Introduction of the ISO 14001 to the disaster recovery – part 8/8.
Fire protection: how an environmental aware system works
In the case of fire in any of the A, B or C storage tanks, its fire detector sends an alarm signal to the pneumatically operated foam valve control unit. This valve opens without using any external auxiliary energy, upon the pressure of the foam stored in the T1 foam pressure vessel. The foam flows into the burning hydrocarbon tank. Inside the tank, a ring-shaped nozzle conveys the foam to the tank shell in a curtain-like manner, and so the foam promptly cools the shell and protects it from the effect of the heat transported by convection and radiation.
Flowing down, the foam reaches the floating roof and fills up the seal area to reach the upper level of the foam dam. Falling over the foam dam, it covers the whole surface of the floating roof. The process will be the same when the floating roof submerges for any reason. Now, flowing down, the foam reaches the liquid surface and there, taking a horizontal direction, closes in the middle of the surface of the burning liquid and thus puts out the fire.
Conclusion
We fulfilled the task aimed at solving the task of fire protection at an unmanned tank park without any water and energy supply.
Similar solutions can be used in a desert where keeping water ready for extinguishing tank fire is extremely costly.
In other areas where the traditional fire prevention solutions cannot be used because the object (e.g. the fuel depot of a military unit) is constantly on the move and the traditional fire fighting infrastructure is completely missing, the compacted foam technology is able to provide the appropriate level of safety.
There are no longer technical or technological obstacles to introducing environmental awareness in the work processes of disaster recovery. This is now only a matter of resolution to enact and comply with the relevant laws.
The Best Available Technique is at our hand.
