Fire Confinement

An alternative method uses a pressure differential between the smoke-filled area and the protected area. Venting provides another way to remove smoke, heat, and gases from a building. Vents can prove useful in windowless and underground buildings. 

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Bachelard writes of the athanor as an enclosure of volatile desire What may at first sight hide its psychological character is the fact that alchemy quickly took on an abstract aspect. The alchemists worked with the enclosedfire, the fire confined in a furnace. The images which are created so lavishly by open flames and which lead to a more free and winged kind of reverie, were now reduced and decolorized to the benefit of a more precise and concentrated dream. And he goes onto say that several of the furnaces and retorts used by the alchemists had undeniable sexual shapes (Bachelard 51). 

Fire Type Open jet fire Confined jet fire Open pool fire Large or confined pool fire... 

Figure 10.4 A huge tank fire confined by tank walls. This gigantic vessel is about 100 meters in diameter and after the fire started the burning liquid remains contained. Look hard and you...

Figure 10.5 A tank fire confined by tank walls in a floating roof crude oil tank. Courtesy of the Institution of Chemical Engineers - from Hazard Workshop No. 6, Preventing Emergencies in the Process Industries, Vol. 1. ...

Industrial processes are prone to hazardous or unexpected events. In their paper, Nicholas D. Anastas and John C. Warner wrote, "Hazard should be considered as a design flaw and eflorts need to be made in the designing phase to minimize or eliminate it" (2005). Hazards may arise from many factors, and they manifest themselves in various forms. These various hazardous events could be external or internal fire, confined or unconfined explosion, noxious gas release, pollution, moving object hazard, etc. (USCSHI, 2000). The description of these events and their consequences are listed later in this chapter. 

In the case of a small fire confined to an eiectricai appii-ance it may suffice to remove the appiiance to a test area for further investigation, in the event the fire is confined to the room of origin, it is likeiy that the room itseif can be isolated during the course of the investigation. For larger fires it may be necessary to cordon off large areas or even the building itself. 

In your own words, describe the concept known as fire confinement. 

Strong oxidizing agents, such as nitric acid, perchloric acid, or ozone may cause aniline to oxidize spontaneously. Hexachloromelamine [2428-04-8] and trichioromelamine [12379-38-3] react violentiy with aniline, and in confined conditions the mixtures will explore or catch fire. 

Included ia the OSHA regulations are standards for safe work practices such as lock-out/tag-out and confined space entry, personal protective equipment, storage of hazardous materials, welding process, forklift operation, and requirements for fire protection. Basically, all activities within a chemical facihty are covered by OSHA standards. 

Because biphenyl is often transported in the molten state, a moderate fire ha2ard does exist under these circumstances. Biphenyl, with a flash point of 113°C, has a lower flammability limit of about 0.6% (by volume) at the flash point to an upper limit of 5.8% at 166°C (42). Dust explosions are a ha2ard when vapors from a hot Hquid surface condense in air in a confined space. 

According to the National Board of Fire Underwriters, activated carbons normally used for water treatment pose no dust explosion ha2ard and are not subject to spontaneous combustion when confined to bags, dmms, or storage bins (64). However, activated carbon bums when sufficient heat is appbed the ignition point varies between about 300 and 600°C (65). 

A logic model that graphically portrays the range of outcomes from the combinations of events and circumstances in an accident sequence. For example, a flammable vapor release may result in a fire, an explosion, or in no consequence depending on meteorological conditions, the degree of confinement, the presence of ignition sources, etc. These trees are often shown with the probability of each outcome at each branch of the pathway... 

The special precautions appropriate for entry into confined spaces are summarized in Chapter 13. In fires, evacuation of burning buildings, prohibition on re-entry and the use of self-contained breathing apparatus by fire-fighters are key precautions. 

Hydroprocesses Hydrogen is chemically stable and relatively unreactive at ordinary temperatures most processes utilizing it require a catalyst. Above 500°C it reacts readily with oxygen and confined flammable mixtures explode violently if ignited Main hazards fire, explosion, metallurgical problems arising from hydrogen attack... 

OTI597 Behaviour of oil and gas fires m the presence of confinement and obstacles... 

This clearly was not the condition of the fire incident, since a potion of the fire occurred within a confined space, followed by tank bursting, and complex hydrodynamics brought on by the application of water during fire fighting practices. 

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