Problem

A two story building supporting plant operations is being designed.

The building will contain:

• **Research & Test lab that analyzes the flammable liquids used in

  the process (Ground Floor) -- analysis is critical to insure operations within design limits**

• **Warehouse storing critical replacement parts (Ground Floor but

  height is full height of building), Rack storage of parts to a height of 8 meters**

• **Plant operations and control center located between the lab and

  warehouse operations (Ground Floor)**

• **Support offices with all recording keeping for distribution of

  final product, collection of payments, etc. (Floor 1, above the lab)**

  Conduct a fire analysis of this building including building the fire model in 3D.

Fire Analysis

First lets go through the process of fire hazard analysis.

Identify the goal and boundary statements for the project

a. Goals

i. Protection of Life.

ii. Protection of Property

iii. Business Continuity

iv. Environment Protection (Neighboring complexes/offices etc)

b. Boundary Statement

i. Warehouse Compartment Area

ii. Plant Operations Compartment Area

iii. Lab Compartment Area

iv. Support Office Compartment Area

v. Adjacent Property Compartment Area

vi. During Business Operations/Hours Vs After Office Hours.

Identify at least five assumptions related to the fire risk assessment to be performed.

a. Building will have a fire alarm

b. Building will have a sprinkler system

c. Fire Dept will have access to the site .

d. Building will have an adequate water supply.

e. Building will have special suppression system for flammable

> liquids and rack storage

f. Building will have adequate fire extinguishers

g. Building will comply with local building and fire codes.

h. Rack height will remain unchanged.

i. Storage commodities and packaging will remain consistent with

> the current classification. Changes to stored items and/or

> packaging will necessitate further evaluation.

Prepare one or two objectives for each stated goal.

a. Protection of Life

i. Provide adequate time for people who are not intimate with

> the burn in the area of fire to reach a place of safety.

ii. Provide adequate time for people who are not in the

> floor/area of fire origin to reach a place of safety.

b. Protection of Property

i. Limit fire development and spread to the compartment of fire

> origin.

ii. Limit monetary damage to \$100,000.

iii. Make sure fire losses don't exceed the insured amount.

c. Business Continuity

i. Limit the fire such that the maximum fire-related process

> downtime is no greater than 24 hours.

ii. Provide appropriate fire protection measures to minimize the

> damage to the operational critical equipment.

iii. Lower Acceptable Risk in the Warehouse and LAB.

d. Environment Protection

i. Isolate the fire to the immediate property limits.

ii. Minimize air contamination that could result from the

> combustion of the building and its contents

iii. Prevent groundwater contamination as a consequence of the

> fire or of fire suppression activity.

Identify at least 20 hazards,

At least four of which shall be initiating hazards, at least four shall be contributing hazards,

and at least four shall be vulnerabilities.

a. Initiating Hazards

i. Combustible concentration of vapors near the flammable

> liquids.

ii. Heat initiating materials placed near the flammable liquids.

iii. Sparks from electrical tools and equipment.

iv. Sparks caused by static electricity from mixing operations.

v. Sparks caused by static electricity from improper transfer

> of flammable liquids.

vi. Sparks, arcs and hot metal surfaces from welding and

> cutting.

vii. Open flames from heating units.

viii. Tobacco smoking.

ix. Incorrect use of solvents for cleaning operations

x. Dealing with spillages

xi. Personal electrical equipment including mobile phones,

> computers and tablets

xii. Lightning

b. Contributing Hazards

i. Plastic containers

ii. Inadequate containment

iii. Inadequate installation of fire protection systems

iv. Inadequate maintenance of fire protection systems

v. Inadequate design of laboratory equipment

vi. Inadequate ventilation

c. Vulnerabilities Hazards

i. Exposure to heat from a nearby fire

ii. Propagation of fire through horizontal and vertical opening

iii. Inadequate access for emergency management

iv. Inadequate compartmentation between risk areas

Scenarios

Using the hazards identified, develop at least four scenarios to be evaluated. Develop at least one scenario for each goal statement.

a. Scenarios to be Evaluated

i. Accidental ignition of flammable liquid at a location in the

> warehouse involving sprinkler failure (Protection of

> life).

ii. Fire pool of liquid flammable storage in racks area and

> sparks from electrical equipment igniting a fire in the

> warehouse (Protection of Property)

iii. Fire initiated in the warehouse with sprinkler failure

> leading to fire propagation. (Business Continuity)

iv. Lab fire propagating out and resulting in heavy smoke

> leading outside to the neighboring building. (Environment

> Protection)

Identify Sceario for Fire Simuklation

Using Select one of the fire scenarios and identify the data

necessary to evaluate the scenario and identify sources for the

data needed the hazards identified, develop at least four

scenarios to be evaluated. Develop at least one scenario for each

goal statement.

a. Warehouse fire (Accidental ignition of flammable liquid)

i. Data and source

1. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) for all of the

materials

2. Heat release rate of flammable liquids

3. Fire protection system design.

4. InRacks liquid flammable storage distribution

5. Sprinkler failure data.

6. Floor Plan of the warehouse

Simulation

Estimating Uncertainty

For the selected fire scenario and the data identified, identify at

least four areas of uncertainty

a. Areas of Uncertainty

i. Maintenance personnel know the hazards of the materials to

which they might be exposed.

ii. Proper maintenance of the fire protection system

iii. CFD simulation/Zone model simulation data and its

validation.

iv. Frequency of warehouse fires.

v. Growth rate of Heat Release.

vi. Sprinkler failure