Fire sectorization
Introduction
Passive fire protection includes all those materials, systems and techniques designed to prevent the appearance of a fire, impede or delay its spread, and ultimately facilitate its extinction. Different regulations, such as CPI-96 RD:2267-2004, require the protection of structures in industrial establishments.
There are different methods to achieve passive fire protection, depending on the objective to be protected:
Protection of structures
It is about protecting the metal and/or wooden structures of a construction against fire.
The metal profiles used in the construction of load-bearing structures have the drawback of a decrease in their mechanical resistance, due to the rapidity with which their temperature increases when they are in contact with a heat source. To avoid this loss of stability, they must be protected with one of the approved systems on the market, such as intumescent paints, mortars and silicate panels, etc. However, to choose the appropriate solution, you must know how they behave when exposed to fire.
Penetration sealing
Today, virtually all buildings, especially smart buildings and manufacturing plants, have facilities that cross various sectors and compartmentalization elements; The spaces that give way to the various facilities and that seriously compromise the compartmentalization of the different areas favor the spread of fire, smoke and gases in the event of a fire. Consequently, the watertight sealing of these gaps with materials especially suitable for this must be provided.
In the event of a fire, and through the use of special materials, such as paints, bricks, collars, intumescent pads, ventilation grilles, it is possible to stop the spread of the fire through the ducts that cross the walls of the enclosure to be protected.
Compartmentalization
To prevent the spread of a fire to other areas or sectors, sectorization and compartmentalization elements are used, such as partitions, walls, screens, among others, Fire Resistant (RF).