Will you use foam monitor located at ground level

to extinguish floating roof tank rim seal fire?

Click your answer

Ground foam monitors

Yes

No

Rim seal fire

HSE Department Corporate Office

Will you use foam monitor located at ground level

to extinguish floating roof tank rim seal fire?

Correct answer : No
Would you like to know:
Consequences of wrong answer
Why not use ground foam monitor

Read the presentation carefully.

HSE Department Corporate Office

What can be the consequences of wrong answer

Rim seal fire

Rim seal fire

A rim seal fire is one where the seal between the tank shell and
roof has lost integrity and there is ignited vapour in the seal area..

Full surface fire

Full surface fire

A full surface fire is one where the entire surface of
liquid in the tank is exposed and involved in the fire

Rim seal fire will be converted to full surface fire

Intensity of fire will increase (50-100 times more)
HSE Department Corporate Office

Will you use foam monitor located at ground level

to extinguish floating roof tank rim seal fire?

Basis of Presentation
NFPA 11 (2005)
Standard for Low, Medium and High Expansion Foam
Published by National Fire Protection Association, USA
API 2021 (June 2006)
Management of Atmospheric Storage Tank Fires
Published by American Petroleum Institute, USA

What do internationally recognised standards say?

(About Monitor Use for floating roof tank rim seal fire)
HSE Department Corporate Office

Foam monitor - limitation

Full surface fire
Use ground foam monitors, if provided,
to extinguish full surface fire

Rim seal fire

Never use ground foam monitor to
attempt rim seal fire extinguishment

Never use ground foam monitors to attempt rim seal fire extinguishment.
Based on NFPA 11 (2005) Section 5.3.7 and API 2021 (2006) Section 8.5.6.1 and Appendix F.

HSE Department Corporate Office

Foam monitor limitation : Why? Why? Why?

Difficult to divert foam
into annular space of rim area

Roof overloading due to foam solution

Rim seal fire

Excess foam solution

Result roof sinking / Full surface fire

Full surface fire

API RP 2021 (From section 8.5.6.1)

NFPA 11 (section 5.3.7)
The
use of
is primary
considered
inadvisable
Monitors
shallground
not be monitors
used as the
means
of floatingfor
roofseal
seal fire
fire
suppression
because
of
the
difficulty
of
directing
foam
to
the
seal
and
risk
extinguishment because of the difficulty of directing foam into the annular
of
excess
sinking theofroof
space
andwater
the possibility
sinking the roof
HSE Department Corporate Office

Remember!!!

Rim seal fire

Do not use ground foam monitor to

attempt rim seal fire extinguishment

Full surface fire

You may carryout the operation of monitors correctly

and efficiently but it is not a recommended operation
in case of rim seal incident.
Remember
Doing wrong things efficiently, do not help.
HSE Department Corporate Office

Video Film by LASTfire Group

Video Film Fighting Floating Roof Tank Rim Seal Fires
Click here to see the video film
The video film Fighting Floating Roof Tank Rim seal Fires ends with a message
Never use ground foam monitors to attempt rim seal fire extinguishment. The film contains different types of
methods for fighting rim seal fires.
The film is made by Lastfire Group consortium of 16 major oil companies formed to review the fire related
risks of large open-top floating roof tanks. The information in the film is based on the experience of fire fighters
who have had hands on experience on tank fires.

For further information contact

refhqshe@iocl.co.in

HSE Department Corporate Office

Understand the hazards/risks

Know appropriate measures to control them

Let us not be the part of the problem

Let us be the part of the solution

For further information contact
refhqshe@iocl.co.in

Thank you
HSE Department Corporate Office

What do internationally recognised standards say?

(About Monitor Use for floating roof tank rim seal fire)
API RP 2021 (2006) : Management of atmospheric storage tank fires
NFPA 11 (2005) : Standard for Low, Medium and High Expansion Foam
API RP 2021 (From Appendix F)
In response to a rim seal fire, emergency response personnel may put excessive amounts of foam and water on
tanks floating roof. Excessive foam-water solution can overload and sink the floating roof. If this happens, the
resulting full surface fire becomes more difficult (and expensive) to extinguish. Concerns with roof flooding are
especially relevant when municipal firefighters without tank fire fighting experience or training are in command

NFPA 11 (section 5.3.7)

Monitors shall not be used as the primary means of floating roof seal fire extinguishment because of the
difficulty of directing foam into the annular space and the possibility of sinking the roof

API RP 2021 (From section 8.5.6.1)

The use of ground monitors is considered inadvisable for seal fire suppression because of the difficulty of
directing foam to the seal and risk of excess water sinking the roof

HSE Department Corporate Office

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