Smoke Hazard Assessment of Cypress Wood Coated with Boron/Silicon Sol Compounds

Abstract

In this study, boron/silicon sol compounds were applied to wood for construction and durable materials, and fire risks were investigated in terms of smoke performance index (SPI), smoke growth index (SGI), and smoke intensity (SI). The compound was synthesized by reacting tetraethoxyorthosilicate with boric acid and boronic acid derivatives. Smoke characteristics were investigated using a cone calorimeter (ISO 5660-1) equipment for cypress wood. The fire intensity fixed the external heat flux at 50 kW/m². The smoke performance index measured after the combustion reaction increased between 13.4% and 126.7% compared with cypress wood. The fire risk due to the smoke performance index decreased in the order of cypress, phenylboronic acid/silicon sol (PBA/Si), (2-methylpropyl) boronic acid/silicon sol (IBBA/Si), boric acid/silicon sol (BA/Si). The smoke growth index decreased between 12.0% and 57.5% compared to the base specimen. The risk of fire caused by the smoke growth index decreased in the order of cypress, PBA/Si, IBBA/Si, BA/Si. The fire risk due to smoke intensity decreased between 3.2% and 57.8%, and in the order of cypress, PBA/Si, IBBA/Si, BA/Si. CO_peak concentrations ranged between 85 and 93 ppm, and decreased between 37% and 43% compared to the base specimen. A comprehensive assessment of the fire risk on smoke hazards decreased in the order of cypress, PBA/Si, IBBA/Si, BA/Si.