Thermoanalytical examination of thermal insulation materials from environmentalal law

Abstract

Today, the modernization of the efficient energy use is becoming more and more important, because the exploitation of non-renewable energy sources and carbon dioxide emission become progressive phenomena. This entails the regular use of the combustible heat insulator materials; therefore, in case of building fires the environmental impacts are not negligible. The authors analyse the thermal insulation materials by simultaneous thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) and also by evolved gas analysis performed by a mass spectrometer (EGA-MS) coupled online to the TG/DTA device. The aim of the measurements is to examine the weight loss of the examined samples, the occurring heat effects and the evolved gases as a function of the temperature. The authors present the method of measurement, the process of data processing and the evaluation. The thermoanalytical investigations showed that the popular foams (polystyrol,  polyurethane) had more than 90 % mass loss during their annealing in ait at 900 °C; while the rock wool insulation had only 6%. Furthermore, the gas release of the plastic heat insulating materials was also considerably higher compared to rock wool. As a result of the paper, it is possible to determine the lowest temperature where the gas release starts. This is important because the gas production takes place both already before the direct burning flame happens, and even after the fire extinguishing.