A Study on Fire Protection of Chemical Plants Using FRA (Fire Risk Assessment) Method

Abstract

-Chemical plants and oil gas refinery facilities are intrinsically vulnerable to industrial hazards, such as explosion or fire. Especially, the fire is extremely dangerous to facility structures and plant personnel because of direct flame, radiant heat and smoke. In addition, it has the ripple effect of destroying infra-structures and polluting the environment. In an effort to tackle these potential industrial risks, the procedure of FRA techniques in chemical plants were investigated. The main focus was put on the time variation of physical properties of the main building, i.e. control rooms, warehouses and electrical substations, from a direct flame contact and radiant heat. The deformation of a building due to fire was monitored and modeled with respect to time variable. A variety of case studies, domestic and abroad, was tested in the model to verify the FRA procedure. The developed model was proven to be highly effective to reduce the possible risks at chemical plants. An accurate accident frequency prediction and damage quantification was made by the developed model.