Spent refinery catalyst as a flame retardancy enhancer in an intumescent polymeric system

Spent oil refinery catalyst from the FCC unit has been evaluated as an additive in intumescent flame retardant formulations containing ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and pentaerythritol (PER) in an ethylene-butyl acrylate-maleic anhydride terpolymer matrix. UL-94, LOI and cone calorimetry analyses were carried out and the results show that the addition of small amounts of the catalyst to the additive system greatly enhances flame retardancy performance of the intumescent formulations. All materials containing intumescent formulations were V0 rated according to the UL-94 standard. A ten unit increase in LOI values was observed by the addition of 5 wt.% of catalyst to the APP/PER formulations, and significant lowering in the rate of heat release, total heat evolved, smoke, CO and CO2 emission were detected by cone calorimetry.