Intumescence
Intumescence (Latin: intumescencia, from tumor - swelling) denotes an expansion or swelling, i.e. an increase in volume of a solid body without chemical conversion.
Fire protection
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Intumescent.jpg/220px-Intumescent.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Fsp_firestop.jpg/220px-Fsp_firestop.jpg)
In fire protection, the term describes the appropriate "swelling" or foaming of materials. Intumescent building materials increase in volume and correspondingly decrease in density when exposed to heat . As a rule, intumescent materials are used in preventive structural fire protection, where they can perform the following tasks:
- Foam to form a light insulation layer as a heat brake. Expandable graphite ( expandable graphite ), for example, releases gases when exposed to heat. For example, if it is added to the insulating jacket of an electrical line, it forms a "foamed" layer of ash with the incinerating insulating material , which hinders the supply of oxygen - and thus the spread of the flame.
- Endothermic cooling through evaporating crystal water (hydrates); z. B. in building materials made of gypsum
- Formation of a fire protection bulkhead through expansion pressure, e.g. B. when filling the cavity, the a-melting plastic - pipe leaves in a wall or ceiling opening.
Intumescent building materials are also called "intumescent layers". In Germany , intumescent building materials, the building products they contain and the types of construction made with them are subject to approval.
→ see main article fire protection coating
Further meaning
In medicine , intumescence means an increase in the size of an organ or tissue (it can also be used to describe corresponding pathological changes - tumor ).
Web links
- New coatings based on cellulose with intumescent properties (accessed on March 20, 2020)
- "Fire protection - an interesting, diverse field of application for construction chemistry" (accessed on March 20, 2020)
- Method establishment and investigations of the pyrolysis processes of intumescent fire protection coatings by means of coupled thermogravimetric and mechanical analysis (TGA-FTIR-MS and TMA) as well as DSC microscopy (accessed on March 20, 2020)
- Innovative fire protection products for rail vehicle construction (accessed on March 20, 2020)
- Flame protection of polymer building materials: Evaluation of concepts on the basis of small-scale cone calorimeter studies (accessed on March 20, 2020)