FOCUS
Safe storage
Michael Daub and Torsten Welz walk us through the implementation of a fire protection concept, including alternative measures, at a tank farm
They had been commissioned by the company operating the tank farm to develop a fire protection solution that would rehabilitate existing equipment. Their proposal included an alternative concept that deviated from the common standards, but the concept was agreed with the local authorities and then implemented. The key element of damage limitation within this concept was a fully automatic infrared measuring system used for early fi re detection. At tank farms and in their immediate
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vicinity, appropriate technical and organisational measures for preventing fire and explosions or for mitigating their consequences must be taken to address the risk of fi res, given that the potential risks posed by the substances stored in the tank farm essentially relate to their fl ammability and ability to form explosive mixtures in air.
Major incidents in tank farms are very rare;
however, when they do occur, they require special emergency responses to prevent far reaching consequences. One example of a major incident is the one that happened at the oil depot at Buncefi eld, 40km from London, in December 2005.
28 OCTOBER 2019
www.frmjournal.com
XPERTS CALLED to a tank farm in Bavaria, Germany, found that its fi re extinguishing equipment had signifi cant shortcomings.
The depot was rocked by a series of explosions and 20 oil tanks burned out, exposing the entire south east of England to a toxic cloud. The lack of fatalities from the explosion
and fire was described by the local fire and rescue service (FRS) and police as a miracle. The accident highlights the fact that fire protection in tank farms is of paramount importance. Damaging events can only be avoided if operating companies are able to respond to potential risks early and effectively, in collaboration with the FRS.
Expertise and knowhow
Fire protection must ensure that defined objectives are achieved and this applies to existing facilities where, for example, preventive fi re protection is to be improved within the scope of rehabilitation measures. However, purely because measures are technologically feasible does not mean they are useful or reasonable. In rehabilitation operations, stakeholders often plan and implement very extensive measures to exclude all possible liability risks from the outset. When drawing up the concept, the principal challenge lies in the coordination and combination of reasonable engineering
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