scope:

Many national and international regulations classify liquids as presenting a flammable hazard on the basis of their flash point, as determined by a recognized method. Some of these regulations allow a derogation if the substance cannot "sustain combustion" at some specified temperature or temperatures. This International Standard specifies a pass/fail procedure to determine whether or not a liquid product, that would be classified as "flammable" by virtue of its flash point, has the ability to sustain combustion at the temperature or temperatures specified in the appropriate regulations. In the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, temperatures of 60,5 °C and 75,0 °C are specified. The procedure is applicable to paints (including water-borne paints), varnishes, paint binders, solvents, petroleum or related products and adhesives, which have a flash point. It is not applicable to painted surfaces in respect of assessing their potential fire hazards. This test method can be used in addition to the test method for flash point in assessing the fire hazard of a product. Particular care needs to be taken in translating results from small-scale tests to large-scale (real-life) situations, as liquids in large quantities may not behave in the same way as small samples because geometry and the surface-to-volume ratio affect rates of heat transfer and evaporation from the surface.