12 minute read
Critical point
As well as examining different types of industrial pumps and outlining technology developments and trends, Robert Avsec makes some recommendations for selecting the right solution.
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Larger facilities, decreasing fire-related funding, and more remote locations for new industrial plants are just some of the factors that are increasing the levels of fire risk and piling the pressure on fire pumps to fulfil their role at the critical time.
Between 2011 and 2015, municipal fire departments in the US responded to an estimated average of 37,910 fires at industrial or manufacturing properties each year, with annual losses from these fires estimated at 16 civilian deaths, 273 civilian injuries, and US$1.2 billion in direct property damage[1].
And those are just the numbers that are reported by the municipal fire departments that regularly report fire incident data to the US Fire Administration using the National Fire Incident Reporting System. Currently, only about 60% of fire departments (career and volunteer) in the US submit that data to the USFA.
Event
Number of Incidents
Deaths
Insured Loss ($ millions)
Major fires, explosions
45
477
$5,439
Oil, gas
15
36
3,056
Industry, warehouses
14
73
1,845
Other buildings
11
308
382
Other fire, explosions
3
22
81
Department stores
2
38
76
Table 1. Source: Insurance Information Institute. Facts + Statistics: Global catastrophes. Man-Made Disasters, 2017
Top world property damage losses for land-based hydrocarbon operations (US$ millions)
Rank
Date
Rank
Date
Plant Type
Plant Type
Event Type
Event Type
Location
Location
Country
Property
Country
Property
Loss (1)
Loss (1)
2
2
Oct. 23,1989
Oct. 23,1989
Petrochem
Petrochem
Vapour cloud explosion
Vapour cloud explosion
Pasadena, Texas
Pasadena, Texas
U.S.
U.S.
1,400
1,400
3
3
Jan. 19, 2004
Jan. 19, 2004
Gas processing
Gas processing
Explosion/fire
Explosion/fire
Skikda
Skikda
Algeria
Algeria
940
940
6
6
Jun. 25, 2000
Jun. 25, 2000
Refinery
Refinery
Explosion/fire
Explosion/fire
Mina Al-Ahmadi
Mina Al-Ahmadi
Kuwait
Kuwait
820
820
8
8
Sep.
Sep.
25, 25,
1998 1998
Gas
Gas processing processing
Explosion
Explosion
Longford,
Longford, Victoria
Victoria
Australia
Australia
750
750
10
10
Sep.
Sep.
21,
21, 2001 2001
Petrochemical
Petrochemical
Explosion
Explosion
Toulouse
Toulouse
France
France
680
680
11
11
May
May
4,
4, 1988 1988
Petrochemical
Petrochemical
Explosion
Explosion
Henderson,
Henderson, Nevada Nevada
U.S.
U.S.
640
640
12
12
May
May 5, 5, 1988 1988
Refinery
Refinery
Vapour cloud cloud explosion explosion
Norco,
Norco, Louisiana Louisiana
U.S.
U.S.
610
610
13
13
Mar.
Mar. 11, 11, 2011 2011
Refinery
Earthquake (2) (2)
Sendai
Sendai
Japan
Japan
600
600
15
15
Sep. Sep. 12, 12, 2008
Refinery
Hurricane
Texas
U.S.
U.S.
550
550
16
16
Jun. 13, 13, 2013
Petrochemical
Explosion/fire
Geismar, Louisiana
U.S.
U.S.
510
510
17
17
Apr. 2, 2, 2013
Refinery
Flooding/fire
La
La Plata, Ensenada
Argentina
500
500 (3) (3)
18
18
Dec. 25, 1997
Gas processing
Explosion/fire
Bintulu, Sarawak
Malaysia
490
490
19
19
Jul. 27, 2005
Upstream
Collision/fire
Mumbai High North
Field
India
480
480
20 Nov. 14, 1987 Petrochemical Vapour cloud explosion Pampa, Texas USA 480 480
Table 2. Source: Insurance Information Institute. Facts + Statistics: Global catastrophes. 1) Inflated to to December 2013 values; (2) (2) Loss to to refinery following the Tohuku earthquake; and (3) Preliminary estimate.
In 2017, there were a reported 45 incidents of major fires and/or explosions in the commercial and industrial sectors worldwide. As shown in Table 1 below, those 45 incidents alone accounted for US$5.4 trillion worth of insured loss in 2017. Table 2 shows data derived from a listing of the top 20 world property damage losses in the hydrocarbon industry, which includes property damage, debris removal and clean-up costs. The extracted data represents damage losses for land-based hydrocarbon operations only (eg refineries or petrochemical manufacturing facilities).
