Tank farms are used for the storage of extremely flammable and explosive substances; Consequently, preventive fire protection is of main significance. When rehabilitation of such a tank farm is planned, contractors usually advocate extensive – and thus costly – measures. A fire-protection solution developed by TÜV SÜD demonstrates that an equivalent degree of security can be reached with a much more cost-effective resolution. A central position in harm limitation is performed by early fire detection utilizing thermographic cameras.
Numerous tank farms throughout Germany store petrol, diesel, kerosene or liquefied petroleum fuel (LPG). In contact with air, these extremely flammable substances can type explosive mixtures. Given this, tank farms require special measures within the subject of preventive fire protection. If rehabilitation of fire-protection systems becomes needed at an older tank farm, far-reaching measures should be taken, not solely by the use of precaution but also to exclude possible liability risks. And but not every measure that is technologically feasible is also necessary in case of a rehabilitation, as may 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 want 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 factors of < 21 degrees Celsius, as outlined within the German hazardous substances legislation. In fire inspections and on-site inspections after incidents, the inspectors had identified main non-conformities within the fire-extinguishing system. To substitute the outdated and non-conforming system, an engineering agency submitted an extensive record of measures. These measures fully satisfied all regulatory requirements however represented a really cost-intensive solution, requiring a full rehabilitation using conventional extinguishing methods. For the tank-farm operating firm, the prices of implementing these measures would have added as much as 1.7 million euros.
In fire protection, the problem lies in connecting well-founded technological data and legal know-how. In practice this implies harmonising affordable engineering services and authorized functions to acquire a cohesive, economically feasible and easily implemented fire-protection concept.
Alternative answer developed by TÜV SÜD
At the operating company’s request, TÜV SÜD’s third-party experts validated the individual measures and the cost-effectiveness of the rehabilitation plan submitted by the engineering agency. Owing to the large number of deficiencies identified in the tank farm, the consultants first ready a list of priorities with the measures necessary to fulfil the safety necessities and achieve the safety aims. They arrived at the conclusion that not all the proposed measures truly needed to be implemented. Starting from this finding, they then drew up an alternative fire-protection concept that would ultimately cut back the projected costs by one third.
TÜV SÜD’s rehabilitation plan included the fire-protection infrastructure already in place on the tank farm, such as a non-automatic foam extinguishing system with a total foaming-agent provide of 10,500 litres distributed throughout two tanks, two submerged pumps in the port basin with a pump capacity of a hundred and eighty m3 per hour to make sure water supply for fire fighting and sprinkling the shells and the roofs of the tanks, guide triggering of the shut-off valves and a transformer station powered by the regional vitality supplier. The feed-in of emergency energy was effected by the local skilled fire department.
The engineering agency, by contrast, had planned to replace the entire fire-extinguishing system. They wished to put in three cell extinguishing-agent distribution systems in container kind for distant managed sprinkling and foaming of the tanks. This answer would have required the installation of recent electrical, operational and control systems as nicely as new pipe routes connecting the extinguishing-agent distribution systems with the fire-fighting systems in the tank fields. The costs for the three extinguishing-agent distribution methods in container type alone would have added as a lot as round 1.2 million euros.
Incipient fire combating scenario with intact energy supply and free entry to the tank farm.
Implementation of three packages of measures
The different rehabilitation concept developed by TÜV SÜD, which also met the necessities of the Bavarian Building Code (BayBo [1]), offered for three important packages of measures to realize the protection and security aims.
First, set up of a totally automatic infrared measuring system made by DIAS Infrared to ensure early hearth detection. The system’s seven thermographic cameras are put in on pan-tilt models. They detect changes in temperature at the surfaces of the tanks made of different supplies and located within the area monitored by the cameras, before these changes in temperature can cause a fireplace. As the cameras can move, the areas to be monitored can be divided into sectors. The cameras then approach these sectors cyclically in sequence. To protect the cameras in opposition to external influences, they’re housed in ventilated and heated weatherproof enclosures (Fig. 1). Monitoring focuses totally on the security gadgets of the tanks, pumps and motors and on the filling systems on the tank-farm premises. The management room at the tank farm and the native skilled fireplace division are notified instantly as soon because the temperature exceeds a certain restrict. The measure package additionally includes distant triggering of the extinguishing-agent provide from the control centre and automation of the safety gadgets.
Incipient fire combating situation with energy loss the place access 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 provided for substitute of the leaking and corroded pipe sections with new pipes and for installation of three fastened foam-extinguishing methods in the type of foam monitors to battle incipient fires directly. In addition, a cellular foam monitor was planned as a backup.
A third focus area considerations safeguarding the ability provide required for early hearth detection and fire preventing. According to the regional energy provider, power outages may have a duration of no much less than 30 minutes. Given เกจวัดแรงดัน4บาร์ , the tank-farm needed an unbiased power provide system that was in a position to make sure power supply for at least 2 hours. The specialists relied on battery buffering and a diesel operated emergency power unit to resolve this problem.
Fire protection must guarantee achievement of the safety aims
Protection goals and equivalent safety stage reached
The fire-protection resolution offered by TÜV SÜD was agreed with both the tank farm’s operating company, the municipal authority and the skilled fireplace department. The three measure packages additionally complied with the required protection goals and the safety ranges. And in the end, they proved far more cost-effective than the answer initially proposed. Since rehabilitation of the tank farm, early fireplace detection at the aspect of improved fire-protection infrastructure has turn into a central a part of damage limitation. Since the rehabilitation idea was applied, the tank-farm’s working firm – working with the skilled hearth division – has been able to effectively counteract all potential situations of incipient fire effectively and at an early stage, even in circumstances 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 type and use (special structures). Their operation entails the handling and storing of extremely explosive or flammable substances. Protection measures and safety precautions thus not only fall inside the operating company’s duty but are also a matter of public curiosity. Given this, the BayBO stipulates necessities including materials necessities which, as “General clauses of fire protection”, help to assist the safety goals defined in Article 12. However, in accordance with article three (1) deviations from the technical building laws are possible if another answer is discovered that is equal in phrases of fulfilling the general necessities in paragraph 1. In different words, the requirements laid down in the Building Code are deemed complied with if the widely recognised rules of architecture and technology are fulfilled.
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