Flame resistant and intumescent paints and compounds — a review

The growth in the development of flame resistant and intumescent paints has been brought about by successive legislation and by the increasing awareness in recent years of the problem that paints can cause. The importance of developing these paints was highlighted during the Second World War when the Navy found that steel ships were no guarantee against fire loss. This was due to the accumulation of multiple layers of paint material providing material that was sufficiently flammable to spread fire from one sealed compartment to another by heat transmitted through the bulkhead. Fire remains an ever‐present hazard on ships and consequently it becomes commonsense to paint the internal structure and fitments wherever possible with a paint that will tend to resist flames. In this article we examine the various factors involved and the pigments that will enhance this property in any paint specification.