Intumescent Paint

Intumescent coatings are reactive coatings used to minimise the effects of a fire. Applied to structural steel, they swell to form a layer of inorganic carbonaceous char when exposed to temperatures above 250ºC. This insulates the steel from the heat, enabling it to maintain its load-bearing capacity for longer. As a result, there is more time for evacuation of the building and emergency response, potentially saving lives.

There are a number of factors to consider when specifying intumescent coating systems, including both fire duration and durability, to ensure that the system is fit for purpose in the event of a fire.

When intumescent coating systems are specified, ‘fire duration’ (i.e. the amount of time that the system will enable the steel to maintain its load-bearing capacity during a fire) is often the key consideration. Typically, fire duration ranges from 30 minutes to 120 minutes. The fire duration required for a specific building depends on a number of factors and is often set by local building codes.

However, another key consideration – durability – cannot be overlooked. Durability is the ability of the reactive coating system to maintain an adequate level of fire protection after exposure to environmental conditions, either during the construction phase or during end-use. It is very important that durability is predicted correctly, as premature weathering or aging of the coating system may have a negative effect on the intumescent coating’s fire protection properties.

Both fire duration and durability should be taken into account when specifying the full system.

Intumescent coating systems usually comprise several layers of different paints: a two-coat system (primer + intumescent) may be sufficient for low corrosive environments; a three-coat system (primer + intumescent + topcoat) may be preferred for more corrosive environments.

Fire Block Ltd are experienced installer of intumescent paint with FIRAS accreditation. Fire Block Ltd offer both solvent-based and water-based paint options. We can fire protect steel columns and beams from 30 – 120 minutes.

If you would like a competitive quotation, please contact one of our experienced team with the following information:

Intumescent paint specification
Steel loadings
Structural steel sizes (if possible)
Structural steel drawings
Duration of fire protection

All works are completed by our own in-house operatives who are experienced paint sprayers with FIRAS accreditation.

A typical intumescent coating system.

The durability of an intumescent coating system may be affected by both the construction environment and the end-use environment. For example, an intumescent coating system specified for low humidity interior end-use conditions may be exposed to adverse exterior conditions during the transport and construction phase. In this case, a sealing topcoat may be needed to protect the intumescent coating, even though it is not required for the end-use conditions.

Therefore, when making a specification, it is very important to know what conditions the coating system will be exposed to during application, transportation and construction, as well as the end-use in-service conditions.

During its lifetime, an intumescent coating system may be subject to a variety of environmental conditions that affect its performance. The durability of the coating system depends on its ability to withstand these conditions, specifically the adverse effect of weathering and corrosion provoked by water, humidity, pollution, temperature changes and UV light.

Want to know more about Passive Fire Protection

Effect of weathering on intumescent systems.

For an intumescent coating system, there are two particularly important deterioration effects.

Corrosion of the substrate
As with most coating systems, atmospheric weathering conditions can cause corrosion at the interface between the primer and the substrate, which may shorten the lifetime of the coating system
Humidity and intumescent performance
Due to their reactive nature, intumescent coatings are rather sensitive to water and humidity. Over-exposure to humidity can affect the coating’s char-forming properties, resulting in a shorter fire duration. Therefore, a topcoat is often specified to act as a sealer coat and prevent moisture reaching the intumescent coating. The topcoat must be able to withstand exposure to atmospheric elements, such as UV light, temperature variations and rain. Also, in fire scenario, it must allow the intumescent coating to react and must not prohibit expansion. Therefore, all topcoats must be tested in fire conditions prior to approval.
Durability classification: Equivalency of ISO and EAD
The two testing systems (ISO 12944 and EAD350402-00-1106) are not direct equivalents. ISO12944 relates to corrosion environments and EAD350402-00-1106 relates to specified durability environments. However, when used together they give a good indication of the combined anti-corrosion and fire protection performance of a given coating system in different construction and end-use environments.

The table below, from the British Coatings Federation, provides a rough equivalence between the two standards.
The ISO 12944 performance testing (part 6) aims to determine the anti-corrosion performance of a coating system by exposure to various test regimes, such as water immersion, water condensation, neutral salt spray and cyclic aging. This testing does not differentiate between interior and exterior. The basic pass/fail criteria are steel corrosion and film defects, such as blisters or cracks.
Crucially, the EAD350402-00-1106 performance testing also determines if the fire performance of an intumescent coating system is maintained after exposure to various test conditions, such as cycles of UV, humidity and temperature. In this case, the various conditions correspond to exterior, interior or semi-exposed environments.

Classifying environments. The environmental categorisation systems for corrosive and fire protection coating systems **British Coatings Federation, Ref. G020 version 2 , September 2017**
Exposure Description		Typical examples of locations similar to ISO 12944
Type X	Exterior	Similar to C3 external and C4 environments
Type Y	Internal and semi-exposed	Similar to C2 external and C3 internal environments
Type Z1	Internal with high humidity	Similar to C2 internal
Type Z2	Internal	Similar to C1 environments