For construction products in Europe, the single burning item test is the heart of the classification system. A corner specimen - two wings forming the corner of a small room - is exposed to a propane burner of about 30 kW, representing a single burning item such as a waste-paper basket in the corner. Heat release, smoke production, lateral flame spread and flaming droplets are measured for 20 minutes and condensed into the FIGRA and SMOGRA indices that decide Euroclasses A2, B, C and D. The Motis SBI is a full installation: test room, trolley, exhaust system and analysis section.
How the Single Burning Item (SBI) Test Apparatus works
The specimen trolley carries two perpendicular specimen wings with the main burner at the corner base. Exhaust gases are collected by the hood and duct and analysed continuously: oxygen for heat release, light attenuation for smoke. The Motis installation has a test room 2.4 m high with a 3 m x 3 m floor, a J-shaped exhaust duct of (315 +/- 5) mm internal diameter insulated with 50 mm high-temperature mineral wool, and an exhaust capacity of 0.50 to 0.65 cubic metres per second.
Key specifications
| Standards | EN 13823, EN 13501-1 (classification), GB/T 20284 |
|---|---|
| Test room | Height 2.4 m, floor area 3 m x 3 m; test room, control room, specimen trolley, exhaust duct, gas supply control and data acquisition |
| Burner arrangement | Two perpendicular specimen wings on the trolley; sandbox burner at the vertical corner base; surface ignition; flame detection with flameout protection |
| Exhaust | J-shaped duct, (315 +/- 5) mm bore, 50 mm mineral-wool insulation; 0.50-0.65 m³/s continuous extraction with frequency control; centrifugal fan rated to 300 °C |
| Gas control | Mass flow controller 0-2.5 g/s range, reading accuracy not less than 1.5% |
| Measurement section | Gas temperature, combustion gas concentration, oxygen concentration, smoke light attenuation and total flow |
What the test reports
- FIGRA (fire growth rate index) and the FIGRA class thresholds
- THR600s total heat release in the first 600 s
- SMOGRA and TSP600s smoke indices
- Lateral flame spread (LFS) and flaming droplets/particles observations
Applications
Classification laboratories, notified-body test houses and large building product manufacturers run SBI. It is a room-scale installation, not a bench instrument, and it anchors the construction sector package on this site together with the non-combustibility furnace, the single flame source test and the flooring radiant panel.
Frequently asked questions
Which standard should I order against?
Order against the standard your reports must cite. The instrument platform is shared across the listed standards, but fixtures, software templates and calibration routines differ, so name the standard (and its year) in your inquiry and the configuration will be matched to it.
Can the instrument be installed in an existing laboratory?
Yes, in most cases. Tell us the available floor space, ceiling height, exhaust capacity and gas supplies in your inquiry; large systems such as the SBI and tunnel furnaces need a dedicated exhaust arrangement, which is confirmed in the layout proposal before ordering.
How much laboratory space does an SBI need?
Plan for the 3 m x 3 m test room plus the control room, trolley handling space and the exhaust route out of the building. Send your laboratory dimensions with your inquiry and the layout will be checked before quotation.
Configuration, installation and support
Every Single Burning Item (SBI) Test Apparatus is supplied as a configured system, not a bare instrument: the test chamber or frame, the burner or heater assemblies named in the method, the measurement chain and the control software with the report templates for EN 13823, EN 13501-1, GB/T 20284. Before quotation we confirm the installation conditions with you - floor loading and ceiling height for large rigs, exhaust and extraction routes, gas and fuel services, and power supply - because a fire test instrument only produces defensible data when the room around it is right. Commissioning covers assembly, calibration of the measurement chain against the method's own checks, and training of your operators on running the test and maintaining the apparatus. Spare ignition parts, thermocouples and other consumables for the first period of operation can be included in the supply, and the instrument is supported with calibration and maintenance services after installation.
What to include in your inquiry
To quote the Single Burning Item (SBI) Test Apparatus correctly the first time, send: the standard and edition you will test to (EN 13823, EN 13501-1, GB/T 20284); the materials or products you will test and their sizes; the configuration options you already know you need; and the destination laboratory's location and available services. If you are building a new fire laboratory rather than adding one instrument, say so - this apparatus is often planned together with the other instruments in its category, and a combined layout and exhaust plan is cheaper than three separate ones.