INVESTIGATION OF EFFECTS OF TWO FLAME RETARDANTS ON THE FIRE CHARACTERISTICS OF FLEXIBLE POLYETHER FOAM

ABSTRACT
This work studied the effects of two flame retardants on the fire characteristics of flexible polyether foam samples. Various concentrations of two flame retardants melamine and tri ammonium orthophosphate have been successfully incorporated into flexible polyurethane foam. Results of the analyses carried out on the various foam samples showed that by appropriate incorporation of the two flame retardants, the flammability properties (After glow time (AGT), ignition time, flame duration time, flame propagation time and percentage char) have been greatly improved through both condensed (solid) phase and gas phase mechanisms specifically. The After glow time (AGT), flame duration time and propagation rate were greatly reduced, while the ignition time and percentage charring were increased with increase in concentration of the two flame retardants. However, melamine showed better impact for reduction of after glow time and flame duration time while tri ammonium orthophosphate is preferred for increase in ignition time and reduction in flame propagation rate with outstanding evidence of high percentage charring ability.

CHAPTER ONE 

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background
Fire is a world wild problem which claims lives and causes significant loss of properties. Most of the immediate surroundings of man consist of polymeric materials which are combustible materials. These include clothes, furniture, construction materials, and interior decorations. Generally, the interiors of homes, offices, vehicles, and packages are decorated with foamed plastics. The constitution of foamable polymeric materials made them liable to easy ignition and vigorous burning under right conditions. Humans have always been plagued by unwanted fire, which usually gulfed life and properties worth of millions of naira.

In addition to immediate fire risk posed by the polymeric materials while burning, their combustion products often cause serious threat to human health and environment. In United States between 1996 and 2005 it was reported that an average of 3,932 human loss and another 20,919 injuries were as a result of fire accidents [1].

Recently, on 9th Oct 2009, along Enugu-Onitsha express road, over ten vehicles loaded full with humans and property worth millions of naira were engulfed by fire. Therefore, the need to seek efficient and affordable ways of reducing the flammability of polymeric materials in our surroundings is of primary importance.

A flame is a rapid free radical, chain reaction of volatile materials with oxygen in the air. It is actually the resultant flame or fire that consumes life and properties. The term fire retardant (flame retardant) describes materials that inhibit or resist flammability of polymers. In the same vein a fire retardant chemical is used to denote a compound or mixture of compounds that when added to, or incorporated chemically into polymers, serve to slow down or hinder the ignition or growth of fire [2]. In other words, a flame retardant chemical is therefore a compound or mixture of compounds which when added to or chemically incorporated into a polymeric material, substantially suppresses the ease of ignition and/or flame propagation [3].

The above definitions of flame retardant denote that it generally either lower ignition susceptibility or lower the flame propagation once the ignition has occurred. The products on which flame retardants can be applied include apparels, carpets, and rugs, construction materials (thermal) insulation foams, wall coverings and composites to meet governmental regulations for buildings, aircraft, auto mobiles. Flame retardants can be incorporated into a material either as a reactive component or as an additive component. As a reactive, such flame retardants are incorporated into the polymer structure of the plastics, example, when polyurethane and polyamides are retarded with red phosphorus....

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Item Type: Project Material  |  Size: 147 pages  |  Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word  |  Delivery: Within 30Mins.
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