unwelcomed visitors unwelcomed visitors

Transcription

Volume 20 Number 6
Nov.-Dec. 2005
The Foremost Industrial Fire, Safety and Emergency Response Authority for Twenty Years
BP Conducts
Fall LNG
Workshop
New Study
Checks LNG
Theories
UNWELCOMED
VISITORS
Hurricanes
Katrina & Rita
Slam U.S.
Refineries
Innovation
Leads Way In
Fire Fighting
Coast Guard Petty Officer Quoen
Harris takes samples from an oil spill
at a Potash, LA, refinery.
Photo Courtesy USCG/Mariana O’Leary
Contents
November/December 2005
FEATURES
RELIEF
5 INFLATABLE
Houston manufacturer Bruce Colborne interviewed firefighters with many departments
before introducing his new product to the market — an inflatable, climate controlled
shelter designed specifically for fire scene rehab.
VISITORS
6 UNWELCOMED
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita shut down or reduced capacity at oil refineries and chemical plants throughout Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with 20 percent of
U.S. oil refinery capacity still affected in mid-October.
RITA’S WAKE
9 INEmergency
responders protecting Texas refineries after Hurricane Rita found themselves short of gasoline. IFW help rushed fuel to the scene.
10 INNOVATION
Many well known names have contributed technical innovations that continue to
Photo by Liz Roll/FEMA
A New Orleans street draped in
downed power lines. Rebuilding
the electrical grid in the wake of
two major hurricanes has hindered Gulf Coast industries.
Industrial Fire World, November-December 2005, Volume 20, No. 6. Industrial Fire World (ISSN 0749-890X)
is published bimonthly by Industrial Fire World, Inc.,
P.O. Box 9161, College Station, Texas 77842. (979) 6907559. Fax: (979) 690-7562. E-mail: ind@fireworld.com.
Web site: www.fireworld.com. All rights reserved under International Convention. Copyright © 2005 by Industrial
Fire World Inc., all rights reserved. Industrial Fire World
is a registered trademark of David White Investments, Inc.,
College Station, Texas. The design and content are fully
protected by copyright and must not be reproduced in
any manner without written permission of the publisher.
Bulk rate postage paid at San Antonio, TX, and additional
mailing offices. Subscription rates: USA, one year $29.95,
two years $49.95, and three years $59.95; Canada and
foreign, add $20 per year postage. Single copies $6. Back
issues available at $6 a copy plus postage. Payment must
accompany orders for single copies. All inquiries regarding subscription problems, change of address and payments, call (979) 690-7559. Please allow six to eight weeks
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both old and new addresses when requesting an address
change and notify us at least six weeks in advance. (If
possible enclose subscription address label.) Industrial
Fire World is edited exclusively to be of value for people
in the industrial fire protection field. Subscriptions are reserved to those engaged in the area of industrial fire protection and related fields or service and supply companies’ personnel. Address advertising requests to Marketing Director, Industrial Fire World, P.O. Box 9161, College Station, Texas 77842. (979) 690-7559. Advertising
rates and requirements available on request. Editorial Information: Industrial Fire World welcomes correspondence dealing with industrial fire and safety issues, products, training and other information that will advance the
quality and effectiveness of industrial fire and safety management. We will consider for publication all submitted
manuscripts and photographs. All material will be treated
with care, although we cannot be responsible for loss or
damage. Submissions should be accompanied by a
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of material will be made only upon publication.) Industrial Fire World assumes no responsibility for the return
of unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Industrial
Fire World reserves the right to refuse any editorial or
advertising material submitted for publication. Information and recommendations contained in this publication
have been compiled from sources that are believed to
be reliable and representative of the best current opinion
on various topics. No warranty, guarantee, or representation is made by Industrial Fire World as to the absolute validity of sufficiency of information contained within
the publication. Industrial Fire World assumes no responsibility for statements made by contributors. Advertising in Industrial Fire World does not imply approval nor
endorsement by Industrial Fire World. Printed in the
USA. CPC publication number 40801529.
Postmaster: Send address changes to
Industrial Fire World, P.O. Box 9161,
College Station, Texas 77842
For subscription inquiries
call: (979) 690-7559
revolutionize the art and science of emergency response.
ALLIANCE
14 GLOBAL
Five nationalities were represented among the firefighters and associated personnel
attending the fall BP LNG fire training workshop held in Texas.
SCIENCE
16 APPLIED
Flameout Control & ABB Automation joined with co-sponsors of BP LNG fire research
project for a new round of testing involving cutting edge gas detector technology.
20 STATE-OF-THE-ART
ABB utilized its 800xA industrial controller system to capture data during BP LNG
vapor release testing.
CAMERA CHECKS LNG VAPORS
20 ‘COOL’
Results from thermal imaging camera checked against
DEPARTMENTS
standard gas detectors in detecting LNG vapor release.
21
FLAMEOUT CONTROL
Houston engineering & fabrication company specializes in
dealing with technical difficulties involving fire protection.
RANGE
22 FLOW
Central States Fire Apparatus delivers its first industrial
truck with an AccuMax foam proportioning system.
RESPONSE
24 REMOTE
Elkhart Brass offers a monitor remote interface capable of
directing and adjusting its Stinger RF from a distance.
STAFF
Publisher
David White
Editor
Anton Riecher
Circulation Manager
Gloria Thompson
Sales Manager
Lynn White
Administrative Manager
Tamara Fish
Technical Consultant
Louis N. Molino Sr.
Hazmat Contributor
John S. Townsend, Ph.D.
EMS Contributor
Bill Kerney
Education Contributor
Attila Hertelendy
Risk Contributors
John A. Frank
Jeffrey Roberts
4
18
26
28
30
31
33
34
38
Dave’s Notes
LNG Progress
Focus on Hazmat
EMS Corner
Target on Training
Risk Assessment
Incident Log
Service Directory
Spotlight Ads
INDUSTRIAL FIRE WORLD®
SINCE 1985
(ISSN 0749-890X)
P.O. Box 9161,
540 Graham Road
College Station, TX 77842/45
(979)690-7559
FAX (979)690-7562
E-MAIL ind@fireworld.com
WEB SITE www.fireworld.com
ADVERTISING SALES OFFICE
P.O. Box 9161 • College Station, TX 77842 • TEL (979)690-7559 • FAX (979)690-7562 • lynn@fireworld.com
DAVE’S NOTES
By DAVID WHITE/ PUBLISHER
W
A Tale of Two Witches
hat are the lessons learned for industrial facilities and emergency responders related to recent
hurricane experiences they encountered? There are a thousand stories about the challenges
that were met by responders who either stayed behind when the hurricane hit or tried to rush
back as soon as possible afterward.
What comes out of this is the glaring message that industry is not immune to the same problems that
befall a local grocery store, neighborhood bar, or the nearby hotel hit by the same devastating event.
First thing, you will not have electricity for a period of time. Weeks after Katrina and Rita areas of
Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas are still without power. How do you obtain generators? The local “U
RentM” outlet? You will be standing in line with the aforementioned grocer, bartender and hotel proprietor.
You need a commitment from a company that supplies generators to run your critical facilities such as
your control room or the feed water pump for boilers. To get operations started, your shop needs generators
for welders who have to replace pipes, pumps and valves.
Then, we realize that the evacuation took with it critical equipment such as fire trucks, shop vehicles
and computers. While it’s wise to remove these to a safe place, what security do we have for it? What if we
can’t get it back because bridges and roads are blocked? And what about communications? Without
electricity, even the cell phones are dead. Customers have no way to reach you. Worse, you have no way
to reach the pipefitters, welders and firefighters you may need. With no phone lines operational, your
computer data bases may be inaccessable. What do you have in your disaster plan to cover temporarily
relocating administrative offices to another facility, possibly out of state? Communications problems may
not be strictly electronic. Many of the Katrina-Rita ravaged communities still don’t have routine mail
service. Smaller businesses may close indefinitely for failure to plan for the lack of these critical services.
The tragedy of hurricanes Katrina and Rita give us an important opportunity to learn. Twenty years ago
I went to a historic high rise fire in a Los Angeles bank building. The amazing lesson I learned was about
planning for the unthinkable. Fire roared through three floors of that high rise late in the evening. By
daylight the bank had computers up and running in another location, as planned. Every day those machines
were down would have meant millions in losses. The same holds true for a chemical plant or refinery.
Another lesson from the hurricanes is that employees have obligations to their families before their jobs.
That can mean traveling half way across the country to be with relatives if there are no accessible, affordable places to stay after the storm. When it’s time for them to return to help with recovery and startup, how
do they get back? Gasoline was not to be had in many areas along major highways used by evacuees. Bus,
train and plane service may be kaput. Plants were trying to restart that could not locate or return employees.
Even if the employees are on hand there are logistical problems such as feeding and housing them.
We have to develop specific disaster plans that are real, not a copy of a plan for another kind of plant
located in another state. That plan must relate to the real world where hurricanes, earthquakes and other
disasters occur. Granted, Katrina and Rita impacted more facilities in a larger area than ever in the history
of America. About 15 years ago I sat next to the head of FEMA discussing the potential calamity if a
category four or five hurricane went up the Houston Ship Channel or the Mississippi River, knocking out
30 to 40 percent of the U.S. gasoline refineries. No backup plan existed to replace them. Sure, we can
pump all of the crude oil we want out of the Strategic Oil Reserves. Where are reserves of refined gasoline?
A hurricane could put salt water into every plant on the ship channel 10 feet deep. Returning to full
operation could take six months to one year. There would be a critical shortage of maintenance people
because companies have largely replaced them with contractors. Such contactors would be overwhelmed
by the demands of several hundred plants needing immediate attention.
Of course, maintenance people can’t work without parts. These plants would need new valves, electronics, computers, gauging equipment and other parts. The response from your friendly supplier? “Yeah,
you and 1,000 other people need one – I’ve got two in stock.”
All I can do is advise. We need a critical stockpile of items that would be in short supply in such a
disaster. Decision makers think they have enough clout to get what they need. But with a massive number
of diverse industries seeking supplies there won’t be enough fill the orders fast enough.
That’s what makes it so important to plan. We tend to operate on the assuption that the worse won’t
happen to us. It can, it has and it will happen again. We thought that it was over after Katrina and then Rita
came along. No individual or company is bulletproof when it comes to disasters. We plan for fighting fires.
But do we have a disaster plan that is flexible and broad enough in scope to encompass the unthinkable?
At the IFW Conference & Exposition, March 27-31, 2006, in Baton Rouge, LA, the opening day will be
devoted to presentations and a panel discussion on how industries dealt with hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
A white paper will be compiled by IFW with recommendation forwarded to agencies such as FEMA. o
I
Inflatable
Relief
Rehab Shelter Climate Controlled For Comfort
n the days following 9/11 Bruce Colborne joined millions of horrified
television viewers who watched as emergency workers laboring in the
smoke, dust and fumes at Ground Zero.
“Like everybody else, I watched the 9/11 coverage from my living room
without being able to actually do anything about it,” Colborne said. “I
remember feeling guilty as I watched all of the emergency workers in that
environment without a clean, comfortable place to recover.”
As an independent air conditioning contractor, Colborne had a thought.
Why not build something that would be portable enough that they could
pull it right onto the site and provide a cool environment to rest?
That idea developed into Texas-based Rapid Air Shelter, manufacturer
of inflatable climate controlled shelters designed to protect emergency
responders from weather and other harsh environments. Available in modular
unit sizes ranging from 120 to 320 square feet, the Rapid Air Shelter is a
fully integrated system — shelter, generator and trailer, plus other important
extras to aid at the emergency scene.
Before the first shelter was built Colborne spent six months interviewing
firefighters to learn what they needed most from such a unit.
“They came up with a pretty impressive list,” Colborne said. “It had to
be portable, self-deploying, provide hot and cold conditioned air, positive
pressure, with carbon dioxide detection, stay in place and also a smoke
removal system. It needed to be compact and match their fire truck colors.”
As a rule, modern firefighters require at least 10 minutes rest or “rehab”
after 45 minutes of strenuous activity or using two 30-minute SCBA bottles.
Continued on Page 18
Martin Apparatus, Inc.
Extreme Firefighting Power!
Martin Apparatus Inc.
3500 Shelby Lane
Denton, Texas 76207
800-784-6806
www.martinapparatus.com
UNWELCOMED
VISITORS
Katrina & Rita Batter
Gulf Coast Industries
6 INDUSTRIAL FIRE WORLD
Clockwise, starting below, an angry Hurricane Katrina approaches the Gulf Coast on Aug. 28; Stolthaven New Orleans
shipping terminal after Katrina; a collapsed crane in a refinery
near Sabine Pass, TX, after Hurricane Rita; the Chevron Empire Terminal in Plaquemines Parish, LA; the flooded
ConocoPhillips Alliance tank farm in Belle Chasse, LA, and a
jumbo storage tank in Mereau, LA.
By ANTON RIECHER
IFW Editor
A
sk most Americans which was worse, Hurricane Katrina or Rita,
and the nightmare of a flooded New Orleans prompts one answer
— Katrina. But from the standpoint of oil refining, Hurricane Rita
caused more than twice the havoc and continues to significantly hinder
U.S. oil production, said Ron Chittim, a senior associate with the American
Petroleum Institute.
As of mid-October, 20 percent of the nation’s refinery capacity is down
or is restarting, Chittim said. Of that, 15 percent can be attributed to Rita
while only five percent is Katrina related.
“There were a lot more refineries — big ones — affected by Rita,”
Chittim said. “They may not have had quite as extensive water damage as
the ones closer to New Orleans, but if you look at the overall impact Rita
was worse.”
Of the refineries damaged by Katrina, three in Louisiana remain down
while another in Mississippi is in the process of restarting. As the result of
Rita, two refineries in the Beaumont-Port Arthur region remain shut down
while another six located in Houston, Beaumont-Port Arthur and Lake
Charles, LA, are either restarting or operating at reduced levels.
The one Houston refinery has been shut down since an explosion in
March that killed 15 people. The company involved recently announced
that operations would remain suspended until changes agreed to in a settlement with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration are
implemented.
According to the Association of Oil Pipelines, almost all pipelines are
operational though some are moving less crude oil and product than before
the hurricanes.
More of the affected refineries survived the hurricanes with only moderate water and wind damage, Chittim said.
“The units in a refinery are huge,” Chittim said. “They don’t blow over.
Photo by Ed Edahl/FEMA
Photo Courtesy Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality
Continued on Next Page
Photo Courtesy Louisiana Dept. of Environmental
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
2005 Quality
7
Starting at top left, a massive oil spill threatens St. Bernard Parish
when an oil tank was forced from its foundation by Hurricane
Katrina’s massive storm surge; railroad cars scattered in
Almanaster, LA; Murphy Oil in Meraux, LA, reported major
flooding and a FEMA Rapid Needs Assessment Team does an
air evaluation of a major Texas refinery after Hurricane Rita.
Photo by Bob McMillan/ FEMA Photo
Photo by Leif Skoogfors/FEMA
Interestingly enough, the cooling water towers did tend to get some damage. They are high profile, bulky pieces of equipment often supported by a
wooden substructure. So there were several reports following Rita where
cooling water towers were damaged.”
Storage tanks have not proven as vulnerable as originally feared, he
said.
“There was some damage to tanks,” Chittim said. “However, when you
think of all the thousands of tanks at refineries and terminals, I’m not surprised there were a couple. It’s not quite clear yet what caused the damage. The wind may have been strong enough to lift the tanks off their foundations. I suspect that the fuller the tank the better it withstood the high
winds.”
Although secondary containment caught most of the spillage from damaged tanks, the containment was sometimes compromised by the magnitude of the storm surge, he said.
More than damage to the refineries, the factor holding up renewed production has been electrical power, Chittim said.
“Refineries are, by and large, operated by electricity,” he said. “The
power companies have made it a priority to try and restore that power as
soon as possible.”
In Texas alone, nearly 10,000 Southeast Texas Entergy customers remained without electric power four weeks following Hurricane Rita. At the
peak of the damage resulting from the storm, about 286,000 customers
were without power. All refineries affected by the hurricanes now have
partial or full power.
“Assessment teams at the plants have to look at whether their has been
water damage to pumps, compressors, motors, heat exchangers, instrumentation and control systems,” Chittim told Industrial Fire World. “Instrumentation is particularly important because all modern refineries are
run by computer now.”
Even under ideal conditions, restarting a refinery calls for caution, he
said.
“There is always risk involved in running a refinery,” Chittim said. “You
just have to manage that risk a bit differently during a startup. Often times
you’ll have more personnel on site. That means you’ll have more people
around watching the gauges than you would on just a normal operation.
The plant may have to revamp its usual startup procedures in keeping with
the hurricane response situation.”
Added to that special concern is the fact that many refineries also have
associated petrochemical operations such as plastics and olefin, a feedstock for the petrochemical industry.
“So you’ve got this huge amount of equipment that needs to be brought
back on line,” Chittim said. “It has to be done in an orderly and staged
process that can take three to five days, depending on the size of the plant.
During that period everything has to be closely monitored to make sure its
done safely and smoothly.”
That the refineries had sufficient time before the storm for a careful,
orderly shut down aids in the process immensely, he said.
“The refineries had ample warning that Rita was headed for the Houston-Galveston area,” Chittim said. “You can do a shut down in a day if you
have to but you would normally like to do it in a little more staggered
manner extended over two days. The refineries were able to go through an
orderly shutdown.
