SINGAPORE: A new fire-resistant coating product – which could potentially help building owners and construction companies save millions of dollars in fireproofing efforts – was unveiled at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) on Tuesday (Oct 31).
NTU scientists and engineers from national industrial developer JTC Corporation spent two years to co-develop a fire-resistant and corrosion-resistant coating that is said to be the first of its kind.
(From left) NTU research fellow Dr Indraneel S Zope; NTU Assistant Professor Aravind Dasari; and NTU PhD student Mr Ng Yan Hao; standing behind the rows of FiroShield-coated steel plates used in their research and development. (Photo: NTU Singapore)
Called FiroShield, it can be applied on virtually anything – from buildings, cars to bicycles.
The announcement of the invention comes two months after 25 buildings have been found to have used external claddings that do not meet fire-safety standards.
FiroShield, which is not considered a substitute for external cladding, can be applied to materials such as steel, timber and concrete.
Application of the coating will take half the required time and cost half the amount compared to conventional ones such as intumescent coatings which provides over 70 per cent of the market demand.
For instance, 5mm of FiroShield coating is sufficient to meet the fire protection standard of two hours – the industry standard – aimed to give the building’s occupants time to evacuate. Comparatively, intumescent coatings require up to 15mm or more.
It is expected to cost US$60 to US$75 (S$82 to S$102) per square metre, compared to intumescent coatings which range from US$100 to US$150.
“This is like a one-stop solution; we take our coating and just directly apply (it) on the steel or concrete structure. We don’t need any preparation, we don’t need sandblasting (and primer) … This by itself gives us fire resistance as well as corrosion resistance. And it can come in different colours,” said team leader Aravind Dasari, Assistant Professor at NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering.
NTU Assistant Professor Aravind Dasari putting his finger on a piece of plastic that is cool enough to touch, which was placed behind a steel plate coated with FiroShield and exposed to a flame over 900 degrees Celsius. (Photo: NTU Singapore)
It is also long-lasting, and very “eco-friendly” with “toxicity within limits” as it does not contain any halogen-based additives, added Asst Prof Dasari.
Weathering tests in the lab have indicated that its performance dipped by two per cent, compared to a drop of up to 75 per cent for conventional coatings.
FiroShield is slated to be commercially available by the end of 2018, following an industry certification in the United Kingdom, expected to be completed in April of the same year. It will later be used on steel structures within the upcoming JTC Logistics Hub.
JTC expects to save at least S$2.5 million from using Firoshield.
“Beyond next year, if the results proved to be successful, we are going to multiply to other projects. Beyond that, we will work through with BCA and other agencies to see how we can help the industry adopt this new solution,” said Mr Koh Chwee, director of JTC’s technical services division.
Building on the same technology, Asst Prof Dasari and his team is currently working with JTC to develop another type of coating that is water proof and has a higher corrosive resistance than FiroShield.
