Flame retardant tarp

[santhosh]

We are now looking for fire/flame retardant tarpaulin for wind protection during welding activities at height. Can anyone suggest the specification of the material we should look for? What is the degree of flame retardancy that we should consider? We were using blue tarps initially, these were later changed to orange tarps, but these days a lot of fire incidents got reported due to welding/gouging sparks (temp. range 300 to 500 degrees). Any advice is gratefully welcomed.

[kurnal]

I think I would start from another angle.
What is available on the market and will it meet your needs. Not many materials will withstand sparks and molten  fragments without burning - theres a lot of heat energy there. But if the spark scorches and even burns a hole in the tarp I guess thats ok as long as the tarp doesnt catch fire as a result?

There are plastics sheetings on the market that are self extinguishing, there are others that are inherently fire retardant or non combustible or there are fabrics that are combustible but which can be tretaed to render them flame retardant. If your tarp has to contain the hot material and not burn through or melt at all then I guess you are looking at specialist materials- tarpaulins known as welders screens are available for your type of work.
I believe the standard to look for is  BS3119/3120 /5438 (Test 2) and BS 5867 part 2.

[Mark Newton]

The standard insurers will look for is LPS 1215: Issue 3.

Products tested and meeting this standard can be found by accessing the LPCB Red Book: google 'RedBooklive'. and go to Part 1, section 5.3.

Hope that helps
Mark

[Ashley Wood]

When I worked offshore welders were using a fire resistant sheeting to do just what you describe. It was coloured silver on both sides and resembled the old asbestos fire blankets, but it wasn't asbestos! Mind you this was 1984! Does anybody remember this material? Do they still use it offshore?