“It makes it easier when you do come back to start up again because all
your piping is clear, you’ve shut down your units the way they’re supposed to be shut down so you don’t have a lot of residue. When you make
the decision to restart that should make it a lot easier and quicker.”
o
I
ndustrial Fire World Magazine led a group of Bryan-College Station Office notified the Department of Public Safety of the need for the fuel
businesses in an impromptu effort Sept. 25 to rush badly needed in the evacuated area. In Conroe, White and Marsh were joined by
fuel and food to industrial firefighters protecting Gulf Coast refiner- Douglas L. Centilli, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady. Surprisies in the wake of Hurricane Rita.
ingly, roads were passable and the emergency gasoline shipment reached
Williams Fire & Hazard Control, located near Beaumont in WF&HC headquarters in Mauriceville and was unloaded before sunMauriceville, provides professional fire fighting expertise, equipment set.
and manpower to industrial facilities nationwide dealing in bulk flam“You have to visualize that everywhere from Houston to Beaumont
mable liquids. During Tropical Storm Allison in June 2001 Williams and into Louisiana there was no power, no gasoline and no restaurants,”
F&HC successfully extinguished a 270-foot diameter gasoline storage White said. “There were none of the advantages that we take for granted
tank near New Orleans, the largest such extinguishment on record.
when making a normal five hour trip.”
“These responders rushed back to their posts immediately after Rita
People other than emergency responders should heed requests by
passed,” said David White, Industrial Fire World’s publisher. “Refiner- officials to stay out of evacuated areas until further notice, White said.
ies that these responders were committed to protect experienced ex“Emergency responders are doing everything they can to restore estensive flooding due to Rita.”
sential services,” White said. “Emotional citizens returning prematurely
Williams F&HC has standing commitments to protect many Gulf Coast makes it harder for responders to concentrate on the job at hand.”
refineries. However, Rita forced company personnel to evacuate their
Industrial Fire World magazine serves the industrial fire fighting comheadquarters and move their families to safety inland. Then, taking up a munity throughout the U.S. and around the world. The magazine is also
position at a roadside park midway between San Antonio and Houston, responsible for the only conference and exposition for industrial
the firefighters waited.
firefighters held worldwide.
Once the storm passed, the firefighters deployed to the various refin“Our 21 years in working with industrial emergency responders was
eries to which they had been assigned. Many of the Beaumont-Port quickly put into action,” White said. “It took every partner in the proArthur area facilities had been subjected to extensive flooding and wind cess to respond to the call effectively and safely.”
o
damage. In many cases foam blankets were needed to cover leaking
fuel and prevent ignition.
Despite a wealth of fuel in storage at these facilities, the firefighters
soon found themselves running
critically short of gasoline needed
for their operations. Food to feed
the firefighters was also in short
supply. On Sunday morning
WF&HC owner Dwight Williams
contacted his long-time friend,
David White, and asked if he could
help.
First, White contacted Jason
Marsh of Bryan-based JM Trailers,
a distributor for Texas Bragg Trailers. Marsh committed his personal
truck and a trailer with which to
haul the fuel. Then, working
through the Brazos County Emergency Operations Center and various wholesale gasoline distributors,
White located three 250-gallon containers from the Bremco Oil Company. While the containers were
being loaded, Aggieland Tire Repair
& Road Service checked the vehicle
to be sure it could carry the load
safety. The fuel to fill the containers was obtained from the Producers Coop in Bryan.
Photo by David White
The Brazos County Sheriff’s Dwight Williams receives an emergency fuel shipment courtesy of Industrial Fire World.
In Rita’s Wake
IFW Rushes Fuel
To Williams F&HC
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005
9
INNOVATION
Ideas
Advance
Fire Fighting
I
nnovation is the implementation of new or significantly improved ideas,
goods, services, processes or practices. In particular, the industrial fire
service has seen a wealth of product innovation in the last century leading to better functioning characteristics, technical abilities, ease of use and
many other key areas of concern.
Any list of these awesome innovations that does not include the following items is seriously derelict.
MONITORS & NOZZLES
Williams Fire & Hazard Control is a name that is synonymous with the
word innovation. Less than 10 miles up the Mississippi River from New
Orleans is Chalmette, LA. In August 1983, Les and Dwight Williams
extinguished a 160-foot diameter gasoline storage tank, the largest fully
involved tank fire extinguished in history to that point. It was also the first
use of prototype 1,250 gpm Hydro-Foam™ self-educting nozzles. Pumping
water to these monsters took a fireboat, pumpers borrowed from New
Orleans and other local fire departments and about a mile of 4-inch hose.
The fire went out but Les Williams was still not happy. His next innovation
was a 2,000 gpm monitor. Competing with a new generation of jumbo
storage tanks, Williams F&HC soon introduced a selection of large-volume
monitors. The largest of these flowed 15,000 gpm. Besides being bigger,
these nozzles were self-educting without the massive friction loss that
virtually crippled such nozzles before the Williams era. This meant greater
reach. Add to that the Williams F&HC innovations in jet ratio controllers
that freed firefighters from their logistics nightmare. Instead of carrying
five-gallon buckets of foam anywhere you placed the monitor, firefighters
could feed water and foam to the nozzle from as far away as 1,500 feet.
Flash forward to June 2001. Twenty-four miles west of New Orleans is
the small refinery town of Norco, LA. Williams F&HC set a new record for
extinguishing a fully involved gasoline storage tank — 270 feet in diameter.
About half of the 300,000 barrels of gasoline in the tank was saved. Two
Williams F&HC nozzles delivered 12,000 gpm of foam that spread from a
single point to cover the entire surface.
As was Chalmette, Norco was a landmark event. Chalmette signaled
the innovations to come from Williams F&HC. Norco demonstrated that
those innovations were now practical and effective fire fighting tools. Most
recently, Williams has introduced the DASPIT Tool, which is a monitor/
nozzle configuration that is highly adaptable to any application scenario
and mounting configuration. Initially designed as a rim mount package to
fight tank fires from an elevated position, the DASPIT Tool has evolved
into a powerful appliance that can be used in a truck mount package for
tactical mobility, throw-down applications for react lines, marine vessel
mounted applications … even mounting to backhoe or bulldozer blades!
That’s adaptable innovation!
Other brand names figure prominently in monitor/nozzle innovations.
Elkhart Brass has taken giant strides forward in the area of radio remote
control. The operator can now stand away from the monitor where he has
a better view for aiming the stream. The other advantage is safety. For
example, take an incident that happened in Cincinnati, OH, in late August.
A rail car tanker containing 24,000 gallons of styrene started leaking styrene
gas. Officials said a chemical added to stabilize the styrene is believed to
have expired, which makes the styrene unstable. It was entirely possible
that the car could blow up at any second. Sending a firefighter to operate a
monitor only 100 feet from the potential blast is an unacceptable risk.
Of course Elkhart’s history of innovation goes back to the introduction
of the peripheral jet fog nozzle to America in 1936. A friend from Hamburg,
Germany, sold Elkhart Brass founder Albert E. Hansen the patent rights to
manufacture the first Mystery fog nozzle in the United States. Soon Hansen
improved on the original design by surrounding the orifice with teeth.
However, the fog nozzle, like the straight tip nozzle, had one major
drawback — firefighters were limited to a single flow setting. Then Akron
Brass came out with the first adjustable flow nozzle. A 1½ -inch nozzle
could be set at 30 gpm, 60 gpm, 90 gpm or 120 gpm, whatever best fit the
situation. But firefighters sometimes had trouble mastering the math involved.
What’s wrong when an adjustable nozzle produces a drizzle instead of a
stream? The firefighter has the nozzle set wrong. Push 200 gpm through an
orifice set for 600 gpm and all the firefighter does is get his feet wet.
Task Force Tips founder Clyde McMillan’s solved the problem with a
nozzle that automatically adjusts to maximize reach regardless of the flow
available. If only 100 gpm is available, the nozzle closes the orifice
accordingly to maintain a good stream. It was a tremendous leap forward.
EXTINGUISHING AGENT
In the old days there was mechanical foam and nothing else. Put air and
water together with a foaming agent, agitate the solution and the result was
fire fighting foam. The tricky part is the foaming agent. Protein is a complex
nitrogen compound derived from vegetative and animal matter. Hydrolyzed
protein adds stable, cohesive, adhesive and heat resistant properties to foam.
Scrap leather, hides, hoofs and horns boiled together with calcium hydroxide
was the first source of protein developed.
The military proved to be one of the biggest customers for fire fighting
foam. Shortly after the United States entered World War II, National Foam
switched to a mixture of soy protein and water that was converted to foam
using an aerating nozzle. Sold to the Navy under the name Aer-O-Foam,
the new foam soon acquired an apt nickname from sailors — “Bean Soup.”
Progress continued after the war. In 1952 National Foam developed an
alcohol-compatible foam. However, protein foam had a major drawback
with regard to industrial fire fighting. In hydrocarbon tank fires it had to be
applied gently, pushing a blanket across the surface rather than concentrating
on one spot. If the foam plunged beneath the surface the bubbles that
returned to the top had absorbed so much oil that it simply burned up.
Then, in the 1960s, the company developed a method of adding
fluorinated surfactants to its protein foam. Fluoroprotein foam was born.
The new foam was able to stand the heat better. More importantly, it made
subsurface injection possible. FP became the new standard in plants and
refineries. But while this was happening the Navy developed the first AFFF
(aqueous film forming foam). During the Vietnam war the Navy suffered
three major fires aboard aircraft carriers that left more than 200 sailors
dead within a 27 month period. Clearly, a pilot trapped on a burning flight
deck could not wait until a suitable foam blanket built up.
By benefit of its close research work for the Navy and an ample supply
of surfactant 3M got into the foam business. The new foam was much
faster acting in extinguishment than any of its predecessors. But industrial
firefighters with a decades-long attachment to protein foam were resistant
to adopting it. Then, in 1983, Les and Dwight Williams extinguished the
aforementioned Chalmette, LA, fire using straight AFFF. National Foam
then invented AFFF/FR. In turn, 3M bought the rights to market it as ATC.
It became the foam of choice for industrial fire fighting. Today, AFFF/AR is
far and away the accepted standard for American industry.
Other major advances in extinguishing agent deserve to be mentioned.
Today dry chemical is used in the vast majority of fire extinguishers
throughout the world. In 1939 Ansul, Inc., purchased DuGas Engineering,
the company that invented dry chemical. The dry chemical principally used
back then was sodium bicarbonate. Out of that came the first cartridge
operated extinguishers. Over the years the formulations have changed but
Ansul remains preeminent in the field. Williams F&HC has extended the
use of dry chemical through its landmark Hydro-Chem technology.
However, sometimes breakthroughs are short lived. Halon 1301 is
probably the best fire fighting agent known. It was developed primarily as
a total flooding system for confined spaces such as electrical and computer
rooms. A detector would locate smoke or heat, dump the halon and no real
flames ever occurred. Best of all, unlike using CO as a flooding agent,
2
nobody suffocated. Halon had low toxicity and only required a three-tofive percent concentration to do the job.
None of this matters any more because halon is no longer allowed to be
11
made. Engineered as a stable, long-lasting agent, some halons have
atmospheric lifetimes of 65 years or more. When it finally does decompose
in the upper atmosphere the bromine in halon attacks the ozone layer,
Earth’s shield against harmful ultraviolet-B radiation from the sun. Numerous
halon replacements have reached the market — DuPont’s FE-13, 3M’s
Novec 1230, Fike’s ECARO-25 and Amerex’s Halotron, to name a few.
Each has its advantages and drawbacks when compared to the original
halon. For example, Novec 1230 looks like water but weighs about half
again as much. A liquid at room temperature, Novec 1230 has a boiling
point of 120 degrees F and relatively low vapor pressure of 4.75 psig at 68
degrees F. In a fire situation, the fluid rapidly gasifies to extinguish a fire.
SENSORS
Through the miracle of electronics firefighters are steadily extending
their physical senses to better deal with emergencies. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in the realm of detectors. Companies like Honeywell Zellweger
Analytics have revolutionized detection technology through techniques such
as open path gas detection.
Comparing catalytic combustible gas detectors to OPGD is like comparing
a modern adding machine to its mechanical predecessor. Catalytic detection
involves a small platinum element coated with a catalyst. When electric
current is passed through the platinum, combustible gases touch the heated
surface, react and raise the temperature, triggering the detector.
Unfortunately catalytic detectors are subject to problems. One is
“poisoning,” when corrosive gases damage the catalytic surface..
By contrast, OPGD is based on the absorption of energy by hydrocarbons.
A pulsed infra-red light is transmitted from a source to a receiver unit.
Because hydrocarbons absorb infra-red energy at a variety of wavelengths,
the receiver measures reduction in intensity as the potential LEL (lower
explosive limit). Vapor that potentially could pass undetected between point
detectors immediately trigger OPGD. This technology is not subject to
poisoning as are traditional detectors.
Other electronic marvels aid modern firefighters. Visual flame detection
such as that sold by Micropack utilizes a closed circuit television system.
By means of digital signal processing and software algorithms the system
can process live images and interpret flame characteristics, discriminating
between genuine fire conditions and other radiant sources.
Michael Moore of Flameout Control is conducting research that could
take these new technologies to their next level. Together with The Leake
Company, Flameout is working to marry different types of visual image
technologies — infra-red, ultra violet and flame recognition software —
into a single system that can be used in much the same way as OPGD to
locate fugitive gas emissions that are normally invisible to the human eye.
The parade of new electronic sensing devices that might prove valuable
to firefighters does not end there. Those parabolic microphones that are so
common at televised sporting events are finding their way into fire fighting.
Big Ears, invented by Bill Russell, is a 24-inch-wide dish that weighs five
pounds. Depending on the environment and surrounding noise levels Big
Ears can amplify a target area 30 inches in diameter from 100 feet away.
It’s effective range is 500 feet. Think of the advantage in search and rescue
work. Collapsed buildings may be too structurally unsafe to allow searchers
to immediately access the scene. Prior to Big Ears the sound of buried
survivors could only be pinpointed using complicated triangulations.
Lets not forget the must-have technological advance that has found a
permanent home in municipal fire fighting — thermal imaging. No less a
responder than distinguished writer Frank Brannigan refers to thermal
imaging as “radar for firefighters.” If you have a building full of smoke and
can’t locate the fire, turn on the thermal imager. Suddenly the fire behind
the wall becomes as obvious as a red flag against a blue sky. The same can
be said for the smoke victim unconscious on the steps.
PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
Of all the advancements in fire fighting technology during the 20th
century, Nomex has been the most profound. But even Nomex had to
prove its worth to the perpetual naysayers. “It will never work,” they
chattered. “It’s not thick enough and it doesn’t absorb water.” Remember
that before Nomex most fire coats were nothing more than cotton duck or
rubber. The more water logged the coat became the better. Of course, if
cotton duck was completely dry it caught fire very easily. However, King
Cotton didn’t give up without a fight. In Texas, a state senator introduced
legislation to require that all fire fighting coats purchased in the state be
cotton. Fortunately, the legislation died for lack of support.
Nomex enjoyed early success in aviation. The nation watched as the
three astronauts aboard Apollo 1 died for lack of fire retardant clothing.
Military aviation accepted Nomex as the standard for flight suits and
coveralls. Given that it was hard to explain why firefighters should continue
to wear cotton for protection. After 30 years on the market, Nomex is
either the material of choice for fire protection or an important component
of whatever blended fiber is picked.
There have been other important improvements in PPE. GORE-TEX®
fabrics, which for fire gear is now called CROSSTECH® fabrics, were
included in turnout gear to help alleviate heat stress and provide a waterproof,
breathable barrier. In the days of cotton duck coats, firefighters literally
wore a vinyl raincoat under their fire gear to keep the water out. As if fire
fighting wasn’t hot enough as a physical endeavor, adding the raincoat
made it hellish. Adapting a similar technology that was first applied to coating
electrical wiring, GORE-TEX® fabric gave firefighters an effective moisture
barrier that kept them dry and more comfortable.
There is a difference between air permeable and breathable. Breathable
liners do not let in air. Instead, breathable liners allow sweat in the form of
moisture vapor to pass through the barrier which helps firefighters stay dry.
In 1997, the NFPA standard for moisture barriers changed to include
additional requirements of protecting against common chemical and viral
penetration by either body fluids or blood born pathogens. Once these
additional requirements were added the product became known as
CROSSTECH® fabric. While GORE-TEX® is waterproof, it does not
protect against contaminates.
Sometimes the simplest innovations are the most brilliant. Once upon a
time firefighters dressed in black except for their helmets. Imagine directing
traffic in the middle of a busy highway at midnight wearing this gear. Worse,
imagine trying to find a lost firefighter in a collapsed structure. The solution?
Reflective striping saved the day. This was a vast improvement in fire safety.
FIRE TRUCKS
Years ago pumpers rarely exceeded 1,000 gpm. You might find a few
1,250 gpm pumpers and, once in a blue moon, a 1,500 gpm pumper.
Pumpers were governed by the size of their engines. The only engines
available were gasoline, not diesel. If you wanted a 1,500 gpm pumper the
only options you had were to either order it with a Hall Scott 1,000 cubic
inch engine or join two 6-cylinder engines together to make a 12-cylinder
special. Otherwise, there simply wasn’t enough horsepower to drive a 1,500
gpm pumper. With Les and Dwight Williams designing monitors capable of
15,000 gpm, think of how many of these small pumpers would have to be
connected together to make it work. Worse, these trucks did not have the
five-inch and six-inch discharges being used in plants.
