{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "user_comment": "This feed allows you to read the posts from this site in any feed reader that supports the JSON Feed format. To add this feed to your reader, copy the following URL -- https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/category/guillermo-rein/feed/json/ -- and add it your reader.", "home_page_url": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/category/guillermo-rein/", "feed_url": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/category/guillermo-rein/feed/json/", "title": "Let's talk bromine", "description": "A conversation starter in the fast-moving bromine field", "items": [ { "id": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2020/09/29/fire-safety-saving-lives-minimising-damage-interview-professor-guillermo-rein/", "url": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2020/09/29/fire-safety-saving-lives-minimising-damage-interview-professor-guillermo-rein/", "title": "Meet the Experts: Fire safety, saving lives and minimising damage \u2013 an interview with Professor Guillermo Rein", "content_html": "

In this edition of Meet the Experts, Nuno Bacharel, Communications Manager at BSEF, speaks to Dr. Guillermo Rein, Professor of Fire Science at Imperial College London, about the history and future of fire safety. Guillermo also explains how flame retardants, such as Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs), reduce the flammability of polymers.

\n

Dr. Rein describes fire as \u201cthe greatest discovery of humanity\u201d. However, he acknowledges the \u201cdark-side\u201d of fire and warns that humans are surrounded by flammable environments and have a tendency to forget about fire hazards in their houses and at work.

\n

\n

Guillermo provided some insight into the complacency of many people living in developed countries with respect to fire safety, saying\u00a0that, \u201cIn developed countries, fire safety has been so safe for the last several decades that people have a tendency to forget that fire is a hazard daily in their houses\u201d. \u201cPeople are surprised to have fires, [\u2026] lose property and sometimes even lives\u201d, he added.

\n

When asked whether fire safety had improved following a dramatic increase in the number of electronic appliances over the last twenty years, Dr Rein remarked that although humans have been \u201cincreasing the flammability of our homes\u201d, they are safer today. He says that we are \u201cunderstanding how to control the flammability of the products that are brought into the market.\u201d

\n

With respect to flame retardants, Dr. Rein acknowledged their ability to dramatically reduce the flammability of polymers. \u201cThe benefit of flame retardants such as bromide is that they hinder the formation of a flame,\u201d Guillermo said. \u201cIn the presence of bromide, the flame doesn\u2019t burn well,” he added.\u00a0Dr. Rein\u00a0argues that bromide \u201cis a very effective way of preventing a fire from growing.\u201d

\n

Dr. Rein believes that more progress still needs to be made in order to gain more control over flammability and create safer environments at home and in the workplace.

\n

The post Meet the Experts: Fire safety, saving lives and minimising damage \u2013 an interview with Professor Guillermo Rein appeared first on Let's talk bromine.

\n", "content_text": "In this edition of Meet the Experts, Nuno Bacharel, Communications Manager at BSEF, speaks to Dr. Guillermo Rein, Professor of Fire Science at Imperial College London, about the history and future of fire safety. Guillermo also explains how flame retardants, such as Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs), reduce the flammability of polymers.\nDr. Rein describes fire as \u201cthe greatest discovery of humanity\u201d. However, he acknowledges the \u201cdark-side\u201d of fire and warns that humans are surrounded by flammable environments and have a tendency to forget about fire hazards in their houses and at work.\n\nGuillermo provided some insight into the complacency of many people living in developed countries with respect to fire safety, saying\u00a0that, \u201cIn developed countries, fire safety has been so safe for the last several decades that people have a tendency to forget that fire is a hazard daily in their houses\u201d. \u201cPeople are surprised to have fires, [\u2026] lose property and sometimes even lives\u201d, he added.\nWhen asked whether fire safety had improved following a dramatic increase in the number of electronic appliances over the last twenty years, Dr Rein remarked that although humans have been \u201cincreasing the flammability of our homes\u201d, they are safer today. He says that we are \u201cunderstanding how to control the flammability of the products that are brought into the market.\u201d\nWith respect to flame retardants, Dr. Rein acknowledged their ability to dramatically reduce the flammability of polymers. \u201cThe benefit of flame retardants such as bromide is that they hinder the formation of a flame,\u201d Guillermo said. \u201cIn the presence of bromide, the flame doesn\u2019t burn well,” he added.\u00a0Dr. Rein\u00a0argues that bromide \u201cis a very effective way of preventing a fire from growing.\u201d\nDr. Rein believes that more progress still needs to be made in order to gain more control over flammability and create safer environments at home and in the workplace.\nThe post Meet the Experts: Fire safety, saving lives and minimising damage \u2013 an interview with Professor Guillermo Rein appeared first on Let's talk bromine.", "date_published": "2020-09-29T09:00:31+00:00", "date_modified": "2020-09-29T15:36:43+00:00", "author": { "name": "admin", "url": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/author/admin/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0428b8e4964fa7634cc8733194ee5bbe?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/13.jpg", "tags": [ "Fire retardancy", "Guillermo Rein", "Meet the Experts" ] }, { "id": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2019/12/10/role-brominated-flame-retardants-electric-electronic-appliances/", "url": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2019/12/10/role-brominated-flame-retardants-electric-electronic-appliances/", "title": "The role of brominated flame retardants in electric and electronic appliances", "content_html": "

