title: Fire resistance of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menzieesi) treated with borates and natural extractives.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine fire resistance of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menzieesi (Mirb.) Franco) specimens treated with borate supplemented aqueous solutions of brutia pine bark powder, acorn powder, sumach leaf powder, and gall-nut powder. Boric acid (BA) and borax (BX) were used as borates which are the most commonly used fire retardants in wood preservation industry. Natural extractives (brutia pine bark powder, sumach leaf powder, acorn powder, and gall-nut powder) were also used which have toxic efficiency against insects and fungi due to their tannin contents. A commercial treatment compound Tanalith-CBC (copper-borate-chromate), which is an impregnation chemical, is used for comparison. The fire test method was performed in three stages: flame stage, without flame stage, and glowing stage. Results indicated that the lowest temperature for flame stage, without flame stage, and glowing stage were obtained for specimens treated with BA and BX mixture (7:3; weight:weight). The lowest mass loss was found for the specimens treated with a mixture of BA and BX. Natural extractives did not improve fire resistance of the samples. However, boric acid and borax had excellent fire retardant effectiveness over untreated and treated samples with natural extractives.
authors.affiliation: Mugla University, Faculty of Technical Education, Kotekli, Mugla 48000, Turkey. ergun69@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ergun
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baysal
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Altinok
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Colak
authors.forename: S Kiyoka
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ozaki
authors.forename: Hilmi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Toker
mesh_terms: D001881:Borates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003252:Construction Materials; D005390:Fires / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000494:pharmacology; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000295:instrumentation; D008954:Models, Biological; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D028224:Pseudotsuga / Q000187:drug effects*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D001881:Borates; D005411:Flame Retardants; D010936:Plant Extracts