Emergency One took a bold step forward. The company put together a
task force of industrial fire chiefs and flew them to corporate headquarters
in Florida. There the task force members met with the engineers and the
sales people. One important question was on the table — “What do you
want in a fire truck?” Sure, the chiefs wanted aerial ladders and more red
lights. But at the top of the list was bigger pumpers with large diameter
discharges. And E-One responded, settling on a new design that produced
3,000 gpm and four six-inch discharges. Take that truck to a refinery, feed
it using two or three 5- or 6-inch hoses from a pressurized 100 psi water
system and it would pump as much as 6,000 gpm. What was once a radical
innovation in truck design is now accepted in plants across the nation.
13
B
Photo by Anton Riecher
Firefighters attending the LNG workshop and armed with dry
chemical extinguishers bring an open pit fire under control.
BP Sponsors International Workshop
To Educate Firefighters About LNG
Global
Alliance
By ANTON RIECHER
IFW Editor
Firefighters working in unison swept the flames off standing LNG.
y 2008, the Crown Landing LNG terminal proposed for the shores
of the Delaware River in New Jersey will have a daily capacity of
1.2 billion cubic feet. Area responders attending an LNG fire fighting workshop conducted at Texas A&M University in October are wasting
no time getting ready.
Jim Schmidt, chief of the Gibbstown (N.J.) Fire Company, was one of
12 New Jersey and Delaware firefighters on hand for the liquefied natural
gas workshop conducted by BP Global. Gibbstown neighbors Bridgeport,
N.J., home of the new LNG terminal.
“Providing the knowledge and information to the local responders is
important so they will be able to prepare themselves and their department
to respond to emergencies,” Schmidt said.
Also attending the workshop at the Texas Engineering Extension Service’s
Brayton Fire Training Field were firefighters and related personnel from
China, Indonesia, Japan and Korea. At nearly 30 students, BP chief fire
consultant Richard Coates said the workshop was “totally overbooked.”
“We’ve got five nationalities here that have been working on building
confidence and teamwork by using dry chemicals and foam on burning
LNG,” Coates said.
LNG is expected to play an important role in meeting the world’s increasing demand for clean-burning natural gas. BP, the world’s second
largest non-state supplier of natural gas to liquefaction plants, also operates
its own fleet of LNG vessels.
“It’s great to have the mix of first responders from four fire departments
that will provide the mutual aid emergency response to Crown Landing,
along with LNG design engineers and process supervisors from LNG plants
across the world,” Coates said. “Everyone learns off each other.”
BP Group Technology, in conjunction with BP Global LNG, worked as
joint partners with Texas A&M to develop the new training and testing
facility that opened at the Emergency Services Training Institute in College
Station, TX, in September 2004. The company has conducted two previous workshops for BP personnel and a combination of first responders and
industry contractors that design LNG facilities.
Schmidt said the three-and-a-half-day workshop gave him a whole new
respect for LNG.
“You get to see how it reacts with water,” he said. “You see the extinguishing techniques that need to be utilized. You gain a lot of information
just from the company representatives here on the design of these terminals — how they contain spills and make fire suppression easier. You get to
see how high expansion foam units and other fixed systems are used.”
Two days of live burns at the LNG training facility consumed the contents of two 10,000 gallon tank trucks. The workshop coup de grace called
for lighting all four LNG ‘props’ at one time, each with a depth of LNG
measured in inches. A carefully aimed flare gun set the pits ablaze.
“To be honest I didn’t realize the heat from these pits,” Schmidt said.
“We do have refineries in my jurisdiction. We’ve trained using props fueled
by conventional hydrocarbons. The heat factor here is far greater, but it is
a controllable and containable event.”
Firefighters, working in unison, extinguished the four pits within seconds of ignition using foam and dry chemical.
Not everyone attending the LNG workshop were emergency responders. Yasuyuki Nomoto and Takashi Nozato are fire engineers for the JGC
Corporation, Japan’s biggest engineering company. JGC, together with BP,
is involved in numerous LNG facility construction projects throughout the
world.
“We are both working on the Tangguh LNG project in Indonesia, which
is also a BP project” Nomoto said. “Richard Coates visited us in Yokohama.
He wanted us to attend this workshop. It’s an honor for us since this the
first time Japanese have attended.”
Both Nomoto and Nozato said it was important to compare the fire
protection proposed for JGC facilities with the realities of LNG fire fighting
learned in Texas.
“We are engineers, not firefighters,” Nomoto said. “We have thousands
of extinguishers provided for the various projects
but it is important for me to use one myself. It is
very important for me to see the actual thing with
regard to foam application. This will be very important to us in future design.”
The planned LNG processing plant serving the
Tangguh gas fields will be able to produce more
than seven million tons of LNG per annum from
two initial processing trains.
Also involved with the Tangguh project is
Korean-based Posco, the world’s second largest
steel maker. The Indonesia government has
signed an agreement with Posco to provide more
than half a million tons of LNG per annum for a
period of 20 years.
Sang-Hyeon Kim is in charge of fire fighting
in Posco’s LNG facilities. BP Korea paid the full
tuition for Kim, LNG terminal operations team
member Myoung-Gyu Kim and an interpreter to
attend the workshop.
“The characteristics of LNG is far from that
of a general hydrocarbon such as crude oil,”
Sang-Hyeon Kim said. “It requires new techniques for fire fighting. Here the training is closer
to the real situation found in an LNG terminal.”
BP is also the only foreign partner in China’s
BP consultant Richard Coates confers with Gibbstown N.J. Fire Chief Jim Schmidt.
first LNG import terminal and trunk-line project
under construction in Guangdong province. The project will consist of an fuel shortage in the U.S. in the wake of two monster hurricanes in the Gulf
LNG re-gasification terminal near the city of Shenzhen, with a capacity of of Mexico in rapid succession. Power generation and other priorities made
three million tons a year, together with more than 175 miles of associated it impossible to obtain the grade of LNG usually preferred for training, said
pipeline. It is due on stream in 2006.
Richard Coates.
Paul Richards with BP brought two Chinese shift supervisors from
“We couldn’t get the alternative lower methane concentrate LNG,” Coates
Guangdong. These supervisors would be the first people to respond in an said. “That’s part of why we are here. We need additional terminals in the
emergency.
United States because we don’t have adequate facilities to bring in the
“I believe they’re going to be talking about the quality of training here gas.”
when they get home,” Richards said. “They’ve really enjoyed getting to
However, the shortage has not affected plans for further improvements
see the way LNG behaves. They’re used to dealing with hydrocarbon fires at the one-year-old LNG training facility. Phase four of the development
in refineries.”
plan calls for the installation of underground fire mains and a series of fixed
In northern Spain, the LNG import and re-gasification facility in Bilbao water spray curtains. The underground mains are part of a $16 million
on the Bay of Biscay has been in operation since 2003. It can handle as upgrade to Brayton which includes an improved system for recovering foam
much as six billion cubic meters of gas per
concentrate from fire runoff.
year. As with Tangguh and Guangdong, BP
Water curtains “are far more effective
New Column On LNG By David White, page 18
is a partner in the company created for the
than mobile or fixed monitors in containing
development, Bahia de Bizkaia Gas (BBG).
and controlling gas clouds,” Coates said.
Josu Elorza, head of mechanical maintenance for BBG, was also on Both the mains and water curtains are scheduled to be in place by the next
hand for the BP LNG workshop. As opposed to China, Spain qualifies as LNG workshop in April.
an old hand at handling LNG imports with nearly 40 years experience.
Two other BP schools shared Brayton facilities with the LNG workshop
“We are here because we want to work better, to know the product in October — an advance exterior fire fighting course and a leadership
better and know that our system is prepared to fight the fire,” Elorza said. course. About 130 students from various parts of the world attended the
Accompanying Elorza was Javier Gomez, a firefighter with the Bizkaiko BP courses. A large contingent from SECCO, a Chinese joint venture that
Foru Aldundia, the fire brigade for the city of Bilboa. Before his visit to includes BP, were on hand for the other courses, Coates said.
Texas A&M, he had no previous experience dealing with LNG.
The 220-hectare SECCO facility, the largest petrochemical complex in
“We have to decide what the intervention plan will be in case there is a China, was completed and commissioned in June.
problem,” Gomez said. “What will be the role of the fire brigade.”
Attendance for the other schools suffered as a direct result of hurricane
The report he will be giving to his colleagues in Bilboa will be positive, damage and the continuing effort to bring all facilities back on line. Howhe said.
ever, that did not prevent one of BP’s highest ranking officers, vice presi“When I came here I was not very clear on what we could do as a fire dent for group safety Deborah Grubbe, from taking time to address the
brigade in case of this kind of emergency,” Gomez said. “I know now to school on its opening night. Grubbe is also a vice chair with the National
what extent we can depend on help from the facility. One of the reasons Institute of Standards and Technology.
we are here is to organize the training for emergencies for their people and
“It was the first time the school had been addressed by such an outalso for the fire brigade. When I get back we will have to design a training standing person,” Coates said. “She highlighted the importance of the fire
package.”
school to the company and to individuals. She was very positive about the
Threatening the success of this year’s LNG workshop was a continuing future of the school and its links to Texas A&M.”
o
15
O
Michael Moore confers with ABB, Inc., business development
manager Gerald Farnaby during live-burn LNG testing.
BP Supports LNG Safety Research
Applied
Science
By ANTON RIECHER
IFW EDITOR
Gas detectors realigned to best monitor spreading LNG vapor.
nce again white water condensate clouds rise above the Texas A&M
University fire grounds testifying that another LNG safety training
and research event is about to take place.
BP continues to invest substantially with the Emergency Services Training
Institute Fire Training School at Brayton Fire Training Field, College Station,
Texas, to create a world class training and testing facility for the world to
use. BP is using this to gain a full understanding of the best ways of detecting
and handling LNG spills to minimize the hazards for their existing and
proposed facilities worldwide.
Several of their front line emergency responder teams and mutual aid
partners have already undergone intensive workshop training in realistic
scenarios, using state of the art equipment, systems and technical knowledge.
This has been provided by the Texas A&M specialist LNG team and a
range of high performance participants who have been identified by BP to
be world leaders in their fields.
The BP responders and their mutual aid colleagues have found the
experiences exceptionally beneficial. These workshops have given them
confidence and insight into how to safely handle LNG spills on land and
water, to minimize their impact should an emergency incident happen. Let’s
not forget that LNG is already one of the safest industries that exists in the
world today.
BP has been willing to share this information by allowing engineering
firms who normally do not participate in these kinds of events to come as
observers. At the last event AKER KVAERNER, currently involved in
LNG, was present. KBR, Flour and JGC have all attended over the past
year and a half to gain first hand knowledge in how LNG behaves so that
front end engineering is on the same pages as first responders.
Co-sponsors of the BP LNG training project include Honeywell
Zellweger, Angus Fire (Kidde) Micropack, Ansul, Detection and
Measurement Systems, International Paints and Knowsley SK. Special
guests for this round of training were Flameout Control and ABB, Inc.
Recognizing the importance of cutting edge testing and research, BP is
providing the facility and the fuel so it can better understand and predict
how LNG vapors actually disperse, in an unignited condition and how best
to control the intense radiated heat when ignited. BP funded a 10,000 gallon
tank truck filled with LNG to facilitate this further work and help define the
most effective application rates for LNG. The tests were conducted in
October just before the bi-annual BP LNG Training Workshop
Angus Fire worked out a fire test program with BP to gain the best use
of this tanker load of LNG by checking whether the low application rates
being proposed by some consultants and contractors from historic data,
are sufficient to provide the levels of protection necessary under realistic
conditions. Radiated heat flux was being measured to assess the speed
with which the massive radiation levels can be reduced by application of
high expansion foam from the LNG Turbex generators.
Another key part of this testing was to monitor gas levels around the
spill to confirm that the flammable levels are generally close to the condensed
white cloud of water vapor hanging over the containment pit.
Nearby the LNG truck waits to unload its frosty contents. Michael Moore
of Flameout Control and Gerald Farnaby of ABB Automation devised a
way of measuring and capturing the data to determine what is happening
throughout the test. They place 15-foot vertical steel poles with three
detection devices each in a straight line along the beam path of the Open
Path detectors BP had installed the previous year. The straight line is on the
west side of a 65 square meter concrete test plot being prepared for another
man made LNG spill scenario.
The plan was to deliver a six-inch layer in the pit, somewhere between
3,000 and 4,000 gallons of LNG.
Just as important as burning LNG is the monitoring of its dissipation as
the fuel is allowed to freely vent into the atmosphere.
“The test this morning is a comparison of open path gas detectors to
point detectors,” Moore said. “We’re just going to let the gas reach a steady
state and carefully monitor what happens by measuring the gas concentra-
“Probably three times this application rate is what we think we need,”
tions detected every second on an array of computer hardware and systems piloted by ABB.” Steady state is the point at which the LNG vaporiza- said Mike Willson, Angus Fire project manager. “But we’re trying to look
tion reduces to a minimal level when all the surroundings have refrigerated at whether this really low rate is going to be practical in conditions where
you have no ignition hazard or personnel nearby.”
down to -260 degrees F.
After the gas detection studies were completed with several foam top
“We’re looking at things such as egress routes and safety integrity levels
to apply that information to terminals that are going to be built,” Moore ups to maintain effective vapor dispersion, the detector poles were moved
said. “New facilities are congregating equipment closer and closer together, to prepare for ignition. LNG gas was ignited with a flaming lance to burn
off the foam blanket, achieve peak
making it important to understand
radiated heat flux and then re-apply
where the gas will go.”
high expansion foam to assess its
Each of the six steel poles erected
speed and effectiveness in reducing
has Zellweger point detectors arradiant heat down to safe levels.
ranged at three different levels. The
A low application rate was being
bottom row of detectors is set preused based on historic test data and
cisely along the same line of sight as
applied to these modern concrete
a Zellweger open path detector, perpits.
manently installed on site.
Prior to the BP training facility
Point detectors give readings in
opening last year, LNG fire testing
percent LEL (Lower Explosive or
had mostly been done in earthen or
Flammability Limit). The LEL point
wet sand pits, which are not
for LNG is a 5% mixture in air, and
representative
of
current
the gas is flammable up to 15% in
installations.
air. Above that it is too rich to ignite
“Moisture in the soil tended to
as there is just not enough oxygen
freeze all around the pit, so upon
to sustain fire.
ignition the radiant heat melted the
By contrast, open path detectors,
ice in the soil rather than heating up
which measure along a line of
Photo By Anton Riecher
the pit walls, so tending to act as a
infrared light passed from projector
giant heat sink,” Willson said. “Using
to receiver, measures hydrocarbon Moore during a live fire LNG burn at the BP’s Texas facility.
a concrete pit is far more realistic of actual installations as it forces the heat
gas in LEL meters. This testing is designed to cross reference that data.
“Meter LEL just tells you there is a gas present,” Moore said. “It doesn’t to build up in the pit walls and radiate outwards attacking the foam bubbles
tell you what the concentration of that gas is. Theoretically, you could have being delivered onto the LNG.”
“Don’t expect this fire control to be highly effective,” Willson said.
a non explosive concentration that still activates the alarm. What we’re
doing is setting up a battery of point detectors along the exact line of sight “We expect the intense radiated heat will carry on for much longer compared
to what we’ve done before. It’s deliberately intended to struggle and gain a
of the open path infrared beam stretching 15 feet.”
“Combining the detectors will allow researchers to measure the vapor sort of slow control over the fire, so we can find out where the bottom
concentration, correlating individual LEL readings to LEL meters,” Moore acceptability level for remote pits can be.”
Not only was control of the fire about four times slower than the preferred
said. “For example, is a four meter LEL open path detector measurement
equal to 15 or 80 percent LEL measured by an Infra-red point gas detector? rate, but it also caused spalding of the concrete inside the pit and on the
Higher levels of point detectors in the array will not only be used to measure downwind edge surrounding the pit. Clear evidence exists that the intense
and verify the open path detectors, but also to attain the levels of radiation was not being controlled fast enough to avoid damage, potentially
concentration above the open path detectors to learn more about how to putting personnel and plant at risk. This test was also conducted in virtually
ideal weather conditions.
best place detection equipment in the future.”
The big problem with such low application rates is that they have no
Backing up the open path and point gas detection equipment are “state
of the art” gas imaging cameras that will allow the team to not only see how safety allowances for rain, wind and other factors like low water pressures
that gas might migrate and dissipate as well as conventional cameras set up that will inevitably be present when an incident strikes. NFPA 11 clearly
states that application rates for LNG shall be established by tests to achieve
and time sequenced.
“The theory is that methane heats up and rises,” Moore said. “It doesn’t a positive and progressive reduction in radiation within the time limitations
creep along the ground like other gases. What we’ve discovered so far is established in the analysis. ”
For the next test, rather than setting the detectors in a straight line, the
that all the gas is remaining cold with higher concentrations around the
ground than at 12 to 13 feet up where everyone is saying we should get devices were positioned to surround the LNG pit. As the fuel vaporized
more valuable data was collected
higher concentrations.”
Once the detectors were removed a low flow water nozzle was used to
It is believed that more data will be compiled in this event than has
simulate a rain storm, before lighting the LNG.
historically been achieved to date.
“The same low application rate was again used to try and control the
Once high expansion foam at around 500:1 expansion is applied it slows
the LNG evaporation rate, but the water in the high expansion foam being fire, but the combination of radiated heat and rain prevented foam at this
used also warms the gas which forces up through the foam layer so that it low rate from filling the pit and just made the situation worse, Willson said.
goes straight up. This means lower levels of gas at ground level where “We had to turn on an additional LNG Turbex unit to greatly increase the
ignition sources are widespread with higher levels well above the pit. Adding application rate to bring the fire under control, which proved that a much
higher application rate was necessary to take account of potential rain and
foam causes the gas to rise up and out of the hazard zone.