Fire spreads rapidly: escape time is limited

\n

According to the US Department of Homeland Security a fire can become life-threatening in just 2 minutes. It takes no more than 30 seconds for a small flame to burst into a sizable fire. It is clear that when you are trying to escape a fire, every second counts.

\n

Accidental fires can start easily by many different reasons: for example\u00a0gas stoves, burning cigarettes, failing electronics \u2026 We all use highly flammable materials\u00a0in our homes, workspaces and public places on a daily basis, but we might not be aware of the risks they present.

\n

These materials are especially flammable:\u00a0

\n
    \n
  1. Electrical appliances and electronics
    2. \n
  2. Synthetics and fibres\u00a0such as upholstered furniture, carpets, wall coverings and drapery
    3. \n
  3. Insulation material
    4. \n
\n

 

\n

The impact of our electronics addiction on fire safety

\n

Over time more and more of these materials have become commonplace for all of us. We rely on them in every aspect of our lives. That is especially the case with electrical appliances and electronics. Our dependency on electronics has indeed increased our level of comfort and made our lives easier, but in the same time it decreased fire safety in our homes, offices, factories, public places \u2026

\n

How? All kinds of electronics contain a high level of plastics, or polymers. These plastics present a significant fire risk.

\n

The figures are clear, yet alarming:

\n

The time available to escape from a burning building shortened drastically from 17 minutes in the 70s to even less than 3 minutes in 2015.\u00a0Taking into account the pace of digital evolution, we will be seeing even more electronics in the future – everywhere. Does this mean that in a few years\u2019 time, trying to escape from a burning building will be futile? Do we have to \u2026 embrace our horrible faith in the event of fire?

\n

Luckily, it won\u2019t go this far if we make use of brominated flame retardants. They make it possible to avoid or slow down the burning process, extending escape time and improving your chances of getting out safely.

\n

Why are flame retardants so important?

\n

Flame retardants are chemicals that are added to materials to slow down the ignition process in case of a fire. In that way they reduce risks of fire, property losses and \u2013 more importantly \u2013 human casualties.

\n

Guillermo Rein is a Professor of Fire Science at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. For our previous newsletter we had an interesting talk with him about fire science and the importance of flame retardants in society. He states that adding flame retardants to plastics \u2018is the most successful way that we have right now to use plastics’.

\n

Bromine reduces fire risk in electronics

\n

As we already pointed out, electronics and electrical appliances, such as televisions, computers, radios, fridges and washing machines mostly consist of a high volume of plastics, which are highly flammable.\u00a0Ignition may be initiated from both inside the device and from external sources.

\n
\n
\n
\n

Adding brominated flame retardants to these\u00a0materials helps them meet safety standards and protect their users, since they prevent ignition from inside and out. Professor Rein agrees that bromine is a vital element for fire safety: \u2018(\u2026) I see bromine as something that helps make plastics less flammable. It has a significant amount of abilities to really decrease flammability, and for me that is absolutely essential\u2019.

\n

Where are brominated flame retardants used?

\n

\"Consumer \"IT \"White

\n

 

\n

 

\n

 

\n

 

\n

 

\n

 

\n

Brominated flame retardants are being added in appliances\u2019 manufacturing process:

\n\n

 

\n

Ban on halogenated flame retardants in electronic display

\n

The European Commission adopted a ban on halogenated flame retardants, which include brominated flame retardants, in the Ecodesign Directive\u2019s requirements for electronic displays on 1 October.

\n

Unheard of, says BSEF. This ban goes beyond the scope of the Ecodesign Directive and subordinates RoHS, which should be the vehicle for any substance restrictions such as this one.

\n

Brominated flame retardants are recyclable

\n

The ban is being justified by the EC by stating that these halogenated flame retardants prevent WEEE plastics from being recycled. Well, this is not the case for the entire group of halogenated flame retardants.

