Information Notice 1992-82, Results of Thermo-Lag 330-1 Combustibility Testing
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UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
December 15, 1992
RESULTS OF THERMO-LAG 330-1 COMBUSTIBILITY
TESTING
Addressees
All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power
reactors.
Purpose
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information
notice (IN) to alert addressees to the results of Thermo-Lag 330-1 combustibility tests conducted for the NRC by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST).
It is expected that recipients will review
the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions as
appropriate.
However, suggestions contained in this information notice are
not new NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is
required.
Description of Circumstances
As part of a small-scale testing program of Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire barrier
material, NRC staff had NIST perform combustibility tests using the following
standards:
(1) American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E-136,
"Standard Test Method For Behavior of Material in a Vertical Tube Furnace at
750 'C;" and-(2) ASTM E-1354, "Standard Test Method for Heat and Visible Smoke
Release Rates for Materials and Products using an Oxygen Consumption
Calorimeter."
NIST documented the results of these tests in Attachment 1,
"Report on Test FR 3989, Analysis Of Barrier Material For Noncombustibility,"
of August 31, 1992.
Based on the ASTM E-136 testing standard, the NIST tests revealed that
Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire barrier material is combustible. This testing standard
prescribes the mAterial as combustible if three out of four samples exceed any
of the following criteria:
(1) the recorded temperature of the specimen's
surface and interior thermocouples rise 30 0C [54 OF] above the initial
furnace temperature; (2) there is flaming from the specimen after the first
30 seconds of irradiance; or (3) the weight loss of the specimen during
testing exceeds 50 percent and either (a) the recorded temperature of the
surface and interior thermocouples at any time during the test rise above the
furnace air temperature at the beginning of the test or (b) there is flaming
of the specimen.
Each of the four Thermo-Lag specimens tested exhibited a
weight loss of greater-than 50 percent and exhibited flaming beyond 30
seconds.
921209021
.
December 15, 1992 NIST performed the ASTM E-1354 calorimeter test on four Thermo-Lag specimens, subjecting them to an irradiance of 75 kW/m2 [6.6 BTU/ft2-s].
The total
amount of heat released from the Thermo-Lag exceeded that released from Gypsum
board and was about equal to the heat released from fire-retardant plywood.
Discussion
Section 50.48(a) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires that
each operating nuclear power plant have a fire protection plan that satisfies
General Design Criterion (GDC) 3, "Fire protection," in Appendix A to 10 CFR
Part 50.
GDC 3 requires that "structures, systems, and components important
to safety shall be designed and located to minimize, in a manner consistent
with other safety requirements, the probability and effects of fires and
explosions.
Noncombustible and heat resistant materials shall be used
wherever practical throughout the unit, particularly in locations such as the
containment and control room."
NRC-approved plant fire protection programs referenced by the plant operating
license and Section III.G, "Fire protection of safe shutdown capability," of
Appendix R to 10 CFR Part 50, require one train of systems necessary to
achieve and maintain hot shutdown conditions from either the control room or
emergency control stations to be free from fire damage:
Section III.G.2 of Appendix R permits separation by a horizontal distance of
more than 6.1 meters [20 feet] with no intervening combustibles or fire
hazards as one of several methods to ensure that cables and equipment and
-
associated circuits of redundant safe shutdown trains located outside
containment are maintained free from fire damage.
If this method is used, fire detection and automatic fire suppression must be installed in the area of
the redundant safe shutdown trains.
Some licensees use Thermo-Lag fire
barrier material to enclose intervening combustibles to achieve 6.1 meters
[20 feet] of separation free of intervening combustibles between the redundant
safe shutdown trains.
Section III.G.2.f of Appendix R allows licensees to separate cables and
equipment and associated circuits of redundant trains inside noninerted
containments by installing a noncombustible radiant energy shield as one of
several methods to achieve required fire protection for these circuits. Some
licensees use Thermo-Lag to construct radiant energy heat shields inside
containment.
Related Generic Communications
Attachment 2 is a list or recently issued generic communications concerning
Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire barrier systems.
. i
I
IN 92-82 December 15, 1992 This information notice requires no specific action or written response.
If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.
Original signed by
Brian K.
Grimes
Brian K. Grimes, Director
Division of Operating Reactor Support
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Technical contacts:
Ralph
(301)
Architzel, NRR
504-2804 Patrick Madden, NRR
(301) 504-2854 Attachments:
1. Report of Test FR 3989, Analysis Of
Barrier Material For Noncombustibility
2.
