Fire protection

If a fire cannot be or is not to be extinguished, water sprays should be used to rescue personnel and to keep structural surfaces, tanks, and pipes cool. In general, support surfaces should be coated with an insulating material to protect them from direct contact with cold liquid should a spill occur, and from heat should a fire result. 

Fire protection may or may not be required according to local codes facilities that serve the public are increasingly being required to provide some type of fire 

The installation of fixed fire proteetion depends on analysis of potential fire eharaeteristies (see Chapter 6). A summary of the faetors is given in Table 12.14. 

Types of combustibles, e.g. resulting in surface fires for which inerting or an inhibiting agent may be best, or deep-seated combustion requiring a cooling agent, e.g. water. 

Degree of risk to personnel, e.g. toxic combustion or fire-fighting agent decomposition products. 

Indoors, indicative of a total flooding system outdoors requiring assessment of exposure of nearby hazards, involvement of other combustibles, wind effects and difficulty of extinguishment. 

Probability of fire spread, with a need for, e.g., fire walls, fire doors, fire stops. 

Activation may be automatic, by a detection system, or manual. The general requirements are summarized in Table 12.15. 

Capability to control and extinguish the anticipated fire condition without outside assistance, unless planned for (dependent on requisite spacing of discharge nozzles to cover all areas at risk, application rates, discharge times, quantities of extinguishant available). 

Reliability, allowing for environmental features possibly detrimental to operation, e.g. corrosion, dust, tar. 

Agents must be compatible with the process, chemicals present (Chapter 7) and any other installed system. 

Special consideration for fire protection shall be given to areas in which volatile organic liquids are stored and handled. A fire suppression system using halon gas (or an equivalent substitute) as the fire suppression agent shall be installed. An inert gas purging system may be considered for the liquid tanks. 

The space or room containing the incinerator combustion chambers and their accompanying burners should have a fire detection and alarm system. Fire protection may be provided by automatic extinguishing means such as a water sprinkler system or a fire hose station. In particular applications, foam or powder may be more appropriate. Depending on the radiation level expected for some of the components, an automatic or remotely actuated suppression system may be required. 

Other factors that need to be considered include  

A description and a safety analysis of the fire protection system shall be provided in this section, including information on procedures and maintenance activities. Reference could also be made to the design methods (para. A.211). 

In a laboratory, fire hazard may vary from minimal to severe. Proper protective measures, though costly, are worth the price. A laboratory must meet local fire protection standards for industry, which are usually more restrictive than those for a home. While a fire department official is not a chemist, given the proper input he will come up with good suggestions. Providing him with the necessary information is an important job for the laboratory planner. 

Problems do occur when a laboratory is installed in an existing building on a small scale, often without a building permit, or when an existing laboratory is expanded in a so-called minor way. Such situations are common in industry. A prudent laboratory operator should demand complete compliance with rules in such cases despite cost, w hich could be high, particularly when old mistakes have to be corrected. 

If sprinklers are required, or if the sprinkler system is to be modified, such work should only be performed by a company certified to do it. Fire extinguishers are almost always required. The number of them, their placement, and the types needed are matters to be discussed with fiire officials. Extinguishers should be regularly serviced by qualified specialists. 

Fire drills are very much in order in most laboratories. When the signal is given, all workers should shut down their equipment and leave in a quick and orderly manner. Some employees may be assigned to fire extinguishers or other fire fighting equipment. The speed with which this is accomplished is important and may be timed wdth a stopwatch. After the drill, a supervisor may want to check on how well the equipment was secured 

Ventilation systems shall satisfy the requirements of Ref. [9] and their design shall be compatible with fire protection requirements. 

The design shall provide for adequate communications to satisfy the operational and emergency requirements of the facility. 

Whenever practicable, control and protection functions shall be mutually independent. If this is not feasible, detailed justification for shared and interrelated systems shall be provided. Ergonomic factors shall be considered when designing provisions for alarms and indications to the operator. 

Fire protection systems of appropriate capacity and c abilify should be provided. 

