Fire Technology

Woodsafe can be described as passive preventive fire protection. Retardant agents Dricon and Non-Com are applied to the wood via advanced process-controlled vacuum and pressurisation techniques, also known as pressure impregnation.

Passive fire protection is activated without any requirements for advanced technical features, electrical activation or other technology, offering added security no matter when a fire breaks out, day or night. Activation of the fire-retardant substance takes place at a low temperature - about 140 degrees - which means that Woodsafe is activated and reduces the paint’s flammability properties even before it catches. The heat melts the fire-retardant agent, and water, which effectively cools the material, is formed.

Combustible gases are converted into carbon dioxide

What is more, Dricon and Non-Com largely reduce combustible gases known as pyrolitic gases into carbon dioxide through a conversion process. This process immediately causes a reduction in the quantity of combustible gas that would otherwise feed the flames, preventing the material itself from contributing to uncontrolled spreading of the fire.
In short, the typical three-way fire relationship is short-circuited so the treated wood only turns into char. All the properties of Woodsafe mean that the wood, which would otherwise burn at a speed of about 0.9 millimetres per minute, is instead converted into char at a slow speed of about 0.5 millimetres a minute. Furthermore, Woodsafe serves as a flame-retardant layer, which means that it shields the material behind it from igniting.

Woodsafe uses the world’s best impregnation agents

For more than 30 years now, Arch Timber Protection has developed what are undoubtedly the world’s foremost fire-retardant agents, Dricon and Non-Com. The entire process, from start to finished end-product with necessary fire protection classifications, is certified through independent third-party quality control. Wood impregnated with Dricon meets Euroclass B-s1,d0 for Interior usage and SP-Fire 105 for Exterior applications. Wood impregnated with Non-Com meets the requirements for Euroclass B-s2,d0.

Dricon and Non-Com are used as fire-retardant agents in showcase projects the world over, for example in Britain, France, the USA, Canada and the Netherlands. Woodsafe uses Dricon and Non-Com under licence.

Difference between impregnation and claimed impregnation

There is a degree of over-confidence in methods sometimes incorrectly termed “impregnation”, created by companies that perhaps do not fully understand the concept of fire-retardant impregnation or who deliberately mislead their customers. Impregnation treatment of wood requires highly advanced equipment.

Claims that spraying, brushing, rolling, dipping and so on would be as good as vacuum and pressure impregnation are entirely incorrect. These methods provide temporary outer flame protection but cannot in any way be compared with properly fire-protected wood treated to permanent pressure impregnation. If a company offers impregnated wood, ask how this wood was impregnated, with what, its durability, the quantity of retardant agent per cubic metre and quality-assurance data.