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DESIGNS TO

PREVENT FIRE &


EXPLOSION

LECTURE 11
Eliminate Ignition Sources
Fire or Flames Typical Control
Furnaces and Boilers Spacing and Layout
Flares Spacing and Layout
Welding Work Procedures
Sparks from Tools Work Procedures
Spread from Other Areas Sewer Design, Diking, Weed
Control, Housekeeping

Matches and Lighters Procedures


Eliminate Ignition Sources
Hot Surfaces Typical Control
Hot Pipes and Equipment Spacing
Automotive Equipment Procedures

Electrical Typical Control


Sparks from Switches Area Classification
Static Sparks Grounding, Relaxation
Geometry, Snuffing
Lightning Procedures
Handheld Electrical Equipment
What else can be done?
Inerting
Controlling static electricity
Explosion-proof equipment & instruments
Ventilation
Sprinkler systems
Inerting
Process of adding inert gas to combustible mixture to reduce
concentration of oxygen below limiting oxygen concentration
(LOC)
Inert gas- nitrogen, carbon dioxide, steam(sometimes)
Inerting begins with initial purge of vessel with inert gas to
bring oxygen concentration down to safe concentrations
Commonly used control point=4% below LOC
Example: 6% oxygen if LOC is10%
Methods of inerting
Vacuum purging
Pressure purging
Combined pressure-vacuum purging
Vacuum & pressure purging with impure nitrogen
Sweep-through purging
Siphon purging
Vacuum purging
Not used for large storage vessels because they are not designed
for vacuums and usually can withstand a pressure of only a few
inches of water
Reactor however are designed for full vacuum(-760 mm Hg
gauge OR 0.0 mm Hg absolute)
Vacuum purging is a common procedure for reactors
Steps in vacuum purging:
Drawing vacuum until desired vacuum is reached

Relieving vacuum with inert gas~N 2 or CO2 to atmospheric

pressure
Repeat steps 1 & 2 above until desired oxidant concentration

is reached
Concentration after j purge cycles, vacuum and relief is given by:

j j
nL P L
y j yo yo
nH P H
y0=initial oxidant concentration
yj=final target oxidant concentration
PH=initial pressure
PL=vacuum pressure
nH=number of moles at PH
nL=number of moles at PL
Total moles of inert gas added for each cycle is constant. For j
cycles, the total inert gas is given by:

V
nN2 j PH PL
Rg T
Example 7.1
Use a vacuum purging technique to reduce the oxygen
concentration within a 1000-gal vessel to 1 ppm. Determine
the number of purges required and total nitrogen used. The
temperature is 75 degrees F, and the vessel is originally
charged with air under ambient conditions. A vacuum pump is
used that reaches 20 mm Hg absolute, and the vacuum is
subsequently relieved with pure nitrogen until the pressure
returns to 1 atm absolute
Pressure purging
Vessels can be pressure-purged by adding inert gas under
pressure
After the added gas is diffused throughout the vessel, it is
vented to the atmosphere~usually down to atmospheric
pressure
j j
nL P L
y j yo yo
n
H PH

V
nN2 j PH PL
Rg T
Vessel is initially at PL and is pressurized using a source of
pure nitrogen at PH
nL=total moles at atmospheric pressure (low pressure)
nH=total moles under pressure (high pressure)
Initial concentration of oxidant (yo) is computed after the
vessel is pressurized (1st pressurized state)
One practical advantage of pressure purging vs
vacuum purging is the potential for cycle time
reductions
The pressurization is much more rapid compared to
the relatively slow process of developing a vacuum
Also, the capacity of vacuum systems decreases
significantly as the absolute vacuum is decreased.
Pressure purging, however, uses more inert gas.
Therefore, the best purging process is selected based
on cost and performance
Example 7.2
Use a pressure purging technique to reduce the oxygen
concentration in the same vessel discussed in Example 7.1.
Determine the number of purges required to reduce the oxygen
concentration to 1 ppm using pure nitrogen at a pressure of 80
psig and at a temperature of 75 degrees F. Also, determine the
total nitrogen required
Combined pressure purging
Purging cycles for a pressure-first purge (Fig 7.3)
Purging cycles for evacuate-first purge (Fig 7.4)

j j
nL P L
y j yo yo
nH P H
Vacuum and pressure purging with
impure nitrogen
Previous equation only applies for pure nitrogen
Nitrogen 98%+ range
Remaining impurities=oxygen