High expansion foam at the reduced application rate was generated by wind effects.”
After the testing comes the hard work of producing usable information
Angus Fire LNG Turbex generators while detectors continue to monitor
the methane levels at the ground and higher levels. The foam is topped up from the research. The teams are working on this to provide comprehensive
data back to the BP Group Fire Consultant Richard Coates.
o
to maintain good vapor reduction.
17
LNG Progress
By DAVID WHITE/ PUBLISHER
W
Taking Pride in LNG’s Safety History
ith this issue, IFW is initiating a column devoted specifically to
liquefied natural gas (LNG). We intend to keep readers informed
on LNG because it provides clean burning energy for power
plants, chemical plants and anywhere methane is used in large quantities.
Simple economics are at work. The growing demand for natural gas is
rapidly exceeding the supply available from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
You couldn’t drill enough wells in the U.S. to have an adequate supply. The
only solution is to find other sources — Indonesia, Algeria, Malaysia, Nigeria, Australia, Oman, Brunei Darussalem, United Arab Emirates, Russia
and Trinidad and Tobago. But you can’t just fill a ballon and fly it home.
You have to be able to handle it, i.e., compress it, in some manner.
The most logical way is to liquify it. Some liquification plants already
exist. LNG is natural gas that has been processed to remove impurities and
heavy hydrocarbons, then condensed into a liquid at atmospheric pressure
to cooling it to approximately -260 degrees F. This reduces LNG to about
1/600th the volume of natural gas in standard atmospheric conditions, making
it much more cost effective to transport.
Worldwide, the safety record of LNG has been phenomenal. There have
been fires but no disasters. The largest recent emergency at an LNG facility involved a natural gas leak that filled a high-pressure steam boiler with
gases via a combustion fin fan. The explosion inside the boiler fire box
resulted in a larger explosion of vapors outside the box. The cause of the
explosion was natural gas, not LNG.
Some critics have LNG confused with U-328. From Boston to California, the destructive potential of LNG in large quantities has been equated
with an atomic bomb. After 9/11, LNG tankers were temporarily barred
from Boston Harbor. Some studies suggest that an accident involving an
LNG tanker could create a giant plume of methane that might stretch miles
before igniting, spreading damage and fatal injuries. Hogwash.
If reseach done at the BP LNG training facility in Texas has taught us
anything it’s that LNG can be a lot more reasonable and forgiving than a
shipload of gasoline or propane. Most experts agree that since LNG is a
liquid rather than a compressed gas, spilled LNG would vaporize from its
liquid form, then disperse or burn slowly if ignited, rather than explode.
Only one serious accident has involved LNG since long distance transportation started in the 1960s. It was at a LNG liquefaction plant. No accidents
have yet occurred involving LNG tankers or their fueling terminals.
Critics fall back on several important historical incidents in their opposition to LNG. In 1941, the East Ohio Gas Company built the first commercial LNG peakshaving facility in Cleveland, OH. In 1944, a new storage
tank was added to the facility. The design had shortcomings. Because stainless steel alloys were scarce during World War II, the new tank was built
using steel with a low nickle content. This made the tank suceptible to
turning brittle at sub zero temperatures. Shortly after tank was placed in
service it failed, spilling LNG into the street and storm sewer system.
The resulting fire undermined supports for a second tank which toppled
and released its contents. All told, 128 people died from spreading fire, not
overpressure from an explosion. A government report placed the blame
squarely on poor tank engineering. Still, the event set LNG back decades.
Next comes the LNG incident that did not involve any LNG. A massive
concrete LNG storage tank had been built. In 1973, after three years of
use, the tank was taken out of service and emptied for internal repairs.
Designed like a giant thermos bottle, the tank had a lining of mylar and
polyurethane foam. Ten months into the rehab program, the tank lining
caught fire. A buildup of pressure from expansion of hot gases lifted the
tank’s concrete dome and brought it crashing down into the tank. All 37
workers inside died. Using flammable polyurethane as a liner represented
another engineering blunder that gave LNG an undeserved black eye. Although operating procedures called explosion-proof equipment inside the
tank, it is believed that heat from an iron heater caused the fire.
Despite the fact that no LNG was involved in the Staten Island disaster
fire officials slapped a moratorium on the construction of any new LNG
facilities in New York. Legislators still debate lifting the ban lifted despite
steadily increasing fuel costs. Fire Chief John O’Hagan made it his personal business to keep LNG out of New York in the ensuing decades.
Unfounded fears are what we have to fight — NIMBY, for Not In My
Back Yard. At the 2005 Industrial Fire World Conference and Exposition
we presented a two-day seminar on LNG that included live burn demonstrations on how LNG can be controlled using high expansion foam and
dry chemical. Attending were government and elected officials from across
the country. What we heard from our attendees can be summerized in one
line — “That’s not nearly as bad as I thought it was.”
A repeat of this seminar is set for March 30-31, 2006, at our next conference and exposition in Baton Rouge, LA.
o
Rapid
advantage of the modularity of the RAS systems and combining a number
of smaller shelters into a single larger complex. All the shelters have
removable end panels for a zipper connection to shelters of the same size.
Including the portable generator, air conditioning unit, and shelter the trailer
has a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,000 pounds. It can easily be towed
behind a half-ton pickup truck or sports utility vehicle. Future designs include
incorporating an RAS package in the side storage cabinets of fire trucks.
As the airframe is inflated the shelter unfurls much like a sleeping bag.
Total deployment takes less than 15 minutes, Colborne said.
“Once inflated it stays in place,” Colborne said. “There are no guide
wires or stakes to hold it to the ground. Firefighters asked for a shelter that
could withstand a 35 mph wind without moving.” Anchoring the Rapid Air
Shelter are large water-filled tubes serving as ballast that run the length of
the shelter. Water is carried with the trailer, fed into the shelter by a hose.
Once inflated it remains upright without a continuous air supply.
Continued from Page 5
That rehab should occur away from whatever hostile environment confronts
the firefighters. But the big rehab trailers designed for large scale emergencies
are rarely rolled out for small scale events that fill the day for most firefighters.
“Unfortunately, today’s firefighters usually end up lying in the parking
lot and spraying water on each other,” Colborne said. “If it’s 100 degrees
or more outside it’s hard to recover that way. Effective fire fighter rehab is
very important. One of the biggest problems for the fire department is fire
fighters succumbing to heart attacks or heat exhaustion.”
After the interviews came a year of design work, Colborne said. The
smallest size shelter built by Rapid Air Shelters measures 10 feet by 12 feet
and fits into a short bed pick up truck or a small trailer. Beside emergencies,
the shelter can also be used as a refuge during public events such as football
games. The largest individual shelter size is 16 feet by 20 feet and fits into
a 12-foot trailer. The customers looking for larger shelters have been taking
19
Sta
te-Of-T
he-Ar
State-Of-T
te-Of-The-Ar
he-Artt
Controller System Captures LNG Data
F
lameout Control’s latest round of burn and gas dispersion testing at
The controller monitors more than safety instruments. It manages acthe BP LNG training facility in October collected mountains of raw tual operations such as fire and gas, burner management and other process
data from multiple sources. Correlating that data into a single re- controls critical to a refinery, offshore platform, nuclear facility or, in this
search document fell to ABB, Inc., a worldwide engineering company case, an LNG terminal. At such a terminal the 800xA could initiate and
specializing in automated control
control processes such as liquesystems for industry.
faction, regasification, loading, off“We were approached by
loading and storage, Farnaby said.
Michael Moore of Flameout who
ABB’s 800xA controller is
asked if we had the ability to
proven technology found in more
record the data captured by the
than 200 industrial facilities worldvarious gas detectors,” said Gerald
wide, he said. The model used
M. Farnaby, business developduring the Flameout detector tests
ment manager for safety solutions
is the latest version, designated
at ABB.
800xA-HI (high integrity) Safety
ABB’s Industrial IT Extended
integrity level (SIL) is a measureAutomation System 800xA conment of the effectiveness of a
troller merged data streams from
safety system based on the probtwo types of gas detectors –
ability of failures that can occur
point and open path – positioned
within a number of processing
strategically near the open pit of
demands in a given time period.
liquefied natural gas. Add to that
The 800xA ranks as a SIL 2
mix information from video flame
rated safety and control system.
detectors and, finally, a device
“We meet the customer’s
monitoring weather conditions.
needs by specifying and configPhoto By Anton Riecher
“We’re going to make it very ABB controller corelates data from LNG release in background.
uring a system that will protect
easy for people to analyze the data
them to the level they require,”
that we observed today so that we can forget the guesswork,” Farnaby Farnaby said.
said. “We have real data collected in a practical and meaningful way by
ABB lent the use of their 800xA control system to the LNG test to, in
observing the various LNG spills as demonstrated here in Texas, giving us turn, test their own equipment under actual catastrophic LNG loss condiexcellent results to research.”
tions, he said.
The 800xA – xA standing for extended automation – is used for ESD as
“We are very much involved with helping customer protect and control
well as F&G applications, also to monitor industrial process conditions their LNG facilities,” Farnaby said. “We have a process that we’ve built,
such as temperature, flow, level and pressure. The controller receives in- an LNG demo, which tackles specifically LNG projects such as
formation two ways — either through the 4 to 20 milliamp signal standard regasification, off-loading from tankers and other processes. This was the
for analog devices controlling process or via digital output from the latest first opportunity for us to prove its use in a practical environment to
generation of “smart” devices monitoring operations, such as gas detec- monitor LNG in an emergency situation as we tested today.”
tors.
The opportunity to team up with companies the caliber of BP, Flame“We can even do line monitoring that tests the connection to the de- out Control, Zellweger, Kidde, Angus and Micropack was too good to
vices,” Farnaby said. “It gives us a potential for a very high level of miss, Farnaby said.
diagnostics and giving us a high level of integrity.”
“We all kind of teamed up to test our technology,” he said.
o
‘Cool’ Camera Checks LNG Vapors
O
nce switched on, the special thermal imaging camera used during burn and gas dispersion tests at BP’s LNG training facility takes six minutes before coming on line. Instead
of warming up, this camera must cool down to
work, said Jeff Leake of the Leake Company in
Dallas.
“The camera uses a closed cycle cooling system,” Leake said. “Essentially, think of it as a little
refrigerator.”
A Dewar flask is a glass vessel designed to pro-
vide good thermal insulation. Leak Surveys’ infrared camera, the HAWK, uses a Dewar flask containing helium to achieve supercooling.
“When you turn the camera on a little piston
begins compressing and decompressing the helium,”
Leake said. “That expansion and contraction causes
the supercooling. Attached to the end of the Dewar
flask is a device called the bandpass or ‘cold filter.’
That further narrows down what the camera sees
until we are only looking at the main absorption of
Flameout Control
Special Storz Solves Ship Channel Crisis
M
“Most fire departments use 5-inch Storz connections,” Moore said. “Howichael Moore of Flameout Control is usually the last person called
when major problems develop with industrial fire protection sys- ever, the petrochemical industry only uses 4-inch and 6-inch flanges. If you
tems. All the quick fix, off-the-shelf solutions have been exhausted put a 5-inch Storz on a 6-inch butterfly valve it would only leave a 4½-inch
opening. You end up having to use a flange, a pipe and an adapter before you
before the phone rings on his desk.
“I don’t want to sell stuff for a five percent commission,” Moore said. “I can put the Storz on.”
Instead of using an adapter, Moore’s device
sell equipment that I make, not something that
attaches straight to the butterfly valve. When it
someone else makes. We are specialists, not disopens, a disk swings into place to block the flow
tributors.”
of fire water until needed.
For example, Kinder Morgan, a major energy
“It’s made from aluminum bronze so there’s
company with more than 17 million barrels of
no corrosion,” Moore said. “It can withstand up
liquid product storage along the Houston Ship
to 1,500 psi. We make all the caps and chain we
Channel reported that Storz couplings, quick conused. Because the Storz came in two pieces with
nect and disconnect fittings used extensively
an internal O-ring — not commonly used industhroughout the company’s fire protection systry — it became the source of most of the leaktems, were blowing apart.
age, leading to corrosion. Our unit is totally inteThe problem was one that Moore had seen
gral. We found a way to machine it with special
before. Aluminum simply does not get along with
tooling allowing us to undercut the locking
carbon steel, he said.
mechanism.”
“The company used a wet fire system,” Moore
Manufacturing and installing the new cousaid. “Because the water from the ship channel is
plings has occupied much of Flameout Control’s
brackish they had decided to use Storz. Where
output since 2001. Today, Moore’s coupling has
aluminum makes contact with the carbon steel it
replaced the original Storz fittings throughout
corrodes and creates a weak spot.”
the Houston Ship Channel facilities involved.
Only 10 years after being installed, those Storz
The owner of those facilities is now beginning to
couplings had become a potentially fatal liability.
do the same at other locations across the coun“People have been killed by Storz failures,”
try.
Moore said. “Kinder Morgan said we can’t have
Moore’s credits extend to many other engithis situation.”
neering miracles. Working overseas much of the
Mass production, the Encyclopedia Britannica
time, he has designed and built everything from
explains, is a process that combines precision, Flamout Control’s aluminum bronze Storz.
fire trucks and mobile fire fighting trailers to CO
standardization, interchangeability, synchroniza2
tion and continuity. Unfortunately, the vast inventory of physical compo- flare snuffing systems for offshore oil platforms. Special order equipment he
nents that make this happen do not always mesh as intended. Enter Flameout has designed and built includes fire water distribution monitors, sub surface
Control, experts in engineering and fabricating the equipment needed to cor- foam injection systems, hydraulic remote control monitors, deluge valves,
hydrants, manifolds, gas detectors and helideck foam systems, to name only
rect or improve industrial fire protection systems.
Operating from a 16-acre testing and foundry complex in Houston, Flame- a few.
Misinformed people often call Flameout Control to ask about buying fire
out Control and its sister company, A2Z Machine, have been a solution of last
resort for companies facing technical difficulties with their fire protection extinguishers or getting them serviced. Sometimes people call who actually
systems around the world since 1991. Although Flameout has successfully have a fire on their hands, Moore added.
“If I had a storage tank on fire the first person I’d think of would be Dwight
pulled many systems out of the fire, so to speak, Moore’s company remains
Williams,” Moore said. “If you’ve got something on fire you want to call
one of the best kept secrets in modern industry.
someone who is going to put it out. But if you want to put in tank protection
In some ways, Moore is content to leave it that way.
“Our focus is on specialized work for engineering companies and petro- and sophisticated protection systems so that a tank fire doesn’t happen that’s
chemical end users,” Moore said. “We’re not really interested in off-the-shelf the business I’m in.”
That degree of specialization often puts Moore in the position of turning
products. Where somebody else is making a thousand of them, we’re the ones
that you come with special problems — Our clients only need three of down business.
“If you say ‘I want a fire water monitor but it has to be made out of
something that does the job, and they’re willing to pay.’”
Solving the Houston Ship Channel crisis would be different. A system aluminum bronze,’ we’ll put together an custom aluminum bronze offshore
wide change to eliminate the danger of the Storz coupling blowing apart would PLC remote control computerized system,” Moore said. “Say ‘We want to
involve millions of dollars. Yet, for all the money on the table, nothing was buy 50 brand name monitors,’ and odds are some other company that is a
distributor for that brand is going to get the contract. That’s not really the kind
available from the usual fire protection sources that could do the job.
After meeting with Kinder Morgan, Moore’s response was simple and of business that we’re in.”
What exactly does Flameout Control do? First, it acts as the project engidirect — “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“I stayed up all night doing the drawing and machining a prototype,” neer, providing the client with a detailed set of technical drawings. Then,
Moore said. “As promised, we came back the next day with a solution. Their depending on the rules that the client operates under, Flameout Control then
turns over the actual manufacturing to its fabrication arm, A Z Machine.
response was ‘Fine, here’s an order!”
2
Moore’s design for a Storz replacement was a radical departure from its However, some clients take a different approach.
faulty predecessor.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005 21
New truck destined for Mobile, AL, built by Central States.
FLOW
RANGE
Central States Apparatus Adds
AccuMax To Industrial Truck
Cutaway view of balanced pressure pump system parts.
N
ational Fire Protection Association Standard 1901 allows proportioning systems designed to supply 1 percent or greater solutions of
Class B foam to be inaccurate up to +30 percent. FoamPro recognized the waste of resources this standard allows and decided to develop an
automatic proportioning system to control such waste.
What happens when you pump $30 per gallon foam at 2,000 gpm using a
3 percent proportioning rate through a low-tech proportioner with a 30 percent inaccuracy rate?
“Not only are you wasting thousands of dollars of foam, you’re consuming foam at such high rates that you have a huge logistics issue in keeping the
system fed,” said Bill Ballantyne, sales director for FoamPro Foam Proportioning Systems. “If you’re 30 percent inaccurate that’s 30 percent more foam
that you and your manpower need to bring just to keep the system going.”
FoamPro has introduced AccuMax, the first high-volume, multi-port foam
injection system for Class B industrial applications. It provides fully automatic foam proportioning, regardless of changes in flow or pressure. In addition, greater nozzle performance is realized as AccuMax does not restrict
water flow. Instead of turning knobs or activating levers, AccuMax’s electronics deliver precise foam every time.