\n

BSEF, along with the plastics industry and recyclers are (and will be in the future) working on new technologies to address recycling properly. For many years now, it has been possible to recycle products containing brominated flame retardants. In fact, recycled plastics with brominated fire retardants in them, meet the same levels of fire safety as virgin material. No value is lost in the recycling process.

\n

In case recycling a particular product is not possible, we have provided a number of eco-efficient waste management options:

\n\n

Read more about BSEF\u2019s take on this ban in our press release: BSEF objects to ban on halogenated flame retardants in EU ecodesign requirements for electronic displays.

\n

Want to know more about flame retardancy?

\n

Intrigued about the importance of fire safety and flame retardancy?

\n

Professor\u00a0Masaru Kitano of the\u00a0Shukutoku\u00a0University in Japan brought together his experiences, thoughts and views on fire safety and flame retardancy science\u00a0in his book \u2018Introduction to flame retardancy \u2013 Protect your life and property from fire\u2019, and BSEF is proud to have worked on the translation of his book.

\n

It is a highly fascinating book that applies to\u00a0every one\u00a0of us, since fire safety also affects every one of us. Read more about it:\u00a0\u2018Introduction to flame retardancy: the book\u2019.

\n

\"Professor

\n

Want your exclusive copy of \u2018Introduction to flame retardancy\u2019?

\n

Professor Kitano\u2019s book is not for sale. If you are interested in reading it, please contact us and we will be happy to send you an exclusive copy!

\n

Send your request to letstalkbromine@bsef.org.

\n

SOURCES

\n

https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2018/03/08/response-dr-alexander-morgan-flame-retardants-uk-furniture-increase-smoke-toxicity-reduce-fire-growth-rate-chemosphere-2018-196-429-439/
\nhttps://www.flameretardants.eu
\nhttps://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2017/12/07/the-evolution-of-bromine-flame-retardants-towards-brominated-polymers/
\nhttps://www.bsef.com/fire-safety/
\nhttps://www.ready.gov/home-fires
\nhttps://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2017/12/07/the-evolution-of-bromine-flame-retardants-towards-brominated-polymers/
\nhttps://chemicalwatch.com/82803/industry-blasts-eu-ban-on-halogenated-flame-retardants-in-electronic-displays#overlay-strip
\nhttps://chemicalwatch.com/75831/ecodesign-directives-proposed-halogens-ban-not-a-precedent-eu-says#overlay-strip
\nhttps://pr.euractiv.com/pr/proposed-eu-eco-design-regulation-electronic-displays-ban-halogenated-flame-retardants-casings

\n

The post The role of brominated flame retardants in electric and electronic appliances appeared first on Let's talk bromine.

