Fire compartmentation in all (un)possible places

Prevent fire from spreading through building pipes

Compartmentation ensures that fire does not spread from one room to another, or only after a certain amount of time. As an installer, however, you sometimes have to drill through the walls that provide this in order to feed cables and pipes through them, which negates the fire resistance. It is then necessary to seal the penetrations with, for example, fire-resistant sleeves. Promat offers several solutions for this, including the PROMASTOP®-UCE.

Promat is part of the Etex Building Performance division and a specialist in passive fire safety within the construction industry. For more than sixty years, the company has been developing unique methods in the field of fire safety that meet the strictest international standards. "PROMASTOP®-UCE is one of the fire-resistant cuffs that prevent flames and smoke from passing through pipes," says Menno Aalbers, Area Sales Manager at Promat. "It is important that the non-fire side does not get hotter than 200°C. No more than ten seconds of flames may pass through, otherwise the wall no longer meets the specified fire resistance."

Installation ease

PROMASTOP®-UCE consists of a perforated stainless steel band with 150 links and is suitable for fire-resistant sealing of penetrations of single-layer and multi-layer plastic pipes, alucomposite pipes and cables through solid walls and floors, lightweight partition walls and shaft walls. Multiple layers of intumescent graphite-based material ensure that the plastic pipes are pinched shut during fire.

The cuff can be cut to size by breaking up the connected parts. Aalbers: "You can determine the desired length yourself. The cuffs are easy to connect together with a clip." They are easily attached around pipes and cables with special clips, which come with them. "PROMASTOP®-UCE is particularly useful when you are dealing with different sizes and therefore need flexibility. In addition to its ease of installation, it is one of the few cuffs that allow you to create a horseshoe."

Tests

For this horseshoe function, a number of tests were recently conducted at Warringtonfire in Ghent, a laboratory specializing in testing the fire reaction and fire resistance of materials and structures for construction, transportation and industry. Here, the cuffs were used in wall and floor applications. "We used a diameter of 110 mm and achieved a fire resistance of 120 minutes. We also tested in a corner arrangement with a PROMASTOP®-UCE cuff put around it, sealed all around with a PROMASEAL®-AG sealant. We also achieved the 120 minutes with sound insulating pipes," says Martin Boot, Technical Development & Application Engineer at Promat.

PROMASTOP®-UCE has been tested in accordance with European standard EN 1366-3:2021. This shows that the fire resistance of the compartment is maintained with EI30 to EI120 (U/U), depending on the application. PROMASTOP®-UCE can be used in combination with the PROMASTOP®-CC system pretreated stone wool board.

Support to installers

Promat materials are available through several leading wholesalers. If you, as an installer, have questions about the product or its application, you can always contact the experts of Promat. Aalbers: "We like to offer support to installers. They can always call or email the Area Sales Managers. Often we give an answer back the same day."