List of Recently Issued Generic
Communications Concerning Thermo-Lag 330-1
Fire Barrier Systems
3.
List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
- See previous page for concurrence
SPLB:DSSA
MWidmann*
11/04/92 SPLB:DSSA
RArchitzel*
11/04/92 TechEd
JMain*
11/05/92 OIG
GMulley*
11/05/92 SPLB:DSSA
CMcCrackei
11/05J,'2 ,
DD:DSSA
GHolahan*
11/10/92 D:DSSA
AThadani*
11/08/92 C/OGCB:DORS:NRR
GMarcus*
11/25/92
121/p /92 DOCUMENT NAME:
92-82. IN
11'
IN 92-XX
November xx, 1992 This information notice requires no specific action or written response.
If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.
Brian K. Grimes, Director
Division of Operating Reactor Support
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Technical contacts:
Ralph Architzel, NRR
(301) 504-2804
Patrick Madden, NRR
(301) 504-2854 Attachments:
1. Report of Test FR 3989,
2. List of Recently Issued
Fire Barrier Systems
3.
List of Recently Issued
Analysis Of Barrier Material For Noncombustibility
Generic Communications Concerning Thermo-Lag 330-1
NRC Information Notices
- See previous page for concurrence
SPLB:DSSA
MWidmann*
11/04/92 SPLB:DSSA
RArchitzel*
11/04/92 TechEd
JMain*
11/05/92 OIG
GMulley*
11/05/92 SPLB:DSSA
CMcCracken*
11/05/92 DD: DSSA
GHolahan*
11/10/92 D: DSSA
AThadani*
11/08/92 C/OGCB:DORS:NRR
GMarcus
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DORS:NRR
BGrimes
11/ /92
[G:\\THERMOLA\\INCOMBUS.MTW]
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IN 92-XX
November xx, 1992 This information notice requires no specific action or written response.
If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.
Brian K. Grimes, Director
Division of Operating Reactor Support
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Technical contacts:
Ralph Architzel, NRR
(301) 504-2804
Patrick Madden, NRR
(301) 504-2854 Attachments:
1. Report of Test FR 3989, Analysisi6f
Barrier Material4mor Noncombustibility
2. List of Recently Issued Generic
Communications Concerning Thermo-Lag 330-1
Fire Barrier Systems
3. List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
- See previous page for concurrence
SPLB:DSSA
MWidmann*
11/04/92 SPLB:DSSA
RArchitzel*
11/04/92 TechEd
JMain*
11/05/92 OIG
GMulley*
11/05/92 SPLB:DSSA
CMcCracken*
11/05/92 DD:DSSA
GHolahan*
11/10/92 D: DSSA
AThadani*
11/08/92 C/OGCB:DORS:NRR
GMarcusc
7
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BGrimes e
11/ /92
[G:\\THERMOLA\\INCOMBUS.MTW]
IN 92-XX
November xx, 1992 This information notice requires no specific action or written response.
If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.
Brian K. Grimes, Director
Division of Operating Reactor Support
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Technical contacts:
Ralph
(301)
Architzel, NRR
504-2804
Patrick Madden, NRR
(301) 504-2854 Attachments:
1. Report of Test FR 3989, Analysis of
Barrier Material for Noncombustibility
2. List of Recently Issued Generic
Communications Concerning Thermo-Lag 330-1
Fire Barrier Systems
3. List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
- See previous page for concurrence
SPLB:DSSA
MWidmann*
11/04/92 SPLB:DSSA
RArchitzel*
11/04/92 TechEd
JMain*
11/05/92 OIG
GMulley*
11/05/92 SPLB:DSSA
CMcCracken*
11/05/92 DD:DSSA
GHolahan*
11/10/92 D:DSSA
AThadani*
11/08/92 C/OGCB:DORS:NRR
GMarcus*
11/25/92 DORS:NRR
BGrimes
11/ /92
[G:\\THERMOLA\\INCOMBUS.MTW]
-3- This information notice requires no specific action or written response.
If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.
Brian Grimes, Director
Division of Operating Reactor Support
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Attachment:
1. Report of Test FR 3989,
2. List of Recently Issued
Analysis Of Barrier Material For Noncombustibility
Information Notices
Architzel, NRR
504-2804 Technical contacts:
Ralph
(301)
Patrick Madden, NRR
(301) 504-2854 TechEd
JMain 0;8
11/5-/992 D: DSSAAT
AThaPnhi
11/ 1J/92 OIG
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GMarcus
11/
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BGrimes
11/
/92
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-
IN 92-82 December 15, 1992 This information notice requires no specific action or written response.
