Combustion of fibers is the drastic reaction between oxygen
and flammable substances from decomposing fibers being heated.
Such a continuous cyclic process is sustained by three basic
elements: flammable substance, external heat and oxygen. In
industry the FR property or inflammability of fibers is achieved
by reducing the quantity of flammable substances. There are
usually two ways to achieve inflammability: one is to apply
special chemicals to fibers so as to accelerate dehydration
and charring of fibers, such as Indura®¡¯s ammonia reaction
and Proban® treatment to cotton; the other method is to
change the internal structure of fibers through some chemical
process to reduce the flammable components of fibers, examples
are inherently flame resistant fibers like PR97TM, Nomex®
, PBI® .
The flame retardant nature of fabrics greatly slows down the
rate of combustion and enables fabrics to self-extinguish when
the flame is removed and to prevent itself from melting, dripping
or forming holes. It gives people time to evacuate from flame
sites or remove the burning clothing to reduce burns and damages.
As an in-depth means of protection, FR technology stops fire
hazards before they are materialized. It plays such an important
role in preventing burns & fire damages that it is being
widely adopted by most industrialized nations.
