Assessment of the fire retardant effect potential of carbonized cow horn ash additive in banana peduncle fibre reinforced polyester composites

• Published in: World journal of engineering Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 399 - 408
• Main Authors: O.D., Onukwuli, Ezeh, Ernest Mbamalu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brentwood Emerald Publishing Limited 05.05.2023; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Additives; Aluminum; Ashes; Burning time; Combustion; Cone calorimeters; Enthalpy; Fiber composites; Fire resistant materials; Flame retardants; Formulations; Heat release rate; Mechanical properties; Metal foils; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Particle size; Polyesters; Polymers; Polyvinyl alcohol; Relative humidity; Nigeria; Emission; Cone calorimeter; Heat release rate; Fire retardancy; Cow horn ash particle
• ISSN: 1708-5284; 2515-8082; 1708-5284
• DOI: 10.1108/WJE-07-2021-0438

Purpose This paper aims to examine the fire retardant property potentials of cow horn ash particles (CHAp) bio-additive and aluminium trihydrate (AH), a traditional inorganic fire-retardant additive, respectively, in banana peduncle fibre (BPF) reinforced polyester composites. An attempt was made to comparatively analyse the fire retardant capacity potentials of CHAp, a bio-material waste that is readily available, at no cost, as a potential fire retardant material for composites manufacture with a conventional inorganic fire retardant additive (AH). Design/methodology/approach The fibre used in this research was derived from the banana peduncle. The matrix is unsaturated polyester. A scanning electron microscope was used to analyze the particle size of the carbonized CHAp. The composites were compounded using 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% of CHAp and AH, respectively. A cone calorimeter instrument was used in the analysis to obtain combustion information of CHAp and AH formulated polyester-BPF composites. Test samples were cut to the dimensions of 100 × 100 mm. All materials are conditioned at 23 ± 30 °C and the relative humidity of 50 ± 5% for 24 h before testing. The samples were wrapped with aluminium foil around the back and edges before placing the samples on the holder and then into the cone calorimeter. The samples were backed with a non-combustible insulating refractory material (brick). The samples were orientated horizontally and exposed to irradiances of 50 kW/m2 at a temperature of approximately 6000 °C. The samples were pilot ignited and ran in triplicate; the average readings of the three runs were taken. Findings The results obtained from the analysis depicted similar fire retardant properties for formulations with CHAp and AH, respectively. Composites formulated with CHAp exhibited delayed ignition time of 25%, increased end of burning time of 14.24% and reduced total heat release rate of 9.07% for the developed composites. The developed BPF/CHAp/polyester composites yield composites with fire retardancy, which would find relevance in the engineering material industry. Originality/value CHAp, therefore, would suffice as an alternative to the inorganic, expensive and non-environmental friendly, conventional fire retardant additives used in composites manufacture.