-reactiontestdatawillbedominatedbyrealisticriskevaluation.
3
2
Fire-Protection Problems
Duetoextraordinaryfiredisasters,asdemonstratedbyFig.1,meaningful,effective
preventive and defensive life prevention measures have to be cogently recorded.
Burningtheatres,cinemas,dancehallsandproductsaswellasaeroplanesandships,
etc.andespeciallyspectacularfiresofhigh-risebuildingshaveproventhatsaferes-
cue ways are the key problem [2–8]. The basic requirements of the building codes
accordingtoTable1havebeenacceptedworldwideforallfieldsofhumanlife.
Table1 Basicfireprotectionrequirements
> Theoccurrenceoffiremustbeprevented
> Thespreadoffireandsmokemustbeprevented
> Emergencyservicesandfire–extinguishingmeasurementmustbepossible
Figure1 SkyscraperFireSaoPaulo
PolyurethaneandFire.FranzH.PragerandHelmutRosteck
Copyright©2006WILEY-VCHVerlagGmbH&Co.KGaA,Weinheim
ISBN:3-527-30805-9
4 2 Fire-ProtectionProblems
Theydemonstratehowfarpreventivemeasuresandfireprecautionscanguarantee
sufficientsafetyforallfieldsofhumanlifeinthecaseofafire.Thesebasicrequire-
ments will deal sufficiently with all aspects, if the measurements of the preventive
firesafetyinthedevelopingstageofthefireguaranteeahighresistanceagainstpos-
sible ignition sources and the danger of fire spread is minimized. Safety require-
mentsoftendependonthenegativeexperiencesofthecommunity.Thereforethey
will be associated with actual fire disasters. This is why the basis of regulatary
requirementsisnotacommonframeworkbutatailor-madesolutiondependingon
theactualfiresituation.
Weakpointswithinthissafetyconceptaretheintentionstoapproachasolutionby
preselectivetesting.Thecomplexityofthewholefire-safetyproblemwillbegenerally
neglected. Since the actual fire case requires ad hoc solutions, the results of time-
consumingbasicinvestigationscannotbeawaited.Withthepresentationofthead
hoctestresultsthepoliticalpressureforbasicinvestigationswillbeavoided,insofar
asappropriatesolutionscannotbeawaitedduetothecomplexity.Thevarietyofthe
fire-safetyrequirementscanbesufficientlymetifthetestandsafetyconceptscanbe
adjusted to the findings of actual fire statistics. Within harmonized research pro-
grams,thepotentialriskshavetobeinvestigatedandtheresultanttestrequirements
derived.Rareexpecteddisastershavetobeexcludedandhazardswithinthehigh-risk
areasonlytakenintoaccountfortheworstcase.Theproblemofsmoketoxicityhas
becomethefocusofthepublicdiscussionwithinrecentyears.Thesecondessential
requirementoftheplanned,harmonizedfurnitureregulation[9]isoneoftheserea-
sons.Thediscussionreferringtothisisgoingonwithquitevariedarguments.One
sideisarguingthatthefireeffluentsofmodernplasticmaterialsarepoisonousand
the opposition is arguing that decomposition products are totally nontoxic. Both
sidesarenotinlinewithreality,becauseincompletecombustionalwaysguarantees
toxiccompounds.Therangeofpossibleriskswillbeafunctionofthedevelopinggas
concentration, a fact that has been already stated by Paracelsus with: “The dose is
responsibleforthepoison”.Generalisationwithoutanyspecificscientificproofdoes
nothavescientificvalueandisthereforenotvalidforthebasisofregulatoryrequire-
ments.Consolidatedfinalconclusionshavetobepredictedonthebasisofadetailed
riskanalysisandhazard.Thetermsriskandhazardgiveevidencetothegapbetween
safetyanddanger.Thetermriskwillbeusedtoindicatethecombinationofthelike-
lihoodofafireprobability andthefirehazards.Requirementsconcerningpossible
danger by smoke production will normally be defined on the basis of nonrelated
facts.Theinterplayoftheproductionofeffluentswiththeimportantfire-reactioncri-
teriaisasaruleneglected.Therelevanceofthechosendecompositionmodelswith
regardtothespecificfirescenariosisalsoneglected.Anextensiveevaluationofthe
relevantfindingsgivesevidencethatthedangertohumansbysmokeinhalationwill
be of particular importance/significance in the case of a fire. If these effluents are
beingproducedoveralongerperiodoftime,e.g.undersmolderingconditionsorby
a flashoversituation,e.g. by fiercely burning withforceddecomposition producing
largeamountsofeffluents.Underbothconditions,thetimestolethalconcentrations
arereachedwillbesignificantlyinfluencedbytheventilationconditions.The“expo-
suretime”hasnoimportancewithregardtothereductionofvisibility.Thedanger-