Increasing levels of risk There is an increasing level of fire protection risk in the commercial and industrial sectors brought on by a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the following:
• Larger occupancies to protect.
• Facilities that are more spread out.
• Aging on-site water distribution systems.
• Aging municipal water-distribution systems supplying facilities.
• New manufacturing processes with fire hazards that ‘out pace’ existing on-site fire protection water supplies and delivery systems.
For facility managers and safety managers, this increased level of risk is exacerbated by several factors, such as:
• Decreased funding for routine and preventative maintenance on operational processes. Lack of maintenance is frequently cited in post-action reports following a commercial or industrial fire as a significant contributing factor to the damage loss.
• Decreased funding for routine and preventative maintenance and appropriate upgrades to existing fire protection systems.
• Decreased funding for fire apparatus and associated water-pumping capacity to keep pace with the potential fire risk (eg not enough available litres per minute to overcome the potential BTUs).
• Decreased funding for on-site emergency response personnel. Fewer emergency response personnel means that the available fire apparatus and pumps must be able to deliver the required fire flows with fewer people.
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Rise to Usable Hose Length (meters)
Impellor L/min
35kPa available at at end of of hose Fireground
pumps
Darley's Ultra High Pressure High- Volume pump provides 30 lpm at 8,300kPa.
Furthermore, newer facilities are being built in more remote locations as a result of environmental protection laws and regulations; availability of developable land; and opposition from NIMBY (not in my backyard) citizen groups. In many cases, this also means that the available fire protection resources from ‘outside the fence’ are coming from small career-staffed or volunteer-staffed fire departments whose personnel are unfamiliar with fire suppression operations on commercial or industrial facilities. And who likely lack the fire apparatus and pumping capacity to address fire of the scope and magnitude found on commercial or industrial facilities.
Water flow requirements
When developing the specifications for a fire protection pump, it is important to start by determining the most common water-flow requirements necessary to provide fire suppression services for the facility to be protected. Ask yourself questions such as these to get a good understanding of what the pump needs to be capable of doing.
• How good is the available water supply? Is it necessary to pump water through long supply lines because of hydrant spacing? Does your facility depend upon drafting from static water sources?
• What kinds of fire flows are required for the occupancies, processes, and storage on your facility?
• Is your facility urban, suburban, or rural?
• How many lines and what water flow do you expect to operate from your fire apparatus?
• What is the available staffing for those hose lines? What is your level of dependence upon outside mutual-aid?
Pumps for fire fighting
Pump manufacturers have responded to the fire apparatus pump needs of both municipal and industrial fire protection organisations with an array of new products, such as:
• power take-off-driven pumps with higher flow rates than previous generation models;
• centrifugal pumps with newer engineering, casting designs, attachments, and light-weight materials that have ‘slimmed-down’ popular pump models so that they fit in smaller spaces; and
• ultra-high-pressure pumps that make more effective use of available water supplies and provide an effective fire stream for fires (eg turbine engine fires) where banned fire suppression agents such as Halon were the former suppression agent of choice.
Centrifugal pumps
Centrifugal pumps – both single-stage and multiple-stage – have long been a popular pump option for fire protection, both when incorporated into motorised fire apparatus and when used in conjunction with a fixed fire protection system such as a fire sprinkler system.
Pump manufacturers continue to push the upper limits of pumping capability for centrifugal pumps through better designs and engineering and materials.
US Fire Pumps touts its High Velocity Pump as the largest engine-driven NFPA 1901-compliant fire pump in the world. The HVP meets NFPA 1901 performance requirements for fire flows up to 23,660 lpm and can take advantage of larger diesel industrial engines up to 700hp. Given enough engine power and a pressurised water system, the HVP’s performance will exceed 37,855 lpm.
Other manufacturers producing centrifugal pumps – for fire apparatus mounting or use in a fixed facility – that can pump more than 11,356 lpm include:
• Rosenbauer’s Industrial Pumper, which uses a mid-shipmounted pump that is capable of delivering 17,304 lpm.
• Darley’s model 2ZSM 6000 mid-ship pump that delivers 22,710 lpm at 689kPa.
• The Waterous Cru-2 High Flow series pump that delivers a fire flow ranging from 15,000 lpm at 690kPa to 25,000 lpm at 690kPa.
