1.

Fire and Gas System design (FGS)

o The purpose of the fire and gas detection and protection standard is to

 minimize loss of life or serious injury (Personnel),

 contain and prevent the spread of a fire, extinguish it in the early stages if
possible (Environment) and

 minimize the damage and financial loss (Assets) caused by such an incident.

o In line with refinery type of operations, fire water system shall be supplied with
following equipment:

 firewater pumps, usually centrifugal, diesel driven, 2W+1S

 a fire main piping

 hydrants,

 water monitors,

 deluge systems,

 sprinkler systems,

 semi fixed foam systems,

 hose reels in buildings and on process plots and portable extinguishers in

buildings and on site.

 Fire fighting vehicles (engines) shall be also provided as part of the

infrastructure requirements for the facility.

o It is recommended to interface FGS with the following systems:

1. Deluge System

2. RIM Seal (Foam Skid) System

3. ESD Emergency shutdown System

4. UPS Uninterrupted power System

5. HVAC Heat, ventilation and air conditioning System

6. PA Public address System

7. CCTV System/Video Wall

8. Analyser House (devices supplied by others)

9. DCS Distributed control (For Beacon Black-out, hardwired in PIB)

 10. Process Package equipment, supplied by others (Vendors) (If applicable)

11. Fire Fighting Station and

12. Main Guard House.

o Fire and gas detection and alarm systems shall be provided on the site and in buildings
to detect and provide early warning of a fire or hazardous gas leak situation, and
potentially initiate an automated response to mitigate the potential consequences of
the event.

o NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION (NFPA) CODES:-

 NFPA 10 2010 Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers

 NFPA 11 2010 Standard for Low-, Medium-, High-Expansion Foam Systems

 NFPA 13 2010 Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems

 NFPA 15 2007 Standard for Water Spray Fixed Systems for Fire Protection

o The plant layout shall be such that an incident in one area of operation shall not spread
to adjacent plot areas due solely to the proximity of the plots to one another. Maintain
a safe fire radiation separation distance.

o Emergency Shutdown (ESD) valves for inventory isolation shall be incorporated into the
process design to limit the volume of material released in the event of a fire.

o Any outbreak of fire or a gas leak shall be automatically alarmed on the Fire and Gas
mimic alarm panel in the central control room and repeated in DCS operator station in
the central control room whereupon the responsible operator will manually activate the
appropriate emergency measures.

o Adequate fixed and mobile firefighting facilities shall be provided. Adequate training in
the use of firefighting equipment shall be given to the site operating personnel.

o The firefighting systems on site and the required firewater quantities shall be designed
on the basis of only two significant fire scenarios occurring at any one time on the plant
(in the process and in the product storage or in the product export area).

o The total firewater demand and system configuration shall be determined by Contractor
during detail design to satisfy the requirements of NFPA.

o The fire water storage quantity shall be sufficient to provide a minimum three hours of
uninterrupted water supply for Process Area and six hours of uninterrupted water
supply for Storage Area.

o Three main fire pumps shall be located outside the fire risk area for safe operator access
(minimum of 50 m from fire zone) and shall consist of two diesel driven pumps and one
electric motor driven pump. Each shall be rated at 50% of the estimated water
requirement.
o Suction for the pumps shall be taken from the firewater and treated raw water tank and
the water supplied to the main at a pressure sufficient to provide a minimum of 10 barg
at the most remote hydrant take-off point and minimum of 1.4 barg at the most
unfavorable nozzle of water sprinkler (According NFPA requirements).

o The fire water pumps shall be provided with common minimum flow recirculation and a
test header.

 The purpose of minimum flow is generally to prevent undue wear and tear or
damage to the pump.

 In the real environment of a process or utility plant, a pump is operated at just

about any condition demanded by the situation at hand.

o Additional design requirements: The fire water could be stored in two reservoirs. In
addition to fire water ring should be considered fire water reservoirs in the process and
storage areas. The distance between reservoirs should be no more than 500 m and
capacity not less than 250m3. Fire water reservoirs will be filled from fire water main
and access should be provided for two fire tracks.

o Fire pump start tests shall be carried out on a regular basis. Facilities and control logic
for the sequential starting of the fire pumps shall be provided within the fire pump
control panel(s) located at the pumps. In addition to local pump start the facility shall be
provided to enable each pump to be started from the manned central control room.
Repeat pump status indications shall be signaled to the central control room where the
indications shall be displayed on both the Fire and Gas System and DCS operator
stations. Confirmation of the on-line pump start and the pump discharge pressure shall
be logged on both the Fire and Gas System and DCS operator stations.

o The fire main shall be kept pressurized with firewater by the use of one jockey pump
and one stand-by, supplying water at a higher pressure than the pressure control set
point. The main pumps shall be set to start automatically in a cascade system on loss of
fire main jockey pressure.

o A fire suppression system normally uses two pumps, a main and robust fire pump that
delivers large volumes of water to the fire standpipe system and a small low flow, high
pressure pump (jockey pump) that keeps the fire system pressurized during non-fire
conditions and prevent unnecessary cycling of the main fire pump.

o The main pump suction line and valves shall meet the NFPA code requirement that with
all pumps running at 150% of their design rate the velocity in the suction line shall be no
greater than 4.57 m/sec.

