CV of speaker – Thomas Müller

Thomas Müller was born in 1963; qualified as a textile engineer; married in 1988 to Susan who also works for THOR; two children; employed by Freudenberg; joined THOR in 1990; appointed Technical Manager of performance chemicals in 2003; appointed FR Group Business Director the entire THOR group in 2007.

Synopsis:

FLAME-RETARDANT ON TEXTILES
Active Substances & Application Techniques
A lecture presented at Sympotex 2008 by Thomas Müller

Flame-retardant finishing is done in order to protect people and the environment, reduce the potential danger of fire or to comply with a particular standard or specification. Almost all textile articles can be made flame-retardant.

When textile articles burn, it is often the toxic products of combustion that kill people and not the fire itself, so it is important to have this time to remove oneself from the fire and resultant emissions. The paper discusses various toxic products produced during combustion.

The propensity of textile items to ignite and burn is determined by the amount of oxygen required. This is one of the factors that determine the selection of the best flame-retardant for the job. If there is no oxygen there is no fire!

Flame-retardants can be divided into three basic classes: Durable, semi-durable and non-durable. The paper discusses the chemical differences, modes of action and application methods between these classes.

Different fibre types require different flame-retardants. The paper discusses the different active substance required to impart flame-retardant properties to different fibre types.

Finally the paper discusses the various flame-retardant standards and test methods.