Standards for passive fire protection have been imposed on the offshore industry to ensure that there is sufficient time to evacuate personnel in the event of accidental fire or oil or gas leak. This protection must now perform in extreme environments where jet fire temperatures can reach 1,350°c. In the case of fire-resistant insulation jacketing, the international standards ISO 22899-1 and OTI 95634 require that the temperature within the insulation is kept below 200°c for two hours.
Watch the film telling the story of our Jet Fire jacket
Advances in materials technology play a major part in meeting standards, as Paul Stonebanks, MD of Advanced Industrial Solutions, explained to SAS. The company has spent two years developing and designing its Jet Fire Pro flexible fire resistant insulation jacket to meet the standards and has received type approval from Lloyds Register following independent testing at GL Noble Denton’s Spadeadam test facility in Cumbria, UK.
“We have engineered a one-layer system that is only 59mm thick, making it quick to install and streamlining future maintenance inspections. It actually incorporates 13 layers of specialist fire-resistant material in an interlocking design and has an operating capability of -60°c to 1,350°c. At the end of the two hour jet fire test, the temperature of the pipe within the insulation had reached 112°c”, Stonebanks said.
The Jacket will be used to protect emergency shutdown valves, actuators and associated equipment from jet and hydrocarbon fires, thereby ensuring that they do not fail and that workers have time to escape.
Paul pointed out that the new jacket also performs another safety-critical function by protecting against corrosion cause by ingress of water.
The thinness of the jacket simplifies removal for inspection and replacement and it has been engineered to control moisture. “The outside material is fundamentally sacrificial in the event of a jet fire, although our specifically designed weather pro material offers weather protection, “said Paul. “The inside of the jacket has layers constructed of a hydrophobic material to protect against the unlikely penetration of water. The underside has been designed using an open-poured material to soak up any water that may creep up between the pipe and the insulation, “This water is dispersed through the ventilation system" he added.
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