Industrial fireproofing
In the event of fire outbreak, fireproofing the steel in your facility can mean the difference between the facility sustaining damage and a complete and total collapse. Passive fire protection can act as an important complement to the active fire protection systems in oil and gas facilities, petrochemical plants, refineries, power generation facilities and more. Whether it’s a part of a push to make your facility safer or it’s been mandated by an insurance company or auditor, fireproofing your structural steel just makes sense.
Insulating structural steel from these extreme temperatures is the purpose of industrial fireproofing. By extending the time it takes the steel substrate to reach the temperatures where failures occur, coatings can buy valuable time for firefighters and other active fire protection systems to subdue the blaze before a collapse.
Intumescent coatings are now the preferred method for fireproofing steel. Known as reactive fireproofing coatings, these work by foaming up, or intumescing, when exposed to extreme heat. This expansion forms a high-volume, low-density barrier against the transfer of heat to the substrate. The result is a drastic increase in the amount of time it takes for the fire to compromise the integrity of the structural steel.
