When ROCKWOOL launched the Conlit 150 in the early 1990s, it was an innovation that streamlined the insulator's day-to-day work and made it possible to save space when insulating load-bearing steel structures. The 300 series is still the only one in the Nordic region that can produce it.
‘One Hot Minute’
In the mid-1990s, the world became a little easier for insulators. That's when Rockwool introduced compressed rock wool fire boards to the market.
- Until then, steel beams were covered with insulation and plaster. But nobody does that anymore,’ says Torkel Wæringsaasen, Marketing Manager at Rockwool Norway.
With Conlit 150, the insulator got thin boards that could be glued or stapled directly to the steel structure with a welding pin. This made installation and planning easier and also saved space, architecturally speaking.
- Conlit 300 came later. It has twice the density of 150. Today, only Rockwool produces this type of fireboard, as its production is difficult and requires specialised machinery,’ says Wæringsaasen.
A search in the National Library tells us that 1995 was the first time Conlit was mentioned in the press, in connection with a classified advert in which Tak og Vegg Systemer A/S in Fredrikstad congratulated on the construction of Glommen Brygge, where the following is written:
‘We have carried out all fire insulation of the steel structure with: CONLIT from A.S. Rockwool ...’
Fun fact: 1995 was also the year when the Red Hot Chili Peppers released the album ‘One Hot Minute’, which with its 61 minutes should be able to pass fire class EI 60 in any case.
This is the Conlit family
Conlit® is a range of fire insulation products from Rockwool, consisting of hard-pressed fire boards and fire mats made of non-combustible, moisture- and water-repellent stone wool.
Conlit is available in several types, for different applications:
- Conlit 150/300 are hard-pressed plates used in construction and industry for fire protection of load-bearing steel structures - including columns, beams and girders of both steel and concrete. The fire boards are available with and without fibreglass cloth.
- Conlit Fire Board is an insulation board for fireproofing rectangular ventilation ducts to meet the requirements of fire classes EI 30 to E I20. The boards are coated with a black PE-reinforced aluminium foil.
- Conlit Fire Mat is a fire mat for fire insulation of circular ventilation ducts up to EI 90 and rectangular ducts up to EI 30. Conlit Fire Mat is reinforced with galvanised mesh and a black, reinforced aluminium foil.
Conlit 150/300 saves lives and assets
When buildings are on fire, time is the most important factor. As firefighters race against the clock to rescue people from the building before toxic smoke and gas reaches them, everyone's safety is dependent on how long the building's basic structures hold up.
And without protection, it's not long. Many buildings have steel as their load-bearing structure, even though in the face of a ‘normal’ fire, steel actually halves its load-bearing capacity after 7 minutes (at around 500°C). Concrete is no exception. When exposed to fire or high temperature for long enough, cracking can occur in the iron and the concrete is damaged and loses its strength.
This is where Conlit comes in. Stone wool can withstand over 1,000°C, which in a standard fire only occurs after almost two hours. It has far greater fire resistance than, for example, glass wool (melts at 600°C after 7 minutes) or EPS/XPS (melts and ignites at 180°C after 3 minutes). By using Conlit, you increase the likelihood of saving both lives and assets.
We deliver large quantities of Conlit 150 and Conlit 300 to construction sites throughout Norway on a weekly basis and would be happy to talk to you about your project. If you want to calculate the dimensioning of Conlit 150 and 300, you can do so here.