:16-9?wid=2880&hei=1620&fit=crop%2C1&fmt=webp-alpha "IE-Corrosion and Fire Protection-Logistic Center, Limerick")
2018
Limerick
A Million-Project for a Pharmaceutical Giant
Limerick is home to the largest production facility for mass biologics in Ireland. Critical medicines for the whole world are produced on an area of 37,000 m².
With an investment sum of 100 million dollars, the plant is currently being enlarged. The extension will provide approximately 300 additional jobs. By 2020, the new building project should be completed and operation should start.
Project Requirements
A fire protection system was required for the entire steel beams with load-bearing capacity to guarantee a fire resistance duration of 60 minutes, which applies to the largest part of the steel structure with around 1,300 tons. In addition, a corrosion protection system of the corrosivity category C3 according to ISO 12944 for interiors was requested. This corresponds to a moderate corrosion load in production rooms with certain air pollution. Due to the tight time schedule, the coating work had to be carried out at the plant so that the steel components could be delivered to the construction site just in time. This requirement posed a special challenge for the fire protection coating. This is because conventional fire protection coatings are not mechanically resistant, making complex and
expensive on-site touch ups necessary.
Our Solution
Based on many years of experience and numerous references, the decision was made to use Sika product solutions for both requirements – corrosion and fire protection. Particularly thanks to the Sika® Unitherm® Platinum 2-pack epoxy fire protection coating, the requirement for in-shop application was met. The product is the first intumescent coating that is mechanically highly resistant, can therefore be applied at the plant and is ready for transport and assembly without restrictions after 24 hours. Furthermore, the platinum technology fulfils the given corrosion protection requirements without primer and topcoat, so that no additional corrosion protective coating was necessary. This proved to be a considerable time and cost advantage for the operator. The remaining approximately 650 tons of steel were only coated with a corrosion protective coating. First of all the low solvent 2-pack primer and intermediate coating based on epoxy resin SikaCor® EG-1 was applied, before the coloring top coat SikaCor® EG-5 in RAL 7035 completed the coating system. Almost 30,000 m² of steel surface was coated with Sika products.
Products Used
Corrosion Protection:
SikaCor® EG-1 (DB 703)
SikaCor® EG-5 (RAL 7035)
Fire Protection:
Sika® Unitherm® Platinum
Project Participants
Main Contractor
Jacobs Engineering Ireland Ltd.
Steel Contractor and Applicator
Duggan Steel, Co. Cork Ireland
Size
Total amount of steel: 2.000 tons
Total of coated surface: 27.814 m²