PTO-driven pumps
PTO-driven pumps, with their pump-and-roll capability, are not just for wildland fire-fighting apparatus anymore. Several manufacturers, including Pierce and Rosenbauer, are selling apparatus with PTO-driven pumps rated up to 5,678 lpm. PTO-driven pumps offer several significant advantages:
• The cost of the pump is about 50% less than a mid-shipmounted centrifugal pump.
• The manifolding on these large PTO-driven pumps is quite simple and custom designed, enabling manufacturers to prefabricate custom suction and discharge manifolds that meet the customer's needs.
• The pump can be tucked underneath the cab or located immediately behind the cab, using often-wasted space.
• PTO-driven pumps make for compact pump modules, and there may not be a need for a pump module at all, freeing up compartment space in the vehicle.
• They have easier operations because the apparatus operator engages the pump by simply pushing a button in the cab, regardless of whether the truck is in drive, neutral, or park.
These savings in weight and space dedicated solely to the pump and manifold can be a huge advantage for fire departments when considering the need for a pumper and a rescue truck – one vehicle for all emergency needs. The pump-and-roll capability of a PTO-driven pump increases the fire-fighting capability of the apparatus, particularly during wildland interface operations to protect structures.
Ultra-high-pressure pumps A conventional low-pressure fire apparatus pump delivers between 75 lpm and 7,600 lpm at discharge pressures that
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The typical configuration of a hydraulic fire pump that would be installed on a fire apparatus with a PTO drive.
The Darley 2ZSM 6000 mid-ship pump.
range from 830kPa to 2,100kPa. NFPA 1901: Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus (Chapter 28) defines ultra-highpressure pumps as those that have a minimum rated capacity of 25 lpm and a rated discharge pressure greater than or equal 7,600kPa.
UHPs produce incredibly small water droplets with ten times the surface area of water droplets in fire streams produced by conventional low-pressure fire pumps, allowing at least five times less water to be used. With a UHP system, at least 90% of the water either arrives at the burning fuel or converts to steam, which not only takes energy out of a fire but also displaces the oxygen the fire needs to continue burning.
The Ultra High Pressure-High Volume from Darley provides a fire stream of 30 lpm at 8,300kPa. HMA Fire’s Hydrus UHP delivers a fire stream of 76 lpm at 9,652kPa through a 19mm hose.
When the US Air Force, along with the other US military services, was looking for an extinguishing agent to replace Halon in its aircraft rescue fire-fighting operations it turned to UHP technology.
In fire suppression tests at the USAF’s Tyndall Air Force Base, UHPs were used to suppress pool fires of JP-8 jet aircraft fuel in a 325m 2 (3,500ft 2 ) test pit with a 1,438-litre (380-gallon) capacity. The best result for a low-pressure pump (360 lpm at 862kPa using 45mm hose) extinguished 90% of the test fire in 59 seconds using 360 litres of water. In contrast, the UHP (76 lpm at 8,275kPa using a 19mm hose) extinguished 100% of the test fire in 31.5 seconds while using only 52 litres of water.
Hydraulic pumps Hydraulic power has been used in industrial applications to power generators, pumps, winches and cranes for years. This experience with hydraulic power demonstrates that a relatively small hydraulic pump – powered by either an electric motor or internal combustion engine – can create a tremendous amount of pressure, pressure that can do incredible work.
Harrison Hydra Gen, a major manufacturer of hydraulicallypowered equipment for utilities and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) has brought that experience to the OEMs of fire and emergency services apparatus, helping them to build IHT technology into their products.
Any of these names look familiar?
• Waterous Water Pumps: Model CPK2-IHT – 1.62 ratio; 18cc hydraulic motor (HM); 5,350rpm impeller speed; 3,300rpm hydraulic motor speed delivering 600 lpm.
• Hale Water Pumps: Model HPX200 – 2.56 ratio; 12cc HM; 7,200rpm impeller speed; 2,816rpm HM speed delivering 600 lpm.
• Darley Water Pumps: Model 1.5 AGH – 2.70 ratio; 12cc HM; 6,920rpm impeller speed; 2,560rpm HM speed delivering 600 lpm.
Hydraulic submersible pump For emergency fire water supply and for dewatering from natural disasters, hydraulic-driven, submersible-pump (HSP) systems provide a solution for getting pressurised water from static sources. Using an HSP, personnel can access any open water source at distances (horizontal or vertical) approaching 60.96m.
