Mineral PIN FRs prove effective to improve fire safety of insulation boards made from non-reusable plant fibre wastes. Sodium carbonate decahydroxide [Na2CO3.10H2O] and alumina trihydroxide [Al2O.3H2O] were tested as PIN FRs, at 0 – 30% loading, in thermal insulation boards made from flax+cotton or flax+wood shavings (with 10 – 30 % phenol formaldehyde PF or urea formaldehyde UF bind-er). The boards where then tested according to Russia 53292-2009 fire standard. These loadings of the PIN FRs reduced mass loss in the fire test by 30 – 65%, depending on the FR loading and the fi-bre/binder combination. The aluminium PIN FR at 30% loading achieved the “G1” slightly combustible classification (criteria include mass damage <20%, self-burning zero seconds) with UF binder, or G2 (self-burning 30s) with PF binder.
“Use of Mineral Flame Retardants to Reduce the Combustibility of Thermal Insulating Board Composites from Plant Waste”, IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 459 (2020) 062115 https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/459/6/062115