Flammability study of wallboard containing thermal storage materials. Methods to improve flame retardancy of treated wallboard

The introduction of thermal storage materials into wallboard can help to control the temperature fluctuations in the heating and cooling of a building. Thermal storage materials absorb or release heat in defined temperature ranges. Wallboard was treated with thermal storage materials, including hexadecane, 1-dodecanol, undecylenic acid, coconut oil and silicone wax. These treatments involved absorption of the compounds into the wallboard. The desired uptake of material into wallboard was approximately twenty-five percent. The uptake rate for silicone was lower than for the other materials. Most of the energy storage materials are organic, therefore their odor, smoke production, and flammability are a concern. The flammability properties of wallboard samples containing these materials were studied using the E-662 NBS Smoke Chamber and the E162 Radiant Panel Test. The results showed that silicone wax, undecylenic acid and coconut oil treated wallboard samples have superior flame retardent properties compared to wallboard treated with hexadecane, and 1-dodecanol. Silicone wax has a lower latent heat for the phase change as measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as compared with the other materials. To obtain better flammability properties of treated wallboard, the surface was coated with an epoxy paint containing aluminum trihydrate or magnesium hydroxide. Radiant Panel studies showed a major reduction in flame spread factor (Fs) and heat release factor (Q), compared to treated wallboard. However, NBS Smoke Chamber studies in the flaming and non-flaming mode did not show improvement in smoke generation for coated samples. NBS Smoke Chamher results showed that silicone treated wallboard without any coating yielded lower smoke in the non-flaming mode over other energy storage materials, even when protected by a flame retardant paint. Dodecanol showed lower smoke production in the flaming mode versus other samples.