Page 61 - Industrial Plant 2020

Natural Gas, protection

of tank relief valve vents with

extinguishing powder

Ai Group has been awarded the Elengy Fos Cavaou LNG
terminal’ s Fire Safety project located in southern France -
a good opportunity to understand and improve the
extinguishment laws, since the standards on some aspects of
LNG site protection are lacking

Philippe Bichon, R&D Project Manager
Francesco Dartizio, President
Gilles Roure, Technical Director,
Ai Group

ollowing an intense 10 years of
operation, the LNG tanks’ safety
elements at the Total Fos LNG Terminal
had to be rehabilitated. Ai GROUP, a
world renowned company with an
F advocated expertise in high industrial
risk’s fire protection with a strong focus onto the
energy segment encompassing oil& gas and LNG, was
appointed to carry out this refurbishment on the basis
of AI group’s dexterity and proven experiences in
implementing an adequate on-the-ground strategy
calling for the combination of fast, efficient results can
be used with agents not damaging high value capital.
May we take this present opportunity to introduce the
topic of Fire Protection at LNG plants.
LNG equipment is subject to strict construction codes.
These international standards, such as NFPA, EN and
API, allow the gas industry to build production,
liquefaction, transfer, loading/unloading and
regasification sites according to the rules of the trade.
Based upon these similar standards, fire protection of
such equipment is preferably done with extinguishing
powder and/or extinguishing foam (high expansion with potentially dramatic consequences. Thus, fire-
foam). fighting facilities are prescribed by international
standards (e.g. EN 1473, EN 14620-1, EN 1474, NFPA
59A, CSA Z276-07) either to extinguish the fire, limit its
Extinguishing powder for spread and protect both surrounding staff and
extinguishing LNG fires equipment from mainly thermal radiation. It is for this
unique requirement (rapid extinguishing of flames), the
Natural gas is, in its gaseous state, flammable. In the use of extinguishing powders is often recommended.
case of an LNG leak, in addition to the cryogenic risk, It should be noted that water is strongly discouraged
which is of relevant importance, a fire may break out for spreading LNG. Indeed, the application of water on

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