Fire is the worst thing that can happen to an oil & natural gas collection site. All the time, effort and resources dedicated to a well pad can literally go up in smoke in minutes.
When ever fire occures due to any reason, the first responders had to fall back and allow the flames to die down before they could mount a successful firefighting effort. Clearly, site personnel were not able to fight the fire themselves. Even if they could have maneuvered into position quickly enough, which is questionable, they would not have had enough firefighting agent on hand with only handheld portable extinguishers at their disposal. (Once the fire became established, tankers filled with water from a nearby river had to be brought to the site in support.) But even if they had the resources, the dangerous nature of a congested fracking spread makes it inadvisable for anyone other than a trained, professional fire fighter to make the attempt. Fortunately, the wells themselves were not involved in this instance. Had they been, the entire situation likely would have been far worse, as other thermal events over the years have shown. Even so, with just the surface equipment involved, eight regional fire departments were needed to fight the conflagration.
Within the oil and gas industry, fire suppression on offshore rigs is known to be serious business. But this attitude towards land-based mobile equipment, despite all the known risks, for some reason has yet to be widely adopted. However, there is a growing sense across the industry that this is about to change as OEM’s and end users alike are engaging in conversations about the value of vehicle fire suppression systems. Incidents like the one referenced above are understandably accelerating the process.
Our range of electrical installation services includes the following components
* Consultancy * Strategic planning/project planning/project management * Delivery * Construction (assembly)
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Simply stated, firefighting foam is a stable mass of small, air-filled bubbles with a lower density than oil, gasoline, or water. Foam is made up of three ingredients: water, a foam concentrate, and air. Water is mixed with a foam concentrate (proportioned) to form a foam solution. This solution is then mixed with air (aspirated) to produce a foam which readily flows over fuel surfaces. • Foam blankets the fuel surface, smothering the fire and separating the flames from the fuel surface.• The water content of the foam cools the fuel. • The foam blanket suppresses the release of flammable vapors that can mix with air. Types of foam agents : Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF), Alcohol-Resistant Concentrates (ARC), Protein Foam Concentrates, Fluoroprotein Foam Concentrates, and High Expansion Foam Concentrates Types of proportioning systems are : bladder tanks, pump skids and In-line balanced pressure systems. Types of discharge devices include : Foam Monitors : Foam monitors are designed to control the horizontal and vertical directions of large capacity discharge streams. Water-oscillating monitors will automatically move side-to-side using water pressure as the energy source. Remote controlled monitors use an electric joystick tied into a hydraulic system. Other monitors are operated manually using a tiller bar to control direction and elevation. Various aspirating and non-aspirating nozzles are also available for use with monitors and/or handlines. Sprinkler Heads: Sprinkler heads are available from various manufacturers in both non -aspirated and aspirated versions. Non-aspirated heads with AFFF agents are more economical and can be used in either open deluge or closed- head sprinkler systems. Aspirated sprinkler heads are required for protein and fluoroprotein foams in deluge systems. Foam Generators : Foam generators deliver large quantities of foam by expanding foam solution in the range of 200:1 to 1000:1. The high- expansion generator operates by coating its screen with high-expansion foam solution while air is blown through the screen to produce expanded foam. Because of its high expansion ratio, little water is required to generate large quantities of foam thereby reducing the potential for hazardous run-off or water damage. Jet- X foam® generators are water-powered and require no other sources of power. |
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A Water Mist system is a means of fire protection utilizing a very fine water spray. Water is an outstanding physically- acting agent as a result of its exceptionally high heat absorbing capacity and latent heat of vaporizaion. Water Mist works to quench fire and hold damage to a minimum. It is a clean agent suitable or a range of sensitive applications and where people are involved.
The Chemetron Water Mist system is designed to extinguish fires in various hazards using a limited quantity of water, as compared to standard sprinkler systems. The water is discharged through specifically engineered nozzles that create a very fine droplet size.
Water Mist achieves fire extinguishment through a number of processes
• Flame quenching by cooling of burning materials and potential fuel sources to below auto-ignition temperatures.
• Inerting as a result of vapor production, which excludes oxygen from the flame front. This generation of vapor dilutes the oxygen percentage in the air and combats the fire.
• Blocking radiative heat between the fire and adjoining combustibles, thus slowing down propagation of the fire.
Water Mist technology also has the potential to dilute flammable vapors with water vapor, making the mixture too lean to burn.
