Ceram Polymerik
- The Worlds Hottest Company in Fire Protection Technology
A world-first Australian technology that transforms plastic and rubbers in to a fireproof ceramic during a fire is shaping to have a big impact on the $12 billion global passive fire protection market. Worldwide, fire accidents cause more than 70,000 deaths and $115 billion of property damage a year.
This technology is set to become a genuine lifesaver. Building materials and structural elementswith the ability to confine fire allow people more time to escape. Passive fire protection materials using this technology will offer added safety to the public and reduce damage to buildings and their contents. This enables rescue and emergency services to undertake their work in a more controlled environment.
In conventional polymer composites (plastics and rubbers), inorganic components such as talc and calcium carbonate, are widely used as fillers and for reinforcement. When burnt in a fire,these conventional polymers melt; adding fuel to the fire consequently leaving behind a powdery ash.
Image 1
With Ceram Polymerik Ceramifiable® Technology the resulting material is a hard self supporting ceramic composition that provides a barrier to fire.
Image 2
Ceram Polymerik's patented technology performs well in most types of plastics and rubbers. This allows Ceramifiable® products to be made which are relatively soft and flexible or quite rigid depending on the required application. A complex mixture of refractory components including silicate minerals, fluxing agents and other inorganic ingredients are used in the polymer composites. These composites can be processed on conventional extrusion and injection
moulding equipment. At normal service temperatures, they behave like conventional polymer composites, with similar physical and mechanical properties.
In a fire situation, low melting point inorganic components act as fluxing agents which bind the refractory fillers together as the polymer burns off. A solid or semi porous ceramic structure is left behind, which retains the integrity of the original article, thus acting as a fire barrier. The ceramic is stable even at temperatures exceeding 1000 deg C.
Image 3
Where a seal has to be maintained or a gap filled, materials are also available which expand during ceramification. These properties are important as they provide a physical barrier to prevent fire spreading from one area to another.
Advantages of materials which integrate Ceram Polymerik Technology include, Halogen free formulations, lower smoke development, potentially lower toxicity and are moisture and corrosion resistant.
As a world first, this unique technology was developed for use in fire-resistant electric cables. As the polymer melts and disintegrates in the heat, the ceramic forms a solid protective insulated layer, preventing short-circuits and enabling the current to keep flowing. It has been commercialised by Olex Cables Australia as insulation for their Pyrolex™ Ceramifiable® flexible electrical cable.
Ceram Polymerik is positioned to become the world leader in supply of Ceramifiable® plastic & rubber technology for the passive fire protection market. The material will provide customers unique technology that will enable them to sell a superior product which the fire protection market accepts as the new benchmark.
Ceram Polymerik’s patented compounds and Ceramifiable® filler systems can be used in a wide range of building products, such as sheet and panels, foams and solid profiles for gap sealing, sealants, putties, mastics, coatings etc.
The Ceramifiable® compounds will also find application in:
• Fire Door and window components.
• Gap seals for concrete or masonry wall panels.
• Ducting & conduit
• Building penetrations.
• Structural steel protection.
• Flooring.
• Partitions, ceilings and wall linings.
• Equipment security.
• Fire barriers for material storage.
• Protection from incendiary devices.
• Cladding materials for internal or external walls.
• Switch Boxes or Barriers for recessed lighting.
• Marine, mass transit, automotive, aircraft and defence industries.
Ceram Polymerik is developing the Ceramifiable® technology for new products and new applications through innovative product development with strategic global partners.
Ceramifiable® materials which integrate Ceram Polymerik technology in their products will make "plastic and rubber more fire safe".
For further information please contact:
Fenton Long
Business Development Manager
Ceram Polymerik Pty Ltd
Address:
221 Browns Rd
Noble Park, Victoria, 3174
Australia
Telephone; Office +61 3 8508 9508, Mobile +61 408 508 920
Note: Ceramifiable® is a registered trademark of Olex Cables Australia.