Once that water supply has been established, a single HSP can deliver 3,000 lpm over 3,000m in a relatively short period of time using only a few personnel. No vacuum priming is required, improving reliability, minimising set up time, and freeing up available staffing for more important tasks.
HSPs come in a variety of sizes and configurations that can meet any fire department or industrial facility’s water supply needs and can be mounted in a heavy-duty pick-up truck or on a trailer. Larger units are typically containerised. The table below shows the fire flow capability and practical hose lengths associated with a mid-range HSP.
Rise to Fireground
7.6m
ImpellorStandard
Usable Hose Length (meters)
L/min
35kPa available at end of hose
101mm
127mm
152mm
2,650L/min
823
1,707
4,420
4,164L/min
183
396
1,036
3,785L/min
305
640
1,676
Hi-Flow
7,950L/min Not Practical Not Practical 61 Figure 2. Representative flow capacity and hose lay lengths for the Standard and Hi-Flow impellor options for the Model HydroSub 150
Representative flow capacity and hose lay lengths for the Standard and Hi-Flow impellor options for the Model HydroSub 150 from Haines Fire Protection.
hydraulic-driven, submersible-pump systems can be used in multiple configurations to create water supply systems capable of delivering from 37,854 lpm to 75,708 lpm. When used with 254mm or 305mm hose, these configurations of multiple HSPs can be used to de-water areas that have been flooded due to natural weather events (eg hurricanes or severe thunderstorms) or man-made events (eg water-main break or dam failure).
Selecting a fire pump for a fixed facility When there is an inadequate water supply to support a fixed fire protection system, such as a fire sprinkler system, a fire pump is required to supply the flow and pressure demands to such a system. The need for a fire pump should be decided early – ideally as a project scope is being developed.
In a 2017 blog posting on the Consulting Specifying Engineer website, fire protection engineer Robert Kranz outlined a process to determine if a fire pump is needed and explained how to select a fire pump that meets the required to select a pump rated at the flow demand; this would result in an oversized pump.
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For example, let’s say that a fire protection system requires a flow of 1,117 lpm. For this example, a 757 lpm fire pump can technically supply that flow (757 lpm x 150% = 1,136 lpm). The design point is just under 150% of its rated curve. Typically, using a design point between 115% and 135% of rated flow is preferred. In this example, a 946 lpm pump should be selected. Designing too close to the 150% curve may be problematic, with unseen issues or alterations over the life of the system. Specific pump curves should be analysed for peak efficiency [4].
pressure and flow. The process that Kranz provided for determining if a fire pump is necessary for a fire protection system [3] is outlined below.
References
1. Campbell, R. Fire in Industrial or Manufacturing Properties. NFPA Report. April 2018. Quincy, MA. Retrieved From: https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/ Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics/Occupancies/osIndustrial.pdf
2. Insurance Information Institute. Facts + Statistics: Global catastrophes. Retrieved From: https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-globalcatastrophes
3. Kranz, R. Selecting a fire pump. Consulting Specifying Engineer. April 27, 2017. Retrieved From: https://www.csemag.com/single-article/selecting-afire-pump.html
4. Ibid.
The Hale HPX 2000 diesel version is powered by a Kubota 24hp engine.
The Hale HPX 2000 is powered by a Briggs & Stratton 18hp petrol engine.
How to select a fire pump. (Source: Kranz, R. Selecting a fire pump. Consulting Specifying Engineer)
How to determine if a fire pump is needed for a fixed facility application. (Source: Kranz, R. Consulting Specifying Engineer)
Fire pumps should be selected based on their rated flow and pressure capacity. Fire pumps are required to operate at 150% of their rated flow capacity. Therefore, it is not required
About the Author
Battalion Chief Robert Avsec (Ret.) served with the Chesterfield (Va.) Fire and EMS
Department for 26 years. He was an instructor for fire, EMS, and hazardous materials courses at the local, state, and federal levels, which included more than 10 years with the National Fire Academy. Chief Avsec earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and his master’s degree in executive fire service leadership from Grand Canyon University. He is a 2001 graduate of the National Fire
Academy's EFO Program. In his second career, Chief Avsec has worked as a freelance writer for more than six years and has contributed to a number of digital and print publications including FireRescue1.com, EMS1.com, Action Training Systems, and now Industrial Fire Journal.
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