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| CSIRO | SOLVE | Issue 8 | Aug 06 | |
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ARTICLE
 MATERIALS: Plastic Meltdown a Lifesaver By Julian Cribb
A polymer that transforms into a fireproof ceramic could have major ramifications for buildings, ships, vehicles, and industrial and defence equipmentA world-first Australian material that transforms into a fireproof ceramic in a blaze is shaping to have a big impact on the $12 billion global passive fire protection market, where it stands to become a genuine lifesaver. Worldwide, fire accidents cause more than 70,000 deaths and $115 billion of property damage a year. Originally developed – by CSIRO and its partners within the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Polymers – for use in fire-resistant electric cables, the ceramifying polymers are finding a host of potential applications in fire prevention in buildings, ships, vehicles, and industrial and defence equipment. The key, says Dr Kevin Thomson, chief technical officer of vibrant young spin-off company Ceram Polymerik Pty Ltd, is the fast-growing area of passive fire protection – materials and structural items that confine fires, giving people more time to escape, reducing the extent of the damage and making the task of firefighters easier.
The story began when the commercial partner in the collaborative CRC for Polymers project, Olex Australia, set the multidisciplinary team the challenge of designing a revolutionary fire-resistant electrical cable that could keep electricity flowing in a fire at temperatures above 1000˚C. Other collaborators on the project were Monash University (ceramics expertise), CSIRO (fire engineering), the University of New South Wales (polymer and other materials expertise), the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (fire performance) and RMIT (polymer expertise extending the technology to non-cable applications). CSIRO’s contribution was led by Vince Dowling from Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology (CMIT). The answer was to combine the properties of a polymer with those of a ceramic. As the polymer melts and disintegrates in the heat, the ceramic forms a solid protective insulating layer, preventing short circuits and enabling the current to keep flowing. “It was quite a challenge,” Mr Dowling says. “The cable had to keep operating for two hours at temperatures of 1000˚C, but at the same time it had to perform as well or better than the substances used to coat cables under normal conditions.” Typically, polymers start to melt between 100˚C and 200˚C and disintegrate completely at about 300˚C–400˚C, whereas ceramics are typically formed at temperatures that exceed 1000˚C. The clever chemistry lay in selecting the right polymer to form a protective char round the wire at higher temperatures, and the right components to form a tough ceramic coat around it by the time the polymer char burned off. Getting good fire performance was one thing – but fires happen infrequently and cables and other structures have to perform all the time under normal operational conditions. “It was a long and difficult path – a lot of good ideas ended up being false starts,” Mr Dowling says. “Some days it seemed like one step forwards, two back. The coating had to perform as well as other materials on the market, and it had to be cost-competitive and easy to use as well. There were a lot of factors involved.” Yet the CRC for Polymers’ success in developing polymer technology for cable products (Pyrolex® Ceramifiable® fire performance cables with Olex, and cellular cable insulation and sheathing materials with Orica) is attested by sales worth $16.6 million in 2004 and 2005 by these commercial partners, according to a recent study by the Allen Consulting Group. These sales alone saved Australia imports worth $11 million and the revolutionary fire performance cables are expected to make a significant contribution to the Australian economy, earning about $75 million over five years. According to Dr Ian Dagley, CEO of the CRC for Polymers, it became clear early in the research that the idea of blending a polymer with a ceramic had a host of potential applications. “The beauty of this technology is that it works for a wide range of plastics and rubbers,” he says. “These composites can be flexible or rigid to meet the particular performance requirements of a fire-protection component or material. “It is particularly valuable for passive fire protection, which refers to products in buildings, structures or transport vehicles that enhance their fire resistance. Here, the aim is to contain the movement of heat and smoke between floors, rooms or compartments by sealing penetrations, prolonging stability or creating barriers to the passage of flames, heat or smoke.” This realisation led to the formation of Ceram Polymerik in September 2004, funded initially through the CRC for Polymers and its partners and then through venture capital firm Starfish Ventures and private equity. The company has recently received a $1 million Commercial Ready grant from the Australian Government. Nick Peace, Starfish investment manager, says: “Starfish and our co-investors were impressed by the core technology and by the high-calibre international companies willing to partner with Ceram Polymerik to develop superior fire-protection products. We’re delighted to be working in partnership with the CRC for Polymers and Ceram Polymerik team.” Potential fire-protection applications of the composites being investigated or developed by Ceram Polymerik include:
“Passive fire protection is a big global market, and our technology can address a segment of it worth $3 billion or more,” says Ceram Polymerik’s Dr Thomson. “We’re receiving a lot of interest from large companies both in Australia and overseas.” Ceram Polymerik is adapting the technology to a range of applications. Some of this activity is being carried out within the CRC for Polymers, with CSIRO’s Greg Griffin making a substantial contribution through his modelling of the performance of ceramifying polymers in fires. The company’s first commercial product, a fire-resistant material for seals around windows in fire doors, is scheduled to enter the market in 2006. Ceram Polymerik is also working on a range of PVC-extruded profiles for fire doors and other fire-protection products, as well as foam insulation with ceramifying properties. “The main uses are in the building industry, but we also see applications in ferries, cargo and passenger ships, in trucks, trains and cars and even in aircraft,” Dr Thomson says. “There are also specialist uses in the defence sector. “In conventional plastic and rubber composites, inorganic components are widely used as fillers. When burnt in a fire, these conventional polymers leave behind a powdery ash, which provides little or no fire protection. “Our ceramifying technology aims to compartmentalise or contain the fire, to reduce its speed and ferocity and give people a better chance to get clear.” The success of the new ceramifying polymer products is the result of excellent teamwork across Australian science and industry, Dr Dagley says. “The wonderful thing about CRCs is that they are able to bring together the best teams in the country to develop technology that can lead to new products, and in turn, export dollars and jobs.” The ceramifiable polymer technology won a CRC Association award for excellence in innovation in 2004. APPLICAITON Polymers that form a solid protective and insulating ceramic layer when they melt BENEFIT Fire prevention applications in buildings, ships, vehicles, and industrial and defence equipment – for example, electric cabling and fire door seals For further information contact: |
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