Passive Fire Protection

1.     OBJECTIVE

The objectives of the Fireproofing study are given below:

1. Prevent escalation of fire from one area to an adjacent area
2. Protect systems and equipment of essential importance for safety
3. Maintain structural integrity for the required period of time

2.     SCOPE OF FIREPROOFING STUDY

When exposed to excessive heat, as in a fire situation, steel gradually loses its load bearing capacity as it heats up and can eventually fail. Where steelwork is supporting heavy equipment, or equipment/piping systems containing hydrocarbons or toxic material, failure of the steel may lead to collapse and hence direct injury of persons, escalation of the fire or release of toxic material. To protect load bearing steelwork from exposure to excessive heat in the event of a fire, passive fire protection material (fire proofing) can be applied directly to the steel.

1. Hazard evaluation, including quantification of inventories of potential fuels.
2. Development of fire scenarios including potential release rates and determining the dimensions of fire-scenario envelopes.
3. Determining fireproofing needs based on the potential impact of damage for each fire-scenario.
4. Choosing the level of protection (based on appropriate standard test procedures) that should be provided by fireproofing material for specific equipment, based on the needs analysis.

3.     METHODOLOGY

The Fireproofing consisted of the following main steps:

• Identification of fire hazards (e.g. jet fire, pool fire etc.) and screening of representative scenarios
  • Hazard inventory estimate. It is worth noting that this is typically taken as total volumes of the equipment’s (for normal operating conditions).
  • Using release hole size, perform consequence modelling using an approved proprietary hazard consequence modelling software package.
  • Review impact of consequence modelling results on facility and review based on API 2218, and in particular:
  • Assess the impact on facility.

Assess the Project protection measures in place (based on the above), and provide recommendations in order to reduce the impact from fire and explosion

4.     SOFTWARE USED

• SHELL FRED v7.1
• DNV PHAST v8.22

5.     STANDARDS

API 2218 Fire Practice in Petroleum and Petrochemical Processing plants,2007 OGP Risk Assessment Data Directory, “Consequence Modelling”, Report No. 434-7, March 2010.

• Shell DEP 80.47.10.30-Gen. - ASSESSMENT OF THE FIRE SAFETY OF ONSHORE INSTALLATIONS, Feb 2013

6.     PRESSURE VS TIME GRAPH

A1 Test separator VL-106-01

A2 Production separator VL-104-01

7.    SAMPLE CONSEQUENCE CONTOUR

A1 Test separator VL-106-01- JET FIRE

• Vapour

• Liquid

A2 Production separator VL-104-01-JET FIRE

• Vapour

• Liquid