Fire Protection and Thermal Modeling

BakerRisk has conducted numerous studies to evaluate the impact of jet/pool fires on personnel in chemical processing facilities. BakerRisk has developed capabilities to assess vulnerability to occupants located inside buildings and process areas, which help clients in constructing mitigation solutions and developing strategies to reduce risk to occupants from thermal hazards.

Background and Objectives

• API RP-752 requirements for fire scenarios
  • Thermal loads on buildings produced by process unit or storage fires can be significant
  • Structures and personnel can be vulnerable to thermal hazard from different fires
• Thermal response of Shelters-in-Place or Safe Refuges is important if they can be impacted by a potential jet or a pool fire. Performance of these buildings will determine if they are safe to “shelter” personnel in the event of a fire
• Proliferation of blast resistant modules (BRMs) that are located near potential jet fires and pool fires has raised questions regarding how long building occupants may safely remain inside a BRM during a fire incident

BakerRisk Capabilities

• Model jet/pool fires using PHOENICS, Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS)
• Assess the impact of fires on buildings – temperature rise inside occupied spaces, temperature of structural elements and its effect on strength
• Predict thermal radiation from fires
• Perform jet fire tests on portable buildings
• Calculate occupant vulnerability from thermal hazards

Project Summary

Impact of Jet Fire on Blast Resistant Modules (BRMs)

• Evaluate the impact of a 6-inch diameter release on a complex of BRMs
• Model the release and BRMs using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS)
• Estimate levels of radiation, temperature profile around and inside the BRMs
• Estimate occupant vulnerability based on temperature and thermal radiation levels

Design Barrier Wall to Shield Buildings from Thermal Radiation

• Design a shield wall using FDS to protect occupants from thermal radiation
• A shield wall can be constructed between the potential release source and the building
• A shield wall is designed such that residual radiation on the building does not exceed the specified level
• The building, shield wall, and the release source are all included in a single FDS model

Assess Temperature Rise Inside Buildings

• Using FDS, temperature rise inside a building can be estimated for different structural configurations
• Structural requirements for buildings to limit the temperature rise can be determined by performing an FDS analysis. Structural requirements may include design of additional insulation or fireproofing with commercially available materials such as Chartek