GUIDELINES FOR Fire Protection in Chemical, Petrochemical, and Hydrocarbon Processing Facilities Center for Chemical Process Safety of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 3 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5991 Copyright © 2003 American Institute of ChemicalEnginers 3 Park Avenue New York, New York 10016-5991 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. AIChE™andCCPS® are trademarks owned by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. These trademarks may not be used without the prior express written consent of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The use of this product in whole or in part for commercial use is prohibited without prior express written consent of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. To obtain appropriate license and permission for such use contact Scott Berger, 212-591-7237, [email protected]. CCPSPublication Number G-83 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Guidelines for fire protection in chemical, petrochemical, and hydrocarbon processing facilities. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8169-0898-2 (Hardcover) 1. Chemical plants—Fires and fire prevention. 2. Chemicals—Fires and fire prevention. I. American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Center for Chemical Process Safety. II. Title. TH9445.C47G85 2003 660’.2804—dc22 2003017934 It is sincerely hoped that the information presented in this volume will lead to an even more impressive safety record for the entire industry. However, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, its consultants,CCPS Subcommittee members, their employers, and their employers’ officers and directors andRRSEngineering disclaim making or giving any warranties or representations, express or implied, including with respect to fitness, intended purpose, use or merchantability, and/or correctness or accuracy of the content of the information presented in this document. As between (1) American Institute of Chemical Engineers, its consultants,CCPSSubcommittee members, their employers, and their employers’ officers and directors and RRSEngineering (2) the user of this document acceptsany legal liability or responsibility whatsoever for the consequences of its use or misuse. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 PREFACE The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has helped chemical plants,petrochemicalplants,andrefineriesaddresstheissuesofprocesssafety andlosscontrolforover30years.Throughitstieswithprocessdesigners,plant constructors,facilityoperators,safetyprofessionals,andacademia,theAIChE has enhanced communication and fostered improvement in the high safety standardsoftheindustry.AIChE’spublicationsandsymposiahavebecomean informationresourceforthechemicalengineeringprofessiononthecausesof incidents and means of prevention. The Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), a directorate of AIChE, wasestablishedin1985todevelopanddisseminatetechnicalinformationfor useinthepreventionofmajorchemicalaccidents.TheCCPSissupportedbya diverse group of industrial sponsors in the chemical process industry and related industries who provide the necessary funding and professional guid- anceforitsprojects.TheCCPSTechnicalSteeringCommitteeandthetechni- cal subcommittees oversee individual projects selected by the CCPS. Professional representatives from sponsoring companies staff the subcommit- tees and a member of theCCPSstaff coordinates their activities. Sinceitsfounding,theCCPS haspublishedmanyvolumesinits“Guide- lines” series and in smaller “Concept” texts. Although most CCPS books are writtenforengineersinplantdesignandoperationsandaddressscientifictech- niques and engineering practices,several guidelines cover subjects related to chemical process safety management. A successful process safety program reliesuponcommittedmanagersatalllevelsofacompanywhoviewprocess safetyasanintegralpartofoverallbusinessmanagementandactaccordingly. A team of fire protection experts from the chemical industry drafted the chaptersforthisguidelineandprovidedrealworldexamplestoillustratesome xv xvi Preface ofthetoolsandmethodsusedintheirprofession.Thesubcommitteemembers reviewed the content extensively and industry peers evaluated this book to help ensure it represents a factual accounting of industry best practices. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The American Institute of Chemical Engineers wishes to thank the Center for ChemicalProcessSafety(CCPS)andthoseinvolvedinitsoperation,including itsmanysponsorswhosefundingmadethisprojectpossible;themembersofits Technical Steering Committee who conceived of and supported this Guide- lines project, and the members of its Fire Protection Subcommittee. If this Guideline prevents one chemical, petrochemical, or hydrocarbon processingfacilityfire,theeffortsofallthoseinvolvedinpreparingthisworkwill be deeply recognized and rewarded. The members of theCCPSFire Protection Subcommittee were: Robert M. Rosen, Chair,BASF Corporation Siegfried Fiedler,BASF Corporation GeneHortz,Rohm & Haas Company Duncan L.Hutcheon,ExxonMobil JoelKrueger, BP Amoco JohnSepahpur,ChevronTexacoEnergy Research & Technology Company JohnSharland,FM Global William A.Thornberg,Industrial Risk Insurers Della Wong,AonReedStenhouse JeffreyYuill,Starr Technical Risks