Loose fill fire-protective packing media

A process for producing loose fill packing material comprising:

• mixing micro-balloons with a thermoset resin to form a foam premix;
• adding a catalyst to said foam premix to induce curing of the thermoset resin around the micro-balloons and forming a catalyzed foam premix;
• shaping the catalyzed foam premix into a plurality of uncured foam cores;
• curing the uncured foam cores to form cured foam cores;
• coating the cured foam cores with an intumescent material.

A process for producing loose fill packing material comprising:

• mixing micro-balloon precursors with a thermoset resin and a catalyst to form a catalyzed precursor resin mixture;
• dividing the catalyzed precursor resin mixture into selected portions;
• heating the selected portions of catalyzed precursor resin mixture to a temperature at which a volatile compound within the precursor volatilizes, expanding the micro-balloon precursors to form micro-balloons and at which the thermoset resin begins to cure to form uncured foam cores;
• allowing the uncured foam cores to cure;
• and
• coating the cured foam cores with an intumescent material.

A process for producing loose fill packing material comprising:

• mixing a low boiling point substance with a thermoset resin and a catalyst to form a catalyzed resin mixture;
• dividing the catalyzed resin mixture into selected portions;
• heating the selected portions of catalyzed resin mixture to a temperature at which the low boiling point substance volatilizes, expanding the catalyzed resin mixture and forming bubbles therein, and at which the thermoset resin begins to cure to form uncured foam cores;
• allowing the uncured foam cores to cure;
• and
• coating the cured foam cores with an intumescent material.

A method of packing a package of flammable, heat-sensitive or heat-releasing materials or devices comprising the steps of:

• selecting a box which is volumetrically larger than the package;
• placing a first layer of a loose fill packing media across the bottom of the box;
• the loose fill packing media comprising a plurality of packing pellets comprising a foam core formed from a thermoset resin and a coating of an intumescent material applied over the foam core;
• placing the package on top of the first layer of the loose fill packing media;
• filling the box with an additional quantity of the loose fill packing media so that the package is surrounded by loose fill packing media.