Allied Tube & Conduit 144 atkore.com/flexicon Flexicon The reaction of products in the event of a fire is critical when it comes to effective product specification. There are recognised national and international standards related to products performance and reaction to fire. Flexicon can offer a wide range of conduit systems which have been independently tested. Low Fire Hazard systems are required to protect the public, personnel and property in the event of a fire and are demanded by specifiers, Industry Bodies, Train and Network Operators, fire services and even insurers. Highly Flame Retardant To prevent a fire starting or limit its development if one does start. Low Smoke Emission in the event of a fire to enable personnel to see their way to escape. Low Toxicity In the event of a fire to ensure personnel are not overcome during their escape. Halogen Free Gives an indication of low smoke and low toxicity. It also rules out halogen acid gas emission - a fact that is of interest to insurers as acid smoke can destroy computer equipment and damage the structure of a building. Halogens are Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine and Iodine. At Flexicon we define a Low Fire Hazard product by having all of the following properties: Fire Performance Flame Retardancy The minimum requirement is self-extinguishing according to the worldwide conduit system standard BS EN IEC 61386 where a vertical sample of conduit is exposed to a 1kW burner and must extinguish within 30 seconds of the removal of the flame. The char must not have travelled more than a certain distance up the sample and there must be no flaming droplets. Fittings are tested by means of a 750°C glow wire test. To assess how flame retardant a material is, the normal test method is to measure the Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) according to BS EN ISO 4589-2 which determines the percentage of oxygen that needs to be present to support combustion. The higher the LOI percentage, the greater the flame retardancy of the material. Oxygen present in normal air is approx. 21%. Another method is the glow wire test, BS EN IEC 60695-2, which applies a glow wire to a plaque of material at 750°C, 850°C or 960°C. UL94 is an Underwriters Laboratories standard that measures the rate of burning up a vertical test plaque, category V0 is the most flame retardant followed by V1 and V2. There is a category HB but this indicates that the material is flammable even along a horizontal test plaque. Low Smoke emission There are a number of fire tests, mainly from the rail industry, where a specified sample of material is burnt under controlled conditions in a given size smoke chamber and the smoke obscuration of a defined beam of light is measured. Although the different tests are similar, the results and the requirements are different. Low Toxicity There are a number of fire tests, mainly from the rail industry, where a specified sample of material is burnt under controlled conditions in a given size smoke chamber and the fumes are analysed for various gases, the concentration of each gas is then multiplied by its toxic potency to give a toxicity index. Although the different tests are similar, the results and the requirements are different. If halogens, sulphur or phosphorus are present in a material, it is unlikely to pass the low toxicity tests. Halogen Free The Halogens are fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine. Chlorine is the most common in PVC, fluorine is in fluoropolymers and bromine appears in flame retardants. All of them give off highly toxic fumes and thick smoke. A material cannot be considered as Low Fire Hazard if it contains halogen. However a halogen free material is not necessarily Low Fire hazard as it may not be low toxicity, low smoke and highly flame retardant. Halogen c ntent is assessed by various chemical tests and analytical techniques. Methods of Assessing Fire Performance
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