o In the storage area the maximum water required shall be based on one tank in fire with
relevant foaming system and fixed water spray cooling system activated by automatic
deluge valves and fixed water spray cooling system of the adjacent tanks activated by
automatic deluge valves (normally half surface of the adjacent tanks shall be
considered).
 o What is a deluge valve? Deluge systems deliver large quantities of water, over a large
area, in a relatively short period of time. A deluge valve is a type of system actuation
valve that is opened by a detection system. A deluge fire protection system has
unpressurized dry piping and open sprinkler heads. The system is directly connected to a
water supply and when the system is activated, a deluge valve will release the water to
all the open sprinkler heads. The valve is opened when activated by a heat or smoke
detection system.

o What is a manual call point? A manual call point is a device which enables personnel to
raise an alarm in the event of a fire incident by pressing a frangible element to activate
the alarm system. Manual fire alarm activation is typically achieved through the use of a
pull station or call point (term used in Europe, Australia, and Asia), which then sounds
the evacuation alarm for the relevant building or zone. Manual fire alarm activation
requires human intervention, as distinct from automatic fire alarm activation such as
that provided through the use of heat detectors and smoke detectors.

o Break glass type manual call points shall be provided for buildings. These shall be
painted red. These shall be installed as required by the local codes. Manual call points
not associated with buildings located within the plant areas shall be pushbutton type
with a safety guard over the pushbutton.

o MCPs shall be located to avoid accidental breakage of the glass unit, field mounted
devices shall be mounted away from likely problem areas and supplied with suitable
guards as required.

o MCPs shall be provided with a test facility to enable testing without breaking the glass,
as applicable.

2. Water Spray System Design Methodology

o As per NFPA 15, for a typical water spray system, the design density of spray ranges
from 4.1lpm/sq.m to 20.4 lpm/sq.m – depending on the application and hazard type.

o The minimum operating pressure of any nozzle protecting an outdoor hazard is

stipulated at 20 psi (1.4 bar).

o Major steps in designing effective water spray system

1. Establish design area (area to be sprayed)

2. Determine dimensions or foot-print

3. Determine water density (application rate, NFPA15)

4. Calculate water demand (lit per hour or m 3/hr)

5. Establish nozzles required (K-factor & Spray Angle)

6. Determine Nozzle Orientation

 7. Determine number and type of nozzles required to give adequate water
coverage

8. Adjust K-factor & Spray angle - Recalculate

9. Finalize the design

o Fire main networks shall be installed underground and fabricated in Carbon steel
material with appropriate cathodic protection. The fire main diameters shall be
minimum 8", and shall be hydraulically analyzed to ensure that under any fire condition
the maximum velocity expected in any section of the fire main shall not exceed 3.5
m/sec.

o The fire main network round each process and offsite plot shall be provided with
adequate isolation valves to ensure that sections of fire main can be isolated for
maintenance whilst still enabling a minimum quantity of firewater to be available to any
section. There shouldn’t be any blind spot for the firewater coverage.

o Hydrants shall be four-way units in process and tankage areas, and two-way units in
administration areas and shall be “dry type”. Hydrants shall comply with all local
requirements.

o The hydrant outlets shall be fitted with hose couplings to match the units used in the
area and on the adjacent sites. The hydrants shall be spaced at about 60 metres apart in
process/storage areas and no more than 90 metres apart in administration areas.

o In tank storage areas all parts of every tank shall be within 150 metres of a hydrant.

o Monitor shall be “dry type” and shall comply with all local requirements. Monitor shall
be designed as such that can be rotate to 360° water projection with no blockage from
adjacent equipment to the fire hazards.

o Water only manual monitors shall be located round the process areas fitted with an
inlet ball valve and spray/jet water nozzle rated for a minimum of 1800 l/min capacity at
7 bar g inlet pressure.

o Monitors shall be located to cover all high-risk areas, e.g. critical pumps, compressors
and major vessels. The monitor performance shall produce a jet of at least 35 metres
and the monitors themselves shall be located between 15 and 30 metres from the risk
being covered where possible.

o Critical equipment, compressors and pumps handling hydrocarbons and vessels

containing more than 5m3 of combustible products shall be fitted with automatic
operated fixed water deluge systems.

o Each system shall be fed from two separate locations on the fire main, one generally
upwind (manually operated deluge valve) and one downwind (automatically operated
deluge valve) of the risk and separated by a fire main isolation valve between the two
take-off feeds.
 o The application rate shall typically be 10.2 l/min/m 2 for vessels and 20.4 l/min/m2 over
compressors and pumps.

o The administration and storage buildings such as warehouse, chemical storage handling
flammable, combustible and raw materials shall be provided with sprinkler systems.

o Internal hose reels, wall mounted in cabinets shall be provided for non-electrical and
non-instrument building. Each shall be fitted with an inlet isolation valve, spray/jet
nozzle and 30 metres of minimum 51 mm hose and shall be located in buildings such
that all parts of a building shall be within the reach of two hose streams. The building
reels shall be fed from the fire water main.

o Storage tanks shall be fitted with deluge and foam generation systems.

o In the event of flange leak leading to jet fires steam could be used to control fires. The
steam has a smothering effect and it limits the overheating of the flange elements.

o Steam lances shall be provided on those circuits where the leakage is expected to
continue even after the closure of the Emergency Isolation Valve, eventually present in
the same circuit, due to the inventory present into the isolated circuit.

o Steam lances can be provided on all piping or equipment flanges when all the following
conditions apply:

 flange size greater than 10”,

 design pressure of the circuit greater than 80 barg,

stream with either high hydrogen concentration (molecular weight less than 12), regardless the
operating temperature, or with combustible fluid at operating temperature greater than autoignition
temperature.