Jones, Simon Benedict (2001) The development of innovative products and manufacturing processes utilising fire resistant materials : executive summary. EngD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The sponsoring company for this Engineering Doctorate is a manufacturer of
passive fire protection materials with about 80 employees. Its primary
products are specialist coatings that provide protection from the heat of a fire.
Since it is essentially a chemical blending company its core technical skills
have been in the chemical formulation of these products. The company
employed the Research Engineer (R. E.) to help find new applications for its
materials and widen its product range. It identified that domestic Liquid
Petroleum Gas cylinders are potentially dangerous because they may explode
when exposed to the heat of a fire. It determined to develop an enclosure to
protect them from fire for 30 minutes using its fire resistant coatings.
This project was conceived as a simple diversification, transferring existing
company technology to a new market area. However, LPG cylinders are very
sensitive to fire and require highly effective insulation from heat to make them
safe. To meet the company specification, the R. E. developed a new
composite fire insulation eight times as effective as the original solution, by
combining one of the company's products with other materials. The
effectiveness of the insulation and the enclosure design were proven by
completely engulfing it in flame from a burning pool of aviation fuel. A series
of these tests showed that the R. E.'s design reliably keeps LPG cylinders cool
and safe for more than 30 minutes. This experimental work was assessed by
the Loss Prevention Council who have based a new fire test standard on it.
During the development process it became apparent that the capabilities
required to manufacture an engineered product are quite different from those
needed for the creation of new coatings and materials. This new product
required a revolutionary advance in the company's approach to design, test
methods and production technology. The R. E. has developed a new method
of fire testing to provide heat flow data for use in computer models. This is
now used to reduce the number of prototypes needed for testing and so
compress development time. In order to manufacture the new product the
R. E. has had to develop new ways of processing the company's materials.
These new moulding techniques have delivered substantial improvements in
finish and reduction in material wastage. The capability of the company to
produce complex shapes from materials that are difficult to process has been
greatly enhanced.
Although the Gas Safe product itself has not yet achieved commercial
success, the Engineering Doctorate programme has made a positive
contribution to the company. In the last two years a number of interesting
new projects have been undertaken that would have been impossible without
the new engineering approach and production techniques. These are now
beginning to show a return and several new products based on this work are
under development.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (EngD)
Subjects:	T Technology > TP Chemical technology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Liquefied petroleum gas -- Fires and fire prevention, Fire resistant materials, Fire testing -- Data processing, New products -- Case studies, Manufacturing processes
Official Date:	26 September 2001
Dates:	Date Event 26 September 2001 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Engineering
Thesis Type:	EngD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Extent:	[iii], 89 leaves
Language:	eng

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