FOCUS
Tried and tested Ensuring that a hydrocarbon fire safety system
remains relevant to the needs of the oil and gas industry presents unique challenges, as Dr Nikola Stoyanov and Jifeng Yuan explain
standards used in the oil and gas industry, the required safety levels play a key part in the construction and operation phases. The core purpose of fi re safety is to protect people, production processes and fl ow, as well as to protect equipment against fire damage by complying with the statutory requirements. These requirements include a quantifi cation of risks and the achievement of an acceptable level of safety. It is therefore crucial that protection is not compromised in any way, and that it provides a specifi ed period to ensure a safe evacuation and controlled facility shutdown in the event of a fi re. To ensure the fi re safety of structures in the
F
onshore and offshore hydrocarbon industry, there are specifi c requirements for each sub section, such as protected load bearing or separating elements. The starting point for fi re safety evaluation will always be the evidence of fi re testing within the elements of construction, in accordance with a range of relevant standards, such as EN 1363 for hydrocarbon
32 MARCH 2018
www.frmjournal.com
IRE SAFETY is an intrinsic part of the design process for developing hydrocarbon facilities. With the range of codes and
fi res and ISO 22899 for jet fi res. However, these individual fi re resistant elements come into their own in harsh and hazardous offshore and onshore environments. Therefore, the assessment of the entire
structure requires stability when exposed to these environmental factors, and it is particularly important that the individual fi re safety products still function and fulfi l their original fire protection tasks after lifetime environmental exposure within the context of the whole structure. With appropriate and rigorous assessment, and relevant mandatory/voluntary product certifi cation, a product can normally be trusted to deal with a particular application.
Cold spill protection
In recent years, the oil and gas industry has increasingly focused its attention towards natural gas and the large, isolated reservoirs that require transport via ships. To allow the transportation to be carried out, the natural gas is cooled to cryogenic temperatures (-160 degrees Celsius, -260 degrees Fahrenheit)
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