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The autoignition temperature is the minimum temperature required for self-sustained combustion in the absence of an external ignition source. The value depends on specified test conditions. Tht flammable (explosive) limits specify the range of concentration of the vapor in air (in percent by volume) for which a flame can propagate. Below the lower flammable limit, the gas mixture is too lean to burn above the flammable limit, the mixture is too rich. Additional compounds can be found in National Fire Protection Association, National Fire Protection Handbook, 14th ed., 1991. 

Fire pictures Fire protection Fire-rated laminates Fire retardancy Fire retardant... 

Eire Hazard Properties ofElammahle Eiquids, Gases, and Volatile Solids, Keport 325M-1984, National Fire Codes, Vol. 8, National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, Mass. 

V. Babrauskas, SFPE Technology Report 84-10, Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Boston, Mass., 1984. 

The Fire Tests for Flame Resistant Textiles and Films, issued by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) ia 1989, is the method most used by iadustrial fire-retardant finishers (ca 1993) (50). It has been approved by the American National Standards Institute. 

Dow Fire and Explosion Index. The Dow Eire and Explosion Index (3) is a procedure usehil for determining the relative degree of hazard related to flammable and explosive materials. This Index form works essentially the same way as an income tax form. Penalties are provided for inventory, extended temperatures and pressures, reactivity, etc, and credits are appHed for fire protection systems, process control (qv), and material isolation. The complete procedure is capable of estimating a doUar amount for the maximum probable property damage and the business intermptionloss based on an empirical correlation provided with the Index. 

The next step is to apply a number of loss control credit factors such as process control (emergency power, cooling, explosion control, emergency shutdown, computer control, inert gas, operating procedures, reactive chemical reviews), material isolation (remote control valves, blowdown, drainage, interlocks) and fire protection (leak detection, buried tanks, fire water supply, sprinkler systems, water curtains, foam, cable protection). The credit factors are combined and appHed to the fire and explosion index value to result in a net index. 

Manual of Hazardous Chemical Keactions No. 491, National Fire Protection Association, 1971. 

Large volumes of LPG are stored to meet peak demand during cold seasons. LPGs are both volatile and flammable and must be stored and handled in special equipment. Standards for storing and handling LPG are pubHshed by the National Fire Protection Association (5) and API (6). 

Underwriters Laboratories 333 Pfingsten Road Northbrook, Id. 60062 Standards for Safety is ahst of more than 200 standards that provide specifications and requirements for constmetion and performance under test and in actual use of a broad range of electrical apparatus and equipment, including household appHances, fire-extinguishing and fire protection devices and equipment, and many other nongenerady classifiable items, eg, ladders, sweeping compounds, waste cans, and roof jacks for trader coaches. 

Methanol does not pose an undue toxicity hazard if handled in weU-ventilated areas, and is rated as a slight health hazard by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The TLV is 200 ppm with a STEL of 250 ppm, and the limit which is immediately dangerous to Hfe and health is 25,000 ppm. Accidental ingestion is immediately treated by inducing vomiting, followed by adrninistration of sodium bicarbonate. Rinsing with water is effective in treating external exposure. 

Fire Protection Guide on Hazardous Materials, 7th ed.. National Fire Protection Association, Boston, Mass., 1978, pp. 49—212, 213, 225M-61,173. 

R. E. Reinke and C. E. Reinhardt, 76th Annual Meeting Mational Fire Protection Association, Philadelphia, Pa., 1972. 

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The NFPA reactivity stabiUty range is iutegral from 0 (stable) to 4 (unstable). 

National Electrical Code, No. 70, National Fire Protection Association, Boston, Mass., 1993 Electrical Installations in Chemical Plants, No. 497A, 1992. Electrical Safety Practices, Monograph Nos. 110—113, Instmment Society of America, Research Triangle Park, N.C., 1965—1972 Electrical Safety Abstracts, 4th ed., 1972. 

C. Field, The Study of Missiles Resulting from Accidental Explosion, U.S. AFC Safety and Fire Protection Bulletin No. 10, Washington, D.C., 1966. 

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