\n", "content_text": "Fire spreads rapidly: escape time is limited\nAccording to the US Department of Homeland Security a fire can become life-threatening in just 2 minutes. It takes no more than 30 seconds for a small flame to burst into a sizable fire. It is clear that when you are trying to escape a fire, every second counts.\nAccidental fires can start easily by many different reasons: for example\u00a0gas stoves, burning cigarettes, failing electronics \u2026 We all use highly flammable materials\u00a0in our homes, workspaces and public places on a daily basis, but we might not be aware of the risks they present.\nThese materials are especially flammable:\u00a0\n\nElectrical appliances and electronics\nSynthetics and fibres\u00a0such as upholstered furniture, carpets, wall coverings and drapery\nInsulation material\n\n \nThe impact of our electronics addiction on fire safety\nOver time more and more of these materials have become commonplace for all of us. We rely on them in every aspect of our lives. That is especially the case with electrical appliances and electronics. Our dependency on electronics has indeed increased our level of comfort and made our lives easier, but in the same time it decreased fire safety in our homes, offices, factories, public places \u2026\nHow? All kinds of electronics contain a high level of plastics, or polymers. These plastics present a significant fire risk.\nThe figures are clear, yet alarming:\nThe time available to escape from a burning building shortened drastically from 17 minutes in the 70s to even less than 3 minutes in 2015.\u00a0Taking into account the pace of digital evolution, we will be seeing even more electronics in the future – everywhere. Does this mean that in a few years\u2019 time, trying to escape from a burning building will be futile? Do we have to \u2026 embrace our horrible faith in the event of fire?\nLuckily, it won\u2019t go this far if we make use of brominated flame retardants. They make it possible to avoid or slow down the burning process, extending escape time and improving your chances of getting out safely.\nWhy are flame retardants so important?\nFlame retardants are chemicals that are added to materials to slow down the ignition process in case of a fire. In that way they reduce risks of fire, property losses and \u2013 more importantly \u2013 human casualties.\nGuillermo Rein is a Professor of Fire Science at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. For our previous newsletter we had an interesting talk with him about fire science and the importance of flame retardants in society. He states that adding flame retardants to plastics \u2018is the most successful way that we have right now to use plastics’.\nBromine reduces fire risk in electronics\nAs we already pointed out, electronics and electrical appliances, such as televisions, computers, radios, fridges and washing machines mostly consist of a high volume of plastics, which are highly flammable.\u00a0Ignition may be initiated from both inside the device and from external sources.\n\n\n\nAdding brominated flame retardants to these\u00a0materials helps them meet safety standards and protect their users, since they prevent ignition from inside and out. Professor Rein agrees that bromine is a vital element for fire safety: \u2018(\u2026) I see bromine as something that helps make plastics less flammable. It has a significant amount of abilities to really decrease flammability, and for me that is absolutely essential\u2019.\nWhere are brominated flame retardants used?\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nBrominated flame retardants are being added in appliances\u2019 manufacturing process:\n\nthey can either be added\u00a0when manufacturing the\u00a0polymer materials, or\nwhen manufacturing the printed circuit boards, in which case they react with materials such as epoxy.\n\n \nBan on halogenated flame retardants in electronic display\nThe European Commission adopted a ban on halogenated flame retardants, which include brominated flame retardants, in the Ecodesign Directive\u2019s requirements for electronic displays on 1 October.\nUnheard of, says BSEF. This ban goes beyond the scope of the Ecodesign Directive and subordinates RoHS, which should be the vehicle for any substance restrictions such as this one.\nBrominated flame retardants are recyclable\nThe ban is being justified by the EC by stating that these halogenated flame retardants prevent WEEE plastics from being recycled. Well, this is not the case for the entire group of halogenated flame retardants.\nBSEF, along with the plastics industry and recyclers are (and will be in the future) working on new technologies to address recycling properly. For many years now, it has been possible to recycle products containing brominated flame retardants. In fact, recycled plastics with brominated fire retardants in them, meet the same levels of fire safety as virgin material. No value is lost in the recycling process.\nIn case recycling a particular product is not possible, we have provided a number of eco-efficient waste management options:\n\nincineration with energy recovery,\nprecious metals melting, or\nchemical recycling, which even allows the bromine to re-enter the circular economy as valuable resource.\n\nRead more about BSEF\u2019s take on this ban in our press release: BSEF objects to ban on halogenated flame retardants in EU ecodesign requirements for electronic displays.\nWant to know more about flame retardancy?\nIntrigued about the importance of fire safety and flame retardancy?\nProfessor\u00a0Masaru Kitano of the\u00a0Shukutoku\u00a0University in Japan brought together his experiences, thoughts and views on fire safety and flame retardancy science\u00a0in his book \u2018Introduction to flame retardancy \u2013 Protect your life and property from fire\u2019, and BSEF is proud to have worked on the translation of his book.\nIt is a highly fascinating book that applies to\u00a0every one\u00a0of us, since fire safety also affects every one of us. Read more about it:\u00a0\u2018Introduction to flame retardancy: the book\u2019.\n\nWant your exclusive copy of \u2018Introduction to flame retardancy\u2019?\nProfessor Kitano\u2019s book is not for sale. If you are interested in reading it, please contact us and we will be happy to send you an exclusive copy!\nSend your request to letstalkbromine@bsef.org.\nSOURCES\nhttps://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2018/03/08/response-dr-alexander-morgan-flame-retardants-uk-furniture-increase-smoke-toxicity-reduce-fire-growth-rate-chemosphere-2018-196-429-439/\nhttps://www.flameretardants.eu\nhttps://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2017/12/07/the-evolution-of-bromine-flame-retardants-towards-brominated-polymers/\nhttps://www.bsef.com/fire-safety/\nhttps://www.ready.gov/home-fires\nhttps://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2017/12/07/the-evolution-of-bromine-flame-retardants-towards-brominated-polymers/\nhttps://chemicalwatch.com/82803/industry-blasts-eu-ban-on-halogenated-flame-retardants-in-electronic-displays#overlay-strip\nhttps://chemicalwatch.com/75831/ecodesign-directives-proposed-halogens-ban-not-a-precedent-eu-says#overlay-strip\nhttps://pr.euractiv.com/pr/proposed-eu-eco-design-regulation-electronic-displays-ban-halogenated-flame-retardants-casings\nThe post The role of brominated flame retardants in electric and electronic appliances appeared first on Let's talk bromine.", "date_published": "2019-12-10T15:55:41+00:00", "date_modified": "2019-12-11T13:50:52+00:00", "author": { "name": "admin", "url": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/author/admin/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0428b8e4964fa7634cc8733194ee5bbe?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/header1.png", "tags": [ "brominated flame retardants", "bromine", "bsef", "fire safety", "flame retardants", "Guillermo Rein", "masaru kitano", "Fire retardancy", "Recycling" ] }, { "id": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2019/06/19/meet-the-experts-professor-guillermo/", "url": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/2019/06/19/meet-the-experts-professor-guillermo/", "title": "Meet the Experts: Professor Guillermo Rein", "content_html": "

For this edition of Meet the Experts we spoke with a renowned figure in the field of Fire Science. We talked with Guillermo Rein, professor of Fire Science at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Imperial College London.

