Damage of Industrial Reinforced Concrete Chimneys Caused by High Temperatures

Abstract

The paper deals with the resistance of reinforced concrete against fire and the degradation of reinforced concrete due to high temperatures. In the first part the processes of degradation of concrete are solved due to the evaporation of water and its change of state with respect to the different thermal expansion of aggregates and concrete reinforcement members. The main part is focused on the construction of monolithic and prefabricated structures of industrial chimneys. The most common types of protection of the chimney's internal parts from the exhaust gases are discussed here. Also the possibilities of designing individual expansion joints are described. In the experiment, the problem of chimney damage, with the subsequent description of the chimney diagnostics in the premises of Unipetrol in Litvínov, was solved due to an extraordinary event - explosion of the ethylene unit.