- Author
- National Bureau of Standards
- Title
- Tests of Fire-Retardant Paint. Submitted by the Office of the Chief of Engineers, USA. National Bureau of Standards Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
- Report
- Test TG3624-269; FR2350, no date, 15 p.
- Keywords
- paints | fire tests | fire retardants | test methods | mixing | coatings
- Identifiers
- flame tests, specimens vertical, one min flame application; flame tests, horizontal specimen, two min flame application; modified Schlyter test; horizontal panel tests
- Abstract
- At the request of the Office of Chief of Engineers, War Department, further tests were conducted of a proprietary paint, "Albi-R", submitted by the Albi Chemical Corporation, New York City, New York. The paint constituents are soluble or dispersible in cold water and the coating was said to have the property of intumescence, that is, swelling on exposure to fire. Some paints with this property have depended on sodium silicate to produce this effect but on exposure of the coating to the carbon dioxide of the air, there is a change with time to sodium carbonate and silica, the property is jost and the coating becomes chalky. The patent application is still pending for the present paint so the composition cannot be disclosed. However, it is not dependent on sodium silicate for the intumescent property. It is said to be made up0 of fire-retardant chemicals, mineral pigments and film-forming materials. The dry powder would not be expected to deteriorate or mold in storage if kept out of direct contact with mositure. A setting agent or hardener is added in mixing the paint. On drying of the coating formaldahyde is given off, making it necessary to provide adequate ventilation for the first few days after application.