Fire safety design

Fire safety design requires the same kind of approach. We must develop the necessary scientific quantitative understanding of fire so as to be able to predict the level of a building s fire safety. Again, looking at structural engineering, we see the use of simple formulas for beams, columns, joints, reenforcing rods, etc., which permit quantitative evaluation of structural safety. The phenomena of fire also results in... 

Drysdale DD. Fire safety design requirements of flame-retarded materials. In Fire Retardant Materials. Horrocks AR, Price D, Eds. Woodhead Publishing Cambridge, U.K., 2001 chap. 13, pp. 378-397. 

First, the importance of learning lessons from past process safety incidents is highlighted in Section 3.2. The subsequent section presents preliminary hazard review procedure, risk matrix, what-if method, plot plan and layout review, pressure relief system review and fire safety design aspects. Section 3.4 presents PHA techniques and procedures hazards and operability analysis (HAZOP), failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), instrumented protective system (IPS) design, fault trees, event trees, layer of protection analysis (LOPA) and finally SIS life eyele. The importanee of revision of PSI is highlighted in Seetion 3.5. 

Comprehensive coverage of many fire safety design and implementation guidelines is available in Nolan (1996) and CCPS (2003b). 

Plot plan, layout, area classification, pressure relief and fire safety design reviews are crucial to make revamp projects safer... 

The safety of people in the event of a fire in buildings is dependent on having emergency procedures that make full use of the fire safety design features of the building and take account of the behaviour of the occupants when faced with an emergency situation. 

Process Safety Considerations. Unit optimization studies combined with dynamic simulations of the process may identify operating conditions that are unsafe regarding fire safety, equipment damage potential, and operating sensitivity. Several instances of fires and deflagrations in ethylene oxide production units have been reported in the past (160). These incidents have occurred in both the reaction cycle and ethylene oxide refining areas. Therefore, ethylene oxide units should always be designed to prevent the formation of explosive gas mixtures. 

Ensure the adequaey (in terms of quality, quantity and reliability) of serviees/utilities, e.g. steam, proeess/eooling water, eleetrieity, eompressed air, inert gas, fire suppression systems, ventilation. Stand-by or emergeney serviees may be required. Some general safety design eonsiderations are summarized in Table 12.11. 

HS(Gjl68 Fire safety m construction work guidance for clients, designers and those managing and carrying... 

Provides for the control of fire safety m all designated occupied premises, by ensuring that adequate general fire precautions are taken and appropriate means of escape and related precautions are present. Specifies the requirements for a fire certificate for various premises. 

The most logical suming point in tlie safety design approach is to select a site where tlie number of undesirable weather and topograpltic conditions is limited. Adequate utilities and support systems plus fire protection service arc also required for a safe eiiviromnent. Chapter 5 presented a detailed account of phuit site selection and layout. These features will now be considered from a safety point of view. The following guidelines should be observed in dctcrniining a site tliat is favorable for tlie efficient tuid economical operation of the process. 

Marmathy, S., Design of Buildings for Fire Safety, ASTM, STP, 685,1969. 

The manner in which toxicological knowledge must work together with the knowledge of human behavior, fire dynamics, and chemistry to produce an acceptable level of fire safety is proposed. A hypothetical example illustrates what must be done with adequate accuracy in order to design fire safety to a performance code. The example may give the impression that this can already be done. In fact, each computer code used contains dozens of assumptions, some very crude, so that the accuracy of present predictions are unacceptably low. 

BHR Group Ltd., Fire Safety Engineering. "Modem Methods of Designing Fire and Gas Detection Systems", BHRA, Cranfield, U.K., 1989. 

Flash point is one of the most important fire safety characteristics and hence it is a very important consideration in solvent design. The flammability limit of a solvent is characterized by its flash point, which is the temperature at which the mixture of air and vapor above the liquid can be ignited (Mullin, 1961). It is the lowest point at which the vapor pressure of a liquid will produce a flammable mixture. The flash point of the solvent can be estimated using the following group contribution method (ICAS, 2003)... 

While life safety issues are not a primary focus of this Guideline, they are an integral part of good fire protection design. ... 

Inherently safer design (as it applies to fire safety and protection)... 

The company or facility should make use of the services of an engineer knowledgeable and trained in fire protection. Ideally, a registered fire protection engineer should be available to review fire protection designs. Fire safety, loss prevention, or process safety engineers should assist in the analysis of hazards, selection of protection system specifications, approval of the system, and acceptance testing. 

When designing for fire safety in a chemical warehouse, building area fire separations should limit the risk or size of loss by ... 

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