\n

His ample research and projects focus on fire, heat transfer and combustion. The main purpose of his work is to reduce the worldwide burden of accidental fires and\u00a0protect people, their property, and the environment. He especially enjoys solving multidisciplinary problems combining experimental and modelling techniques.

\n

Make sure to read our interview below if you would you like to know more about professor Rein\u2019s expertise and his view on the role and the future of fire safety.

\n
\"\"

\u00a9 Image by Joe McGory via Imperial College London.

\n

Authority in the field

\n

Guillermo Rein gained his years of experience through extensive practice and education: he studied Mechanical Engineering at ICAI Universidad Pontificia Comillas (Ingeniero Industrial, 1999) and also holds an MSc\u00a0(2003) and PhD\u00a0(2005) from the University of California at Berkeley.

\n

He has studied a wide range of fire dynamics topics\u00a0in the built and the natural environments, including pyrolysis, smouldering, fire modeling, wildfires, structures and fire, design methodologies and forecasting techniques.

\n

Rein is also Editor-in-Chief of the journal Fire Technology and he leads the research group Imperial Hazelab. Moreover, he is an extremely motivated teacher, enthusiastic about the education of the next generation of engineers, and passionate about outreach in engineering.

\n

His work is well-known and has been recognised internationally with various research awards\u00a0including: 2018 SFPE Guise Medal, 2017 The Engineer Collaborate-to-Innovate Prize, 2017 Combustion Institute Sugden Award, 2016 SFPE Lund Award.

\n

Conversation with a specialist

\n

Guillermo, as a Professor of Fire Science at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Imperial College London, could you tell us what moved you to study and work on this area and what exactly is fire science?

\n

I\u2019m a mechanical engineer, both in my bachelor\u2019s degree and my master degree and my PhD. And when I was finishing my PhD I was working at the University of California in Berkeley helping to understand how polymers burn in space, how plastics burn in space, inside a spacecraft, because there is no gravity.

\n

And when I graduated I thought that was an absolutely fascinating topic: to protect the lives of people and to go to space, to go to Mars. And then I wanted to have an academic career on Earth. So I have my background in mechanical engineering and heat transfer and combustion and chemistry. And I use all that to understand fires on earth, in buildings and forests, so I can protect and help citizens, properties and the environment.

\n

Fire science is the scientific branch to discover knowledge on how fires behave, how they ignite, how they spread, how they emit smoke and how they can be suppressed. This scientific knowledge is then given to engineers and authorities, who can then use that knowledge to create new technologies, combine it with previous things that they know work or to create new things. And little by little, by combining knowledge and engineering we can create a safer world.\u00a0

\n

Prof. Isaac Asimov\u00a0(1920-1992) said that \u201cFire is the greatest single discovery in human history\u201d, could you briefly explain to us how you see the progression of fire safety?

\n

\u00a0So fire safety engineering is facing a significant number of challenges, but we like to convert these challenges into opportunities. They are all opportunities to do things even better. Things that are on the forefront right now are facades, because of known tragedies that have happened recently. The facade is a very important part of the building and for the last 30 or 40 years polymers/plastics have been integrated into facades to make them even better, lighter, more beautiful and insulating, etc. It has all these incredible benefits, but all polymers have a degree of flammability, all plastics can burn. Some of them are really hard to ignite, although they spread very slowly, some of them are really easy to ignite and they will spread really fast. And it is up to the engineers to manipulate those properties and to choose a polymer in such an amount and to put it in a location in the structure of a fa\u00e7ade or any structure so that flammability is as low as is required for the safety of the people in the building.

\n

In the end, in general, we humans are addicted to plastics to polymers. It is a well-known addiction that has many benefits for society, but it has 2 issues: one is biodegradability (not al polymers can be degraded) and the other one is that all polymers are flammable.

\n

Fire science is a discipline of knowledge creation that helps engineers to manipulate those properties so they can actually create polymers with lower levels of flammability.