If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.
Brian K. Grimes, Director
Division of Operating Reactor Support
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Technical contacts:
Ralph Architzel, NRR
(301) 504-2804
Patrick Madden, NRR
(301)
504-2854 Attachments:
1. Report of Test FR 3989, Analysis Of
Barrier Material For Noncombustibility
2. List of Recently Issued Generic
Communications Concerning Thermo-Lag 330-1
Fire Barrier Systems
3.
List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
Attachment 1
December 15, 1992 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
REPORT OF TEST
FR 3989 on
ANALYSIS OF BARRIER MATERIAL FOR NONCOMBUSTIBILrTY
by
Vytenis Babrauskas
August 31, 1992 Submitted to:
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555
Attachment 1
December 15, 1992
Purpose
of test Tests were conducted to determine if material submitted qualifies as noncombustible.
Material tested
The test material comprised board stock supplied by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Two variations of board stock were
supplied: nominal 1/2" and nominal 1" thick boards. The thickness of the boards is intended by the
manufacturer to have a certain 'plus' tolerance, but a zero 'minus' tolerance. Thus, the boards were
generally thicker than the nominal 12.5 and 25 mm values, but with substantial variation from point
to point on the board. The nominal 1" stock contained a stainless steel wire mesh on both sides of
the board, while the nominal 1/2" stock contained only wire mesh on one side of the board.
With the exception of removing the wire mesh (in those instances where stated, below) and cutting
specimens to size, NIST did not alter or modify the specimens.
Definition of noncombustibility
A .
A i
The Uniform Building Code (International Conference of Building Officials, Whittier, CA, 1991)
defines noncombustible as follows (pp. 29-30):
"Sec. 415. NONCOMBUSTIBLE as applied to building construction materials means a
material which, in the form in which it is used, is either one of the following
(a) Material of which no part will ignite and burn when subjected to fire. Any material
conforming to U.B.C. Standard No. 4-1 shall be considered noncombustible within the
meaning of this section.
(b) Material having a structural base of noncombustible material as defined in Item
(a) above, with a surfacing material not over 1/8 inch thick which has a flame-spread rating
of 50 or less."
We note that U.B.C. Standard No. 4-1 is functionally identical to ASTM E 136 [1]. The other two
U.S. model building codes, BOCA National and Southern Standard, use essentially identical
definitions for noncombustibility.
To explain in more detail, U.S. practice provides for two different ways by which a product can be
qualified as noncombustible. Part (b) was originally developed to make certain that conventional
gypsum wallboard would be allowed as noncombustible. To qualify under part (b), two tests must be
run: an ASTM E 136 test on the substrate material and the ASTM E 84 Steiner Tunnel on the
complete product, including its thin surface layer. Part (b) cannot be successfully applied to a product
unless the material comprising all of its thickness, save the topmost 1/8", can pass the ASTM E 136 test, while the top layer cannot. In the present case, the steel mesh layer is accepted to be
noncombustible. Thus, for the test specimens submitted, part (b) is not applicable. Only testing of the
bulk board stock material needs to be done, and this must be done using the ASTM E 136 test.
For reference, a specimen is recorded as passing the ASTM E 136 test if:
"...at least three of the four specimens meet the following conditions:
2
Attachment 1
December 15, 1992
Page 3 Of 6 The recorded temperature at the surface and interior thermocouples do not at any time
during the test rise more than 54'F (300C) above the furnace temperature at the beginning
of the test, There is no flaming from the specimen after the first 30 s, and
When the weight loss of the specimen during the testing exceeds 50o, the recorded
temperature of the surface and interior thermocouples do not at any time during the test rise
above the furnace air temperature at the beginning of the test, and there is no flaming of the
specimen."
To examine the submitted specimens for noncombustibility, the standard procedure as described
above was conducted. To obtain additional information, some supplementary tests were also
conducted to better assay the behavior of the material. The standard procedure was conducted for
NIST under contract by United States Testing Company, Inc. Their results are described below, while
their report submitted to NIST is appended to this Report. The supplementary tests were conducted
in our own laboratories.
Standard tests
Specimens of the nominal 1" board stock were submitted to the United States Testing Company, Inc.
for testing according to ASTM E 136 procedures.
