The promotion of fire warning and flame retardant materials in Shanghai needs to be speeded up
- time:
- 2019-05-13
The "11.15" fire in Shanghai caused dozens of deaths and hundreds of families to ruin their property. In response to this matter, industry experts recently said in an interview that this huge fire once again highlights the importance of building materials flame retardant. At present, the proportion of flame retardant plastics in plastics in our country is less than 1/10 of that in foreign countries. To control fire hazards from the source, it is necessary to do a good job of flame retardant materials, and it is imperative to strengthen the application and popularization of flame retardant materials.
Zhu Liping, deputy director of the Fire Department of the Ministry of public security, said that through the investigation of the scene of the fire, it was initially identified that the cause of the fire was caused by unlicensed welders' illegal operation and ignition of polyurethane foam insulation materials, together with multiple factors such as crowded personnel, more combustible materials and more difficult evacuation, which led to a rare fire in recent years.
In an interview with Dr. Han Songqing, the bromine science and Environment Forum told reporters: "according to the fire situation in the fire scene, the polyurethane foam insulation material used by the construction unit is not treated by flame retardant. If the polyurethane material used meets the national flame retardant standard, the burning material will drop down and the fire will not go up along the floor. Polyurethane foam insulation material is an excellent building insulation material. 80% of the external insulation in the United States is polyurethane material. Because of strict flame retardant standards, it is very safe to use. Han Songqing stressed: "China also has a clear flame-retardant standard for polyurethane as external wall insulation material. The flame-retardant treated polyurethane is fully capable of withstanding the small fire source caused by welding sparks, and will not cause such a large area of fire."
Lu Guojian, deputy director of Sichuan Fire Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security, said that according to current fire statistics, the main causes of casualties caused by fires were the existence of a large number of combustibles in public places and the poor evacuation channels. If we can reduce the content of combustibles and fire load, and use flame retardant, low smoke, low toxicity or non-toxic electrical appliances, decoration materials, furniture and other items, we can improve the level of fire safety from the source, even if there is a fire, it will generally not cause significant personal casualties and property losses.
Zhou Zhengmao, Professor of Beijing University of Technology and Secretary-General of China Fire Retardant Society, said that with the progress of technology, polymer synthetic materials have been widely used in chemical building materials, electronic and electrical, household furniture, decorative materials and other fields. However, because of the flammability of polymer materials, fire safety has also been challenged. The National Standards and Technology Association of the United States has conducted a survey: from 1975 to 2004, due to indoor decoration and the introduction of a large number of combustible consumer goods, the time of fire escape (from room start to fire out of control or "flashover" time) has dropped from 17 minutes to 3 minutes, and the medium-sized room will be completely engulfed by the fire within 5 to 10 minutes after the flashover. For this reason, flame-retardant polymer materials emerged as the times require. A large number of studies around the world have shown that the use of flame retardants is an important means to effectively reduce fire hazards. It can reduce the flame propagation speed and prolong the escape time after fire by 15 times. Many international examples also prove that the use of flame retardant materials has saved a lot of lives. In August 2005, an A-340 Air France passenger plane crashed and caught fire in Toronto, Canada, after being struck by lightning. All 309 passengers and crew on board survived miraculously. Federal Aviation Administration officials explained that flame-retardant materials contributed to the crash, helping to slow the spread of flame and smoke and providing enough time for passengers and crew to escape. In order to improve the fireproof coefficient, developed countries such as Europe and the United States have strict requirements on flame retardant of building materials, electronic and electrical components and other products. The proportion of flame retardant plastics in plastic materials is as high as 20%-30%.
China is a major producer of flame retardants. At present, there are more than 1000 flame retardant manufacturers in China, with an annual output of more than 200,000 tons. Flame retardants have become the second largest plastic additive after plasticizers. Although the output and consumption are not low, but most of the flame retardants are exported to foreign countries with the application products, the use of flame retardants in domestic plastic products is not much. At present, the proportion of domestic flame retardant plastic consumption in plastic materials is less than 3%. There is a huge gap with foreign countries.
According to Zhou Zhengmao's analysis, there are two main reasons for this situation. One is the high cost of materials. In general, the cost of flame retardant plastics will be 20%-30% higher than that of ordinary materials. At present, the market competition is fierce. The increase of cost means the decline of market competitiveness. Unless the customer requests, enterprises will not actively add flame retardants. Second, inadequate regulation makes it difficult to popularize flame retardant materials. On March 1, 2007, China began to implement the compulsory national standard "Requirements and Marks for Combustion Performance of Flame Retardant Products and Components in Public Places". However, the standard involves a wide range of supervision, many places, difficulties in supervision, inadequate implementation and unsatisfactory implementation.
"The popularization and application of flame retardant materials must be accelerated." Zhou Zhengmao suggested that the revised work and supporting measures of "Requirements and Marks for Combustion Performance of Flame Retardant Products and Components in Public Places" should be perfected as soon as possible, and the supervising body should strengthen supervision to make this regulation play its due role.
