‘PolyFlame’, the newsletter of the French Chemical Society (SCF), has published results of full-scale fire gas emission tests on cables carried out as part of the OCDE Prism2 programme, with an objective of assessing cable safety in nuclear installations. The tests used one halogen-free FR cable (mineral PIN flame retardant ATH aluminium tri hydroxide) and two chlore-containing PVC cables.
Several hundred metres of electrical cables were laid out horizontally on vertically-stacked racks, then subjected to fire in well-ventilated conditions. The PIN FR showed a significantly delayed CO2 emissions peak, suggesting a longer delay before full development of fire (c 25 minutes compared to c. 5 minutes)The PIN FR also resulted in lower smoke toxicity with no detectable emissions of hydrochloric acid (HCl, which was emitted by the PVC cables, and considered by the authors to represent corrosivity), 10 – 15 times lower emissions of carbon monoxide (CO, often the most lethal fire gas) and significantly lower emissions of methane, ethylene, acetylene and benzene.
P. Zavaleta & L. Audouin, IRSN (Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety), Saint Paul lez Durance, France, in PolyFlame Newsletter n°6, October 2014 (in French), Société Chimique de France www.polymer-fire.com