The material FAILED the test, since, for all 4 specimens tested, the percent weight loss was greater
than 50% and flaming continued in excess of 30 s.
The report received from the testing laboratory is attached as the Appendix to this report.
Supplementary tests
The report from an ASTM E 136 test is recorded simply in pass/fail terms. To derive additional
insight into the behavior of the material, it is possible to conduct tests which provide a quantitative
measurement scale. Such a test is available in the form of the ASTM E 1354 test [2]. This is a heat
release rate (HRR) test and, as such, it provides time-resolved information on the combustion of a
specimen. In engineering terms, specimens which are 'noncombustible' are those which show low heat
release. This concept has not yet been introduced into the U.S. building codes, but it is in the process
of being approved for use in Canada [3] and U.S. usage is expected to come shortly thereafter. The
tentative decision in Canada is to use a test irradiance of 50 kWm-2. Work has also been done at
NIST on the development of this concept, with most of the studies being conducted at a 75 kW m2 irradiance 14]. This heat-release-based
approach conceptually simplifies the treatment of
combustibility, since a special two-part testing approach, necessary for the conventional method to
properly characterize gypsum wallboard, is no longer necessary. With this heat-release based
approach, a single method is adequate to characterize all materials, including gypsum boards.
For the supplementary examination of the subject material, tests were conducted at both 50 and 75 kW m-2 irradiance levels. The specimens were cut from the nominal 1/2W board stock to a size of 100
mm by 100 mm. The actual thickness of the board stock was found to be approximately 18 mm. In
all cases, the prescribed edge frame was used, since the material substantially intumesces.
3
ii,
Attachment 1
IN 92-82 December 15, 1992 The test conditions and the test results are given in Table 1.
Table 1. Results obtained in supplementary tests
Test
Test
rradiance
Peak
Total heat in
Total heat in
no;
condition
kWim-2 HRR
600 s
900;
_
kW m-2 MJm-2M~
mf
5489 grid used;
50
74
-
34.1 wire mesh up
5490
grid used;
50
83
-
44.1 wire mesh up
5491 grid used;
50
74
-
28.2 wire mesh down
5492 grid used;
50
76
-
25.9 wire mesh down
5466 grid not used;
75
120
28.5 wire mesh up
5486 grid used;
75
107
46.9 wire mesh up
5487 grid used;
75
110
38.9 wire mesh down
5467 grid used;
75
100
35.3 wire mesh down
It is intended in the ASTM E 1354 test that the specimen surface condition be approximately planar.
Thus, with intumescing or deforming specimens, the testing laboratory needs to use a restraint grid
described in the standard or, if necessary, an alternate restraint technique to ascertain that specimen
deformations are not excessive. The notation "grid used/not used" refers to the restraint grid specified
in ASTM E 1354. In the present case, the test board stock had a wire mesh which can be considered
as also serving some restraint function. Thus, various combinations of standard grid and wire mesh
topside/bottomside location were tried to determine if there was a systematic effect of the restraint
condition used. The notation "wire mesh" refers to the wire mesh which comes as part of the subject
test specimen.
Interpretation of results
The above findings must be interpreted in the light of the performance of materials accepted for use
as noncombustible. By examining the published data it can be seen that the following performance
for gypsum wallboard (unpainted, both regular and Type-X grades) is obtained.
4
Attachment 1
December 15, 1992
Table 2. Published results on gypsum wallboard
Page 5 Of 6 Irradiance
Ref
PeakHRR
Total beat in
Totalheat in
kW
Mm
..
kWmk2'
600 s
.900 s,
50
[3]
70- 103
-
4
75
[4]
97
4.2 The results of Table 1 can now be compared to those of Table 2 to determine more quantitatively
the differences between the tested product and gypsum wallboard. There are two bases of
comparison: the value of the peak HRR and the total heat released in the control period (600 s when
testing at 75 kW m-2; 900 s when testing at 50 kWn-2). The value of the peak HRR for the tested
board product is seen to be roughly similar to gypsum wallboard. The value of the total heat released, however, is more than 8 times higher. This quantitative measure is consistent with the qualitative
observation in the E 136 test that "flaming continued for the remainder of the test."