\n

\"\"In the last 20 years there has been a dramatic rise in the amounts of plastics around us and the presence of flammable materials in our homes and appliances. The\u00a0Guardian\u00a0(2017) predicts that plastic production will increase by 40% in the next ten years. Can you tell us the role and the importance of flame retardants in society?

\n

Flame retardants are a variety of components that are \u201cretardant\u201d. Retardancy makes plastic less flammable. There are many ways to achieve this, some of them are more in the scientific realm, some of them are more related to reality and the current industry.

\n

Adding flame retardants, which are an additive that is added to the plastic, as it is being manufactured is a specific way to achieve this. Actually it is based on the chemical alteration and the physical properties of the plastic. It is a very important engineering step. Actually it is the most successful way that we have right now to use plastics and have them as safe as we need them to be: by adding retardants.\u00a0

\n

When there is a fire, retardants can act chemically or physically, the two of them are possible. My research in particular is based more on the physical side. When you add new components to the polymer/plastic, they will heat up slower when there is a fire and only ignite later on (you can control how late). And even when they catch on fire, they will burn slowly and when there is time to suppress the fire, it will be easy to suppress. For my specific research I try to modify all these properties physically, but there is also the possibility to modify them chemically: when the polymer starts to ignite, it releases a gas that actually stops the flame from forming further.

\n

We have assisted to an evolution on the various flame retardant technologies. Can you tell us about the findings from research/papers that you are working on and how that data will have an impact in the future of flame retardancy?

\n

My specific research focuses on how to physically alter the properties of plastics so that it heats up slower, ignites later and only allows fire to spread slowly. As we speak I am working with companies that have found value in this way of altering the properties of plastics. The results of my research are being published and read as we speak.

\n

I will probably start working soon on composites, the strongest polymer that is known to man, (they are sometimes even stronger than steel). These are used in aerospace, cars, trains and ships. And there is a desire from citizens and engineers to use more of these composites. They are very strong and light, which means there is less fuel consumption, more fuel efficiency and energy savings, less pollution and less environmental impact. All beautiful results because of composites. But because plastic is involved, they always have some degree of flammability. I will be working with companies to decrease that level of flammability so the risk will be as small as when you have a train or a ship made of metal.

\n

Bromine, due to its characteristics, plays a key role to help meeting fire safety standards. New brominated technologies have been developed such as the Brominated Butadiene-Styrene Block Co-polymer. Can you tell us your views on the benefits of brominated flame retardants?

\n

Bromine is one of the chemical elements that, when added, can make plastic less flammable. It is a flame retardant that acts chemically, not physically. My expertise is not on chemical flame retardants. But as an engineer I see bromine as something that helps make plastics less flammable. It has a significant amount of abilities to really decrease flammability, and for me that is absolutely essential. No matter how it is achieved, but decreasing the flammability or having the ability to control the flammability of a polymer to a required level is absolutely essential. And my understanding is that brominated flame retardants do this.\u00a0 \u00a0

\n

The importance of flame retardants is not always understood by the public or the media. Do you think that flame retardants chemistries are undermined? What is your view on Flammability vs. Toxicology?

\n

The worst thing that can happen is to have even more plastics, which is what all the trends are showing, and allow them to be as flammable as they are right now or even more flammable.

\n

Fire safety engineering is a really tough profession. Because the more we succeed at protecting the citizens, and decreasing fatalities, and decreasing damage and fires, the faster society forgets about us. We practise a profession where people only know that we exist, when we fail. The more we succeed in our field, the more we are forgotten by citizens.

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A fire hazard is not an opinion, it is an actual fact. So it is absolutely essential that citizens are guided in the process of looking into concerns about toxicology.

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There is an ongoing discussion in the UK, US and the European union about a trade-off between flammability and perceived toxicology of some elements that have been added to polymers. And not when the polymer is burning, but even when the polymer is not burning yet. And I as an engineer feel very uncomfortable about a trade-off of two risks, because it is like saying: \u201cBoth are risks, but I want to decrease one, by increasing the other or vice versa\u201d, and that is very dangerous. Because if you don\u2019t approach this trade-off with a full and complete understanding of the consequences of manipulating the risks, then you are taking the wrong decisions. So I would recommend authorities to prevent flammability and toxicology being minimised, without modifying the other. Or that they invest tremendously in fire science and toxicology so that we can figure it out and understand these two risks. And then maybe a trade-off is allowed. \u00a0\u00a0

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SOURCES

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https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/g.rein
\nhttps://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/g.rein/cv/GRein_CV.pdf
\nhttp://bsef.com/
\nhttps://www.iawfonline.org/members/guillermo-rein/
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The post Meet the Experts: Professor Guillermo Rein appeared first on Let's talk bromine.

