What happened to the flammable liquid cabinet after the fire tests?

How and where is the fire resistance of flammable liquid cabinets tested? What do the classes 30B, 60B, 90B mean? What happened to the cabinet after the laboratory tests?

URMK "SFERA" confirms the quality of its cabinets for the safe storage of flammable liquids with official certificates of conformity. These documents are issued only after fire resistance tests are passed successfully in an accredited laboratory – that is, an institution entitled to carry out such research.
For reference: equipment for storing flammable liquids and fuels and lubricants must have a fire resistance class. It is designated 30B, 60B, 90B or 120B, and the figures here are the number of minutes during which the cabinet can withstand exposure to open flame in a fire.
In other words, fire resistance 90B means that the flammable liquids inside the cabinet will be safe for at least 90 minutes – enough time for evacuation and for the fire brigade to arrive.

Laboratory tests: cabinet versus fire

For official certification, the 90B flammable liquid cabinet made by URMK "SFERA" had to pass tests in accordance with GOST R 57384-2017 (an analogue of the European standard EN 14470-1).
The test specimen was placed in a special furnace, where it was acclimatised for 16 hours at +20°C to equalise the temperature of the environment and the cabinet. Then it was literally burned for 90 minutes while the temperature was gradually raised to +1000 °C. Sensors installed inside the cabinet recorded the temperature in real time.
During this "fire" none of the sensors recorded the critical threshold being exceeded. This confirmed that the contents of the cabinet remain safe throughout the test. On this basis the cabinet was assigned fire resistance class 90B.

"Before" and "after" photos – from the laboratory report. Despite external damage, the structure remained intact and the temperature inside stayed within safe limits.

On average, flammable liquid cabinets made by URMK "SFERA" undergo laboratory fire resistance tests every two years. You can request the report of the latest tests here.

Why did we carry out tests ourselves?

We strive to ensure that our equipment for the safe storage of flammable liquids works flawlessly in critical situations. That is why, when developing fire-resistant cabinets, the specialists of URMK "SFERA" relied not only on calculations but also on real tests.
A few years ago at our plant we decided to carry out a series of tests to select the optimal fire-extinguishing system for the range of flammable liquid cabinets. Fire protection is essential for such equipment, because after 30, 60 or 90 minutes (depending on the fire resistance class) the fire may get inside – to where the combustible substances are.

How were the tests carried out? Rags were placed in the body of a standard cabinet and set alight, and the effectiveness of different fire-extinguishing systems was evaluated. As a result, a Russian-made self-activating powder fire extinguisher showed good results. This is the one we still use.

Incidentally, we have also installed imported systems – at the customer's request we equipped fireproof cabinets with a European system using a different extinguishing agent.
Our experience and competence allow us to make changes to the design features of the equipment we produce in order to improve its properties and to meet our customers' wishes.

Read more about how flammable liquid cabinets work and how they are built in our previous article. 

Do you use flammable liquids? Do not take risks – choose equipment that has passed all the necessary tests and has an official certificate of conformity.

See the range of flammable liquid cabinets from the manufacturer in the catalogue.