Employing new fire protection paint system

Swedish industrial paint shop Ahnelövs and Teknos, the supplier and long-term coatings partner, piloted the new, next generation intumescent coating system for fire and corrosion protection. Conducting the first-time sprayings together on-site gives the opportunity to fine-tune the coating process to its optimum right from the start.

Improved corrosion and fire protection for outdoor steel beams

Interested in finding new solutions to further develop the fire protection coating process, Ahnelövs Industrimålning AB chose the new enhanced fire and rust protection system to coat structural steel beams for an industrial facility's outdoor balcony

The coating system in question was adjusted to match the requirements of corrosivity class C4. For the fire protection, the system was defined according to the standardised definition of estimated occupancy in the event of fire, to match the fire class R30.

The intumescent coating reacts under the influence of heat by swelling to many times of its original thickness and producing a layer of carbonaceous foam that acts as an insulating layer to delay the steel from reaching its critical temperature. In this case, the steel is considered to last minimum 30 minutes before it could reach 650 degrees Celsius at which point the steel structures would have serious loss of hardness and strength.

Common test painting ensures the goals are met right from the start
Whenever working with a new paint, proper testing is a way to ensure that the coating process is tweaked to its optimum right from the start. Test painting enables immediate support and optimisation, as there are countless different variables in coating processes. Coating-specific features such as film thickness, pot-life and drying time have a major effect on the fluency of the process and lead time. Also the spraying-specific factors such as equipment, technique and conditions matter a great deal for the quality of the finished surface.