\n", "content_text": "For this edition of Meet the Experts we spoke with a renowned figure in the field of Fire Science. We talked with Guillermo Rein, professor of Fire Science at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Imperial College London.\nHis ample research and projects focus on fire, heat transfer and combustion. The main purpose of his work is to reduce the worldwide burden of accidental fires and\u00a0protect people, their property, and the environment. He especially enjoys solving multidisciplinary problems combining experimental and modelling techniques.\nMake sure to read our interview below if you would you like to know more about professor Rein\u2019s expertise and his view on the role and the future of fire safety.\n\u00a9 Image by Joe McGory via Imperial College London.\nAuthority in the field\nGuillermo Rein gained his years of experience through extensive practice and education: he studied Mechanical Engineering at ICAI Universidad Pontificia Comillas (Ingeniero Industrial, 1999) and also holds an MSc\u00a0(2003) and PhD\u00a0(2005) from the University of California at Berkeley.\nHe has studied a wide range of fire dynamics topics\u00a0in the built and the natural environments, including pyrolysis, smouldering, fire modeling, wildfires, structures and fire, design methodologies and forecasting techniques.\nRein is also Editor-in-Chief of the journal Fire Technology and he leads the research group Imperial Hazelab. Moreover, he is an extremely motivated teacher, enthusiastic about the education of the next generation of engineers, and passionate about outreach in engineering.\nHis work is well-known and has been recognised internationally with various research awards\u00a0including: 2018 SFPE Guise Medal, 2017 The Engineer Collaborate-to-Innovate Prize, 2017 Combustion Institute Sugden Award, 2016 SFPE Lund Award.\nConversation with a specialist\nGuillermo, as a Professor of Fire Science at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Imperial College London, could you tell us what moved you to study and work on this area and what exactly is fire science?\nI\u2019m a mechanical engineer, both in my bachelor\u2019s degree and my master degree and my PhD. And when I was finishing my PhD I was working at the University of California in Berkeley helping to understand how polymers burn in space, how plastics burn in space, inside a spacecraft, because there is no gravity. \nAnd when I graduated I thought that was an absolutely fascinating topic: to protect the lives of people and to go to space, to go to Mars. And then I wanted to have an academic career on Earth. So I have my background in mechanical engineering and heat transfer and combustion and chemistry. And I use all that to understand fires on earth, in buildings and forests, so I can protect and help citizens, properties and the environment.\nFire science is the scientific branch to discover knowledge on how fires behave, how they ignite, how they spread, how they emit smoke and how they can be suppressed. This scientific knowledge is then given to engineers and authorities, who can then use that knowledge to create new technologies, combine it with previous things that they know work or to create new things. And little by little, by combining knowledge and engineering we can create a safer world.\u00a0\nProf. Isaac Asimov\u00a0(1920-1992) said that \u201cFire is the greatest single discovery in human history\u201d, could you briefly explain to us how you see the progression of fire safety?\n\u00a0So fire safety engineering is facing a significant number of challenges, but we like to convert these challenges into opportunities. They are all opportunities to do things even better. Things that are on the forefront right now are facades, because of known tragedies that have happened recently. The facade is a very important part of the building and for the last 30 or 40 years polymers/plastics have been integrated into facades to make them even better, lighter, more beautiful and insulating, etc. It has all these incredible benefits, but all polymers have a degree of flammability, all plastics can burn. Some of them are really hard to ignite, although they spread very slowly, some of them are really easy to ignite and they will spread really fast. And it is up to the engineers to manipulate those properties and to choose a polymer in such an amount and to put it in a location in the structure of a fa\u00e7ade or any structure so that flammability is as low as is required for the safety of the people in the building.\nIn the end, in general, we humans are addicted to plastics to polymers. It is a well-known addiction that has many benefits for society, but it has 2 issues: one is biodegradability (not al polymers can be degraded) and the other one is that all polymers are flammable. \nFire science is a discipline of knowledge creation that helps engineers to manipulate those properties so they can actually create polymers with lower levels of flammability.\nIn the last 20 years there has been a dramatic rise in the amounts of plastics around us and the presence of flammable materials in our homes and appliances. The\u00a0Guardian\u00a0(2017) predicts that plastic production will increase by 40% in the next ten years. Can you tell us the role and the importance of flame retardants in society?\nFlame retardants are a variety of components that are \u201cretardant\u201d. Retardancy makes plastic less flammable. There are many ways to achieve this, some of them are more in the scientific realm, some of them are more related to reality and the current industry. \nAdding flame retardants, which are an additive that is added to the plastic, as it is being manufactured is a specific way to achieve this. Actually it is based on the chemical alteration and the physical properties of the plastic. It is a very important engineering step. Actually it is the most successful way that we have right now to use plastics and have them as safe as we need them to be: by adding retardants.