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| Project title: | Development of low environmental impact fire retardants for wood |
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| Project short title: | FireStop |
| Number of project implementation agreement: | EE-LV00014 |
| Registration number: | 4794 |
| Department: | Institute of Energy Systems and Environment |
| Administrating department: | Institute of Energy Systems and Environment |
| Finance fund: | Interreg Estonia – Latvia |
| Project RTU role: | project partner |
| Status: | In implementation |
| Project start date: | 01.12.2023. |
| Project end date: | 30.11.2026. |
| Title of grant issuer: | Eiropas Reģionālās attīstības fonds (ERAF) |
| General manager: | Francesco Romagnoli |
| Administrative manager: | Terēza Bezručko |
| Total finance: | |
| 621 827,50 eur | |
| Summary: | |
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Wooden houses- and timber industry in Latvia and Estonia are well developed and is one of the most export-oriented sectors. According to the EU regulations it is mandatory to apply fire retardants (FR) on all public wooden buildings. Currently, the existing FR-s tend to leach out into environment due impact of rain and moisture, the protective effect decreases, and leached product causes environmental harm in water and soil. Furthermore, due to these shortcomings, the current FR-s lack eco certificate, which is highly desired as a proof of low environmental impact. The main output is improved product with lower leaching and favorable environmental profile, and such FR is much sought after by the wood industry and environmentally conscious private consumers. Thus, such improved product will: (i) enhance the competetivness and growth of participating SME-s, (ii) improve the prospects of the wood and timber sector in the region, and (iii) reduce the environmental burden. Developing such product is a complex process requiring interdisciplinary knowledge that is not available in one country and thus cross border cooperation is inevitable. The knowledge of FR development and scale-up/production from Estonia is combined with FR testing, sustainability evaluation and end-user experience from Latvia |
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| Activities: | |
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To reduce the leaching of fire retardant over time into the environment; To investigate, if the same product can be used both outdoors and indoors, Evaluate and find suitable coating techniques for the optimized fire retardant(s) Evaluation of reaction to fire performance of different fire-retardant treated wood products by 2 different scale test methods: ISO 5660-1 (cone calorimeter test – small scale test) and EN 13823 (large scale test method, needed to evaluate potential reaction to fire class of building materials). Development of natural weathering methodology to evaluate durability of reaction to fire performance of new created products. Testing on different wood species and modified wood. To assess the sustainability of the FRs according to EU framework to define safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) criteria for chemicals and materials. To finalize the FR product and take steps towards marketing. Optimal volumes and ratios of the ingredients of the FR will be determined and tested in the actual production process, different application methods will be tested in the actual production process at the end user's facility. Product's technical data sheet and manual will be compiled and the joint marketing of the SMEs start - webpage, brochures, customer training, participation in trade fairs etc |
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| Project published on RTU website: | 01.12.2023. |