Fire tests involving liquid fuels (AVGAS and white spirit), frying oil, wood
and clothing have been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of three different
sizes of asbestos blankets.
With the AVGAS and white spirit the blankets were tested against fires of
increasing size according to the CEN WG/70 Series.
With frying oil the blankets were tested against burning oil, (1B, 2B, 3B,
and 5B) with oil heated above the spontaneous ignition temperature.
Wooden cribs were used for assessing the performance of the blankets against
cellulosic type fires and burning cloth used to simulate a clothing fire.
The work has shown that the AVGAS tests provide a simple and effective means
of assessing the 'rating' of the blankets but additional tests involving frying
oil, wood and clothing are necessary to ensure that the blankets are suitable for
general applications of this kind.
The results should provide a useful means of assessing the performance of
new types of blankets in comparison with the asbestos types.
