Saturday, 21 September 2013

Commercial Firewalls

 Firewalls are fireproof barriers used to prevent fire from spreading between buildings, electrical substations, aircrafts, vehicles and transformers. The characteristics of traditional commercial firewalls include:


• Design loads: commercial firewalls should be able to withstand at least 5lb/sq.ft and should also be able to withstand seismic loads.
 • They extend through buildings and terminate at a height that is determined using a code. They are finished off using sheet metal caps.
 • They are usually made form concrete reinforced concrete or concrete blocks.
 • Commercial fire walls are made of drywall partitions.
 • Penetrations through the firewalls should be protected using fire stops.


Firewall Design


The design of commercial firewalls varies depending on the applications of the firewall. Having upfront knowledge of the potential; causes of a fire are imperative in the selections as well as installation of firewalls.


Fire Barrier Products


Fire barrier products offer a wide array of solutions to fire protection. They include systems that go through penetration, grease as well as air duct protection and finally solutions for critical circuitry and structural needs. These products are designed to help to reduce the spread of fire toxic gases and smoke.


• Fire barrier sealants: this includes various sealants that prevent the spread of toxic gases, moisture and fire. Sealants are important for both through-penetration and joint applications. They are repairable moisture cure and available in non-slump.
• Fire barrier devices: this include various fire stop devices for electrical, data, mechanical as well as plumbing applications. They include cast-in devices pass-through devices for walls and sleeve kits that help to firestop economically.
• Fire barrier mortar, composite sheets and pillows: composite sheets offer enterable fire stop facilities. The features of the mortars provide great adhesive bonds to metal, wood plastic and cable jacketing. Finally, the pillows expand and lock into place in order to completely surround the substances that penetrate and toxic has from spreading. They cover complex and large penetrations.
• Fire barrier grease and air duct products: These consist of duct plenum wrap and duct wrap all of them are foil-encapsulated. The duct wrap is mainly used for commercial kitchen exhaust pipes, air ventilation ducts, and in stair pressurization ducts. The platinum warp products have high temperature insulation which is mainly used to make an enclosure with low smoke and flame ratings.

An Example of the Difference Between Two Leading Fire Barriers


While both products demonstrate easy dispensation, cost-effective, high fire resistance and moisture-free features, the two barriers have the following difference:


• FireOut fire barrier has a Coating system that uses water which gives it an exceptional spread as well as protection from roof decks that are highly flammable it also has a lower VOC.
• Versashield fire barrier on the other and helps I protecting the roof from moisture and implements roof deck protection through improvements made on its fire resistance capabilities by the UL class A.


Applications of Commercial Firewalls


• Can be used to divide a building into various fire areas.
• They can be used to differentiate high value transformers in case of ruptures or ignitions.
• Used in fire prevention at home.
• Fire barriers can be used as standalone fire prevention materials in high occupancy residential and non-combustible building applications. To learn more about the best fire barrier products, contact your local and professional roofing contractor.


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