As a result of the Canadian study, Richardson and Brooks [3] made a proposed recommendation that
combustibility of materials can be grouped into categories, based on performance in the ASTM E
1354 test. In the highest category (#1), limits of 10 kW m 2 on peak HRR and 5 MInm-2 on the total
heat released would be set. This is intended to correspond to specimens which pass solely by means
of the ASTM E 136 test. In the next category (#2), would be gypsum wallboard and other products
which are currently qualified on the basis of the ASTM E 136 test for the core material, plus the
ASTM E 84 test on the finished product. For category #2, the limits are taken at 100 kW m-2 peak
HRR and 25 MJm-2 total heat released. For the present test specimens, the total heat released
exceeds 25 MJnm-2 in all cases; thus, by the proposed Canadian criteria, the test material would not
qualify to be rated in a class comparable to gypsum wallboard.
References
[1]
Standard Test Method For Behavior of Materials in a Vertical Tube Furnace at 750 'C
(E 136). American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia.
[2]
Standard Test Method for Heat and Visible Smoke Release Rates for Materials and
Products using an Oxygen Consumption Calorimeter (E 1354). American Society for
Testing and Materials, Philadelphia.
[3]
Richardson, L.R., and Brooks, M.E., Combustibility of Building Materials, Fire and
Materials. 15, 131-136 (1991).
[4]
Babrauskas, V., North American Experiences in the Use of Cone Calorimeter Data for
Classification of Products, pp.89-103 in Proc. of the Intl. EUREFIC Seminar 1991, Interscience Communications Ltd, London (1991).
5
Attachment 1
December 15, 1992 I
I -
Prepared by:
APPROVED
\\I
Babraus
C (
Vytenis Babrauskas,
Andrew J. Fowell
Chief, Fire Science and Engineering Division
i
L
6
Attachment 2
IN 92-82 December 15, 1992 List of Recently Issued Generic Communications Concerning
Thermo-Lag 330-1 Fire Barrier Systems
1.
Information Notice 91-47, "Failure of Thermo-Lag Fire Barrier Material
to Pass Fire Endurance Test," August 6, 1991
2.
Information Notice 91-79, "Deficiencies in the Procedures for
Thermo-Lag Fire Barrier Materials," December 6, 1991 Installing
3.
Information Notice 92-46, "Thermo-Lag Fire Barrier Material Special
Review Team Final Report Findings, Current Fire Endurance Tests, and
Ampacity Calculation Errors," June 23, 1992
4.
Bulletin
Maintain
Damage,"
92-01, "Failure of Thermo-Lag 330 Fire Barrier System to
Cabling in Wide Cable Trays and Small Conduits Free from Fire
June 24, 1992
5.
Information Notice 92-55, "Current
Thermo-Lag Fire Barrier Material,"
Fire Endurance Test Results for
July 27, 1992
6.
Bulletin 92-01, Supplement 1, "Failure of Thermo-Lag 330 Fire Barrier
System to Perform Its Specified Fire Endurance Function,"
August 28, 1992
Attachment 3
IN 92-82 December 15, Page 1 of I
1992
LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED
NRC INFORMATION NOTICES
Information
Date of
Notice No.
Subject
Issuance
Issued to
92-81
92-80
92-79
92-78
92-77
Potential Deficiency
of Electrical Cables
with Bonded Hypalon
Jackets
Results of Thermo-Lag
330-1 Combustibility
Testing
Non-Power Reactor
Emergency Event Response
Piston to Cylinder
Liner Tin Smearing on
Cooper-Bessemer KSV
Diesel Engines
Questionable Selection
and Review to Deter- mine Suitability of
Electropneumatic Relays
for Certain Applications
Issuance of Supple- ment 1 to NUREG-1358,
"Lessons Learned from
the Special Inspection
Program for Emergency
Operating Procedures
(Conducted October 1988 -
September 1991)"
Unplanned Intakes of
Airborne Radioactive
Material by Individuals
at Nuclear Power Plants
Power Oscillations at
Washington Nuclear
Power Unit 2
12/11/92
12/07/92
12/01/92
11/30/92 Al 1 for
nuclear power reactors.
All holders of OLs or CPs
for nuclear power reactors.
All holders of OLs or CPs
for nuclear power reactors.
All holders of OLs or CPs
for test and research
reactors.
92-76
11/17/92
11/13/92
11/12/92
11/10/92
All holders of OLs or CPs
for nuclear power reactors.
All holders of OLs or CPs
for nuclear power reactors.
All holders of OLs or CPs
for nuclear power reactors.
All holders of OLs or CPs
for nuclear power reactors.
92-75
92-74 OL = Operating License
CP = Construction Permit
t
Federal Recycling Program