Industrial fire and explosion hazards due to accidents in fuel storage units have gained a
considerable attention in the recent times. Both the regulatory bodies and scientific communities
are heavily concerned about the proper safety measures to avoid such calamities in future. This
paper aims to bring some essentials related to the hazards arose from the recent fuel storage fire
accident occurred in Buncefield, UK (2005), Puerto Rico, USA (2009) and Sitapura, India (2009).
The potential similarities behind occurrence of these accidents are studied. The applicability of
various methods (models) and also computer simulations to estimate the safety distances
according to the international standards for both explosion and fire hazard are verified. The
overpressures caused by the Vapor Cloud Explosion (VCE) and radiation flux emitted by the fire
are considered for respective explosion and fire hazard estimations. The prime focus is placed
on the regulations laid down by the National Fire Protection Agency of the United States and
the European Norms.
Industrial fire and explosion hazards due to accidents in fuel storage units have gained a considerable attention in recent years. Both, the regulatory bodies and scientific communities are heavily concerned about the proper safety measures to avoid such calamities in the future. This paper aims to bring some essentials related to the hazards that arose from recent fuel storage fire accidents occurring in Buncefield, UK (2005), Puerto Rico, USA (2009) and Sitapura, India (2009). The potential similarities behind occurrence of these accidents are studied. The applicability of various methods (models) and also computer simulations to estimate the safety distances according to the international standards for both explosion and fire hazard are verified. The overpressures caused by the Vapor Cloud Explosions (VCE) and radiation fluxes emitted by the fires are considered for respective explosion and fire hazard estimations. The prime focus is placed on the regulations laid down by the National Fire Protection Agency of the United States and the European Norms.
Fire and explosion hazards associated with storage and transportation of flammable materials have been a matter of great interest in the recent times. BLEVE is a scenario that occurs when a closed fuel container is subjected to heat for a longer duration. Such events are disastrous to human beings and assets both. In the past there have been numerous studies on BLEVEs and fireballs of hydrocarbon fuels, e.g. kerosene, gasoline, LPG, LNG and others. Though, the fireballs of peroxy-fuels are not looked into detail as such. This article tries to overcome this lack of knowledge. Both, experimental investigation and CFD simulations are performed to measure and predict the fireball characteristics of a peroxy-fuel. Due to thermal decomposition in the liquid phase and active oxygen content a peroxy-fuel fireball burns at a very fast rate and emit higher thermal radiation whereas exhibits smaller diameter and elevation compared to hydrocarbons. That eventually leads to consideration of larger safety distances from them which are also verified by CFD results.