EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
unrivalled thermal performance, superior
fire protection and unmatched health
and wellness certification.
He explained further how Modularis
works and the main benefits over a
conventional cold store, mainly that
no steel frame is required, saving cost,
space, components, and time. Modular
cold stores can provide on the spot post-
harvest pre-cooling, extending the shelf life
of the produce.
He ended off by sharing various case
studies from around the world where
modular cold stores were put up using
these panels.
POLIDOOR PRODUCTS
A brief presentation on Polidoor products
followed, looking at their fire protection
systems and the various products they
have available. Polidoor is also a Kingspan
brand, offering various industrial, cold
storage and fire protection doors.
The presentation was done by Kingsley
Stinson, general manager Kingspan
Mark Harris testing measuring the temperature of the PUR panel after the test.
Polidoor division, who spoke about fire-
rated and safety products and what they
have on offer.
INSULATED PANELS FIRE
PERFORMANCE
Jim Loughran, Kingspan Insulated Panels managing director for Middle East, Africa, Turkey and
Central Asia said a few words in opening.
The last speaker of the day, before the
exciting live demo, was Mark Harris,
divisional technical director of the
Kingspan Group in the UK. His presentation
was entitled ‘fire performance of insulated
panels’ and covered quite a lot of ground,
including looking at reaction to fire vs
‘resistance’, which is where insulation
comes in.
He spoke about why one would
need high performance insulation in
particularly a cold store application.
“Not all insulation is the same,” he
said. He went into more detail about
Kingspan’s high performance insulation,
elaborating a bit more on its Quadcore
technology and the advantages of this,
particularly in a fire situation. He looked
at the various tests and certifications
backing up the product.
Then, from fire testing to real fires, Harris
shared multiple videos and case studies
of cold store fires around the world and
how the insulated panels held up. It was
clear to see that the FM-approved panels
did a much better job at not contributing
to fire spread.
“Building fabric is a crucial part of
holistic fire safe design,” he concluded.
Not all insulation
is the same.
LIVE FIRE DEMO
The event was well-attended and the live demonstration proved a captivating experience for all.
COLD LINK AFRICA • June 2019
Harris then led everyone outside where
a test rig was set up to compare various
insulation panel materials, including
conventional polyurethane (PUR) and
expanded polystyrene (EPS) options,
Kingspan IPN (PIR), and Kingspan’s
Quadcore.
A direct flame was then put onto the
panels for a few minutes to see how
they would react. Harris also measured
the temperatures behind the panels
afterwards to see how much heat was
still trapped.
The flame burned straight through
the EPS panel and the damage to the
PUR panel sample was quite substantial
too. (It was also observed that the PUR
panel sample released the most amount
of smoke during the demo.) While
the Kingspan IPN (PIR) and Quadcore
panels showed little fire spread with
temperatures still normal on the back of
the panel.
Afterwards, everyone enjoyed some
drinks and a light lunch, interacting with
the various Kingspan team members in
attendance to get more information. CLA
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
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