Fire and the Built Environment - West Fertilizer Company Explosion - Case Study Example

Fire and the Built Environment Name Course Tutor Date Table of Contents PART 1: 3 Analysis of a Case Study on West Fertilizer Company Explosion 3 Background Information about the Case 3 Fire, Explosion and Aftermaths 3 Analytical skills as applied to fire-related accidents in the built environment 4 Interviewing 4 Investigating any violated statute 5 Investigating hazardous material 5 Collecting evidence from authorities and premise owners 5 Discussion of Fire Safety Engineering Issues of the Case Study with reference to buildings of varying types and levels of occupancy 5 Other fire-safety issues for different buildings and occupant levels include: 5 Lessons learnt from the case and Recommendations on how to prevent future cases 6 PART 2 7 Evaluation of possible construction methods and materials to use 7 A description of possible strategies of design for fire safety- considering both environmental and economic constraints on the building 8 Formal conclusion & recommendations for development of sustainable construction in the UK 11 PART 3 11 Question 1 11 Question 2 12 Question 3 12 Question 4 13 Question 5 13 Question 6 13 Question 7 13 Question 8 14 16 Question 10 18 18 References 19 PART 1: Analysis of a Case Study on West Fertilizer Company Explosion Background Information about the Case West Fertilizer company is situated in West Texas and acts as a facility for storage and distribution of farm chemicals. According to Swienton (2013), the facility was last inspected on 1985 by Occupation Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and the records illustrated that the plant was fined for its improper storage of anhydrous ammonia. Further, the inspection report pointed out that the plant violated standards with regard to respiration. Due to ammonia-related complains launched in 2006 about the facility, it got investigated by Texas Commission on Environment Quality and the investigation cited that the plant had not obtained legal permits for the storage of its anhydrous ammonia. Later in June 2012, the administrations also fined the plant for its poor storage of anhydrous ammonia. Other open records by the Reuters illustrate that the plant has a long standing history related to minor thefts by individuals who use anhydrous ammonia to manufacture methamphetamine. Further, the facility did not have a fenced perimeter or burglar alarms. Fire, Explosion and Aftermaths It experienced a fire explosion on 17th April, 2013 and several emergency services from the state responded to the crisis. Although investigators failed to unfold the cause of initial fire, they however, revealed that the actual trigger of the explosion was ammonium nitrate. 15 people died from the fire, more than 160 injured, and over 150 buildings destroyed. 6-7 initial volunteer firefighters were unaccounted for, hours after the explosion, and one of the injured responders acknowledged that at least two of his counterparts were killed, but the final report revealed 8 more (Swienton, 2013). A nearby school, West Middle School, was destroyed, alongside a nearby nursing home, West Rest Haven. Even three days later, some residents were unable to return to their homes because the gas that was leaking caused some small fires. The money that was held by the company’s insurer was only 1 million dollars, thus insufficient to cover the total damage caused. According to the people nearby, the blast was like an earthquake. The US Geological Survey recorded it at 2.1 tremor magnitudes and the effect of the explosion tremor was felt at Desoto, Hillsboro, and Waxahachie whereas in Abbott that is 7 miles away, some windows got blown out. Further, some nearby schools were closed temporarily due to large number of families that were displaced and the toxic fumes emanating from the scene. Analytical skills as applied to fire-related accidents in the built environment Fire analysis for incidents in built areas involves collecting pertinent information about the fire on how it started, the type of building in which it started, the physical dimensions and characteristics of the building, the building’s construction structure, where the fire started within the building, as well as what was burnt. The analysis should also evaluate if an accelerant was present, the weather, ignition method, existence of a suspect witness and any motive behind the fire. Interviewing Interviewing people is also one of the common analytical skills used in fire investigations. For this case of fire explosion, the state fire department interviewed about 300 people. In the end, all the investigators blamed the company for its ammonium nitrate fertilizer stocks that were improperly stored in one of the fertilizer buildings. Investigating any violated statute If any statute has been violated with regard to a fire incident, it should be included in the report. Investigating hazardous material Hazardous material, inflammable materials and those that can easily explode if exposed to a trigger should be stored and guarded with utmost security. Collecting evidence from authorities and premise owners Authorities are crucial when analyzing fire-related accidents. They can provide past records about site inspections. Premise owners may also give the first hand information with regard to