Firefighting Equipment for Oil Tanker

Oil fires are actually combustion of gases volatilized from oil. The extinguishing agents, fire-fighting apparatus and fixed fire-fighting systems used on oil tanker must be tailored to the characteristics of oil tanker fires.

Extinguishing agents are divided into cooling (water), asphyxiating (foam, carbon dioxide) and suppressing (chemical dry powder and halogenated agents).

Foam is an effective extinguishing agent for most liquid petroleum fires. Foam should be sprayed from vertical surfaces or upwind in the fire scene in order to achieve the best extinguishing effect. For a limited range of volatile oil fires, chemical dry powders or halogenated agents can be used, and sometimes even water mist or water spray can be used. For the fire at the beginning of the non-volatile oil fire, you can directly use the water mist or water spray evaporation heat absorption cooling effect to extinguish the fire. Fire for a longer period of time, a large number of oil heating, evaporation accelerated, combustion is intense, relying solely on water not only can not produce effective cooling, water evaporation but exacerbated the disturbance of the oil and the spread of the fire.

In case of fuel tank fire，the most appropriate use of fire extinguishing agents with asphyxiating effect: foam, carbon dioxide. Oil tanker fires are also suitable for the use of suppression-type extinguishing agents: chemical dry powder and halogenated agents.

The SOLAS 1974 Convention on Fire Protection, Fire Detection and Fire Fighting contains detailed and specific requirements for fire protection on oil tankers. Further requirements are made for fire-fighting separation, fire-fighting structure, ventilation, protection of liquid cargo tanks, fixed deck foam system and inert gas system for liquid cargo ships, including oil tankers. According to the relevant provisions of the SOLAS 1974 Convention, the fire-fighting equipment of oil tankers is divided into.

Cooled Stationary Firefighting Equipment

All oil tanker should be equipped with a fire-fighting water system, including fire pumps, fire mains with hydrants, fire hoses with couplers and nozzles (preferably dual-purpose nozzles for water column/splash or water column/mist). The hydrants on the oil tanker should be arranged in such a way that two fire hose jets can reach any part of the ship. Fixed spray lines and nozzles should also be provided at certain bulkheads. Oil tanker should also be equipped with international standard through-shore fire connections to enable an external fire water supply to enter the ship through any of the hydrants on the ship's fire main.

Asphyxiating Fixed Fire Fighting Equipment

Asphyxiating fixed firefighting equipment includes carbon dioxide fire extinguishing systems, foam fire extinguishing systems, water mist systems, and water curtain systems.

Carbon dioxide fire extinguishing system is mainly used to extinguish fires in engine room, boiler room and pump room, which is composed of carbon dioxide large cylinder set, carbon dioxide gas pipeline and nozzle. The installation position of the nozzle should be correct, and the alarm device should be activated before the carbon dioxide is sprayed, so that the personnel can be evacuated in time.

The foam extinguishing system is mainly used to extinguish fires in cargo oil tanks, cargo oil tank decks, engine rooms and pump rooms. The foam system is equipped with foam concentrate storage tanks, distributors and connected to the fire-fighting hose system. Foam concentrate is mixed with fire fighting water in a certain proportion and then transported to the nozzle through a fixed foam pipeline.

The water mist fire extinguishing system consists of a high pressure water hose and water mist nozzles. The nozzles are mounted around the inside of the tank openings to effectively cover the flames at the tank openings. Sometimes water mist systems are also used to protect boiler rooms, engine rooms and pump rooms.

The water curtain system is a fixed device used to form a protective water curtain between the cargo tank deck and the superstructure of the oil tanker. Its function is not to extinguish the fire but to isolate it from the heat and protect the superstructure facilities and personnel.

Although the fixed inert gas system on the oil tanker is not fire-fighting equipment, it still has certain fire-fighting function. The steam asphyxiation system on old oil tanker is no longer advocated because of its low fire-fighting efficiency and electrostatic hazards.

Conclude

In addition to the fixed fire-fighting equipment required, oil tanker should be equipped with: portable and boat (mobile) fire extinguishers containing an extinguishing agent suitable for the type of fire on board the oil tanker. The oldest but still effective firefighting sand. Certain special fire and explosion protection facilities, notably flame arrestors and breathing valves, fire suits and firefighting equipment.