SEMICONDUCTOR CLEAN ROOM PLASTICS
Scientists at Factory Mutual Research Corporation have developed a unique piece of test equipment that determines which plastic materials can best reduce property loss caused by fires in the sterile environments of multimillion dollar clean rooms. FMRC's Flammability Test Apparatus can determine which plastic materials are capable of resisting fire, emitting little if any smoke, and producing little if any corrosive byproducts and thus are suitable in clean rooms and don't require special fire protection. Cleanroom technology is vital to an increasing number of industries and has historically been a difficult and critical area for industry to protect from fires because computer chips are highly susceptible to damage from the tiniest amount of dust or contaminants, which could potentially destroy a facility. However, by the time a clean room fire spread and triggered a fire protection system, it may have been too late to salvage the operation. Manufactured plastic materials passing the Protocol can be listed in the FMRC Approval Guide, a globally-accepted industry publication listing equipment, materials and services for property conservation.

For more information, contact Factory Mutual Research Corp., 1151 Boston-Providence Turnpike, P.O. Box 9102, Norwood, MA 02062, 781-255-4671, FAX 781-255-0181.