Improvement of preventive fireplace safety at a tank farm

Tank farms are used for the storage of extremely flammable and explosive substances; Consequently, preventive hearth protection is of major importance. When rehabilitation of such a tank farm is planned, contractors often advocate extensive – and thus costly – measures. A fire-protection resolution developed by TÜV SÜD demonstrates that an equal stage of safety can also be reached with a far more cost-effective resolution. A central function in harm limitation is performed by early fire detection utilizing thermographic cameras.
Numerous tank farms all through Germany retailer petrol, diesel, kerosene or liquefied petroleum fuel (LPG). In contact with air, these highly flammable substances can kind explosive mixtures. Given this, tank farms require particular measures within the field of preventive fireplace safety. If rehabilitation of fire-protection techniques becomes needed at an older tank farm, far-reaching measures should be taken, not solely by the use of precaution but in addition to exclude attainable legal responsibility dangers. And but not each measure that’s technologically feasible can be essential in case of a rehabilitation, as can be seen from the instance of a tank farm in Bavaria, Germany.
The tank farm is located at a basin of a river port in Bavaria. The part of the tank farm in need of rehabilitation covers 24 tanks with a storage quantity of between 600 and 2,000 cubic metres. The tank farm is used for intermediate storage of highly flammable fluids with flame points of < 21 levels Celsius, as outlined within the German hazardous substances laws. In fireplace inspections and on-site inspections after incidents, the inspectors had recognized main non-conformities within the fire-extinguishing system. To exchange the outdated and non-conforming system, an engineering agency submitted an in depth record of measures. These measures totally glad all regulatory requirements however represented a very cost-intensive answer, requiring a full rehabilitation utilizing traditional extinguishing methods. For the tank-farm working company, the costs of implementing these measures would have added up to 1.7 million euros.
In fireplace safety, the challenge lies in connecting well-founded technological information and authorized know-how. In practice this implies harmonising affordable engineering services and legal functions to acquire a cohesive, economically feasible and easily applied fire-protection idea.
Alternative resolution developed by TÜV SÜD
At the working company’s request, TÜV SÜD’s third-party specialists validated the person measures and the cost-effectiveness of the rehabilitation plan submitted by the engineering firm. Owing to the big variety of deficiencies recognized in the tank farm, the experts first prepared a list of priorities with the measures essential to fulfil the protection necessities and achieve the safety goals. They arrived at the conclusion that not the entire proposed measures truly wanted to be carried out. Starting from this finding, they then drew up an alternate fire-protection idea that might ultimately scale back the projected costs by one third.
TÜV SÜD’s rehabilitation plan included the fire-protection infrastructure already in place at the tank farm, corresponding to a non-automatic foam extinguishing system with a total foaming-agent supply of 10,500 litres distributed across two tanks, two submerged pumps in the port basin with a pump capacity of one hundred eighty m3 per hour to make sure water supply for fireplace fighting and sprinkling the shells and the roofs of the tanks, handbook triggering of the shut-off valves and a transformer station powered by the regional power provider. The feed-in of emergency power was effected by the local skilled fire department.
The engineering firm, by contrast, had planned to switch the complete fire-extinguishing system. They needed to put in three cell extinguishing-agent distribution methods in container form for remote managed sprinkling and foaming of the tanks. This resolution would have required the set up of recent electrical, operational and control techniques in addition to new pipe routes connecting the extinguishing-agent distribution techniques with the fire-fighting methods within the tank fields. The prices for the three extinguishing-agent distribution methods in container type alone would have added up to round 1.2 million euros.
เกจวัดแรงดันสูญญากาศ fighting state of affairs with intact energy supply and free access to the tank farm.
Implementation of three packages of measures
The different rehabilitation idea developed by TÜV SÜD, which also met the necessities of the Bavarian Building Code (BayBo [1]), offered for three important packages of measures to attain the safety and security objectives.
First, set up of a totally automatic infrared measuring system made by DIAS Infrared to ensure early fireplace detection. The system’s seven thermographic cameras are installed on pan-tilt models. They detect modifications in temperature at the surfaces of the tanks made of different supplies and positioned within the area monitored by the cameras, before these modifications in temperature may cause a fire. As the cameras can move, the areas to be monitored could be divided into sectors. The cameras then approach these sectors cyclically in sequence. To defend the cameras in opposition to external influences, they are housed in ventilated and heated weatherproof enclosures (Fig. 1). Monitoring focuses totally on the safety gadgets of the tanks, pumps and motors and on the filling techniques on the tank-farm premises. The management room on the tank farm and the native skilled fire department are notified immediately as quickly as the temperature exceeds a sure limit. The measure package additionally consists of remote triggering of the extinguishing-agent provide from the control centre and automation of the safety devices.
Incipient fire preventing situation with power loss the place entry to the tank farm is blocked by a cargo prepare.
In addition, it covers rehabilitation of the sprinkler and foam-extinguisher system. In this context, TÜV SÜD’s solution supplied for substitute of the leaking and corroded pipe sections with new pipes and for installation of three fixed foam-extinguishing techniques within the form of foam monitors to battle incipient fires instantly. In addition, a cell foam monitor was planned as a backup.
A third focus area considerations safeguarding the power provide required for early fire detection and hearth fighting. According to the regional power provider, energy outages might have a length of no less than 30 minutes. Given ตัววัดแรงดัน , the tank-farm wanted an independent power provide system that was able to make sure energy provide for no less than 2 hours. The specialists relied on battery buffering and a diesel operated emergency energy unit to solve this drawback.
Fire protection must ensure achievement of the safety goals
Protection goals and equal safety degree reached
The fire-protection solution presented by TÜV SÜD was agreed with each the tank farm’s operating firm, the municipal authority and the skilled hearth division. The three measure packages also complied with the required protection goals and the safety levels. And finally, they proved far less expensive than the answer initially proposed. Since rehabilitation of the tank farm, early fire detection in conjunction with improved fire-protection infrastructure has turn out to be a central a half of damage limitation. Since the rehabilitation concept was implemented, the tank-farm’s working company – working with the professional hearth division – has been in a position to successfully counteract all attainable eventualities of incipient fire successfully and at an early stage, even in cases of energy loss or when access to the tank farm is blocked (see Figures 2 and 3).
For more info, go to www.tuev-sued.de/is or www.dias-infrared.de
Classification under the Bavarian Building Code (Bayerische Bauordnung, BayBo)
Tank farms are installations of a particular sort and use (special structures). Their operation involves the dealing with and storing of extremely explosive or flammable substances. Protection measures and safety precautions thus not only fall inside the operating company’s duty however are also a matter of public curiosity. Given this, the BayBO stipulates requirements including material requirements which, as “General clauses of fire protection”, assist to support the safety objectives defined in Article 12. However, according to article 3 (1) deviations from the technical constructing regulations are possible if another solution is found that’s equivalent by means of fulfilling the general requirements in paragraph 1. In different words, the necessities laid down in the Building Code are deemed complied with if the generally recognised guidelines of architecture and technology are fulfilled.
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