Project Overview
iFluids Engineering conducted an in-depth Fire and Gas (F&G) 3D Mapping Study for Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) at its Devanagonthi Marketing Terminal. The study aimed to optimize gas detection coverage, ensuring enhanced safety and compliance with industry standards.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited operates a marketing terminal at Devangonthi. This terminal consists of tanks holding different products such as MS, HSD, ATF, Ethanol, and Biodiesel. The marketing terminal receives products through Pipelines from PMHBL and tank trucks and dispatches them to a Tanker truck stationed in Bays.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited has planned to review Hydrocarbon Vapor detection for Class A Product Tank farms and handling areas in the Marketing terminal at Devangonthi, Bangalore. This terminal consists of Tank farms, pumps, and associated pipelines.
Yokogawa India Limited awarded iFluids Engineering to carry out a Fire and Gas Mapping Study for the Marketing terminal project of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited at Devangonthi, Bangalore. This document describes the methodology and study results of the Fire and Gas Mapping Study conducted at the Marketing terminal of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited at Devangonthi, Bangalore.
FACILITY DESCRIPTION:
Marketing Terminal has the following facilities,
MS Tank (3 No’s) | Ethanol Tank (2 No’s) | HSD Tank (3 No’s) | ATF Tank (3 No’s) | Biodiesel Tank (2 No’s) | MS Underground Tank | Slope Tank | Pump House | Gantry Area
In addition to the above-mentioned equipment, a Bulk Air Eliminator of (MS, Ethanol, ATF), a Vapor Recovery Unit, a Fire water system, an Instrument Air system, and Chemical dosing systems were available at the Terminal.
The scope of work includes the following activities for the Fire and Gas Mapping study of the Marketing terminal. The Fire and Gas Mapping Study covers Class A Petroleum Liquid handling facilities in the Marketing terminal that have flash Points below 23°C. The F&G Study suggests the location, type, and number of detectors that need to be installed across various areas.
Objectives of the Study
- Enhance Safety Measures: Ensure optimal fire and gas detection placement.
- Regulatory Compliance: Align with industry safety standards and guidelines.
- Risk Assessment: Identify potential hazards and propose mitigation strategies.
- Improved Detection Efficiency: Minimize false alarms while maximizing real threat detection.
The objectives of the F&G Mapping study for the Marketing terminal are:
- Identifying all potential hazards that lead to the release or ignition of flammable gas
- Proposing new fire and gas detection arrangements.
Although a plant free of gas releases and fires is the goal in designing and managing refineries, storage, and handling facilities, the risk of a release or fire is never zero. Few areas of the plant have greater risk than others. The item confined, the environment in which it is contained, and the containment tools and procedures used all have an impact on the risk.
Early detection and mitigating measures can lower the risk of flammable or poisonous gas discharges or fires. The process operators frequently provide effective detection and response to a release or fire in the course of their regular duties. However, occasionally the event’s nature necessitates a quicker notice and response than the operator is capable of providing. Additionally, the increased use of remote monitoring and automation can reduce the time an Operator spends on a unit, possibly increasing the time to detect a leak. An instrumented monitoring system can be employed when more rapid detection is required than the process operator can deliver.
Installations are equipped with fire and gas detection systems so that the possibility of inadvertent poisonous and flammable gas releases or ignition sources, which could endanger the installation or its occupants, can be identified in advance.
By lessening the severity of the release, toxic gas, flammable gas, and fire detectors can lower the risk of a release. Severity is reduced as a result of a faster response. The response may be carried out through the operator or an automated response. Automated reactions include systems for stopping and/or isolating machinery as well as automated systems for foam, water spray, or deluge.
To assist in deciding how many gas and flame detectors to install, the F & G research was conducted.
The below-mentioned steps give a brief description of the approach followed in the Fire and Gas Mapping Study.
The Methodology to undertake the F&G Mapping study includes the following steps:
- Demonstrate adequate F&G detection coverage for facilities under project scope.
- Prepare an optimized F&G layout.
- Prepare an F&G Mapping report which includes detector coordinates, detector coverage, alarm settings, and voting logic.
To detect 3D modeling, a hybrid strategy was used, in which detectors were positioned on both scenario-based and geographic approaches. The benefit of this strategy is that it will require far fewer detectors while producing superior coverage outcomes. The scenario-based approach is to place detectors at all LOC scenarios and Geographic Approach is to geographically place detectors to cover the nearby surrounding area. The number of detectors in this study was minimized based on geographic location, meaning that for close equipment, common detectors were installed without compromising the performance coverage objective of the desired equipment. In this study, the detectors were positioned near the LOC situations of the equipment.
Key Findings and Recommendations
- Enhanced Gas Detector Placement: Adjusted locations for increased detection efficiency.
- Reduction in False Alarms: Optimized sensor sensitivity settings.
- Regulatory Compliance: Ensured adherence to NFPA, OISD, and IEC standards.
- Improved Safety Protocols: Implemented strategies to reduce risks in hazardous zones.
Why Choose iFluids Engineering?
iFluids Engineering specializes in advanced safety studies, including Fire & Gas Mapping, HAZOP, QRA, and CFD modeling. Our expertise ensures accurate analysis and actionable safety improvements for industrial facilities.