Evaluation of the effectiveness of the fire retardant mixture containing potassium carbonate using a cone calorimeter

This article presents the results of investigations obtained for a wood fire retardant agent which is currently under production. Experiments were conducted using a mixture of potassium carbonate and urea in accordance with the PN-C-04914 standard (the Polish equivalent of ISO 5660-1). Wood samples of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) were treated with the above mixture as well as with its individual components. It was observed that impregnation of samples with potassium carbonate and a mixture of potassium carbonate and urea has an advantageous influence on the reduction of the heat release and the heat of combustion, and also prolongs the time to ignition. Urea alone failed to exert a fire-retardant effect on wood samples. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.