Central States Fire Apparatus, affiliated with Rosenbauer International,
recently built and delivered its first industrial fire truck using AccuMax for the
Shell refinery in Mobile, AL. It came complete with a Waterous S100 2,000
gpm fire pump and a FoamPro AccuMax 150 gpm foam proportioner capable
of supplying 2,500 gpm at 6 percent and 5,000 gpm at 3 percent.
“The truck was originally speced for a balanced pressure eductor style
proportioner,” said Central States CEO Harold Boer.
By its very nature, balanced pressure proportioners utilizing a venturi
device were inaccurate, Boer said.
“The biggest problem with the venturi type was the flow range,” Boer
said. “A specified flow range could be fairly accurate. However, if your flow
goes above or below that range the proportioner can’t compensate the way
our computer-based system can.”
Also, the venturi proportioners were limited in the amount of water that
could be pushed through.
“The bottom line was that you needed more discharges on a truck so you
could flow foam out of each discharge, combining them into a manifold to go
into a large monitor or portable deck gun,” Boer said. “With computer-based
proportioners we can monitor flow within larger outlets for larger flows,
reducing the number of outlets required on a truck.”
AccuMax does not place flow restrictions on the plumbing, Ballantyne
said.
“You get full flow capacity out of whatever size plumbing and diameter
pipe you’re using,” he said. “We can plumb 4-inch discharges with full 4-inch
piping. With the venturi type you were limited to 2½ -inch to 3-inch piping.”
The AccuMax operator has maximum flexibility. Each of eight discharges
may flow plain water or 6-, 3- and 1 percent solution. A main waterway
flowmeter located in each foam outlet provides flow data. The individual line
controller receives this information and continually compares it to the chosen
injection percentage, automatically opening or closing the concentrate supply
valve. The flowmeter confirms the amount of foam being injected.
Meanwhile, the master control totals all individual line requirements and
signals the Edwards pump to supply foam. All lines incorporate check valves
to prevent water or solution backflow. Each line controller may be programmed
for three default injection percentages. Each controller also displays current
water flow, injection rate, total water and concentrate used.
The master control module displays current water, foam flow, total water
and foam usage from all active discharges. Additionally, it warns the operator
of a low concentrate level and offers an optional discharge pressure reading.
Master and individual microprocessor control modules include advanced
diagnostic capabilities and system self-checks when AccuMax is powered up.
Venturi designed ratio controllers utilized in nozzle eductors. Balanced
pressure and around-the-pump proportioning systems severely restrict water flow. Because of this, departments are required to run multiple discharge
hoses to supply the high flow monitors or appliances. By comparison,
AccuMax flowmeters do not restrict water flow, allowing greater pump performance at each outlet. This reduces the number of hose lays required, making the complete operation more efficient.
To assure quality and compliance, FoamPro requires system designs be
subjected to intense third-party testing. Stringent electronic emission control
is verified according to MIL-STD 461E. Designs are then tested to SAE and
U.S. military specifications for heavy-use, off-road mobile apparatus by independent evaluators.
AccuMax is built around rugged Edwards all-bronze rotary gear pumps.
The pumps use bearings, not bushings, to extend pump life. Timing gears, not
contacting rotors, mean less rotor wear and maintained performance. Dry runs
will not damage the equipment. Solid stainless steel shafts reduce corrosion.
Self-priming features mean that AccuMax will handle any viscosity of foam
allowed by suction piping.
Precise metering of foam concentrate will become even more important in
the future as today’s 3 percent concentrates are replaced by 1 percent versions. AccuMax offers the advantages of lower cost per gallon of solution,
reduced freight and logistics and the ability to treat more water with a given
size foam truck. The system precisely injects at any proportioning rate down
to 0.1 percent.
o
Elkhart Brass engineer Daniel Shoop adjusts a Stinger nozzle.
Remote
Response
M-Link Marks New Era
For Elkhart Brass Nozzles
A
stream of water originating from an Elkhart Brass Stinger RF shoots
across a pond at the Emergency Services Training Institute near College Station, TX. As it sweeps the pond’s surface, the pumper-fed
stream adjusts from broad to narrow and back again. Finally, Stinger shuts
itself down.
Throughout the entire demonstration no one has touched the monitor.
Daniel Shoop, a product design engineer for Elkhart Brass, has directed the
entire show using an electronic device only slightly bigger than a household
remote.
“This is not the standard product line that people are used to from Elkhart,”
Shoop said. “A lot of design has gone into the new Stinger RF. We’re trying to
get more progressive and advanced.”
RF stands for radio frequency. The Stinger RF, introduced last spring, is
only one of a number of new remote control and computer control innovations
that Elkhart Brass has on the market. Leading the charge in this new era of
electronic fire fighting is Elkhart’s new M-Link multiple monitor remote interface.
M-Link is a programmable logic controller (PLC) which is a small computer used to automate machinery. Older automated systems used hundreds,
even thousands of relays to operate. A single PLC replaces all that. M-Link
can control up to 72 remotely located monitors and valves from a single touchscreen interface or the more typical joystick.
“A PLC offers many different wiring configurations to each individual
monitor,” Shoop said. “It’s almost limitless how many monitors you can link
together.”
The beauty of the M-Link system is that the monitors in use are linked
together by a standard ethernet cable, drastically reducing the amount of onsite installation that has to be done before operation, Shoop said.
“Before M-Link you had to hardwire the connections to the monitor,
meaning you needed a wire for up, a wire for down and so on,” Shoop said. “A
standard configuration could take 10 or 12 wires to each monitor.”
Using M-Link, the monitors are daisy-chained together using a single ethernet
cable between each monitor. As with your home computer, the ethernet cable
fits just like a phone line, meaning reduced material and installation time.
“Another important point is that the components used are NFPA Class I
Division II safe for hazardous environments,” Shoop said. “That means they
will not initiate a fire or explosion.”
M-Link utilizes power already available in plant or refinery setting. By
means of various transformers, M-Link can be adapted to operate on whatever voltage is available.
Another important advantage is that M-Link can easily be retrofitted into
existing facilities without major remodeling.
“You don’t have these huge electrical conduits that you have to run all
these wires through,” Shoop said. “You just have one conduit and most of the
time it doesn’t have to be specially designed to support the ethernet cable.
This is important to customers who have insurance companies asking them to
bring something designed in the 1950s up to current specifications.”
M-Link also provides important feedback to the operator as to the condition of the system.
“Say you’re sending a signal to the monitor to go left or right,” Shoop said.
“You need power at the monitor to actually drive the motors. But someone in
the control room might assume they have power when, for example, the
monitors were undergoing maintenance and the power had been cut.”
M-Link monitors the local power. If power is lost, the system sends a
signal back to the operator notifying him.
“The system can also monitor the communications between the monitors,” Shoop said. “For example, if the ethernet connection went down between monitor seven and eight, a warning light would flash in the control room
to make them aware of the situation.”
M-Link is not an off-the-shelf product. The system is customized to the
individual requirements of each facility, Shoop said.
“It can be as simple or as fancy as you want it,” Shoop said. “The idea is
to make it easy to install. We do all the work at our factory in a controlled
environment, then take it to your plant and drop it in with minimal ethernet
connections.”
M-Link is only one example of the new approach to product development
being taken at Elkhart Brass, he said.
“We’re trying to be more progressive and get into overall engineering service systems,” Shoop said. “We design systems that can be used by an end
user customer or an engineering firm. We work with them to find out what
they need and help them get to where they want to be.”
o
Stinger demonstration during the Texas A&M municipal school.
FOCUS ON HAZMAT
By Dr. JOHN S. TOWNSEND
I
Katrina: People Make Plans Work
n the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita there has been a deluge of
directives for various agencies to formulate and have in place “a plan.”
The media has made much of what they perceive as a lack of “a plan” and
they imply that given enough “plans”, the problems seen in New Orleans and
the rest of the gulf coast particularly after hurricane Katrina would have been
avoided.
This is a false and somewhat dangerous assumption A “plan” is nothing
more than a list of things to be done under certain circumstances and a roster
of those responsible for doing them or at least seeing that they get done. No
“plan”, in and of itself, ever accomplished anything. It merely enables those
responsible for the conduct of an operation to get the job done in an orderly
and organized manner and in the most efficient and timely way possible.
Plans must, to be sure, be prepared in advance. Therefore, every possible
contingency cannot be foreseen. Because of this limitation, there must be a
large degree of flexibility included in the original document and those responsible for its implementation need to have freedom to be flexible and to adapt to
whatever happens.
We have all heard the statement “it went like a textbook case”. In reality the
only place that one encounters a “textbook case” is, where else, in a text book.
As any one who has worked in the field of emergency response knows, no
two incidents are ever alike. Those cited in textbooks are only presented as
examples of an incident that was handled extremely well or as a “horrible
example’ of one that was not handled well and consequently became a disaster.
Obviously, incidents cannot be rehearsed but plans can be subjected to
simulations in order to work the “bugs” out. As an example, one simulation in
which the author participated, the plan called for fire apparatus responding in
answer to a request for mutual aid to travel over a rather long distance and on
arrival these vehicles were immediately put into service. About three hours
into the event the officer in charge of these vehicles reported that his tanks
were getting low and he would soon need to have his fuel replenished. The
“plan” called for the local fuel distributor to send a truck to fill the fuel tanks
on the engines. At this point a volunteer firefighter who happened to work for
the fuel distributor spoke up and reminded the group that earlier in the simulation the power went out of service and that without power for the transfer
pumps he could not get fuel out of his storage tanks and into his delivery
truck. Nobody but someone “on the inside” who was very familiar with the
operation of the fuel storage facility would be likely to pick up on this
problem but in the event of an actual incident it could become a major problem
indeed. As it was, a few alterations to the plumbing, costing less than one
hundred dollars, made it possible to load a delivery truck using the pump on
the vehicle without the need for electric power.
This is a good example of why we run simulations and it also points up the
need to include as wide a spectrum of the community as possible in the
exercise. In this case no one other than the plant operator who was a long-time
employee and very familiar with the actual set up of his facility would have
known that electric power was essential to fuel transfer at this particular
installation. More to the point, he was the one who knew how to “wire
around the meter” and come up with a way to circumvent the problem.
In the aftermath of 9 -11 there was great concern in many quarters about
the vulnerability of the community water supply. Nearly all municipal water
supplies are dependent on commercial electric power to operate pumps and
purification equipment. In the event that the water supply is compromised,
either by terrorist activities or by the interruption of electric power is there an
available back-up? Do we have a few wells that can be powered by Diesel
engines? Alternatively, could we not tap into private wells which have been
pretested and approved as a source of potable water? After all they all pump
from the same aquifers.
Then comes the problem of how to get the water from the private well, or
other alternative source, to the point of need. Again the means is simple; round
up all the bulk milk trucks, add five gallons of bleach or a couple of handfuls
of swimming pool chlorine tablets to purify the water and off we go. Simple
isn’t it? Yes, but prior planning must be done; the owners of the milk trucks
must buy into the plan and be willing to participate by diverting their equipment in the event of an emergency. They must be able to get drivers and they
must be told how to get to the water-point.
The list goes on and, in the vast majority of cases the solution is not
“rocket science”. What is important is that these things must be recognized
and the appropriate “fix” installed before the need arises. If you are going to
use the local high school gym as a shelter, the time to negotiate how this is to
be accomplished is definitely not as the bus-loads of evacuees are rolling in the
front gate.
Emergency preparedness is a concern of the entire community and the link
between the community in general and the emergency response agencies is, or
should be, the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).
This group should include representatives from any part of the community that may be asked to contribute to the mitigation effort in the event of an
emergency. This is where one will find the people who know what fittings are
on a milk tank, who in the community has a track-mounted front end loader
and so on. They will also know who to contact in time of need. The LEPC is
a resource and it should be utilized but it is not the agency responsible for the
response to an incident.
Once a plan has been created it should be tested, repeatedly. This is not
something that can be done on a perfunctory basis though, unfortunately, it all
to often is. We cannot call a staff meeting and say “we have a tanker rolled over
on the highway three miles south of town, what are we going to do about it?
A simulation needs to be carefully planned and should include anything and
everything that could possibly occur in the event that the incident actually
happened.
A very common situation makes a good example, a tanker has overturned.
It was loaded with gasoline, or was it carrying diesel or heating oil? This makes
a big difference to those who are going to respond. If it was gasoline, did the
load catch fire? Was there a chance that it could get into the storm sewer
system? Could the fire, if there was one, engulf that small electrical substation
on the roadside? What about the crowd that will soon be coming out of the
football stadium a mile down the road? What if the only apparatus capable of
pumping foam is “out of service” for repairs? All of these types of things
should be thrown into the simulation because when we are “playing for real”
they will be there. “Murphy’s Law” has not been repealed.
One of the biggest problems with regard to emergency response planning is
getting the community to “take it seriously”. This is particularly true in
communities which have, in the past been spared the impact of natural or man
made disasters. Because of the prevalent “it won’t happen here” attitude,
emergency preparedness is all too often a low priority item. Plans are written
to meet some governmental requirement and then they are put on the shelf
until the next grant application comes down the pike.
Plans are great documents, but they are just documents. The employee
who drives the fuel truck for the road department needs to know and accept
that he is part of the emergency response plan and, if “the balloon goes up” he
will actually have to climb out of bed at 3:00 a.m. and deliver fuel to the fire
engines and other emergency response equipment. He needs to understand
that, at that moment, he is the most important man in town.
All agencies that have a part in the overall plan must understand their role
and must “buy into” the program and be prepared to actually do what is
required without undue “red tape” and bureaucratic impediment. If school
busses are needed to transport evacuees, then do whatever it takes to get the
busses rolling now. We can sort out the paperwork later.
If we plan to use the gym of the local High School as a shelter we don’t
have time to deal with a frustrated basketball coach who is concerned that we
will scratch his precious playing floor. We can refinish it later if necessary.
Who has the keys to the building? In the case of school buildings this can
be a problem during the summer or at other times when school is not in
session. In one instance known to the author a winter storm closed an interstate highway during the Christmas recess. The “plan” called for stranded
travelers to be taken to the local High School gym for shelter. Unfortunately it
took over four hours to find the keys to the place. The plan was great but it
takes more than a well written document to actually make a response become
a reality.
Who is the designated “point of contact” for the agency? If an incident
occurs and we need to alter bus routes to avoid a dangerous area, who has the
authority to order the change? Most importantly, where is this point of
contact? It is most disconcerting to call an agency administrator to inform
them about an emergency only to be told by a secretary “He /She is out of the
building”; or worse yet, “is in a meeting”. These people need to understand
what is meant by the term “Emergency”.
An emergency response plan is a constantly changing document. Every
time there is a change in the roster of employees there is a change in the
emergency response plan yet all to often such plans will be found to have outof-date telephone numbers and to list employees in key positions who have
not worked for the agency for years and may even be deceased. Plans must
relate to reality. It is not unreasonable to expect Emergency Management
personnel to update and correct emergency response plans at least once each
quarter. Such an update should include a reminder to all of the key administrators and managers. This could simply be a memo saying “Dear _____ , your
department is responsible for supplying emergency generators in the event of
a tornado. According to our records you have ten of these items in your
inventory, How many of these are now on hand? How many of them are
actually functional? Are there any repairs or additional supplies that these
items require?” Response should be required within a reasonable time period,
say two days.
A notice of this type will serve to determine whether or not the required
equipment is actually on site and in service and to highlight the need for
repairs and/or periodic maintenance. It will also remind the recipient of the
note that he/she is an essential part of the response effort and in case of need
he will be expected to fulfill his role in the response effort.
Only by creating a plan that is realistic and up to date and then by testing
it in as realistic a manner as possible can we be certain that in time of need the
response will actually happen.
People are the key element here. One can have the most brilliant plan in the
world and the greatest array of “cast iron” since WWII but without dedicated,
trained and empowered people willing to make the plan work there will be no
response and the cast iron will simply stay in the parking lot waiting to be
converted into junk.
o
Industrial Fire World Conference & Exposition • March 27-31, 2006 • Baton Rouge, LA
EMS CORNER
By BILL KERNEY/ Community College of Southern Nevada
Katrina: Responders Face The Aftermath
The scene outside and inside the New Orleans Superdome used as a shelter in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August.
D
isaster is a different and relative term. Broadly applied it means
anything that stresses a system beyond its maximum capacity. Applied to Katrina, it means a mess beyond comprehension that no
amount of drill, no amount of plan, and no amount of advanced effort could
have prevented much of what happened to the area. It is what happened after
the hurricane landed where the advanced drilling, the advanced planning, and
the advanced effort did not seem to materialize as it was suppose to. The
lingering question, even as this goes to print, is “why?” Currently, there is an
awful lot of finger-pointing going on from the bottom to the top and from the
top on down and the FEMA chief has resigned. The politicians are blaming
each other and the public is left wondering “what happened?” We may never
know the real truth even with the congressional investigation.
Although the handling of the Katrina aftermath may have looked like a
total disaster in and of itself, there were many excellent efforts that were made
by many of the players. The United States Coast Guard and our friend
Andrew Economedes service with the Texas Task Force One, an Urban Search
and Rescue, team did some excellent search and rescuing of stranded individuals in the affected areas. Our IFW friend Joe Leonard coordinated emergency
relief for evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston.
FEMA did have disaster strike teams poised and ready to enter prior to the
storm hitting land, with one of my colleagues from my institution on one of
the initial strike teams. The FEMA strike teams, composed of disaster relief
and medical aid teams, moved into the area shortly after Katrina hit land and
deployed to various areas to offer what initial aid was needed. No one could
have anticipated what that really meant in sheer numbers because the evacuation of the New Orleans area had been so incomplete for whatever reason.
