Recent developments of intumescent fire-protective coatings used in steel buildings are important to ensure the structural integrity and safe evacuation of occupants during fire accidents. Flame-retardant intumescent coating applied to structural steel could delay the spread of fire and heat propagation across spaces and structures in minimizing fire risks. This research focuses on formulating a green intumescent coating utilized the BioAsh, a by-product derived from natural rubberwood (hardwood) biomass combustion as the natural substitute of mineral fillers in the intumescent coating. Fire resistance, chemical, physical and mechanical properties of all samples were examined via Bunsen burner, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), carbolite furnace, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), freeze–thaw cycle, static immersion and Instron pull-off adhesion test. Sample BioAsh intumescent coating (BAIC) 4-7 incorporated with 3.5 wt.% BioAsh exhibited the best performances in terms of fire resistance (112.5 °C for an hour under the Bunsen burner test), thermal stability (residual weight of 29.48 wt.% at 1000 °C in TGA test), adhesion strength (1.73 MPa under Instron pull-off adhesion test), water resistance (water absorption rate of 8.72%) and freeze–thaw durability (no crack, blister and color change) as compared to other samples. These results reveal that an appropriate amount of renewable BioAsh incorporated as natural mineral fillers into the intumescent coating could lead to better fire resistance and mechanical properties for the steel structures.

Oil palm shell (OPS) is an agricultural solid waste from the extraction process of palm oil. All these wastes from industry pose serious disposal issues for the environment. This research aims to promote the replacement of conventional coarse aggregates with eco-friendly OPS aggregate which offers several advantages, such as being lightweight, renewable, and domestically available. This paper evaluates the mechanical and thermal performances of renewable OPS lightweight concrete (LWC) reinforced with various type of synthetic polypropylene (SPP) fibers. Monofilament polypropylene (MPS) and barchip polypropylene straight (BPS) were added to concrete at different volume fractions (singly and hybrid) of 0%, 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.4%. All specimens were mixed by using a new mixing method with a time saving of up to 14.3% compared to conventional mixing methods. The effects of SPP fibers on the mechanical properties were investigated by compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and residual strength. The strength of the oil palm shell lightweight concrete hybrid 0.4% (OPSLWC–HYB–0.4%) mixture achieved the highest compressive strength of 29 MPa at 28 days. The inclusion of 0.3% of BPS showed a positive outcome with the lowest thermal conductivity value at 0.55 W/m °C. Therefore, the results revealed that incorporation of BPS fiber enhanced the performance of thermal conductivity tests as compared to inclusion of MPS fiber. Hence, renewable OPS LWC was proven to be a highly recommended environmentally friendly aggregate as an alternative solution to replace natural aggregates used in the concrete industry.

This paper presents the heat release characteristics, char formation and fire protection performance of thin-film intumescent coatings that integrate eggshell (ES) as an innovative and renewable flame-retardant bio-filler. A cone calorimeter was used to determine the thermal behavior of the samples in the condensed phase in line with the ISO 5660-1 standard. The fire resistance of the coatings was evaluated using a Bunsen burner test to examine the equilibrium temperature and formation of the char layer. The fire propagation test was also conducted according to BS 476: Part 6. On exposure, the samples X, Y, and Z were qualified to be Class 0 materials due to the indexes of fire propagation being below 12. Samples Y and Z reinforced with 3.50 wt.% and 2.50 wt.% of ES bio-filler, respectively, showed a significant improvement in reducing the heat release rate, providing a more uniform and thicker char layer. As a result, the addition of bio-filler content has proven to be efficient in stopping the fire propagation as well as reducing the total heat released and equilibrium temperature of the intumescent coatings.

Oil palm shell (OPS) is a renewable resource obtained from agricultural solid end products via the extraction of palm oil. A study on preparing the lightweight concrete (LWC) using heat-treated and non-treated OPS aggregate has been investigated. High performance polypropylene fibre (HPPF) was incorporated in this oil palm shell concrete (OPSC) in different volume fraction (V_f) (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1%). The performance of heat-treated and non-treated OPS fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) mixtures was evaluated by conducting comprehensive series of tests on fresh and hardened properties as well as durability properties and drying shrinkage. The Vee-Bee, density, compressive strength and stress-strain behaviour have been measured and evaluated. Rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT), porosity measurement, water absorption, initial surface absorption (ISA) and drying shrinkage tests have been performed in order to signify the effects of heat-treated OPSFRC on durability properties. The results showed that the ideal amount of HPPF has enhanced the durability of concrete by reducing chloride diffusion, porosity and water absorption. Hence, the findings of this investigation revealed the novelty of heat treatment method on OPS by incorporating HPPF, with promising durability properties and drying shrinkage of LWC as the sustainable solution in the construction industry.