Industrial Fire Protection Engineering

Robert G. Zalosh is the author of Industrial Fire Protection Engineering, published by Wiley.

"...a timely and very significant contribution...will remain a reference for many years...presented in an extremely captivating manner..." (Fire Safety Journal, No. 39, 2004)

• Preface xi1 Introduction and perspective 11.1 Engineering approach to industrial fire protection 11.1.1 Fire/explosion scenario identification 21.1.2 Consequence analysis 61.1.3 Alternative protection evaluation 81.2 Statistical overview of industrial fires and explosions 101.2.1 Industrial occupancies in large loss fires 101.2.2 Types of fires/explosions in the largest losses 141.2.3 Facilities involved in multiple fatality fires and explosions 141.2.4 Ignition sources 171.2.5 Need for automatic detection and suppression 181.3 Historic industrial fires and explosions 201.3.1 Fire protection lessons learned 211.3.2 Lessons not learned 23References 242 Plant siting and layout 272.1 Fire protection siting considerations 272.1.1 Safe separation distances 272.1.2 Water supplies 362.1.3 Local firefighting organizations 412.1.4 Local codes and attitudes 422.1.5 Local environmental effects 422.2 Plant layout for fire/explosion protection 432.2.1 General principles and procedures 432.2.2 Hazard segregation and isolation 432.2.3 Ignition source isolation 462.2.4 Passive barriers 512.2.5 Sprinkler system layout 512.2.6 Accessibility for manual firefighting 522.2.7 Emergency exits 522.2.8 Computer aided plant layout 54References 533 Fire resistant construction 573.1 Construction materials 573.1.1 Steel 57vi CONTENTS3.1.2 Steel insulation 613.1.3 Concrete 613.2 Fire resistance calculations 613.3 Fire resistance tests 673.3.1 Furnace exposure tests 673.3.2 Empirical correlations 693.3.3 High intensity fire resistance tests 723.4 Fire walls 733.4.1 General criteria for fire walls 733.4.2 Fire wall design 733.4.3 Fire wall loss experience 783.5 Fire doors 783.5.1 Types of fire doors 783.5.2 Fusible links and detectors 813.5.3 Reliability issues 813.6 Insulated metal deck roofing 833.6.1 Description 833.6.2 White house tests 843.6.3 Small-scale tests and classifications 853.7 Water spray protection of exposed structures 86References 874 Smoke isolation and venting 914.1 Isolation and halon suppression within ventilated equipment 914.2 Isolation within rooms–building smoke control 964.2.1 Buoyancy pressure differences 964.2.2 Volumetric expansion pressures 994.2.3 Isolation via ventilation exhaust 1004.2.4 Upstream smoke propagation 1044.2.5 Door and damper smoke leakage 1074.3 Heat and smoke roof venting 1074.4 Heat and smoke venting in sprinklered buildings 1124.4.1 Testing 1124.4.2 Loss experience 1134.4.3 Mathematical modeling 1134.4.4 Closing remarks 114References 1145 Warehouse storage 1175.1 Warehouse fire losses 1175.2 Storage configurations 1185.3 Effect of storage height, flue space, and aisle width 1245.4 Commodity effects 1285.4.1 Generic commodity classification 1285.4.2 Laboratory flammability testing 1325.4.3 Small array tests 1355.4.4 Large array sprinklered fire tests 1455.5 Sprinkler flow rate requirements 1485.5.1 Ceiling spray sprinklers 1495.5.2 In-rack sprinklers 1575.5.3 Early suppression fast response (ESFR) sprinklers 1585.6 Sprinklered warehouse fire modeling 1595.6.1 Conceptual model overview 1595.6.2 Free burn heat release rates and flame spread rates 1595.6.3 Warehouse fire plumes and ceiling jets 1595.6.4 Sprinkler actuation model 1625.6.5 Spray-plume penetration model 1635.6.6 Reduction in heat release due to actual delivered density 1645.6.7 Fire control criteria: can wetted commodity be ignited? 