Fire Protection
Effective fire protection programs are essential to decreasing the likelihood of releases and preventing loss of life, property damage, environmental impact, and plant downtime. Implementing custom fire protection programs ensures adequate performance, business continuity, and compliance with standards. These programs are indispensable for a facility’s risk management.
For decades, AcuTech has offered guidance in conceptualizing, designing, and implementing fire protection programs. Its expertise stems from an in-depth understanding of process safety and risk management principles. A diverse range of global partners has benefited from AcuTech’s services in designing, surveying, and testing engineered fire control systems for chemical and petroleum plants.
Whether for government organizations or manufacturing companies, AcuTech can perform data analyses, fire and explosion investigations and damage assessments. Our consultants can identify and evaluate fire hazards and recommend measures to reduce fire risk through fuel load analyses, fire and explosion consequence modelling, and suppression and mitigation analyses. Our performance-based and up-to-code designs are built on expertise with firewater, foam, Halon, fire alarms, fire sprinklers, fire suppression and emergency lighting. Organizations gain access to recommendations to site design, improved performance, diminished risk all rooted in AcuTech’s deep knowledge of industrial standards, jurisdiction fire codes, process safety regulations and cross-industry best practices.
- Quantitative and qualitative fire hazard and risk assessments
- Fire and explosion consequence modeling
- Fire protection engineering for process areas, containment systems and buildings
- Facility siting studies
- Hazardous area classification studies
- Fire protection systems compliance assessment, specification, and design
- Emergency response planning
- Prescriptive and performance-based compliance evaluations
- Generation of standards and procedures, including inspection, testing, maintenance plans, operating procedures, pre-fire plans
- Development of fire re-plans and emergency response plans and procedures
- Training: fire detection and mitigation systems, fire re-plans and emergency response plans, hazardous material storage and life safety
AcuTech’s consultants are well versed in codes and standards developed by industry bodies and will refer to these as well as each client’s local jurisdiction codes and standards. A sampling of the relevant codes and standards can be found below.
- NFPA 1: Fire Code. Published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), NFPA 1 provides comprehensive requirements for fire prevention and fire protection in various types of occupancies, including industrial facilities.
- NFPA 30: Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code. NFPA 30 specifically addresses the storage, handling, and use of flammable and combustible liquids. This is crucial for industries dealing with such substances.
- NFPA 68: Standard on Explosion Protection by Deflagration Venting. NFPA 68 focuses on the design and installation of devices and systems used to prevent the overpressure resulting from deflagration within enclosures.
- NFPA 69: Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems. NFPA 69 provides guidelines for the selection, design, installation, maintenance, and testing of systems that prevent deflagrations within enclosures.
- NFPA 70: National Electrical Code (NEC). While not specific to the process industries, the NEC contains important electrical safety requirements that are applicable to industrial facilities.
- NFPA 497: Recommended Practice for the Classification of Flammable Liquids, Gases, or Vapors and of Hazardous (Classified) Locations for Electrical Installations in Chemical Process Areas. NFPA 497 provides guidance on the classification of hazardous areas where flammable gases, vapors, or liquids may be present.
- NFPA 654: Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids. This standard addresses the prevention of fires and dust explosions in industries where combustible particulate solids are present.
- NFPA 72: National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code. NFPA 72 provides requirements for the installation, performance, and maintenance of fire alarm and signaling systems.
- API RP 2001: Fire Protection in Refineries. Published by the American Petroleum Institute (API), this recommended practice provides guidance on fire protection for refineries.