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McKenna ST, Jones N, Peck G, et al. Fire behaviour of modern façade materials - Understanding the Grenfell Tower fire. J Hazard Mater. 2018;368:115-123doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.077.
McKenna, S. T., Jones, N., Peck, G., Dickens, K., Pawelec, W., Oradei, S., Harris, S., Stec, A. A., & Hull, T. R. (2019). Fire behaviour of modern façade materials - Understanding the Grenfell Tower fire. Journal of hazardous materials, 368115-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.077
McKenna, Sean T, et al. "Fire behaviour of modern façade materials - Understanding the Grenfell Tower fire." Journal of hazardous materials vol. 368 (2019): 115-123. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.077
McKenna ST, Jones N, Peck G, Dickens K, Pawelec W, Oradei S, Harris S, Stec AA, Hull TR. Fire behaviour of modern façade materials - Understanding the Grenfell Tower fire. J Hazard Mater. 2019 Apr 15;368:115-123. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.077. Epub 2018 Dec 29. PMID: 30669035.
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J Hazard Mater. 2019 Apr 15;368:115-123. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.077. Epub 2018 Dec 29.

Fire behaviour of modern façade materials - Understanding the Grenfell Tower fire.

Journal of hazardous materials

Sean T McKenna, Nicola Jones, Gabrielle Peck, Kathryn Dickens, Weronika Pawelec, Stefano Oradei, Stephen Harris, Anna A Stec, T Richard Hull

Affiliations

  1. Centre for Fire and Hazard Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, PR1 2HE, UK.
  2. Centre for Fire and Hazard Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, PR1 2HE, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 30669035 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.077

Abstract

The 2017 Grenfell Tower fire spread rapidly around the combustible façade system on the outside of the building, killing 72 people. We used a range of micro- and bench-scale methods to understand the fire behaviour of different types of façade product, including those used on the Tower, in order to explain the speed, ferocity and lethality of the fire. Compared to the least flammable panels, polyethylene-aluminium composites showed 55x greater peak heat release rates (pHRR) and 70x greater total heat release (THR), while widely-used high-pressure laminate panels showed 25x greater pHRR and 115x greater THR. Compared to the least combustible insulation products, polyisocyanurate foam showed 16x greater pHRR and 35x greater THR, while phenolic foam showed 9x greater pHRR and 48x greater THR. A few burning drips of polyethylene from the panelling are enough to ignite the foam insulation, providing a novel explanation for rapid flame-spread within the facade. Smoke from polyisocyanurates was 15x, and phenolics 5x more toxic than from mineral wool insulation. 1 kg of burning polyisocyanurate insulation is sufficient to fill a 50m

Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Building; Fire; Insulation; Polymer; Toxicity

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