PL P L
y j y j 1 yoxy 1
PH P H
Advantages & disadvantages
Pressure purging is faster because pressure
differentials are greater. However uses more gas than
vacuum purging
Vacuum purging uses less inert gas because oxygen
concentration is reduced primarily by vacuum
Combined pressure-vacuum purging~less nitrogen is
used compared to pressure purging, especially if the
initial cycle is a vacuum cycle
Sweep through purging
Adds purge gas into a vessel at one opening and withdraws the
mixed gas from the vessel to the atmosphere from another
opening
Commonly used when vessel not rated for pressure or vacuum
Purge gas is added and withdrawn at atmospheric pressure
C1 C0
Qv t V ln
C2 C0
V=vessel volume
C0=inlet oxidant concentration
Qv=volumetric flow rate
t=time
Reduce oxidant concentration from C1 to C2
Example 7.3
A storage vessel contains 100% air by volume and must be
inerted with nitrogen until the oxygen concentration is below
1.25% by volume. The vessel volume is 1000ft3. how much
nitrogen must be added:

assuming nitrogen contains 0.01% oxygen


If it is pure nitrogen
Siphon purging
Sweep-through process requires large quantities of
nitrogen~expensive
Siphon purging is used to minimize this type of purging
expense
Starts by filling vessel with liquid-water or any liquid
compatible with product
Purge gas is added to the vapor space of the vessel as the
liquid is drained from vessel
Static Electricity
Sparks resulting from static charge buildup (involving at
least one poor conductor) and sudden discharge
Household Example: walking across a rug and grabbing
a door knob
Industrial Example: Pumping nonconductive liquid
through a pipe then subsequent grounding of the
container

Dangerous energy near flammable vapors 0.1 mJ


Static buildup by walking across carpet 20 mJ
Double-Layer Charging
Streaming Current
The flow of electricity produced by transferring electrons
from one surface to another by a flowing fluid or solid
When a liquid or solid flows through a pipe (metal or glass),
an electrostatic charge develops on the streaming material
The larger the pipe / the faster the flow, the larger the current

Relaxation Time
The time for a charge to dissipate by leakage
The lower the conductivity / the higher the dielectric
constant, the longer the time
Controlling
Static Electricity
Reduce rate of charge generation
Reduce flow rates

Increase the rate of charge relaxation


Relaxation tanks after filters, enlarged section of pipe
before entering tanks
Use bonding and grounding to prevent discharge
The voltage difference between two conductive materials is
reduced to zero by bonding the two materials, that is by
bonding one end of a conducting wire to one of the materials
and bonding the other end to the second material
Bonding and grounding reduces the voltage of an entire
system to ground level or zero voltage
This also eliminates the charge buildup between various parts
of a system, eliminating the potential for static sparks
Controlling
Static Electricity
GROUNDING

BONDING
Explosion Proof Equipment
All electrical devices are inherent ignition sources

If flammable materials might be present at times in an


area, it is designated XP (Explosion Proof Required)

Explosion-proof housing (or intrinsically-safe


equipment) is required
Area Classification
Class I Flammable gases/vapors present
National
Electrical Class II Combustible dusts present
Code (NEC) Class III Combustible dusts present but not
defines area likely in suspension

classifications Group A Acetylene


as a function Group B Hydrogen, ethylene
of the nature Group C CO, H2S
and degree of
Group D Butane, ethane
process
Division 1 Flammable concentrations normally
hazards present
present
Division 2 Flammable materials are normally in
closed systems
VENTILATION
Open-Air Plants
Average wind velocities are often high enough to safely
dilute volatile chemical leaks

Plants Inside Buildings


Local ventilation
Purge boxes
Elephant trunks
Dilution ventilation (1 ft3/min/ft2 of floor area)
When many small points of possible leaks exist
Sprinkler system types
Antifreeze sprinkler system
A wet pipe system that contains an antifreeze solution and
that is connected to water supply
Deluge sprinkler system
Open sprinklers and an empty line that is connected to
water supply line through a valve that is opened upon
detection of heat or flammable material
Dry pipe sprinkler system
A system filled with nitrogen or air under pressure. When
the sprinkler is opened by heat, the system is
depressurized, allowing water to flow into the system and
out the open sprinkler
Wet pipe sprinkler system
A system containing water that discharges through the
opened sprinklers via heat
Summary
Though they can often be reduced in
magnitude or even sometimes designed out,
many of the hazards that can lead to
fires/explosions are unavoidable
Eliminating at least one side of the Fire
Triangle represents the best chance for
avoiding fires and explosions

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