Internal Fires

Vaulted. Vaulted tanks are installed inside a concrete vault. The vault, itself a Hquid-tight compartment, reduces the fire protection requirements as the NFPA and the International Fire Code Institute (IFCI) recognize these tanks as fire-resistant aboveground storage tanks. The vault provides a two-hour fire wall, thermal protection that minimizes tank breathing losses and pollution, secondary containment, and baUistic protection. 

Another method iavolves an electric-arc vaporizer which is >2000° C before burning (25,32). One of the features of the process is a rapid quench of the hot gas flow to yield very fine oxide particles (<0.15 nm). This product is quite reactive and imparts accelerated cure rates to mbber. Internally fired rotary kilns are used extensively ia Canada and Europe and, to a limited extent, ia the United States (24). The burning occurs ia the kiln and the heat is sufficient to melt and vaporize the ziac. Because of the lower temperatures, the particles are coarser than those produced ia the other processes. In a fourth process, ziac metal which is purified ia a vertical refining column is burned. In essence, the purification is a distillation and impure ziac can be used to make extremely pure oxide. Also, a wide range of particle sizes is possible (33). 

Raising the alarm, including the location of alarm call points, internal fire alarm telephones and alarm indicator panels... 

On August 8, 1985, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRCf requested the operators of nuclear power plants in the U.S. to perform Individual Plant Examinations (IPE) on their plants. IPEs are probabilistic analyses that estimate the core damage frequency (CDF) and containment performance for accidents initiated by internal events (including internal flooding, but excluding internal fire). Generic Letter (GL) 88-20 was issued to implement the IPE request to identify any plant-specific vulnerabilities to severe accidents and report the results to the Commission. ... 

Chu, T. L., Z. Musicki, and P. Kohut, 1995, Results and Insights of Internal Fire and Internal Flood Analysis of the Surry Unit 1 Nuclear Power Plant during Mid-loop Operations, PSA 95 Seoul Korea, pp 967-973, November. 

The book contains, in alphabetical order, failure rates, event rates and probabilities, and descriptive information which has been collected since 1970 in the course of doing risk and reliability assessments. Twenty appendices contain results of surveys on bursting discs, pipes, valves, relief valves, pump failures and information on human error, international fire losses, and blast effects. 

Cummins, C. L. (1976). Internal Fire. Oregon Carnot Press. Donkin, B. (1S96). Gas, Oil and Air engines, 2nd ed. London Griffin and Co. 

Other boiler designs in regular use since before or around the turn of the twentieth century included vertical boilers, locomotive boilers, firebox boilers, and Scotch marine boilers (Scotch boilers). All these designs were classified as internally fired FT boilers. 

All modem, packaged horizontal FT boilers are basically descended from the SM internally fired, FT boiler design. They became immensely popular during the early 1960s because of their versatility, cost-effectiveness, and relative efficiency (this last factor became very important following the fuel price crises of the early to mid-1970s). 

A Category 1 incident is one requiring additional resources, but which can be dealt with by the site operator and internal fire brigade. Some thought needs, however, to be given... 

When dealing with an entire fire detection system that utilizes more than one type of detector, a Detonator Module greatly expands the flexibility and capability of the system. An individual Detonator Module can accept multiple inputs from UV and IR controllers, other Detonator Modules, manual alarm stations, heat sensors, smoke detectors or any contact closure device. In the event of a fire, any of these devices will cause the internal fire circuitry of the module to activate the detonator circuit, sound alarms, and identify the zone that detected the fire. When properly used, a Detonator Module will add only one millisecond to the total system response time. See Figure 8 for an illustration of a fire detection system with a Detonator Module. 

Strength Internal Fire Department communications were successful. Nextel was used as backup communication for privacy of command staff conversations. Primary fire department communications occurred via E-Tower which was restricted to GVW Fire Department use. Dispatcher initiated all-call page for other county fire departments to be on standby. State of South Carolina provided additional communications capabilities through 800 MHz radio. Faxes, phones, etc. available on Haz-Mat units was a key factor in good communications. Twice a day briefings with written objectives were conducted at UCP (Unified CP) status of previously established objectives were updated at each briefing. 

Enclosures, such as analyzer houses, providing a protective and temperature controlled atmosphere for the enclosed equipment or instruments may still warrant internal fire protection if the housed devices contain flammables or combustibles. 

Columns, scrubbers, reactors, and similar process vessels, particularly those containing packed beds, either structured or random (or loose-fill), can be susceptible to internal fires when they are opened to the atmosphere for internal... 

Solid materials are often dried or heated using combustion gas exhaust from a fired heater as the material is conveyed through a hot combustion gas zone. Solids handling dryers may take a number of forms, e.g., a rotary kiln. Losses involving dryers usually involve internal fires or explosions. 

Cable trays may be protected by water spray or fire resistant material. Large or fully filled cable trays, particularly those carrying power cables, should also be reviewed for cable overloading that could result in wire overheating and internal fire. 

The International Code Council (ICC) was formed by the consolidation of three formerly separate fire code organizations International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), which had published the Uniform Fire Code under its fire service arm, the International Fire Code Institute (IFCI) Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA), which had published the National Fire Prevention Code and Southern Building Congress Code International (SBCCI), which had published the Standard Fire Prevention Code. When the three groups merged in 2000, in part to develop a common fire code, the individual codes became obsolete however, they are noted above since references to them may periodically surface. The consolidated code is IFC-2006, International Fire Code. 

An insulated tank can be a protected tank, built to third-party standards UL 2085 and/or SwRl 93-01, or a fire-resistant tank built to UL 2080 or SwRI 97-04. Protected tanks were developed in line with NFPA requirements and terminology, while fire-resistant ASTs were developed in line with Uniform Fire Code (now International Fire Code) requirements and terminology. Both protected tanks and fire-resistant tanks must pass a 1093°C (2000°F), 2-h fire test. 

For most chemical storage tanks, codes such as NFPA 30 and the International Fire Code give specific separation distances. For motor vehicle fueling applications, the codes are more stringent on separation requirements due to a greater exposure of the public to the hazards. Hence codes such as NFPA 30A establish variable separation distances depending upon whether the facility is private or pubhc. 

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