Last year saw for the formal launch of Fyrewrap into the Australian construction market.
Fyrewrap is used for the fire protection of ductwork and since its launch has been used in every state of Australia with no signs of its popularity slowing.
Rather than using messy fire spraying techniques or labour intensive fire board installations, clients, consultants and contractors have come to realise the advantages of wrapping ductwork with Fyrewrap.
Trafalgar is well known for its range of innovative products such as access panels, intumescent fire dampers and other firestopping products.
However, during the last 12 months one product that has generated the most interest has been Fyrewrap which is high temperature insulation made from a calcia, magnesia, silica core material with a service temperature greater than 1200°C.
It is fully encapsulated in aluminium foil reinforced scrim and glued continually to the surface area of the core material. Fyrewrap is able to provide up to two hours of fire protection around duct systems.
Ducts that require fire protection include ventilation ducts, smoke spill/smoke exhausts, stair pressurisation ducts, kitchen ducts, car park exhausts and chemical fume ducts.
It is available in three different packages (widths). The most popular size due to its ease of handling is the 610mm wide and 7.62m long roll.
Recently, Trafalgar introduced the 1220mm wide version of Fyrewrap which reduces the number of overlap joints and used in combination with the 150mm wide strip can be very efficient for long, straight runs of ductwork.
All three versions of Fyrewrap have a thickness of 38mm. As Fyrewrap comes in a ready to use foil finished roll it can be wrapped around ductwork of all configurations.
Fyrewrap eliminates the need for wet and dirty spray applied materials, which are known to require hours of masking to avoid resulting overspray.
Fyrewrap can be installed around the ductwork at ground level and then lifted into final position.
It has been used in a wide range of projects in Australia including hospitals and medical centres, airports, commercial and residential developments, sporting grounds and prisons.
Fyrewrap customers are generally classified as either, mechanical services contractors, thermal insulation installers or firestop specialist contractors.
Mechanical service contractors are often required to fire rate duct work and in the past have passed the work onto other contractors due to the specialist nature of the installation and equipment.
However, due to the ease of the Fyrewrap installation, mechanical service contractors are undertaking the install work themselves.
Another approach is to engage thermal insulation contractors (laggers) to carry out the Fyrewrap work as the procedure is very similar to standard insulation installation.
Firestop specialist contractors have also shown interest in Fyrewrap.
These contractors understand better than most the nature of fire spraying and board systems and the associated limitations. For that reason, some of these contractors have converted to Fyrewrap over their traditional fire protection methods.
In response to increasing demand of Fyrewrap, Trafalgar and Unifrax have developed additional Fyrewrap system components. Fyrewrap can be used for two and three sided duct encasement rather than having to wrap all four sides of the duct.
Duct access panels have also been developed specifically for use with Fyrewrap. And due to the light-weight nature of Fyrewrap, threaded rod supports do not need to be fire protected, unlike alternative heavier fire protection systems.
Antimicrobial growth testing has found Fyrewrap highly resistant to mould growth, a significant attribute for hospital projects, aged care facilities and food handling kitchen areas.
Fyrewrap is also certified biosoluble another important consideration for installation teams.
Fyrewrap is a good insulating material. One layer of 38mm thick Fyrewrap has an R value of approximately 1.2. It also provides good acoustic performance as one layer can achieve Rw 31.
High frequency vibrations are experienced throughout the operating life of ductwork.
Exposure of these cyclic movements on fire sprays can generate cracking and spalling of the fire protective layer.
Due to its geometry and flexibility, Fyrewrap has better tolerance to such cyclic movements.
Fyrewrap quality control and system identification is undertaken in a very efficient manner as the product markings and system geometry not only provide an aesthetically pleasing result, but are readily visible to the site inspector.
Fire spray systems have the inherent limitations of difficultly in determining the correct spray thickness and mix ratio used, and delivers an unattractive finished product.
Even though the Fyrewrap system is easy to install, both Unifrax and Trafalgar recommend installation training be undertaken to ensure the fire protection system is carried out to the correct specifications.
Training sessions can be undertaken by either Unifrax or Trafalgar.