Technical Confer

Federal Building & Fire Safety In

of the World Trade Center D

NIST Sept 13-15th 2005

Dr Bill Allen

Innovation Director

Leighs Paints
Founded 1860

Leigh
Manufacturer’s Co

3⁄4Reliable and robust F

Protection Solutions

3⁄4Based on more onero

testing regimes
What is Intumescent Fire 

3⁄4 Organic Coating3⁄4 Spray applied at 20-200mil3⁄4 Excellent adhesion to steel3⁄4 Effective in real fire scenarios3⁄4 Cellulosic or Hydrocarbon3⁄4 Withstands severe explosion pri3⁄4 Proven 25-Year Track Record3⁄4 Listed by UL, Lloyds, DNV etc.
How do Intumescen

3⁄4 Mixture of resin binders which me

and char in a fire

3⁄4 Filled with reactive pigments whic

produce gas

3⁄4 The char expands up to 50x its 

original thickness

3⁄4 This insulates, reducing the rate o

heating of the steel

3⁄4 Which in turn extends its load be

capacity
Column Test at UL No
1988 Piper-Alpha N
1988 Piper-Alpha N

3⁄4 July 6th 1988

3⁄4 World’s worst ever off-shore oi3⁄4 Gas leak, explosion and fire left 3⁄4 The fire was uncontrollable3⁄4 Evacuation was difficult3⁄4 What has happened since?
Post Piper-Alp

3⁄4 Epoxy Intumescent Technolo3⁄4 Developed for off-shore use3⁄4 Durable and robust3⁄4 Lloyds, DNV, UL & BAM Certi3⁄4 Blast & Jet Fire Testing of PF3⁄4 Blast proof walls and decks
Beyond Standard Testing R

3⁄4 Can we learn from Piper-Alpha?3⁄4 Similar testing for high-rise struc3⁄4 50kN Impact3⁄4 Explosion Testing3⁄4 Hydrocarbon Fire3⁄4 Cardington Severe Cellulosic3⁄4 Jet Fire Testing
Intumescent Coatings 
Post 9/11 - More Rigor

3⁄4 Gas Explosion Experiment3⁄4 4 Sections – W10x88 – 5ft long 3⁄4 Explosion Chamber – 15x15x323⁄4 Mean peak over-pressure - 16973⁄4 Mean duration of 104msec3⁄4 No damage to any of the coatin
Post 9/11 - More Rigor
Post 9/11 - More Rigoro

3⁄4 90min cellulosic fire protection was 3⁄4 Explosion witnessed by Warrington 3⁄4 Sections then hydrocarbon fire test3⁄4 Gave @ 60min protection in hydroc3⁄4 Advantica Report No. 5539 and WF3⁄4 Would other PFP adhere in explosio3⁄4 Would they still provide fire protect
Cardington Severe Na
Cardington Severe Nat

3⁄4

5th Floor compartment in high-rise 

3⁄4 Steel sections coated with 90min 3⁄4 Fire load 40kg wood/m2 or 720MJ

3⁄4 Would have maintained load-bear

for an equivalent fire severity of a100mins

3⁄4 Intumescents don’t just work in fu

work in real fires.

3⁄4 Full Report in BRE No. 211576 
Jet Fire Testin

3⁄4 Full Scale -

British Gas Test -

Spad

( 3kg/sec - 25m flame)

3⁄4 Reduced Scale -

Spadeadam

-

S.W

H.S.E. ( 0.3kg/sec -

1m flame)
Fire Severit

Fire Condition Jet Fire Approx Temp(°C) 1300 Heat Flux (kWm-2

) 300 

Erosion Sev

ere 
Full Scale Jet Fire -

Sp
Off-site or In-shop Ap
Off-site or In-shop Ap

3⁄4 More flexibility in Construction 3⁄4 Easier Control of Solvent Emiss3⁄4 Controlled Application Thicknes3⁄4 Documented QA for each steel s3⁄4 Steel is fire protected from day 
Transported for Site Con
Concluding Com

3⁄4 Following NIST Report -

Building 

reflect new developments in Fire 

3⁄4 Manufacturers, Approval Bodies 

Engineers have worked together 

3⁄4 The result has been better produ

safer fire-engineered solutions

3⁄4 Some of these products are avai

the USA and have UL Listings

3⁄4 We don’t need to re-invent the w