Facilities and Equipment

Fire Test Lab

The fire testing facility at FPL is key to developing safe, durable building products; it is equipped to perform standardized tests for flame retardancy and fire resistance.

Current fire test laboratory equipment available to users of this facility includes horizontal fire endurance furnace/tension apparatus, small vertical fire penetration furnace, Cone calorimeter, full-scale room/corner test, and non-standard fire endurance wall furnace, lateral ignition flame-travel test apparatus (LIFT), critical radiant flux apparatus, National Bureau of Standards smoke chamber, fire tube apparatus, modified Schlyter-panel apparatus, two-foot tunnel apparatus, oxygen-index test apparatus, and accelerated weathering chamber.

The planned fire test lab addition will enhance our current capabilities by enabling simulation of actual fire scenarios and better validation of computer models enabling evaluation of protection options or design changes. Features of the new facility will include air pollution control devices and a large-scale adjustable hood with a capacity for testing fires up to 8 MW.