Fire risk areas

Place a red triangle warning device at the rear of the vehicle and near any spillage Prevent smoking and direct other vehicles away from any fire risk area Upon the police/fire brigade taking charge ... 

Fire Risk Area - A process plant is subdivided into fire risk areas, each of which is the maximum area which can reasonably be expected to be totally involved in a single fire. This is used to determine the combined requirement for... 

In order to determine the total vapor capacity to be relieved when several vessels are exposed to a single fire, a processing area is considered as being divided into a number of single fire risk areas. Plant layout should be designed... 

When a fire occurs, it is assumed that all fluid flow to and from the fire risk area has been stopped. Therefore, flow loads such as control valve failure or incoming feed streams are not additive to the fire load. Credit is not generally given to flow out through normal channels, since they could also be blocked during the fire emergency. 

If a situation occurs which involves more than one fire risk area simultaneously (such as an entire Refinery or Chemical complex), it would be classed as a remote contingency event, and the 1.5 Time Design Pressure Rule may be applied. 

Fire Risk. Area Firewater Flowrate (GPM) Maximum Liquid Spillage (Bbls) Sewer Capacity Flowrate (GPM) Caatainmen Provisions (Bbls) Runoff Requirements... 

The base quantity of foam liquid concentrate that should be stocked is the greatest amount calculated to be needed for any fire in a fire risk area. Normally, this involves either the largest cone roof tank or the seal of the largest floating roof tank and includes hose streams for ground fires around the tank. In addition, a supplementary supply of foam concentrate equal to 100% of the base supply should be readily available within 24 hours. 

The cable support system (for example, cable trays, conduit), may be common for both deenergize to trip and energize to trip systems, unless separation is required for other reasons (for example, electromagnetic interference). On energize to trip systems, consideration may be given to adding fire protection to the cable trays in fire risk areas. 

The amount of flammable solvent in the laboratory at any time should be kept to a minimum since this is probably the highest fire risk area within the whole solvent recovery operation. 

A display panel should be installed for both electrical and automatic fire alarms which shows the location of the alarm that has been initiated. Weekly tests should be made of the fire alarm so that people become familiar with the sound and so that any faults in the system can be detected and corrected. The fire alarm installation must be inspected and maintained on a regular and routine basis and a record made of all tests and inspections. This record should also include details of any faults, repairs and replacements. Inspections of the system should be carried out quarterly by a competent person. In high fire risk areas, serious consideration should be given to installing an automatic link from the display panel to the local fire brigade. 

Specific arrangements, if necessary, for high fire risk areas of the workplace... 

Routing of Flare Header through Process Areas - Flare headers in process areas should be routed to avoid locations of particularly high fire risk, such as over pumps, near furnaces, etc. The headers and subheaders should also be laid out and provided with isolating CSO valves and spectacle blinds, unless prohibited by local codes, such that it is not necessary for flare lines to remain in service in units which are shut down separately. Blowdown and water disengaging drums should be spaced from process areas. 

Fire Protection FIVE and FRANC support quantitative and qualitative fire risk, assessmeiil. FRANC also supports the analysis of alternative safe shutdown paths during an Appendix R review. System train availability is exhibited on a system status panel, Using this a strategy can be defined to upgrade Thcrnm 1. if identify risk significant areas. 

For transformer windings immersed in oil, hydrocarbon oil is the most widely used, whereas in areas where fire risk is a problem, then air-cooled transformers (AN) or synthetic silicon-based liquid cooling (SN) can be specified. Silicon-based liquids do not have any of the disadvantages identified with the chlorinated biphenyls. Air-cooled transformers can be provided with Class C insulation or be cast resin insulated. The relative costs per unit of each type are ... 

Are raw process and waste materials stored in a safe and appropriate manner for example, are bulk acids in tanks bunded with secondary containment, are flammable materials in a fire-protected, ventilated store, are powders and pellets in areas fitted with dust extraction segregation of noncompatible materials Provide details of existing storage arrangements, inducing plans and specifications. Identify risk areas. Identify the risk category. 

The flammability properties of the hydrophilic PU foam developed in USA in the late 1970 s were outstanding even under severe fire conditions but it s physical properties and high densities restricted its use for other than highly specialised high risk areas. 

ESD system components that are located in areas that would be considered direct fire exposures, i.e. within or above fire hazardous risk areas should be provided fire protection measures to ensure integrity during ESD operation and the duration of the major efforts to control the emergency. 

Additionally whenever equipment is elevated, which could be source of liquid spillage, long down time for replacement, or supports flare or blowdown headers in a fire exposure risk area, fireproofing of the supports is normally applied. API Publication 2218 provides further guidance on the exact nature of items and conditions that the industry considers prudent for protection. 

Halon systems were the ideal fire suppression agent before their implications of environmental impact due to ozone depletion. The industry is gradually phasing out usage of halon systems for this reason. A flowchart to analyze mechanisms to supplement or eliminate Halon systems for electrical or computer processing areas is shown in Figure 11. Some of the prime reasons to eliminate the use of Halon systems is that the facility may be constantly manned with a relatively low fire risk. Other facilities may have a very low combustible load and can be supplemented by highly sensitive fire detection means, such as a VESDA fire detection system. 

---