Those who had been unable (or unwilling, initially) to leave the area, crowded
into the New Orleans Superdome on the advice of local authorities that had
named it as a disaster ‘refuge’ for those seeking shelter. This may have been a
major error on the part of local authorities, but hindsight is 20/20 and in the
short term probably was the only viable structure able to withstand the force
of that Cat. 5 monster.
On Monday afternoon, FEMA-DMAT teams moved into the area, with
some setting up shop in the Coliseum, directly next door to the Superdome.
The move in was not without difficulty as many of the roads were unpassable and the trek took many teams more than 12 hours plus coming out of
Houston. On Tuesday morning, after being deployed to the Coliseum, the
levies broke and the water started to rise forcing the teams to break down the
setup and redeploy out to the freeway, above the Superdome.
At this time, people were continuing to pour into the Superdome wading
through deep water to get there. Radio stations continued to urge the citizens
to seek shelter there even though the dome itself was virtually stranded. The
situation continued to get worse at the dome. More and more people were
arriving, the DMAT teams were treating as they could out on the adjoining
freeway, but there were not enough provisions, food or water, (WATER
especially) for the throngs that had flocked there. Yet, they continued to
come….by the hundreds.
On Wednesday and Thursday, it is said that they choppered out over 800
people not including the few ground ambulances that could make it in, and not
including the emergency removals from the flooded hospitals. Still the people
kept coming. The DMAT teams report they treated everything from bronchitis and acute renal failure to gunshots and emergency childbirth (including one
reported emergency c-section). Despite all of the hard work that the emergency teams were doing, the frustration within the dome was escalating and
the crowd’s mood began to deteriorate. With more persons arriving at the
dome, some had apparently arrived with weapons either looted from local
stores or that had been brought along. Being unable to secure a ticket out of
the dome as many had on the air ambulances, some in the crowd became angry
and started to shoot at the helicopters. Fearing for the safety of the DMAT
crews (the worry was that the crews would be taken and held hostage for
release and evacuation demands), they were ordered to abandon all efforts and
evacuate the Superdome.
Yes, they had to abandon their patients in the interests of scene safety.
The civilian and ancillary military crews got out in the choppers remaining and
the DMAT crews left by ground leaving only the National Guard to hold the
line until all crews could be evacuated. The DMAT crews left everything
behind and got out with only the clothing on their backs and were escorted out
by federal marshals. According to reports, the Guard then opened up the
doors to the dome and told people to leave if the wanted and then they,
themselves, left until adequate reinforcements could be brought in. Reports
also indicate that two of the Guardsman had been wounded in the evacuation
confusion and the related shots that had been fired in and around the Superdome.
DMAT crews were taken to Baton Rouge for temporary shelter and subsequently the National Guard received adequate manpower. Local officials
were finally able to supply evacuation busses to start removing the masses
from the major problem the dome had become. Field hospitals were set-up in
Baton Rouge and the New Orleans airport to treat some of the worst of the
sick and injured. While this may seem as “too little too late” in the face of all
the chaos, one must remember, that the entire local ability to respond was, for
the most part, entirely destroyed if not by the storm, by the subsequent
flooding that occurred. So, the local government expected the State to step in
and the State expected immediate help from the Federal Government. Well,
nothing moves that fast on the federal level and it is a credit to FEMA that the
DMAT and Strike teams were in the area and on the scene so quickly at all.
Kudos to all of them for being there when called upon! Kudos also to the
USCG for their continued great work in search and rescue and the long hours
these guys and gals put in when called on.
So, why the huge mess? Why was this particular incident such a “disaster
of disasters?” It would be difficult, even from this comfy spot in the desert,
to try and pick apart this incident and tell you the who’s, the what’s, and the
where’s and to try and tell you who is to blame for the whole catastrophe. I
cannot, nor will I attempt to do that. I can tell you this. It is inexcusably
shameful, that politician after politician will go on national television and
stand there telling the public what a great job each of them are doing when
people are still trapped, people are still dying, and the “alarm has not been
struck”! That cannot and will not be forgiven and should not be forgotten
come Election Day.
Much of this story was related to me by my esteemed colleague, Cheryl
Inside the New Orleans Superdome after Hurricane Katrina.
Limer. Cheryl is a member of NV1DMAT that deployed with CA-6. It was
one of the first deployed into the New Orleans Superdome and Coliseum. She
related most of this story to me in interview and I thank her for her time and
her service during this catastrophic event. Cheryl makes one final comment
on the whole Katrina event and it helped pull the moment somewhat more real
for me. Cheryl states, “This kind of event makes you feel a far cry lower on
the evolutionary scale”. I have to share some of that sentiment, as this kind of
awesome power should always be shown a decent amount of respect.
o
William R. Kerney, MA-EMTP-A, is a professor of emergency medical services at the Community College of Southern Nevada.
TARGET ON TRAINING
By ATTILA HERTELENDY
International Training — Malayasia
Photos by Attila Hertelendy
Equipment available to the Centralized Emergency and Fire Services of Petronas, Malayasia includes American monitors.
I
ndustrial Firefighting techniques, procedures, and equipment vary as one
travels the world. I had the opportunity to conduct a series of Incident
Command Classes for Petronas in Malaysia and spent some time while I
was there to evaluate the Centralized Emergency and Fire Services (CEFS) of
Petronas.
CEFS is located on the East Coast of Malaysia, with the hub of petrochemical and refining located in Kertih, Terrengganu. Operations consist of 3
manned fire stations and a fire training ground. CEFS centralized response is
a relatively new undertaking, previous to May 2004, it was part of the Petronas
Fire Services Unit. The CEFS response district consists of 1 refinery, 10
petrochemical facilities, 2 gas processing plants, 1 crude oil terminal as well as
tankerage and railway facilities.
Training:
CEFS response team members are currently trained in Industrial Firefighting
response, Hazardous Materials, First Aid and CPR, and Incident Management. As is the case in many Asian and Middle Eastern countries I’ve visited,
training is a combination of standards from the United Kingdom, United
States and Australia.
Reviewing the credentials of the CEFS response team, I have been impressed to see that the department has received training from around the
world such as Texas A&M, University of Nevada, Fire Science Academy and
RISC in the Netherlands. While exposure to a variety of training methodologies is imperative to continuous readiness and improvement, it is also important to standardize and conduct training in conjunction with established accepted international guidelines such NFPA 1081 for Industrial Fire Brigades.
At time of press, the entire Petronas organization was undertaking training
in the Incident Command System as developed and implemented in the US.
CEFS under the leadership of Fire Chief Khairul is progressing towards standardized training and credentialing.
Current efforts are underway to upgrade and improve on the skills of
responders in medical and high angle / confined space emergencies.
CEFS owns and maintains an impressive fire training facility. Operational
members conduct training for the department on a routine basis. Member
facilities with the response district are also trained in Incipient Fire Fighting,
Hazmat, Basic First Aid, Rescue and Command.
During down time, CEFS personnel are engaged in Emergency Response
Plan development and firefighting equipment maintenance at facilities within
the CEFS response district. Offsite technical assistance consists of advice on
mitigation methods, and provision of expertise at incident sites.
Operational Response Plan:
Great efforts have been taken at Petronas to harmonize all aspects of
emergency response. Facilities within the CEFS response district are all trained
to the same level/standard as CEFS personnel. PPE also remains consistent
throughout the organization facilitating interaction and aiding a uniform response to emergencies. All of the facilities attend drills and exercises coordinated by CEFS. While CEFS is the operational entity to all types of emergencies, each facility maintains a capability and capacity to response to incipient
stage fires. Each of the facilities that CEFS has the responsibility to protect
has worked to standardize fittings throughout the response district and to
ensure each site has the capability to deliver large volumes of water at predetermined locations, which has meant the modification of fire hydrants and fire
water systems. Facilities within the CEFS response district work under a four
alarm system.
Incipient Stage Fire:
For first response by in-plant personnel, CEFS is notified and responds to
evaluate the incident and ensure that no additional threats for re-ignition are
posed once the fire is extinguished.
1st Alarm: In-plant responders implement defensive measures, CEFS responds to contain and extinguish, Civilian Fire Department and Police are
notified by CEFS.
2nd Alarm: CEFS determines what additional resources are needed and will
activate pre-identified resources (20% of shift operators) plus additional CEFS
resources (off duty firefighters). Civilian Fire Department and Police are also
activated as part of the response.
3rd Alarm: Specialized third party emergency response contractors will be
activated to provide assistance.
Equipment:
CEFS has procured an impressive array of first rate equipment. It currently has available the following:
2 - 3000 GPM Foam Tenders
1 - 2000 GPM Aerial Foam Tender
1 - 2000 GPM Foam Tender with Articulating Boom
1 - Dry Chemical Tender
2 - 2000 GPM Foam Tenders
2 - Mobile Command Posts
4 - Rapid Support Vehicles
3- Forward Command Vehicles
3 - Ambulances
1 - Hazmat Vehicle
4 - Trailer Mounted 3000 GPM Terminators
Conclusion:
CEFS has made significant investments toward a state of the art dispatch
center as well as an Industrial Fire Department the rival of many in the US. It
is committed to purchasing state of the art equipment and has amassed a
significant amount of training and expertise from a variety of training institutions throughout the world. The organization is committed to regular drills
and continuous evaluation of its capabilities and responses. The integration of
the Incident Command System and the ability to function under a unified
command positions itself as an organization that is unique in the ability to
respond to “all hazards”. With that progress, challenges remain for CEFS
when it comes to integration with other governmental emergency response
agencies, that may not be trained in the use and implementation of the incident
command system. It is encouraging to note that the emergency response
system at Petronas functions quite smoothly. In the future, Petronas and
CEFS would benefit from efficiencies gained from professionalizing the organization in terms of credentialing and adopting established international standards of certification and testing.
Until next time, remember work SMARTER not HARDER!!
Comments? Questions? Is there an Industrial Fire Training topic you would
like to see covered in this column? Please email me at ahertele@bellsouth.net.
Thanks to Chief Khairul for his assistance in preparing the column for this
issue.
o
Attila Hertelendy is an instructor with the University of Nevada, Reno
– Fire Science Academy and president and CEO – Great White Emergency Medical Solutions, Inc.
RISK ASSESSMENT
By JEFFREY R. ROBERTS/ GE Insurance Solutions
P
Do You Know About Your Walls?
assive fire protection seldom receives the attention that active fire
protection does until a disaster occurs. It’s at this point where every
one asks were there firewalls in that building? Back in the early days of
rubber tire warehouses and the textile industry, facilities were commonly
divided by walls of various types. Even today walls are used in commercial
buildings for various reasons. As was discussed in the September-October
issue, preparation for fire emergencies can be the deciding factor between
whether a fire is halted or allowed to burn the entire building to the ground. In
this article we will explore the different types of walls, how to recognize them
and what role they play in property conservation and life safety. This will
assist the emergency responder as he develops the pre-emergency plan for a
facility.
The walls, as described in this article, have a multitude of purposes. Being
able to spot the differences between various types of walls is key in determining how long it’s expected to last in a fire. This can be critical when the fixed
fire protection systems have failed to control a fire or the site has no fixed fire
protection. After making an assessment at the scene of a fire that has progressed beyond the capabilities of the automatic sprinkler system, the ability
to know where to make a stand in a two million square foot warehouse fire can
mean everything.
The term firewall is used quite often to describe a wall that may not have
ever been designed and /or constructed to halt a fire’s progress. If you are not
equipped to understand the differences you could be placing yourself in
harm’s way during a fire. There have been multiple cases where a fire originated in a sprinklered building equipped with what most people would call
firewalls yet the site still suffered a total loss.
The most commonly used wall that most people refer to as a firewall is in
reality a fire barrier wall. NFPA 221 defines a fire barrier wall as a wall that is
not a firewall, but it does have a fire resistance rating. For instance, a fire
barrier wall, which may be a 3-hour concrete barrier wall, does not meet the
standard required to be a true firewall. A true firewall typically will be freestanding (not tied into the building structure), parapeted (extended above the
roof line) and be afforded “wing walls”, end walls to prevent fire from wrapping around the end of the wall. The large openings on true firewalls will
typically be afforded 2-3 hour fire doors. Penetrations in true firewalls will
typically not be above 3ft from the floor.
There are several problems in regards to true firewalls. These issues should
be on the mind of every emergency responder. These problems are lack of
operating fire doors, firewall penetrations that have not been properly sealed
to prevent the spread of fire through the wall, or totally unprotected openings. This is why not only should pre-emergency plans be developed, but
should be revisited on a continuous basis especially in high hazard occupancies. It is not uncommon for facilities to remove walls and make economic
decisions without contacting the fire department. What at one time was a true
firewall can be something totally different in a year’s time. The fire doors
should be trip tested on an annual basis, penetrations reviewed and assessed,
and the overall structural condition of the wall reviewed.
Some walls are in reality meant to be partitions and are used for the control
of smoke as indicated in NFPA 101 and in NFPA 5000. Also, these walls may
be intended to allow a certain amount of time for escape and minimal longterm protection from fire. These walls are commonly constructed, if the
environment allows, from gypsum board on steel studs.
Fire barrier walls are the most commonly found wall. These walls, are
intended to be used in conjunction with the overhead sprinkler system to halt
a fire’s progress. To be able to identify a fire barrier wall is relatively straightforward. This wall has some of the structural characteristics of a true firewall.
However, it will not be free standing, usually has only one 3 hour rated fire
door on a large opening, will not be parapeted and could have multiple penetrations all along the wall.
Major property insurance companies use firewalls to estimate a maximum
foreseeable loss (MFL) which assists them in knowing how much loss exposure they have in a given fire area. Other types of walls (barriers and partitions) are seldom considered by major insurance companies as having the
ability to truly compartmentalize fires in regards to having the ability to halt
a fire. This is typical of the insurance industry, which tends to be very
conservative in regards to loss estimates.
If you need further guidance on differences between firewalls, fire barrier
walls and partitions there is a considerable amount of information in the
NFPA Handbook and NFPA 221, or contact this author.
o
Jeffrey R. Roberts, CFPS, is a Senior Loss Prevention Consultant
with GE Global Asset Protection
Flameout
“Some want a turnkey project where you design it and build it,” Moore
said. “But other companies may have corporate policies that require bringing
in a third party to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest. We provide a
complete set of fabrication drawings that you can then use to bid it yourself.”
The problem with most engineering companies is that process people, not
fire protection people, do the design work, Moore said.
“If you were going to buy a $20 million compressor you’d have a detailed
design of what it is,” Moore said. “You want the same thing if you’re spending
that much on a fire protection system.”
The list of Flameout Control clients includes such prominent names as
ARAMCO, BP, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Kellogg Brown
& Root, Shell and the U.S. Air Force. Moore’s work has taken him to Algeria,
Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and many other countries.
Often the research and design work paid for by one company can be
applied to other clients with similar problems, Moore said.
“Put that together with our own foundry where the work can be done cost
effectively and the savings are significant,” he said. A Z Machine is Lloyd’s
2
Registry approved and applies the latest welding processes. The company
also has an “U”stamp’ from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
which means Flameout Control can make design and fabricate pressure vessels.
Moore’s early career goals hardly reflect his current standing. Born in
Houston, he graduated from Austin College in Sherman, TX, with a degree in
marine biology. Years later he found himself handling technical procurement
for Occidental Oil and Gas in the Middle East. Mostly this involved buying
items such as blow out preventors and down hole pumps, he said.
Occidental turned to Moore to help solve a particular problem in Pakistan.
Occidental’s management had grown concerned about its refinery in Islamabad.
A shanty town had sprung up surrounding the Occidental refinery there,
presenting an increased danger from fire. In the wake of the Union Carbide
disaster in Bhopal, Occidental was becoming increasingly concerned by its
new neighbors.
“The company decided to open a fire fighting school,” Moore said. “They
had no idea how to do it. So they called me and said ‘You know about British
standards and we want you to buy all the equipment.’ I flew over, did the
research, bought everything and opened the school. That’s how I caught the
fire fighting bug.”
While researching the project Moore made his first contact with Angus
Fire, a leading manufacturer of fire fighting hose and foam. In 1993, after
Moore founded his engineering company, that connection would help him
land his largest contract to date — providing high expansion foam systems,
dry chemical systems, oscillating monitors and a fire truck for a massive LNG
complex in Skikda, Algeria, built by Sonatrach, an Algerian government-owned
oil company.
“It’s hard to relive a $7 million order,” Moore said.
Still, there has been plenty of other new business. In 1995 Moore assited
Emergency One with outfitting 28 fire trucks for the government of Lithuania
utilizing the GOST standards used in countries of the former Soviet Union.
The next year he supplied a sub surface foam injection system and monitors
INCIDENT LOG
Underlined Items Denotes Fatality
Sept. 1-Canton, MO: A woman was killed when
she fell 40 feet into a tank at an oil company.
Sept. 1-Henderson IN: An explosion at an ink
plant caused 2 people to be injured.
Sept. 2-Monitello, IN: A fire destroyed most of a
furniture factory.
Sept. 3-Orange County, CA: A fuel truck driver
died when he overturned one and a half times.
Sept. 4-Middlesex, UK: A lorry carrying hydrogen peroxide exploded and closed a highway.
Sept. 5-Karapelit, Bulgaria: Explosions at a cooking oil plant caused 3 deaths.
Sept. 7-Sarnia, Canada: Roads were closed due
to a benzene spill at a chemical plant.
Sept. 8-Nizushima, Japan: A sulphur gas leak at
an oil refinery caused 4 people to be taken to the
hospital for inhaling the toxic gas.
