Since ROCKWOOL first started producing stone wool 85 years ago, we’ve worked with many plant owners and operators looking for new solutions to their evolving process challenges. With our aspiration of becoming a critical partner at the owner level, we’ve learned that plants require low-cost, long-lasting solutions that maintain a steady thermal profile inside their pipelines while protecting from external threats like fire and water.

Hydrocarbon fires pose particularly severe risks to industrial facilities like petrochemical plants and refineries. They are extremely hazardous due to their unmatched heat and spread. Without proper safeguards in place, such fires can cause serious injuries, environmental damage, and significant downtime (unplanned repair and rebuilds)—all of which contribute to substantial direct and indirect costs that hurt plant profitability.

Consider active fire protection systems like alarms, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and overhead sprinklers. These systems are designed to deliver direct fire suppression and are often considered a plant’s best line of defense. However, active fire protection systems are expensive to install and maintain, and they may not adequately reach every area where a fire can spread.

Passive fire protection systems are stationary, fire-retardant materials built into a plant’s infrastructure. They can be used as standalone systems or in combination with active systems to ensure greater safety and fire suppression. These systems are always “working in the background” to impede the flow of heat or spread of fire, without having to be activated first.

Traditional cement-based (cementitious) materials are a passive fireproofing option for piping systems. But like active protection systems, they are expensive and time-consuming to install. And thanks to its limited porosity, cement-based fireproofing raises the risk of corrosion under insulation (CUI) by trapping water on the pipe wall and not allowing the water vapor to escape.

ProRox PS 680 mandrel-wound pipe insulation with FR-Tech™ was also tested to the UL 1709 standard for passive fire protection materials. To pass the standard, materials must protect equipment and maintain structural integrity for at least 30 minutes in a 2,000°F (1090°C) fire. This typically allows enough time to shut down the flow of flammable materials and prevent further fire spread.

To evaluate how effectively our protective solution stands up to rapid-temperature-rise fires, ROCKWOOL tested ProRox PS 680 to the UL 1709 fire curve at both 1 and 2-hour intervals on Schedule 40 and Schedule 80 pipe sections. In each test, the insulation maintained the pipe core temperature to well below 1,000°F (538°C) at various pipe sizes, offering critical hydrocarbon pool fire protection and ensuring structural integrity of the steel.

CUI is a critical challenge in the industrial sector. It is a costly problem, due to more frequent repairs, shutdowns, and overall reduction of plant service life. When it comes to protecting against water, ProRox 680 with FR-Tech™ also incorporates our proven WR-Tech™ (Water Repellency Technology), an advanced, hydrophobic binder technology that coats each individual insulation fiber to combat CUI. In testing, WR-Tech™ makes the insulation 5x more water repellent (at 482°F/250°C) than standard EN-compliant stone wool, even after heating and aging.