Berki Brandbeveiliging B.V.

Fire retardant

A fire retardant is a substance that helps delay or prevent combustion. Fire retardants are commonly used in fire fighting. Water is the most commonly used fire retardant, but the phrase typically refers to chemical retardants, including and fire-retardant gels. It can also refer to a coating over an object, such as a spray retardant to prevent Christmas trees from burning.

How retarders work

In general, fire retardants reduce the flammability of materials by either blocking the fire physically or by initiating a chemical reaction that stops the fire.

Physical

There are several ways in which the combustion process can be retarded by physical action:

• By cooling: Some chemical reactions actually cool the material down.
• By forming a protective layer that prevents the underlying material from igniting.
• By dilution: Some retardants release water and/or carbon dioxide while burning. This may dilute the radicals in the flame enough for it to go out.
• One commonly used fire retardant coating is aluminium hydroxide. When heated, it dehydrates to form aluminum oxide (alumina, AlO), releasing water vapor in the process. This reaction a great deal of heat, cooling the material over which it is coated. Additionally, the residue of alumina forms a protective layer on the material's surface.

Chemical action

Reactions in the gas phase: chemical reactions in the flame (i.e. gas phase) can be interrupted by fire retardants. Generally, these retardants are organic halides such as PhostrEx.
However, there are situations where the released gas might be more dangerous when this type of retardant is involved.
Reaction in the solid phase: some retardants break down polymers so they melt and flow away from the flame. Although this allows some materials to pass certain flammability tests, there is argument over if the fire safety is truly improved by the production of flammable plastic droplets.

Certification na de fire retardant

Adter your materials have been retardant by workers of Berki, you will recieve a certification that tells you that the product is insured that the fire retardant has been approved succesfully.

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