Sept. 8-Nanjing, China: 3 workers were killed
while unloading benzene from a vessel.
Sept. 9-Tashu Township, Taiwan: An explosion at a weapons factory resulted in 3 deaths.
Sept. 10-Old Harbour, Jamaica: 3 people died
from inhaling toxic gas fumes at a power plant.
Sept. 11-Twinsburg, OH: A metal dust collector
at a steel and aluminum processing plant exploded.
Sept. 11-Jiangyin, China: Seven people were
killed in an oil tanker fire.
Sept. 12-Henerson, KY: An explosion injured 2
workers processing bulk wax at a plant.
Sept. 12-Shangangzhai, China: 11 people died
when a truck carrying ammonium nitrate exploded.
Sept. 14-Mississauya, Canada: Welding was
being done when an explosion and a fire rocked a
sealant and adhesive company.
For Complete Incident Logs, Visit www.fireworld.com
Sept. 15-Lunnon, WI: A man was killed in an
explosion at a tank manufacturing plant.
Sept. 15-Oklahoma City, OK: 1,000s of dinitrous
oxide cannisters blew up at a trailer company.
Sept. 15-Torrance, CA: An oil refinery worker
was killed when he fell into a water-treatment tank.
Sept. 16-Shadad, India: An installation worker in
a textile factory caused an explosion and killed 2
men an injured 6 others.
Sept. 16-Moundsville, WV: A tank leaking hydrogen at an electrical plant exploded.
Sept. 17-Andour, KS: A fire and explosion at a
paint factory injured 1.
Sept. 18-Indianapolis, IN: A steel fabrication plant
was severely damaged in a fire.
Sept. 19-Kalamboli, India: A firefighter died in a
chemical warehouse fire following an explosion.
Sept. 19-Denver, CO: Chlorine fumes leaked from
a printing plant with 7 people taken to the hospital.
Sept. 21-Davenport, IL: Orange fumes billowed
from an industrial plant for hours.
Sept. 22-Wesseling, Germany: An 184,000
gallon oil refinery heating tank exploded and burned.
Sept. 23-Scranton, PA: Gases built up in a furnace and caused an explosion at a plant.
Sept. 24-Mravok, Iran: 3 peopled were killed
when a gasoline pipeline exploded.
Sept. 25-Pakistan: A gas pipeline exploded due
to excessive pressure that had built up.
Sept. 26-Changsha County, China: An asphalt
tank blast spread fire through a materials factory.
Sept. 27-Golborne, UK: 1 person was killed from
an ammonia leak at a frozen food warehouse.
Sept. 27-Jinzhou, China: 3 people were killed
by a spill of molten metal in a steel works plant.
Sept. 28- Atascosa County, TX: An 18 wheeler
exploded when the driver lost control.
Sept. 28-Chintat, India: One person was killed
in an explosion at a licensed fire works factory.
Sept. 29-Jiaozuo City, China: Chemicals used
to remove power plant coal ash sickened 50 people.
Oct. 2-Madurai, India: A chemical unit containing
ethyl acetate, acetone and toluene caught on fire.
Oct. 3 Armidale, Australia: Xylene leaked from
a container on a TNT truck, injuring 1.
Oct. 4-Kukatapally, India: A worker repairing an
oil pipeline was killed when a valve flew off.
Oct. 4-Hamrouch-Hamoudi, Algeria: 2 people
died in a fire in a crude oil storage tank.
Oct. 4-Baltic, OH: Gas ignited while workers were
repairing a gas leak at the wellhead.
Oct. 6-Point Comfort, TX: An explosion and fire
in a plastics plant caused 6 people to be injured.
Oct. 6-Tyler, TX: Firefighters responded to a small
fire at a petroleum refinery.
Oct. 7-Taizhou City, China: 8 people died when
poisonous gas escaped from a huge factory fire.
Oct. 7-Khuzeston, Iran: A man died when a gas
pipeline at an oil refinery exploded and burned.
Oct. 12-St. Joseph, Mo:An explosion ripped
through a pork processing plant, killing 1 person.
Oct. 14-Schofield, WS: 1 factory worker died
after an explosion and fire tore through a wood
products manufacturing plant.
Oct. 19-Chicago, IL:A massive fire at a chemical
plant cut off power to a nearby neighborhood.
Oct. 21-Hino, Japan: An explosion and fire at an
aluminum factory left three workers injured.
o
INDUSTRIAL SERVICE DIRECTORY
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COMPRESSED AIR TESTING
& CERTIFICATION
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TRACE ANALYTICS, INC
15768 Hamilton Pool Rd.
Austin, TX 78738
800/247-1024 • Fax 512/263-0002
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FOAM
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sales@airchecklab.com • www.airchecklab.com
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CONSULTING SERVICES
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FIRE & SAFETY SPECIALISTS INC.
P.O. Box 9161
College Station, TX 77842
979/690-7559 • Fax 979/690-7562
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EDUCATIONAL SERVICE/TRAINING
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INDUSTRIAL FIRE TRAINING CONSULTANTS
P.O. Box 17947
Nashville, TN 37217-0947
615/793-5400 • Fax 615/793-5900
LSU FIRE & EMERGENCY TRAINING INSTITUTE
6868 Nicholson Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70820
800/256-3473 • Fax 225/765-2416
http://feti.lsu.edu • mcurti2@lsu.edu
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FIRE APPARATUS
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CRASH RESCUE EQUIPMENT SERVICES INC.
P.O. Box 211506
Dallas, TX 75211
972/243-3307 • FAX 972/243-6504
PIERCE MANUFACTURING
2600 American Drive
Appleton, WI 54913
920/832-3231 • www.piercemfg.com
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FIRE APPARATUS HARDWARE
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FIREFIGHTING & HAZARD
CONTROL
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FIREPROOFING EQUIPMENT
& ACCESSORIES
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J AND M SERVICE INC.
11532 Anabel Ave.
Garden Grove, CA 92843
714/530-3325 • Fax 714/638-8572
jandmservice@sbcglobal.net
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FIRE PROTECTIVE COATINGS
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OCEAN FIRE PROTECTIVE COATINGS
Main P.O. Box 616
Niagara Falls, NY 14302-0616
716/278-0136 • Fax 716/282-2669
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FOAM
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“Exclusively in the Foam Business” — Sales & Service
1 Rossmoor Drive
Monroe Township, NJ 08831
690/655-7777 • Fax 609/655-9538
E-mail — harp@foamtechnology.us
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FOAM EQUIPMENT
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HYPRO CORP. — FOAMPRO
375 Fifth Ave. N.W.
New Brighton, MN 55112
651/766-6300 • 800/533-9511 • Fax 651/766-6614
TASK FORCE TIPS, INC.
Valparaiso, IN 46383-6940
800/348-2686 • Fax 219/464-7155
sales@tft.com • www.tft.com
P.O. Box 1359
Mauriceville, TX 77626
409/727-2347 • Fax 409/745-3021
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FOAM PUMPS
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HAZMAT EMERGENCY
RESPONSE EQUIPMENT
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Mark Radachi, Director, Homeland Security
Office: (602) 323-1941•Fax: (602)323-1942
Cell: (480) 231-9310
Email: mradachi@abatix.com
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HAZMAT EMERGENCY
RESPONSE EQUIPMENT
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CRASH RESCUE EQUIPMENT
SERVICES INC.
P.O. Box 211506
Dallas, TX 75211
972/243-3307 • FAX 972/243-6504
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HOTELS
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SMITHS DETECTION
14 Commerce Drive
Danbury, CT 06810
888/473-6747 • FAX 203/207-9780
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HEAT & FIRE DETECTORS
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THE PROTECTOWIRE CO.
P.O. Box 200
Hanover, MA 02339-0200
781/826-3878 • Fax 781/826-2045
www.protectowire.com
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HELMETS
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PHENIX TECHNOLOGY
12391 Sampson Ave. Ste H
Riverside, CA 92503
888/347-7838 • FAX 951/272-4938
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HIGH FLOW BOOMS
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HOSE/HOSE COUPLINGS
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2355 IH-10 South — Beaumont, TX 77705
409-842-3600 • Fax 409-842-0023
e-mail: pattiowens@mcmelegante.com
BEAUMONT HOLIDAY INN MIDTOWN
2095 N. 11th St.
Beaumont, TX 77703
409/892-8110 • Fax 409/892-2231
Closest full-service hotel to the BEST Complex
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LDH EQUIPMENT
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800/348-2686 • Fax 219/464-7155
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MONITORS
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FIREPRO
P.O. Box 3527
City of Industry, CA 91744
626/336-4561 • Fax 626/937-4707
800/348-2686 • Fax 219/464-7155
P.O. Box 1359
409/727-2347 • Fax 409/745-3021
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NOZZLES
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P.O. Box 1359
409/727-2347 • Fax 409/745-3021
P.O. Box 86 • Wooster, OH 44691
800/228-1161 • Fax 800/531-7335
custserv@akronbrass.com • www.akronbrass.com
800/348-2686 • Fax 219/464-7155
P.O. Box 1359
409/727-2347 • Fax 409/745-3021
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PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION
—————————————————————
THE “PROOF” IN FIREPROOFING
41 Furnace St.
Stanhope, N.J. 07874
www.cafco.com • dpenta@isolatek.com
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PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
—————————————————————
QUAKER SAFETY PRODUCTS CORP.
103 S. Main St.
Quakertown, PA 18951-1119
215/536-2991 • Fax 215/538-2164
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RESCUE EQUIPMENT
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SHELTERS
—————————————————————
RAPID AIR SHELTER
19 Fosters Court
Sugar Land, TX 77479
281/701-7727 • Fax 832/274-5790
bcolborne@rapidairshelter.com
Visit The IFW Web Site At
www.fireworld.com
Flameout
for a project in Indonesia. In 1997 he shipped his patented Flamesweeper
oscillating monitors to Nigeria. Much of Moore’s work shifted to Houston
and Guatemala the year after that. Other new contracts kept Flameout Control thriving.
The mission statement for Flameout Control is simple, Moore said.
st
“Our mission is to force other engineering companies into the 21 century
and up to the standards of European companies competing against American
companies,” he said.
Moore’s extensive experience with standards in Europe has helped put his
company many years ahead of his engineering competitors, he said.
“The Europeans are 15 years ahead of the United States,” Moore said.
“You know that because all of our standards are changing to match theirs.”
In 1996 the International Electrical Commission published IEC 6108 which
regulates requirements for functional safety of electrical, electronic and programmable electronic safety-related systems. It is applicable in mechanical
engineering as well as in process technology. With regard to hazard and risk
analysis, IEC 6108 established “safety integrated levels” or SIL.
Before SIL, plants and refineries had emergency shut down systems, Moore
said. That is now an archaic term.
“SIL involves triple redundancy to the point that if one part fails another
one takes over,” Moore said. “All equipment operating in the field in Europe
now has to be SIL rated.”
Say that a client wants to protect a valve with a deluge system. Determining the SIL rating means determining the relative importance of that valve. If
the valve failed would the resulting loss be more than $1 million? If the answer
is yes, then the valve is rated at SIL 1. A loss of more than $5 million means a
Innovation
An important industrial fire fighting innovation was National Foam introducing Squirts on foam pumpers, enabling elevated foam and water streams to
be applied to industrial fires. Another giant leap came after World War II in the
form of foam proportioning. National Foam started marketing balanced pressure foam systems. National Foam further improved foam proportioning
with the invention of Servo Command which gave industry the first automated foam proportioning device. In 1988, a National Foam Servo Command
foam pumper ran continuously for 171 hours at the Saudi Arabia Petrochemical Company to extinguish a gasoline tank fire.
Aerial devices have also been an important arena for innovation. Large
capacity aerial devices were introduced by Bronto, Schwing with National
Foam, LTI and E-One with flows from 3,000 - 4,000 gpm.
Airport crash trucks saw enormous change during this period too. After
World War II, most crash trucks had one or two remote control monitors on
top and 1,000 gallons of water in the tank. Then Texas-based Crash Rescue
came along. Another company had come up with an articulated boom with a
penetrating nozzle on it that could be extended as much as 40 feet. Crash
Rescue bought the technology and adapted it to aviation crash rescue. Today
it’s hard to find an airport that doesn’t have one.
RADIOS
“Portable” is a word that has changed a great deal in the last half century. Back
in the 1960s when I was a young firefighter a portable two-way radio weighed
about 25 pounds and hung from a strap around your shoulder, recalls publisher David White. Around the fire house we called them “bricks.” It took
three different sets of batteries to power the thing for six to eight hours. None
of the batteries were rechargeable. At full volume you had to hold the speaker
against your ear to hear anything. In McAllen, TX, we had two of them,
naturally, but there was one big restriction. Nobody was authorized to use
SIL 2 rating. Is there a potential for a loss greater than $20 million? That rates
as SIL 3. Finally, is it possible someone could lose their life?
“That means a SIL 4 which means ‘no, we can’t do it – go back and
redesign,’” Moore said. “Nobody is allowed to have a SIL 4. Understanding
SIL ratings makes it possible to design systems correctly the first time instead
of wading through endless change orders.”
Only recently have the United States and Canada started to convert from
the National Electrical Manufacturers’ Association (NEMA) to worldwide
standard IEC 6108, making it easier to design new product lines that can sell
anywhere in the world. However, some companies are lagging behind in adapting
to this new standard.
“If you go to some American companies and ask if a certain product is SIL
2 rated, they’re going to say ‘no!’” Moore said. “Then they are going to ask
you what a SIL rating is. But go to a European company like Zellweger and
you’ll see that their detector says ‘SIL 2.’ That means you can put your
equipment into any refinery in the world.”
With regard to American standards, Flameout Control is one of the few
companies that manufactures Class 1, Division 1 explosion-proof equipment
as defined under NFPA 70 as safe to use in acetylene environments, Moore
said.
Despite being well grounded in foreign standards, Moore also takes great
pride in making an American product.
“Everyone else is bringing stuff in from overseas,” Moore said. “Everything we sell is U.S. made.”
One area where Flameout Control has staked out a position on the cutting
edge of technology is remote control fire water monitors. Moore started
experimenting with these systems in 1995.
“We had six infra-red imaging cameras on 160-foot towers,” Moore said.
“They were gimbaled so that you had an X, Y and Z axis. Tied to the camera
was software controlling 20 fire water monitors. The cameras would scan a
them unless there was a earth-shaking disaster in the works.
Then Motorola came along with a radio that was truly portable. Other
companies made radios but Motorola was able to mass produce the technology and make it marketable. Today Motorola is preeminent in the fire service.
BREATHINGAPPARATUS
In the beginning there was oxygen breathing apparatus (OBA) which have
been in use since the 1930s. The wearer is not dependent upon outside air or
any type of air line. Independence was achieved by having air within the
apparatus circulated through a canister within which oxygen is continuously
generated. The effective life of the canister varies from 20 to 45 minutes,
depending on the particular apparatus and the type of work being done.
Simply exhale into the mask and the moisture in your breath activated the
system. It is still in use today by the military, principally the Navy.
One major drawback is OBA is a negative pressure system, meaning that
the outside air would be drawn into the mask if a face seal were compromised.
For that reason, the Navy is making a transition long ago achieved by the fire
service to self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) dependant on compressed air in bottles. Scott Aviation led the way by adapting German technology during World War II. Before the war the maximum altitude for airplanes
was below 10,000 feet. Aviators could not survive above that altitude. The
development of the demand valve permitted air flow only during inhalation.
Exhaled breath passed to the atmophere through a valve in the face mask.
Scott applied that technology to SCBA for firefighters.
CONCLUSION
Of course the list of important innovation in the fire service continues to
grow. Each year brings a new twist on old technology or some radical new take
that leads in a new direction. We complain about learning the new equipment
but in reality the constant turnover gives us new confidence. Somewhere,
somebody is always working to make things better. Refusing to deal with the
change means that you are part of the problem, not the solution.o
two-mile area looking for fire. The instant it caught an infra-red signature the
program could determine how tall the fire is, how flat the terrain is and, like a
GPS tracker, determine the exact X, Y and Z coordinates.”
The program would chose the appropriate monitor, do the trigonometry,
open the monitor and extinguish the fire, Moore said. It could even give a 15to-30 second warning depending on what the operators wanted.
Today, Flameout Control is working with a combination infra-red, ultra
violet imaging system that detects hydrocarbon vapors that might otherwise
be invisible to the human eye. (See “Mastering the Unknown,” Industrial Fire
World, July-Aug. 2005.) The idea is to marry different types of visual imaging
into one device that can be used in much the same way as infra-red open path
detectors to locate fugitive gas emissions.
Despite its “one-of-a-kind” reputation, Flameout Control is starting to
build an inventory. Chief among the items now readily available is Flameout
Control’s unique design for swivel joints used in several of its other engineering designs. Visit Flameout Control’s website where items such as these can be
seen and bought.
“These are products that have solved problems for a client,” Moore said.
“Now we have a foundry where we can make them cost effectively for others
Cool Camera
hydrocarbon gases.”
Inside the camera, the detector material, a narrow gap semiconductor known
as indium antimonide (InSb), requires supercooling to become receptive to
infrared energy at a three to five micron wavelength. The image it creates is
used to monitor the position and density of hydrocarbon vapor drifting beyond the readily visible condensate cloud rising from the exposed pit of
liquefied natural gas.
“If we didn’t cool that material the detector would be deaf, dumb and
stupid,” Leake said. “When it is working we are able to visualize exactly
where the gas cloud is, where it is moving to, how big it is and we are also able
to quantify the vapor in parts per million from a measurement perspective.”
