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As the fire spread, those drums caught fire and exploded. A blanket of thick black smoke engulfed the area after the blaze. As many as five fire tenders were rushed to the spot to bring the flames under control. According to the fire department, the blaze erupted around 10.30 am. “Water tankers were rushed to the site and the fire was doused. Subsequently, cooling operations were underway. Fortunately, nobody was injured and no casualties were reported in the incident, as the plant was shut.

Figure 1 – Flames and smoke which were seen coming out of the office premises triggered a panic-like situation in the surrounding areas

Image source – https://images.indianexpress.com/2020/05/pune-chemical-factory-fire.jpg

This incident puts the importance and relevance of fire safety system to the forefront at the manufacturing facilities where the combustible chemical fluids like acetone and ethanol are manufactured, used or stored.

In such cases, foam is a viable option and probably recommended for a reason, but water spray (sprinklers) may be acceptable as well. Often this is related to the quantity involved in the incident. Straight stream doesn’t mean anything in particular to me from a fire sprinkler design standpoint.

One point of clarification, naturally one article cannot delve into all aspects involved in this type of analysis since there are many factors to be analyzed to reach the final design criteria in these kinds of facilities. When it comes to chemical processing structures, additional information will be required regarding the temperature of the materials while in process and the pressure in which they appear in the process. These two factors can dramatically change the physical characteristics of the materials should there be a leak or spill.

A leak in a pressurized system can result in an atomized discharge which can often be more easily ignited as opposed to a steady, solid stream at atmospheric pressure. The class of a material when heated above its flashpoint can be changed at times one or two categories. It is not uncommon for a Class IIIA or IIIB liquid to be considered the same as a class I flammable with regard to its flashpoint when the material is heated above its flashpoint.

Understanding the process is often just as important as knowing what hazards are present? Also with regard to operations, when dealing with storage facilities you will need the rack arrangement, height, number of rows, aisle widths, types of containers whether they are relieving type or not.

Aarush Fire Systems provides the customized systems that have proven track record of providing protection of industrial chemical processing facilities and specifically those who use, store and create such vigorously flammable liquid substance.