Fire Retardant Treatment for Wood
Wood has been a prevalent building material for centuries because there has been a good supply and it has been reasonably priced. As well, wood is easy to work with and can be prefabricated into exceptionally strong working substances. The drawback to wood, however, is that it burns easily and produces a lot of smoke. But there are companies that specialize in treating wood with a fire retardant treatment that will help to prevent it from burning. Does this Spark an idea?
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How It Works
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In the treatment procedure, the wood is injected with chemicals before it is used in any kind of building or construction job. When the wood is exposed to fire and reaches the point where it will ignite, these chemicals react by turning the tar that's in the wood into a carbon char. This char becomes a thermal barrier that retards the rate of the fire by releasing non-flammable gases and water vapor slowly, and this in turn extinguishes the flammable gases that the wood normally produces when it's on fire.
Effects In a Fire
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When the fire is extinguished, the chemicals stop reacting and no longer turn the tar into char. There is no combustion inside the wood because of the chemicals, so the wood doesn't spread the fire and it slowly begins to cool. Also, the treated wood does not produce smoke or toxic flames.
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The Effects of Fire Compared to Steel
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Steel beams, girders and trusses begin to buckle at 550 degrees Centigrade, because at this point they have lost half of their strength and begin to collapse. At 750 degrees C they have lost almost 90 percent of their strength. Aluminum has lost half of its strength at 300 degrees C and begins to melt at 600 degrees C. Wood that has been treated with fire retardant will begin to release its chemicals at 272 degrees C, which is approximately the temperature at which it would usually begin to burn. The chemicals begin smothering the fire that's attacking the wood instead of being used as food to feed the fire.
Meeting the Standards
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In Canada, the treatments of these wood products must meet the two standards of The National Building Code of Canada, which are CSA 080.20 for lumber and 080.27 for plywood. These standards clarify what condition the materials are in before and after the treatment to determine the performance of the products. According to the codes, these standards must be written into the specifications of the products before they are sold.
In the U.S., fire retardant treated wood must meet the code standards of the Building Officials and Code Administrators International (BOCA). Lumber products must be certified with the American Wood Preservers Association (AWPA) and must meet their code standards C20 and C27. Plywood that is treated must be certified by the American Plywood Association (APA) and must meet the standards for structural performance and building code requirements. As well, states vary in their requirements due to weather conditions and humidity.
Benefits
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Wood that is treated with a fire retardant treatment produces less smoke than wood that has not been treated, and the smoke it does produce is non-toxic. This is a valuable asset since the cause of most deaths in residential fires is from smoke inhalation and toxic poisoning.
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References
Resources
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