Finnester opens a new fire lab to serve the composite industry

Finnester Coatings Oy has built an in-house fire lab and test facility, to confirm the fire protection performance of Finnester RED combined with a wide range of customer composites.

The new fire lab at our HQ in Lahti, Finland, is built for the needs of future and current customers. With the in-house lab we can now follow the tests and monitor the burning properties. This is in addition to getting the important measured and recorded data, giving us benefits over the option of using external laboratories. We believe this trinity of coating, composites and fire testing technical expertise all in one house is a unique service for the composites market.

“We want to be the quickest, the smartest and the ultimate source of solutions for all composite manufacturers who are struggling with the fire proofing performance of their products”, explains Ari Hokkanen, the CTO and founder of Finnester.  “With this investment in our test capabilities together with our deep knowledge of fire performance requirements and materials, we can reach the goal of being the leading solution supplier to create safer and better composites.”

Completing standard composites with Finnester RED

Composites are known for their superior capabilities. They are strong, lightweight, non-corroding and the possibility to shape the structures are unlimited. However, composites burn and traditionally composite manufacturers need to compromise on some of these characteristics, when looking to meet any fire standards.

Finnester has developed RED – coating technologies with which it is possible to protect most of the existing non-FR composite materials against fire. With our Viability Study– approach, including in-house fire testing, Finnester continues to optimise the coatings, to perfect the solution for the end-customer and in this way advance and complete composites.

“Our Viability Study service is available to everyone”, says Trevor Fielding, Technical Business Manager. “We are really proud of the new laboratory and how it can support our customers and increase the knowhow at our company. We now have the expertise to provide guidance on fire regulation certificates in multiple industries and provide the possible RED options to meet the requirements.”

To find out more, Contact Trevor Fielding: +358 50 341 0560

Finnester is also arranging a “Don’t Fear the Fire!” – Webinar series explaining more about the solutions and possibilities. The first seminar is on 11th of March 2021 11:00 CET – 12:00 and will focus on Railway & Rolling Stock applications.  Other upcoming webinars: Construction 20th of May, Marine Q3 and New Energy Q4