Accidents involving fire occur every day around the world, affecting thousands of people and causing economic losses. Some accidents are caused by steel structure failures, which experience a significant reduction in mechanical properties at temperatures of 400-550˚C. Therefore, fire protective coatings are required for steel structures and interest in the development of intumescent coatings has increased considerably. In this study, black wattle tannin was used as a carbon source in the formulation of intumescent coatings. Concentrations of 5% and 10% of tannin were incorporated into a novolac resin. The coating was applied on a steel plate and the thermal protection was evaluated by sample exposure to a flame for 30 min. The results showed that the tannin compound could be used as a carbon source for intumescent coatings. The temperature of the samples containing 10% of this compound was almost 300 ˚C lower compared to the uncoated steel plate.
Keywords:
Intumescent coating; black wattle tannin; fire protection