Agency, Inc. JohnDavenportwastheCCPSstaffliaisonandwasresponsibleforoverall administration of the project. Additional contributors to the subcommittee were Charles E.Fryman,FMC,and Dave Moore,Acutech. Risk, Reliability and Safety Engineering (RRS), of League City, Texas (www.rrseng.com) was contracted to write this guideline. The principal RRS authors of this guideline were: xvii xviii Acknowledgments John Alderman, PE, CSP BillEffron, CSP ChristyFranklyn Tim McNamara AdditionalRRSstaffthatsupportedthisprojectincludesDonnaHamilton, Marlon Harding, Ted Low, and Tom Lawrence. DanielT.Gottuk,PhDandJosephScheffey,PEofHughesAssociateswere the primary authors of Chapter 5. CCPSwouldliketothankBudSlye,PE,LossControlAssociates,whopro- vided technical quality review. CCPS also gratefully acknowledges the comments and suggestions receivedfromthefollowingpeerreviewers;theirinsights,comments,andsug- gestions helped ensure a balanced perspective to this Guideline: Dr.EzikpeAkuma,New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ReginaldBaldini,New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Michael P.Broadribb,BP America, Inc. Keith L. Farmer,DuPontEngineering Technologies Les Fowler,BASF Corporation EricLenoir,AIU-Energy Darren Martin,Shell Chemical Company Lisa M. Morrison,NOVA Chemicals, Inc. Dave Owen,Exxon-Mobil AsitRay,New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ThomasScherpa,DuPontEngineering Technologies MiltWooldridge,MRW& Associates, Inc. The members of the CCPS Fire Protection Subcommittee and the peer reviewerswishtothanktheiremployersforallowingthemtoparticipateinthis project. ACRONYMS ALARP As low as reasonably practical AIChE AmericanInstituteofChemicalEngineers AISC AmericanInstituteofSteelConstruction AHJ AuthorityHavingJurisdiction ANSI AmericanNationalStandardsInstitute API AmericanPetroleumInstitute BI Business Interruption BLEVE BoilingLiquidExpandingVaporExplosion CCPS CenterforChemicalProcessSafety CFD ComputationalFluidDynamics CFR CodeofFederalRegistry CMPT CenterforMarineandPetroleumTechnology DCS DistributedControlSystem DOT DepartmentofTransportation EANS Emergency Alarm Notification System EHS Environmental,Health,andSafety EOC EmergencyOperationsCenter EPA EnvironmentalProtectionAgency ERP EmergencyResponsePlan ERT EmergencyResponseTeam FCC FluidCatalyticCracking(Unit) FHA FireHazardAnalysis FMEA FailureModeandEffectsAnalysis FM Factory Mutual FPS FireProtectionStrategy FRP FiberglassReinforcedPlastic GRP GlassReinforcedPlastic xix xx Acronyms HVAC Heating,Ventilating,andAirConditioning HAZID HazardIdentification HAZOP HazardandOperabilityStudy HSSD HighSensitivitySmokeDetection HAZMAT HazardousMaterial ICS IncidentCommandSystem IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers I/O Input/Ouput IR Industrial Risk LEPC LocalEmergencyPlanningCommittee LFL LowerFlammabilityLimit LOPA LayerofProtectionAnalysis LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas MERITT MaximizingEHSReturns by Integrating Tools and Talents MFL Maximum Foreseeable Loss MOC Management of Change MSDS MaterialSafetyDataSheet NICET National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies NFPA NationalFireProtectionAssociation NLE NormalLossEstimate NOAA National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration OSHA OccupationalSafetyHazardAssociation P&ID PipingandInstrumentationDrawing PC PersonalComputer PDA PersonalDigitalAssistant PE Professional Engineer PHA ProcessHazardAnalysis PML ProbableMaximumLoss PFD ProcessFlowDiagrams PPE PersonalProtectiveEquipment PSM ProcessSafetyManagement PVC PolyvinylChloride RMS RiskManagementSystem RP RecommendedPractice RVP ReidVaporPressure SFPE SocietyofFireProtectionEngineers SI StandardInstrumentation SIS SafetyInstrumentedSystem UFL UpperFlammabilityLimit UL UnderwritersLaboratories UK UnitedKingdom VCE VaporCloudExplosion CONTENTS Preface xv Acknowledgments xvii Acronyms xix 1 Introduction 1.1. Scope 2 1.2. Who Will Benefit from This Guideline? 3 1.2.1. WhatIsFireProtection? 5 1.2.2. Examples 5 1.3. Relation to OtherCCPSGuidelines and Resources 5 2 Management Overview 2.1. Management Commitment 7 2.2. Integration with Other Management Systems 8 2.3. Balancing Protection 8 2.4. Cost-Benefit 9 v vi Contents 3 Fire Protection Strategy 3.1. Key Factors in a Fire Protection Strategy 11 3.1.1. AcceptableLoss 13 3.1.2. CostofFires 14 3.1.3. InsuranceCoverage 16 3.1.4. InstalledSystemsversusEmergencyResponse 18 3.1.5. PrescriptiveversusPerformance-BasedDesign 20 3.2. Developing a Fire Protection Strategy 21 3.3. Integration with Other Management Systems 23 3.4. Integration with theLifecycleof a Facility 23 3.4.1. Design 24 3.4.2. ConstructionandCommissioning 26 3.4.3. Operations 28 3.4.4. Decommissioning 28 4 Overview of Fire Prevention Elements 4.1. Audit Program 30 4.1.1. TheAuditProcess 30 4.1.2. QualificationsandStaffing 31 4.1.3. FrequencyofAudits 31 4.1.4. ApplicationtoFireProtection 32 4.2. Layout and Spacing 32 4.3. Control of Ignition Sources 33 4.3.1. ElectricalAreaClassification 33 4.3.2. PersonalIgnitionSources 33 4.3.3. HotWork 34 4.3.4. StaticElectricity 35 4.4. Employee Training 36 4.5. Housekeeping 37 4.5.1. HousekeepingProgram 37 4.5.2. ProcessAreaHousekeeping 38 4.5.3. DustControl 39 4.5.4. InappropriateStorageandHandling 39 4.5.5. HousekeepingandEquipment 40 4.5.6. CleaningMaterials 40