Production of Fire-Resistant Ceiling Board from Agro-Based Fiber

This project “Production of Fire Retardant Ceiling Board from Agro-based Fiber” was carried out basically using some raw materials which were locally sourced. Some are materials sourced from the ground while some are from agricultural wastes and others are fire-resistant chemicals which are thermally stable inorganic salts like aluminum trihydrate or borate ester in addition to boric acid. A fire-resistant and environmentally-friendly ceiling board was produced by blending a mixture of two embodiments i.e. embodiments A and B. Embodiment A is a mixture of starch water, fire clay, sodium silicate and Zinc borate. This initial mixture is heated to form a gel. Fiber glass is then added to the gel to form a pulp which constitutes the core material. Embodiment B is a mixture of fire-resistant glass fiber meshes, virgin fiber pulp (agro-wastes) and magnesium compound. Embodiment B was used to reinforce embodiment A in a single layer forming a pulp. The pulp was fed into trays and pressed to form slabs. The slabs were then dried and finished into tiles. The panels were completely cured within 24 hours instead of 10 days by using the forced air circulation oven operating at 105oC for 5 to 6 hours. The ceiling board samples produced were tested for structural and fire performance/rating. 5500C max., and 2000C min., fire performance/rating standard were set. Sample D1 exhibited structural failure @ 3160C after 26 minutes maximum fire duration time and this outcome came about because D1 was unable to support its own weight when maximum fire duration exceeded 26 minutes @ 3160C. R2 exhibited structural failure @ 2970C. After enduring 2960C furnace temperature for 22minutes, bending strength dropped to 1.3145N/mm2, a remarkable strength property with good impact toughness. The use of waste materials and no gas emission manufacturing process combined to make this panel an eco-friendly product which offers a rating 22 minutes maximum fire duration time, though R2 was unable to support its own weight when the maximum fire duration exceeded 22 minutes @ 2960C. Fiber exhibited structural failure @ 2550C after 21 minutes maximum fire duration time while POP exhibited structural failure @ 2200C after 25 minutes maximum fire duration time. The four (4) samples were rated as follow: D1-3150C/26minutes, R2-2960C/22minutes, Fiber-2540C/21 and POP-2190C/25minutes. Decrease in the percentage of agro-waste increased the hardness of the board which is the property of a material that enables it to resist plastic deformation, usually by penetration. This was observed in R2 and D1 with 20% and 10% agro-waste content respectively, exhibiting higher strength properties compared to POP and Fiber with 40% and 30% agro-waste content. The compressive strength which is the capacity of a material to withstand axially directed pushing forces was highest with D1 followed by R2, Fiber, and then POP. At ambient temperature, D1 displayed 3.5875N/mm2 Bending Strength at Peak/Yield and after enduring 3150C fire resistance test for 26 minutes, it dropped to 1.3849N/mm2 high.