Global Asset Protection Services Fireproofing for Hydrocarbon Fire Exposures

A hydrocarbon fire inflicts initial damage by directly heating metal beyond its limits and destroying the equipment or building. One way to mitigate this damage is to install fireproofing of structural steel. Conventional concrete, lightweight concrete and brick give a satisfactory degree of protection to metal assemblies for a period of time. The standard time-temperature curve is defined in ASTM E-119 and represents a wood fire that does not reach 3400°F (1870°C) for 4 hrs. Since hydrocarbon fires reach that temperature almost instantly, the ASTM E-119 curve does not adequately predict the performance of fireproofing materials under hydrocarbon fire exposure. Underwriters Laboratories developed the UL 1709 test procedure based on hydrocarbon fire exposure. While ASTM E-119 and UL 1709 test to different degrees and time exposure, numbers from the less-intense ASMT E-119 can be extrapolated to compare to UL 1709.