Fire Instrumentation and Research Equipment (FIRE)

 Single Burning Item (37.93 kB)

The Single Burning Item (SBI) test EN 13823 is one of the tests in the Euroclass system.

It is the main reaction to fire test for building products and investigates the response of a product in a corner configuration when it is exposed to a thermal attack typifying fire involving a single burning item.

It was the FIRE design of the SBI equipment that formed the cornerstone for the extensive European Commission sponsored 'round-robin' exercise that was carried out to validate this test method. It is relevant to classification of the product into classes A2, B, C or D as set out in Commission Decision of 8th February 2000 - implementing Council Directive 89/106/EEC. EN 13823 excludes flooring materials.

The criteria for smoke classification are as follows 

s1 = SMOGRA £ 30m².s^-2 and TSP_600s £ 50m²; 
s2 = SMOGRA £ 180m².s^-2 and TSP_600s£ 200m²; 
s3 = not s1 or s2. 

The criteria for flaming droplets classification are as follows

d0 = No flaming droplets/particles in EN 13823 within 600s 
d1 = No flaming droplets/particles in EN 13823 persisting longer than 10s within 600s
d2 = not d0 or d1.

Features

• System comprises movable specimen holder, frame, hood, collector and measuring tube assembly
• Left and right oriented specimen holders available
• Flow measurement utilising bi-directional probe and differential pressure transducer
• Temperature measurement at different locations inside the measuring tube
• Smoke measurement system according to DIN 50055
• Gas sampling probe
• 19" rack housing PLC system and mass flow controllers PLC control system for main and auxiliary burners with fully automated test and calibration sequencing
• Gas flow measured by high accuracy Mass Flow Controller with a range of 0-105kW at 70nl/min, accurate to 0.8% at 30kW Burners are fitted with flash-back protection and electronic flame sensors with safety cut-off system for enhanced safety Data Acquisition system Complete operating instructions
• CE-marked

Options

• Gas analysis
• Re-useable heated filter for connection to gas sample probe
• Heated sampling line with removable PTFE bore tube (9m)
• Preparation of sample
• Oxygen, CO and CO₂ analysers mounted in a 19" rack
• Push button control
• Status error checking
• Dew point of sample <50°C
• Pressure compensation
• Mobile Unit - can also be used with
• ISO 9705, Cone Calorimeter, etc
• Software, PC and Printer
• Menu driven software
• Available in English, French, German, Dutch or Spanish
• Compatible with Windows 95, 98 or NT
• Flexible file format
• User configuration possible
• Automatic calculation of FIGRA, SMOGRA and classification
• Eliminates need for manual calculations thus reducing time taken to conduct a test
• Includes DDE (dynamic data exchange) for automatic, custom made report generation directly into MS Word and/or MS Excel
• Superior quality PC to the latest specifications
• 19" protective rack to house PC and printer
• Exhaust fan
• can be supplied specific to your requirements and advice given.

What is measured

• Time, in s
• Mass flow of propane through the burner, in mg.s^-1
• Pressure difference in the general measuring section, in Pa
• Relative light intensity, dimensionless
• O₂ concentration in VO₂ /Vair (%)
• CO₂ concentration in VCO₂ /Vair (%)
• Ambient temperature at air inlet at bottom of trolley, in K
• Three temperatures in general measurement section, in K
• Four temperatures just after the hood to measure the temperature rise, in K

In addition the following events are recorded

• Occurrence of a surface flash
• Smoke from the specimen not entering the hood during the test, but flowing out of the trolley into the surrounding test room
• Falling down of debris from the specimen
• Development of a gap in the corner
• Tendency towards the specimen distorting or collapsing
• An early stop to the test if certain conditions are exceeded
• Any additional events that may be of importance to the right interpretation of the tests or to the particular field of application

Drawing showing main dimensions

• A free height of minimum 4.5 metres is required in order to install the apparatus
• Room dimensions 3±0.2m x 3±0.2m x 2.4±0.1m (L x W x H) with a total floor area of 9 ± 2m²
• Flat floor for good positioning of specimen holder and for ease of use
• Power supply: 230V AC - 25A 50Hz or 120 V AC 60 Hz available
• Commercial grade propane at 3bar(A) with a minimum purity of 95% to be connected to gas control unit
• Extraction system capable of extracting 0.6m³.s^-1 for temperatures peaking up to 320°C
• Have dry and clean compressed air available (approx. 10l.m^-1 - min 500nl.min^-1 [not mandatory; for eventual cooling of flame detector units and cleaning/cooling light system lenses])
• Calibration gas CO₂ balanced with N₂; we recommend CO₂ (3.5 Vol%) + N₂
• If CO is also measured we recommend a mixture of CO (0.4 Vol%) + CO₂ (3.5 Vol%) + N₂
• The inlet pressure is about 0.5 to 1 bar(A) for CO₂ (CO)
• Also have calibration Heptane (>99% purity) available
• Suitable extinguishing agent readily available