subject: What Are Intumescent Strips? [print this page] It is a life-changing event for any business establishment to undergo such a tremendous crisis like fire. For most businesses, they may employ different kinds of fire preventive measures in order to save their work place from future destruction. Consequently, most people are well aware of some fire preventive measures which are commonly being advertised around the market. If asked, people would automatically know the purposes of fire alarm systems, fire extinguishers and fire safety boxes. However, nowadays new equipment and gadgets have been invented to further save you and your businesses from the effects of fire. One of these recent technologies is the intumescent strip.
Intumescent strips may not be as popular as other traditional fire preventive or fire fighting devices, but they definitely offer a great help in times of fire incidents.
Basically, intumescent strips are almost rubberized bands which can expand in volume when they are exposed to high temperature. As these intumescent strips swell up, they can serve as a fireproof seal to any material that they are attached to. Having intumescent strips in your work place is a great method in protecting any valuable possession that you may want preserved even after a fire incident. Intumescent strips also protect these valuable possession from incurring any gases such as carbon monoxide, since fire as we all know contain all sorts of toxic substances.
There are two types of intumscent strips available in the market today: the soft char intumescents and the hard expanding intumescents. Both types have different uses and can offer different advantages for your business. The soft char intumescent has the capacity to release water in order to keep whatever it is protecting insulated against heat from a good 120 minutes. This type of intumescent strip can only be used in combination with a hydrate. On the other hand, hard expanding intumescents are usually used to seal doors and open holes. These intumescent strips are used in combination with sodium silicates in order to fill up any vacant spaces. Having such ability can therefore hinder fire from spreading to a much larger scale and even stagger the spread of smoke within an area.
There are also other kinds of intumescent strips available for purchase, such as intumescent fire door seals. These strips are specifically designed to fit into the channel of a door so that when a fire breaks out, these intumescent strips can expand and seal the door for at least 60 minutes. In this way, the occupants of the building will have enough time to flee the premise while the fire is being staggered within the room.
When using intumescent strips in your business place, they should be properly installed to ensure that their purpose is met when a fire indeed breaks out. Intumescent strips may not be the first thing that comes to your mind when purchasing a fire preventive device; however they may offer a lot and can give you maximum results. These intumescent strips can be a good investment in further protecting any valuable area or possession from the harmful effects of fire.