\u00a0\nWhen there is a fire, retardants can act chemically or physically, the two of them are possible. My research in particular is based more on the physical side. When you add new components to the polymer/plastic, they will heat up slower when there is a fire and only ignite later on (you can control how late). And even when they catch on fire, they will burn slowly and when there is time to suppress the fire, it will be easy to suppress. For my specific research I try to modify all these properties physically, but there is also the possibility to modify them chemically: when the polymer starts to ignite, it releases a gas that actually stops the flame from forming further.\nWe have assisted to an evolution on the various flame retardant technologies. Can you tell us about the findings from research/papers that you are working on and how that data will have an impact in the future of flame retardancy?\nMy specific research focuses on how to physically alter the properties of plastics so that it heats up slower, ignites later and only allows fire to spread slowly. As we speak I am working with companies that have found value in this way of altering the properties of plastics. The results of my research are being published and read as we speak. \nI will probably start working soon on composites, the strongest polymer that is known to man, (they are sometimes even stronger than steel). These are used in aerospace, cars, trains and ships. And there is a desire from citizens and engineers to use more of these composites. They are very strong and light, which means there is less fuel consumption, more fuel efficiency and energy savings, less pollution and less environmental impact. All beautiful results because of composites. But because plastic is involved, they always have some degree of flammability. I will be working with companies to decrease that level of flammability so the risk will be as small as when you have a train or a ship made of metal.\nBromine, due to its characteristics, plays a key role to help meeting fire safety standards. New brominated technologies have been developed such as the Brominated Butadiene-Styrene Block Co-polymer. Can you tell us your views on the benefits of brominated flame retardants?\nBromine is one of the chemical elements that, when added, can make plastic less flammable. It is a flame retardant that acts chemically, not physically. My expertise is not on chemical flame retardants. But as an engineer I see bromine as something that helps make plastics less flammable. It has a significant amount of abilities to really decrease flammability, and for me that is absolutely essential. No matter how it is achieved, but decreasing the flammability or having the ability to control the flammability of a polymer to a required level is absolutely essential. And my understanding is that brominated flame retardants do this.\u00a0 \u00a0\nThe importance of flame retardants is not always understood by the public or the media. Do you think that flame retardants chemistries are undermined? What is your view on Flammability vs. Toxicology?\nThe worst thing that can happen is to have even more plastics, which is what all the trends are showing, and allow them to be as flammable as they are right now or even more flammable.\nFire safety engineering is a really tough profession. Because the more we succeed at protecting the citizens, and decreasing fatalities, and decreasing damage and fires, the faster society forgets about us. We practise a profession where people only know that we exist, when we fail. The more we succeed in our field, the more we are forgotten by citizens. \nA fire hazard is not an opinion, it is an actual fact. So it is absolutely essential that citizens are guided in the process of looking into concerns about toxicology. \nThere is an ongoing discussion in the UK, US and the European union about a trade-off between flammability and perceived toxicology of some elements that have been added to polymers. And not when the polymer is burning, but even when the polymer is not burning yet. And I as an engineer feel very uncomfortable about a trade-off of two risks, because it is like saying: \u201cBoth are risks, but I want to decrease one, by increasing the other or vice versa\u201d, and that is very dangerous. Because if you don\u2019t approach this trade-off with a full and complete understanding of the consequences of manipulating the risks, then you are taking the wrong decisions. So I would recommend authorities to prevent flammability and toxicology being minimised, without modifying the other. Or that they invest tremendously in fire science and toxicology so that we can figure it out and understand these two risks. And then maybe a trade-off is allowed. \u00a0\u00a0\nSOURCES\nhttps://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/g.rein\nhttps://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/g.rein/cv/GRein_CV.pdf\nhttp://bsef.com/\nhttps://www.iawfonline.org/members/guillermo-rein/\n\nThe post Meet the Experts: Professor Guillermo Rein appeared first on Let's talk bromine.", "date_published": "2019-06-19T11:42:55+00:00", "date_modified": "2019-06-24T13:15:21+00:00", "author": { "name": "admin", "url": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/author/admin/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0428b8e4964fa7634cc8733194ee5bbe?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://lets-talk-bromine.bsef.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Guillermo_interview_i2.jpg", "tags": [ "bsef", "fire safety", "fire science", "flame retardants", "Guillermo Rein", "Imperial College London", "mechanical engineering", "polymers", "Fire retardancy", "General news" ] } ] }