Acknowledgements

Total thermal load and fire load. It is significant to determine the degree of risk and adequate security measures, particularly for civil buildings designed to permanently or transiently accommodate a large number of people (schools, libraries, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, auditoriums, theaters, cinemas, shops, etc.) and industrial units built to store and/or manufacture products, equipment, and appliances (petrochemicals, automotive terminals, medical labora-

The total combustion risk of a building is calculated by considering the caloric content of the building (fire load including the building itself) and the enthalpy level of the content (fire load involving human lives and properties). The Pourt method was developed from the value of fire load and is widely used to determine the total risk of buildings; the fire charge density, calculated by dividing the fire load by the building surface, is also a widely considered variable. Performance of coatings in fire. Coatings in particular and coating systems in general play well-

• Promote the spreading. Generally, conventional coatings have a low ignition point, so by thermal action they release combustible gases, which ignite and release caloric energy; the last one in turn becomes the energy of activation that promotes the spreading of confla-

• Display inertia. Some commercial products of reduced efficiency do not alter the fire

• Delay evolution or extinguish fire. The retarding effect interrupts, in one or more stages, the combustion; the process ends in an acceptable lapse, often before the ignition takes

Testing methods. The analysis of the current regulations in the world indicates the existence of a great number of tests of different characteristics to determine the reaction, the resistance, and the stability against fire of the constructive elements. The results depend on the type and shape of the specimen, the intensity and time of action of the external energy source, and so on.

performance of the bare substrate or only achieve a limited retarding action.

Figure 2. Left, panel without treatment and right, film of intumescent coating, both after the fire action.

tories, sawmills, etc.).

12 New Technologies in Protective Coatings

gration front.

place, Figure 2.

defined actions against fire action [7–19]; they may

The editors are grateful to the National Technological University (UTN) and the National Council of Scientific and Technical Researches, Argentina (CONICET).
