Sherwin-Williams has launched a FIRETEX line of passive fire protection coatings.
The solvent-free, fast curing M90 Series of intumescent coatings offers hydrocarbon facilities up to three hours of protection on structural steel, decks and bulkheads, pipe supports, process equipment, valves and pressure vessels in the event of a jet or pool fire.
Depending on the required fire rating for each steel section, intumescent coatings are applied at as much as 30 times the thickness of standard epoxy coatings, swelling to 5-10 times that original thickness in the presence of fire.
Roger Williams, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, global market director for fire protectionsaid: “The shift of oil and gas exploration, extraction and processing to offshore deep sea locations has numerous implications for those entrusted with protecting life and assets from fire.
“For refineries, terminals, pipelines and chemical plants onshore, there are similar concerns, because hydrocarbon fires, wherever they occur, can reach excessively high temperatures in a matter of minutes. Our FIRETEX M90 Series is designed not only to directly protect fire responders and occupants, but also to prevent the escalation of fire, blocked escape routes or outright structural collapse.”
The FIRETEX line, previously a brand of UK-based Leighs Paints, protects more than 400 offshore platforms, refineries, terminals, pipelines and chemical plants worldwide.