Tank farms are used for the storage of extremely flammable and explosive substances; Consequently, preventive fireplace protection is of main significance. When rehabilitation of such a tank farm is deliberate, contractors typically advocate in depth – and thus costly – measures. A fire-protection solution developed by TÜV SÜD demonstrates that an equivalent degree of safety can be reached with a a lot more cost-effective solution. A central role in injury limitation is played by early fireplace detection using thermographic cameras.
Numerous tank farms all through Germany store petrol, diesel, kerosene or liquefied petroleum gasoline (LPG). In contact with air, these extremely flammable substances can kind explosive mixtures. Given this, tank farms require special measures within the field of preventive fireplace protection. If rehabilitation of fire-protection techniques becomes essential at an older tank farm, far-reaching measures must be taken, not solely by means of precaution but in addition to exclude possible legal responsibility dangers. And yet not every measure that is technologically possible can also be needed in case of a rehabilitation, as could be seen from the example of a tank farm in Bavaria, Germany.
The tank farm is situated at a basin of a river port in Bavaria. The a part of the tank farm in want of rehabilitation covers 24 tanks with a storage volume of between 600 and a couple of,000 cubic metres. The tank farm is used for intermediate storage of highly flammable fluids with flame factors of < 21 levels Celsius, as outlined within the German hazardous substances laws. In fire inspections and on-site inspections after incidents, the inspectors had identified major non-conformities within the fire-extinguishing system. To substitute the outdated and non-conforming system, an engineering firm submitted an in depth record of measures. These measures totally happy all regulatory necessities however represented a very cost-intensive answer, requiring a full rehabilitation using conventional extinguishing techniques. For the tank-farm operating company, the costs of implementing these measures would have added as a lot as 1.7 million euros.
In hearth protection, the problem lies in connecting well-founded technological information and authorized know-how. In follow this implies harmonising affordable engineering services and legal functions to acquire a cohesive, economically feasible and easily applied fire-protection idea.
Alternative solution developed by TÜV SÜD
At the operating 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 agency. Owing to the large variety of deficiencies recognized in the tank farm, the specialists first ready a listing of priorities with the measures necessary to fulfil the security necessities and achieve the safety objectives. They arrived at the conclusion that not the entire proposed measures really needed to be implemented. Starting from this discovering, they then drew up an alternate fire-protection concept that may in the end reduce the projected costs by one third.
TÜV SÜD’s rehabilitation plan included the fire-protection infrastructure already in place on the tank farm, similar to a non-automatic foam extinguishing system with a complete foaming-agent supply of 10,500 litres distributed throughout two tanks, two submerged pumps within the port basin with a pump capability of a hundred and eighty m3 per hour to make sure water provide for fireplace 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 energy provider. The feed-in of emergency power was effected by the native professional fire department.
The engineering firm, by contrast, had planned to switch the complete fire-extinguishing system. They needed to install three cell extinguishing-agent distribution techniques in container form for remote managed sprinkling and foaming of the tanks. This answer would have required the installation of latest electrical, operational and control methods in addition to new pipe routes connecting the extinguishing-agent distribution methods with the fire-fighting techniques in the tank fields. The costs for the three extinguishing-agent distribution systems in container kind alone would have added as much as round 1.2 million euros.
Incipient hearth preventing situation with intact power provide and free entry to the tank farm.
Implementation of three packages of measures
The various rehabilitation idea developed by TÜV SÜD, which also met the necessities of the Bavarian Building Code (BayBo [1]), offered for 3 important packages of measures to realize the safety and security aims.
First, set up of a completely computerized infrared measuring system made by DIAS Infrared to ensure early fire detection. The system’s seven thermographic cameras are installed on pan-tilt models. They detect modifications in temperature on the surfaces of the tanks made of various supplies and situated in the space monitored by the cameras, earlier than these changes in temperature may cause a fire. As the cameras can move, the areas to be monitored could be divided into sectors. The cameras then method these sectors cyclically in sequence. To shield the cameras in opposition to exterior influences, they’re housed in ventilated and heated weatherproof enclosures (Fig. 1). Monitoring focuses primarily on the security devices of the tanks, pumps and motors and on the filling techniques on the tank-farm premises. The management room at the tank farm and the native skilled fireplace division are notified immediately as quickly as the temperature exceeds a sure limit. The measure package deal additionally contains remote triggering of the extinguishing-agent provide from the control centre and automation of the protection devices.
Incipient fire preventing situation with energy loss where entry to the tank farm is blocked by a cargo train.
In addition, it covers rehabilitation of the sprinkler and foam-extinguisher system. In this context, TÜV SÜD’s answer offered for replacement of the leaking and corroded pipe sections with new pipes and for set up of three fastened foam-extinguishing techniques within the type of foam monitors to struggle incipient fires directly. In addition, a mobile foam monitor was deliberate as a backup.
A third focus area concerns safeguarding the ability supply required for early fireplace detection and fireplace fighting. According to the regional power supplier, energy outages could have a duration of at least 30 minutes. Given this, the tank-farm wanted an independent power supply system that was in a position to make sure energy supply for a minimum of 2 hours. The specialists relied on battery buffering and a diesel operated emergency energy unit to unravel this downside.
Fire safety must ensure achievement of the protection goals
Protection aims and equivalent safety level reached
The fire-protection answer offered by TÜV SÜD was agreed with both the tank farm’s working firm, the municipal authority and the professional hearth division. The three measure packages additionally complied with the required protection goals and the protection ranges. And in the end, they proved far less expensive than the solution initially proposed. Since rehabilitation of the tank farm, early fire detection along side improved fire-protection infrastructure has become a central part of injury limitation. Since the rehabilitation idea was applied, the tank-farm’s operating company – working with the skilled fire department – has been capable of effectively counteract all attainable situations of incipient fire successfully and at an early stage, even in cases of power loss or when entry to the tank farm is blocked (see Figures 2 and 3).
For extra info, go to www.tuev-sued.de/is or www.dias-infrared.de
Classification underneath the Bavarian Building Code (Bayerische Bauordnung, BayBo)
Tank farms are installations of a special kind and use (special structures). เกจวัดแรงดันไฟฟ้า includes the dealing with and storing of highly explosive or flammable substances. Protection measures and security precautions thus not solely fall throughout the working company’s responsibility but are additionally a matter of public interest. Given this, the BayBO stipulates necessities together with materials necessities which, as “General clauses of fireplace protection”, assist to assist the safety goals defined in Article 12. However, based on article three (1) deviations from the technical building rules are potential if another resolution is discovered that’s equal by way of fulfilling the overall requirements in paragraph 1. In different phrases, the necessities laid down in the Building Code are deemed complied with if the widely recognised rules of structure and expertise are fulfilled.
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