This is not the first visit to the training facility for Leake Company and its
associate company, Leak Surveys, Inc. Previous testing during LNG dissipation and burns involved a standard video camera standing side by side the
super cooled HAWK thermal imaging camera, both placed atop a five-story
drill tower across the Brayton Fire Training Field.
“The cameras had a similar field of view so that we’ll be able to demonstrate what it looked like to our eye and what it looked like to the thermal
imager.”
What makes this time different is that thermal imaging is being used in
conjunction with an array of point and open path detectors near the LNG pit
to better interpret the image that was captured by the camera.
Point detectors give readings in percent LEL while open path detectors
give readings in percent of LEL per meters. Comparing the data from the
stationary detectors to the thermal image gives a better idea of how to interpret the visual display, which can be disorienting. For example, in a thermal
image the white vapor cloud turns varying degrees of black.
“Now we have point and open path detectors along with the visualized
data,” Leake said. “They can better correlate things like density, quantity and
the radiant energy when the LNG is ignited.”
In particular, that data is important in determining the effect of high expansion foam in LNG fire fighting.
“On the suppression side, once they apply the foam what does the thermal image look like?,” Leake said. “How do they contain the vapor? These
things become less apparent because sometime all you see of the flame is a
little tinge of orange. Thermal imaging enables them to see just how much heat
energy is being produced.”
Leak Survey has contracts with the biggest names in petroleum refining
such as ExxonMobil and BP. But making infrared cameras such as the HAWK
who need them.”
Moore is not alone in making Flameout Control work. He maintains a loose
association of consultants who can be brought in on any project. When a
professional engineer’s stamp of approval is needed Moore turns to Kerry
Ridgeway, principal engineer with Protech Engineering in Houston. Another
principal associate is Luke Sweeney, sales manager for Flameout Control.
“He’s in the front seat of an Apache gunship,” Moore said.
Sweeney, a National Guardsman, has been on active duty status for nearly
four years, Moore said. Having served in the Afghanistan theater, Sweeney is
now stationed in Tikrit in northern Iraq.
As for Moore’s current schedule he is currently involved in the $1.5 billion
project to expand Chevron’s LNG facilities in Australia’s Greater Gorgon gas
fields. He will also be working with Chevron on a $2 billion project to further
expand its Escravos project in Nigeria to convert natural gas into petroleum
fuels. Add to all this a new one-year contract that Moore has signed with
KBR.
“Right now I’m double booked and putting in 90 hours a week,” he said. “I
love it though. I love meeting the challenge and introducing needed changes in
fire protection.”
o
a dependable fixed system for plants and refineries in the United States awaits
a major shift in safety regulations, Leake said.
Around the world infrared camera technology has been accepted as a replacement for hand held portable devices such as sniffers used to detect leaks.
The problem with sniffers, Leake said, is that a person using a sniffer can
easily wander into an area rich in flammable vapors that would be readily
apparent to an infrared camera.
However, regulations in the United States still require that sniffers be used
in conjunction with infrared technology, Leake said.
“On a typical day you can scan about 20,000 to 28,000 pieces of equipment using infrared,” Leake said. “With a point detector such as a sniffer
you’re talking about 500 to 800 piece of equipment per day. When you’re
talking about a pipe rack 20 feet overhead using a sniffer becomes difficult.”
Normally, the HAWK is used to find chemical leaks undetectable by the
human eye from tanks, pipelines, barges, rail cars and other operations .
Mounted in a helicopter, the camera can detect these releases while skimming
the landscape at an altitude of 500 feet.
An adaptation of this idea in the wake of Hurricane Katrina made it unsure
until the last minute if a HAWK would be available for the Oct. 6 round of
testing at the Emergency Services Training Institute in College Station, TX,
Leake said.
“When the hurricane came through you had a lot of stuff using gas that was
abandoned in an operational state,” Leake said. “You’d have tanks slammed
into people’s homes that were literally ripped off their foundations. The gas
had not been turned off at any of those facilities, meaning you had large gas
leaks waiting like little bombs out there. This caused many of the fires seen on
television after Katrina passed.”
Leak Survey, using its helicopter-mounted infrared camera, was called in to
do a reconnaissance on the leaking gas situation. Local gas companies in New
Orleans estimated they would only find four or five leaks. In the first 30
minutes in the air the Leak Survey team found nearly 25 leaks.
“The concern was for first responders,” Leake said. “Somebody in a boat
scrapes against a piece of metal creating a spark — that’s all it takes. Leak
Survey was able to give exact GPS coordinates of the leaks. Then divers were
brought in to investigate underwater and shut off the gas.”
The HAWK has also become an important tool in finding oil spills. Even in
the dark, the infrared camera can detect the presence of hydrocarbon on the
water below, he said.
FEMA has now designated Leak Surveys a first responder in the disaster
zone, Leake said.
“They see the importance of this technology in a natural disaster,” he said.
“It is capable of immediately identifying environmental concerns.”
o
SPOTLIGHT ADS
75° in 15 minutes... anytime ... anywhere
Cell 832.274.5790 • Office 281.701.7727
Fax 281.491.1032 • www.rapidairshelter.com
BColborne@rapidairshelter.com
Rapid
“A lot of these type of shelter are require constant air flow, meaning that if
the unit loses electrical power it collapses,” he said.
The Rapid Air Shelter itself is made from panels of nylon fabric impregnated with rubber for lightweight durability. Each panel is fireproof and safe
to a temperature of 150 degrees F. By removing zippered end walls, multiple
shelters can be joined together to create a larger structure if needed. Also,
zippered panels make repairs and maintenance a simple matter.
Everything needed to support the shelter comes with the trailer. Most
important of which is the high efficiency air conditioning and heating unit.
“The front door is built out of warehouse strips,” Colborne said. “Firefighters
can hit it at a full run, go through it, land on the floor, strip off that 80 pounds
of equipment and lay right in the air conditioning.”
Air conditioning provides another important advantage to the Rapid Air
Shelter. The shelter can be kept at a positive pressure that keeps smoke and
any other contaminants out.
“We’ve got a hospital system looking at Rapid Air Shelter as a triage area
outside their emergency room,” Colborne said. “Hospitals don’t want to
contaminate their interior working space. Within minutes they could set up a
shelter and have all personnel arrive through the RAS before entering the
hospital. Positive pressure means the rest of the hospital can be protected.”
Cooled or heated air pumped into the tent is also kept clean by the Rapid
Air Shelter utilizes an electronic filter that uses activated charcoal to remove
smoke, bacteria, odors, allergens, mold, volatile organic contaminants and
some toxic gases, Colborne said.
“The filter uses the same media that were used to clean up the post offices
in Washington, D.C., and New Jersey affected by the 2001 anthrax attack.”
For further protection, RAS includes a carbon dioxide monitoring system.
“It’s wired directly to a switch that immediately shuts off the unit,”
Colborne said. “That way if the monitor does go off someone has to stop and
figure out what shut the unit off. It can’t prevent 100% of carbon dioxide
poisonings but it can alert the occupant to a potential problem.”
Inflation, temperature control, filtration and a system of built-in lights are
powered by a diesel generator that is located in the trailer. The generator is
sized to meet Rapid Air Shelter air conditioning load plus 15 percent more.
“The trailer is designed so that everything is modular,” Colborne said.
“Take the generator, for instance. If the generator fails all the connections to it
are soft connections.” This means that the generator can quickly be removed
and replaced with a new unit. Also, all controls for the RAS are monitored
from one central control panel to make the unit as user friendly as possible.
Each fire department has different on board equipment storage requirements. Rapid Air Shelter meets these requirements by providing ample storage space complete with and industrial, sound attenuated cabinet and lockable
access doors. Beyond that, each shelter is custom-built to the specifications
of the individual departments, right down to the color of the shelter and the
addition of department logos.
Federal grant money is available and can be used to make the purchase,
making them affordable to smaller departments, Colborne said. The Texas
Engineering Extension Service conducted testing that led to approval by the
federal Office of Emergency Preparedness. Some customers are in the approval process for grant money from the Department of Homeland Security.
“RAS offers the luxury of having everything integrated into one unit,” he
said. “In the past the customer needed to deploy a a setup crew the day
before, then bring in a generator and find the technical people required to
safely wire it up. We’re actually building a small shelter that deploys from the
pack of a pickup truck or trailer.”
o
Industrial Fire World Comes of Age
March 27-31, 2006 • The Baton Rouge River Center • Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Monday - March 27
8 a.m. - 4 p.m.: High Volume Water & Foam Streams — 8
hours. Taught by Louisiana’s Hired Gun Gang.
8 a.m. - 4 p.m.: Confined Space Rescue — 8 hours.
8 a.m. - 4 p.m.: Inland Waterways Homeland Security
(Coast Guard Requirements and Strategies) — 8 hours
1 p.m. - 5 p.m.: NFPA 1081 IFSAC Certification - Why
Should Industry & Fire Brigade Members Do It? —
At
the conclusion of this workshop the first 5 attendees
whose names are drawn and wish to do so will be adminis-
Tuesday - March 28 - Main Program
Learning From Disaster: The Effect of Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Program includes presentations and
panel discussions. IFW will publish a white paper that will be
disseminated to FEMA and emergency management officials in
the state affected.
8 a.m.: Introduction
8:15 a.m.: Welcome from Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.
8:30 - 9 a.m.: What Have We Learned From The Hurricanes.
Ken Boviea, Monsanto and New Orleans EMS.
9 - 9:30 a.m.: Break
9:30 - 10 a.m.: How Do You Manage An Operation That
Covers 900 Square Miles? Paul Hannemann, Chief Regional
Fire Coordinator, Texas Forest Service, College Station, TX
tered the IFSAC Incipient Fire Brigade Member and IFSAC
Advanced Exterior Fire Brigade. Member certification at no cost.
1 p.m.: Golf Tournament: Shotgun Tee Off at 1 p.m. - Beaver
Creek Golf Course, 1100 Plains-Port Hudson.
6 - 9 p.m.: Special Hospitality Evening at LSU Fire & Emergency
Training Institute sponsored by Southland Fire & Safety. Free
food, live-fire exercises, large capacity water flow demonstration
and large scale fire demonstration. Buses leave hotel at 5:30
p.m.
10 - 10:30 a.m.: FEMA/DHS and Interfacing With Industrial
Problems During Hurricanes Dave Paulison, FEMA,
Washington, D.C. (invited)
10:30 - 11 a.m.: TBA
11 - 1 p.m.: Exhibits Open
1 - 4 p.m.: Analysis of the Response to the Hurricanes in
Louisiana and Texas (Invited Panel)
4 - 6 p.m.: Exhibits Open
6 - 9 p.m.: Cajun Night at Ferrara Fire Apparatus Plant - free
Cajun food, demonstrations and entertainment. Buses will leave
hotel starting at 6 p.m. Sponsored by Ferrara Fire Appartus
Wednesday - March 29 - Main Program
8 - 9:30 a.m.: Exhibit Hall Open
• Questions on an Industrial Person’s Mind When OSHA
• Free Continental Breakfast with Featured Speaker
Is At The Front Door
- Earl Heard, BIC Alliance Founder
• Legal Issues That The Industrial Plant Will Face And
9:30 - 11 a.m.: New Technology
How To Stay Out Of Jail
• Water Mist Systems – What are they and what they protect
11 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Exhibit Hall Open With Lunch Available
– Victor Gameiro, President, Mariott, Inc. USA, Linthicum, MD
• Guardian Angle – Remote Automatic Portable Fire Protection 1 – 4 pm : New Technology (Continued)
• PEP POD’s and USAR for Industrial Fire & Emergency
System – Williams Fire & Hazard Control, Mauriceville, TX
Response – Jeff Saunders, TEEX, TAMU, USAR
• Neptune Large Capacity Foam Water System – John
•
Video
Vapor Detection – Mike Moore, President, Flameout
Vieweger, Kidde Fire Systems
Control, Houston, TX
9:30 - 11 a.m.: Major Events
• One of Largest Water Pumping Operations in the World – 1 - 4 p.m.: Loss of Life from Explosions and Fires – How
does the fire and emergency response person survive
Borox Mine
the aftermath?
• Fire and Explosion at the Plant and How to Handle the
• Speakers pending
Multitude of Agencies that will be Responding
1 – 4 p.m.: Industrial Fire & Emergency Response
9:30 - 11 a.m.: Overseas Employment – What You Always
• How Industry and Local Fire Departments
Wanted To Know?
Work Together to Come Up with a Flammable Liquid
• Chris Fraser, Wackenhut Services, Inc.
Plan for Major Emergencies – Tim Butters, Asst. Chief,
• Robert Andrews, Chief and President, Industrial Emergency
Fairfax City Fire Department, VA
Services, LLC
• Boil Over Tests – What Have We Learned to Stay Alive
• John Coates, Fire Chief, Baku
– Richard Coates, Consultant, BP, UK
• Richard Coates, Consultant, BP, London, UK
• Gas Fired Power Plants - What you need to know for
Emergency Response – Woody Cole, Calpine Energy
9:30 - 11 a.m.: Surviving an OSHA Visit Or Investigation
Check
www.fireworld.com for other sessions to be conducted
• What the OSHA Person Will Ask For & Why –
by
IES,
GE Insurance Solutions and other featured speakers.
Bevel Hart, OSHA (ret)
Industrial Fire World Comes of Age
March 27-31, 2006 • The Baton Rouge River Center • Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Industrial Fire World Conference and Expo is a Special Professional Development Experience.
• Talk one-to-one with peers and world renowned experts.
• Get gems of information to put to work right away or set your mind to thinking about issues on the horizon.
• Meet people who have products and services critical to your successful fire suppression, emergency management,
personnel training or other responsibilities.
MAKE IFW A CORPORATE OR ORGANIZATION EVENT USING GROUP RATES
• $2,000 - for 10 people from the same plant, company or organization
• $3,000 - for unlimited number of people from the same plant, company or organization
Group payment can be split between plants within an organization or company.
Individual Registration — $390 before February 15 ($490 after February 15)
Please Note: An additional registration fee is required for participation in the golf tournament ($50), ROCO Rescue high
angle ropes course ($135), University of Maryland CFPS Test Preparation Class ($150), the LNG symposium ($475) and
the LSU Fire & Emergency Training Institute Industrial Fire School, April 3-5 ($650)
ALL REGISTRATION WILL BE AT www.fireworld.com. If assistance is needed for group registration, or if
you encounter a problem, contact lynn@fireworld.com and Lynn White will assist you.
Thursday - March 30 - LNG Seminar
Friday - March 31
8 – 8:30 a.m.: History of LNG and Emergencies and the
Future of LNG – DavidWhite, President, Fire and Safety
Specialists, Inc.,College Station, Texas
8:30 – 9 a.m.: LNG Characteristics and Properties – Rapid
Phase Transission Issues – Harry West, PhD, Mary K
O’Conner Process Safety Institute, Texas A & M
9 – 9:15 a.m.: Break
9:15 – 9:45 a.m.: LNG Vessel Regulations and Design
9:45 – 10:15 a.m.: LNG Tank Design and Construction –
10:15 – 11:30 a.m.: Regulations and Rules for LNG
Terminals, Ships, and Tank Trucks – U.S. Coast Guard,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and NFPA
11:30 – Noon: Fire Proofing for LNG Facilities
Noon – 1:00 p.m.: Lunch
1 – 1:30 p.m.– Training for LNG Emergencies :– Kirk
Richardson, Marine and LNG Specialists, Texas A & M
University, TEEX, College Station, Texas
1:30 – 2:00 p.m.: LNG Vapor Cloud Management with
Water Sprays and Monitors –
2 – 2:30 p.m.: LNG Vapor Clouds and Detonations – Baker
` Engineering
2:30 – 3:00 p.m.: Break
3 – 3:30 p.m.: Detection of LNG Vapors using Open Path
Detection Technology
3:30 – 4 p.m.: Detection of LNG Vapors using Gas Detectors
4 p.m.: Adjournment of Symposium
8 – 8:30 a.m.: Vapor Detection of LNG Vapors Using New
Video Technology and Lessons Learned from Tests –
Mike Moore, Flameout Control, Houston, Texas
8:30 – 9 a.m.: Dry Chemical for LNG Fire Control
9 – 9:15 a.m.: Break
9:15 – 9:45 a.m.:
9:45 – 10:15 a.m.: What Has Been Learned from the LNG
Fire and Vapor Cloud Tests –
10:15 – 11 a.m.: Experience of LNG Use Around the World
and Accidents –
11 a.m. – Noon: Audience Participation – Questions and
Answers
Noon – 1 p.m.: Lunch
1 – 4 p.m.: LNG Live Burns and Vapor Releases – Coordinator, Kirk Richardson
• LNG cold factors & safety • LNG vapor clouds & water
application for vapor dispersion • LNG detection of vapor
clouds with gas/vapor detectors • LNG vapor control with
water spray • Use of high expansion foam for vapor & fire
control • Use of dry chemical for fire extinguishment of LNG •
Hi-expansion foam for LNG emergencies (Jim Clark) • LNG
storage tank design • LNG ship design • Dry chemical for
LNG Fire Protection • Fire training facilities for LNG: * TAMU
* LSU * Mass Fire Academy * Ansul - Wisconsin
Register at www.fireworld.com
Thursday - March 30/Friday - March 31
8 – 4 p.m.: Certified Fire Protection Specialists, Examination Prep Class – University of Maryland Fire & Rescue
Institute
8 - 4 p.m.: ROCO Rescue - High Angle Rope Access Techniques for Inspections in Lieu of Scaffolding

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