1655.6.8 Fire suppression criteria 1665.7 Cold storage warehouse fire protection 167References 1686 Storage of special commodities and bulk materials 1716.1 Roll paper 1716.1.1 Commodity description 1716.1.2 Loss experience 1736.1.3 Roll paper fire tests 1736.1.4 Roll paper protection requirements 1776.2 Nonwoven roll goods 1786.2.1 Commodity description 1786.2.2 Loss experience 1796.2.3 Fire tests 1796.2.4 Sprinkler protection requirements for nonwovens 1816.3 Rubber tire storage 1816.4 Aerosol products 1846.4.1 Product description 1846.4.2 Aerosol warehouse fires 1856.4.3 Aerosol product formulation effects 1866.4.4 Sprinkler protection guidelines 1886.5 Solid oxidizers 1886.6 Bulk storage 1916.6.1 General description 1916.6.2 Spontaneous ignition testing 1926.6.3 Spontaneous ignition theory 1926.6.4 Detection and suppression of bulk storage fires 196References 1987 Flammable liquid ignitability and extinguishability 2017.1 Incident data 2017.2 Ignitability temperatures 2027.2.1 Flash points and fire points 2027.2.2 Autoignition temperatures 2057.2.3 Time to reach fire point 2057.3 Electrostatic ignitability 209viii CONTENTS7.4 Pool and spill fire heat release rates 2157.4.1 Confined pool fires 2157.4.2 Unconfined spill fires 2177.5 Spray fires 2197.6 Water spray extinguishment 2227.6.1 High flash point liquids 2247.6.2 Water miscible liquids 2267.6.3 Low flashpoint liquids 2277.6.4 Spray fires 2287.7 Foam extinguishment 2307.7.1 Low Expansion Foam 2307.7.2 Medium and high expansion foam 2347.8 Dry chemical and twin agent extinguishment 2347.9 Carbon dioxide suppression 2367.10 Halon replacement suppression agents 237References 2388 Flammable liquid storage 2438.1 Storage tanks 2438.1.1 Generic tank designs 2438.1.2 Storage tank loss history and fire scenarios 2478.1.3 Tank burning rates and spacing criteria 2518.1.4 Tank emergency venting 2568.1.5 Tank fire suppression 2668.1.6 Portable tanks and intermediate bulk containers 2678.2 Drum storage 2688.2.1 Drum designs and storage modes 2688.2.2 Loss experience and fire scenarios 2708.2.3 Drum failure times and failure modes 2718.2.4 Fire suppression systems for drum storage 2768.3 Flammable liquids in small containers 2798.3.1 Container types 2798.3.2 Loss experience 2818.3.3 Container failure times and failure modes 2828.3.4 Sprinkler protection for flammable liquids in small containers 285References 2939 Electrical cables and equipment 2979.1 Electrical cables: generic description 2979.2 Cable fire incidents 3009.3 Cable flammability testing and classifications 3049.4 Vertical cable tray fire test data 3099.5 Horizontal cable tray fire test data 3119.6 Cable fire suppression tests 3149.6.1 Sprinkler and water spray suppression tests 3149.6.2 Gaseous suppression system tests 3169.7 Passive protection: coatings and wraps 3179.8 Protection guidelines and practices 3199.9 Electronic equipment flammability and vulnerability 3229.9.1 Electronic component flammability 3229.9.2 Electronic cabinet flammability 3239.9.3 Electronic equipment vulnerability 3249.9.4 Detection and suppression of electronic equipment fires 3269.10 Transformer fire protection 3279.10.1 Transformer generic description 3279.10.2 Transformer fire scenarios 3289.10.3 Transformer fire incidents 3299.10.4 Installation and fire protection guidelines 3329.10.5 Water spray protection of transformers 332References 334Appendix A: Flame Radiation Review 337A.1 Flame emissive power 337A.2 Flame height 341A.3 Configuration factor 342A.4 Atmospheric transmissivity 342A.5 Point source approximation 343References 346Appendix B: Historic industrial fires 347B.1 General Motors Livonia fire – August 12 1953 347B.2 McCormick Place fire – January 16 1967 350B.3 K MART fire – June 21 1982 351B.4 New York Telephone Exchange fire – February 27 1975 354B.5 Ford Cologne, Germany Warehouse fire – October 20 1977 358B.6 Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire, N.Y.C. – March 25 1911 361B.7 Hinsdale, Illinois Telephone Central Office Fire 363B.8 Sandoz Basel fire 369References 373Appendix C: Blast Waves 375C.1 Ideal blast waves 376C.2 Pressure vessel ruptures 378C.3 Vapor cloud explosions 379C.4 Vented gas and dust explosions 379References 380Index 381