Passive Fire Collars

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Everything you need to know about Passive Fire Collars and Passive Fire Protection.

Typical Passive Fire Collars.

But first you will need to understand the difference between passive fire and active fire protection systems.

For information on Passive Fire Protection, please visit - www.passivefireproducts.com.au

Fire protection is the practice of either controlling or limited the effects of fire. It involves different aspects of containing, putting out or controlling a fire including compartmentation and suppression. Buildings must be constructed in accordance with the version of the building code that is in effect when an application for a building permit is made. Building inspectors check on compliance of a building under construction against this building code. Once construction is complete, a building must be maintained in accordance with the current fire code.

The difference between Active Fire Protection and Passive Fire Protection

Basically there are two main differences between Acitve and Passive Fire Protection - these are; a) Passive fire protection provides barriers to fire, containing or slowing down the rate it can spread. Passive fire prtection products do not need mechanical or electrical operation to activte or to work. Unlike passive fire protection, active fire protection systems interact with their surroundings for example by operating fans for smoke extraction, activating fire sprinklers to control or extinguish a fire, or opening a ventilator to allow natural ventilation.

Passive Fire Protection

By creating a fire resistant compartment between rooms and floors, passive fire protection greatly slows the spread of the fire from the room where it originated. As a result the amount of damage that the building sustains is dramatically reduced. In addition, the building’s occupants have more time to evacuate the building and reach a place of safety.

As the name suggests, Passive Fire Protection remains inactive in the coating system until a fire occurs. There are mainly two types of passive fire protection : intumescent fire protection and vermiculite fire protection. In vermiculite fire protection, the structural steel members are covered with vermiculite materials, mostly a very thick layer. This is a cheaper option as compared to an intumescent one, but is very crude and aesthetically unpleasant. Vermiculite is normally used as the core within Fire Doors.

Intumescent material is a substance that swells (generally 10 to 20 times its original self) as a result of heat exposure, thus increasing in volume and decreasing in density. Using intumescent material is a great way to close off gaps or holes in barriers or to close of plastic pipes running through barriers.

When is Passive Fire Protection used?

A fire engineer specifies the fire rating of a passive element it is usually in the form of Fire Resistance Rating (FRR) specified by three numbers describing the structural, integrity and insulation rating of the element. Thus a wall with a rating of -/60/60 describes a fire barrier that is not intended for use a structural element and will maintain integrity and insulation for 60 minutes as measured by the failure criteria of a specified standard fire test.

When passive elements of construction such as walls and floors are penetrated by building services such as cables, ducts and pipe-work the fire rating can be significantly reduced. A single penetration in an otherwise entirely compliant wall or floor can allow fire to breach the wall or floor and continue to spread beyond the intended containment fire cell of origin.

Typical Passive Fire Protection products include:

Fire Collars
Intumescent grilles
Fire Doors
Fire rated silicones and mastic
Batts and boards
Fire pillows and foam

Fire Collars

So lets look at a Fire Collars in more detail.

In there simplest form a Fire Collar consists of a retaining ring containing an intumescent (which expands when subjected to heat) material that is mounted coaxially around the penetrating pipe. Some Fire Collars attach to the exterior of the wall or floor, while others are cast in place. Exterior mounting collars may have a split mounting ring to permit ready installation.

Intumescent materials are the key to the success of Fire Collars and find application in a number of other passive fire protection systems including wraps and seals. There are a number of classes of intumescent including laminar carbon, phyllosilicates and micas. Fire Collars often use carbon intumescents because this material has a high expansion volume and produces a relatively strong compressive force when rapidly heated. Expanding carbon is made from graded flake graphite that has been chemically treated to form intercalation compounds between the layers of carbon in the flakes. When heated above about 150°C the intercalation compounds expand forcing the graphite layers apart (like an expanding accordion) to form a stable insulating carbon matrix with a volume 100’s of times greater than in the unexpanded state. The graphite is fully expanded at a temperature of about 1,000°C. In production the expanding carbon is mixed with fillers including clays, glass, ceramics, fibres, other intumescents and organic binders to modify the properties of the expanding char and make a stable and flexible product.

When used as a Fire Collar the intumescent expands to form a fire resistant seal around solid objects, and in the case of thermoplastic plastic pipes and conduits, literally squeezing the pipe or duct closed as it softens due to fire exposure.

General types of fire collars:

Cast-in Fire Collar

cast in fire collar

Retro fit Fire collar

retro fit fire collar

Conduit Fire Collar

Conduit fire collar

Pipe Sleve Fire Collar

Floor waste Fire Collar

Passive Fire Suppliers and Manufacturers in Australia

www.passivefirewarehouse.com.au
www.promat-ap.com
www.pyropanel.com.au
www.snapcollars.com.au
www.ramset.com.au
www.bossfire.com.au
www.firepro.com.au
www.3m.com
www.hilti.com.au
www.trafalgarfire.com.au
www.tbafirefly.com.au

Passive Fire Testing Laboratories in Australia

www.exova.com
www.csiro.au
www.branz.co.nz

Incorrectly fitting installations of Fire Collars

incorrectly fitted fire collar

For even more photos, new and events for passive fire protection, passive fire products and fire collars - visit this great facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/passivefirewarehouse

Some useful videos of Passive Fire Collars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G-RG9rtXAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P5btADmnBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2HrMBtaV84