early signs of a fire accident. Discussion of Fire Safety Engineering Issues of the Case Study with reference to buildings of varying types and levels of occupancy The fire safety issue in this case will discuss manufacture, use, storage, and transportation inflammable and hazardous materials. Explosive and flammable material should be stored and used properly. Fire alarm systems should be well maintained in order to detect fire incidents that can be controlled before reaching the explosives. High standard of training and awareness for both users and occupants of any building is necessary. Other fire-safety issues for different buildings and occupant levels include: Protecting individuals in the adjacent building premises Proving for fire safety of the firefighters who will make effort of rescuing the occupants & extinguishing the fire Ensuring an escape to a safe place Providing safety to those people who are not able to escape Lessons learnt from the case and Recommendations on how to prevent future cases In order to prevent future cases, the following lessons and recommendations are necessary. There should be proper compliance with fire safety standards. The public safety gaps in responding to fire disasters in any administration should be minimized. From the case, a lot should be borrowed towards developing an emergency management plan that is effective. Chemical facilities, for example these that deal with inflammables and explosives within any state should be identified and managed using the best practices. Formal conclusion Part 1 of this research contains a detailed analysis of the case study on West Fertilizer Company Explosion right from the case, damages, fatalities, rescue efforts, lessons and recommendations. The research also covers the analytical skills as used in fire-related accidents in built environments. A discussion of the engineering issues with regard to buildings of different types and levels of occupancy has also been covered herein. PART 2 This section takes into consideration the design of a sustainable building for a 10 storey hotel in London- a low carbon emissions building with a BREEEAM Excellent’ rating. Evaluation of possible construction methods and materials to use Sourcing for materials locally is one of the methods advocated for designing a sustainable building. This ensures that a lot of energy is not embedded into the environment while transporting the material (Calkins, 2009). The following is a detailed list of other methods and materials that apply to design of a sustainable building: 1. The building envelop should be optimized for good thermal quality during both the winter and summer conditions. 2. The methods used should have minimal dust and noise. 3. A sustainable building should focus on reducing the amount of energy and water consumed by the occupants. This can be achieved by introducing cogeneration systems and water recycling systems. 4. Onsite power generation can also be achieved through the use of biomass, hydro power, wind power, or solar power. This will greatly reduce some environmental effects on the building. 5. Generally, the construction should make use of reusable, recyclable and renewable materials. For example, recycled metal and recycled stone and other non-toxic material is advisable. 6. Overall waste with regard to energy, water and construction material should be minimal. Constructors should ensure that only minimal waste goes to landfills. 7. The construction methods involved should protect water quality and also reduce its use. In some cases, water is demanded more that what is replenished by the natural aquifers. The entire life-cycle of the building should protect and conserve water through dual plumbing which can recycle water into washing of cars and toilet flushing. Ultra-low flush toilets and low flow shower heads minimize water usages. A description of possible strategies of design for fire safety- considering both environmental and economic constraints on the building There are several ways through which fire safety objectives can be implementing in the design of a sustainable building for a 10 storey hotel. Broadly, this should be achieved by preventing fire ignition, and if the fire occurs, it should be manageable. The fire safety can only be achieved through the use of the following strategies: Preventing fire ignition, controlling combustion processes, controlling fire by construction, fire alarms and detectors, manual suppression, automatic suppression, and managing the exposed. 1. Preventing fire ignition One of the first opportunities towards achieving fire safety in a 10-storey building would be by preventing fire by way of separating any potential sources of heat from potential fuels. Most fire incidents in buildings result out of heat sources and materials that can ignite. Therefore, the best strategy towards designing the building from the builder’s and architects’ point of view is to limit the buildings’ potential to catch fire in any future experience (Halliday, 2008). Some of the fire prevention strategies can easily be prevented by observing the standards and codes governing installation of lighting and other electrical systems, heating systems, air conditioning & refrigeration, washing and drying machines. The vents should be constructed in a manner that allows the transportation of fuels along paths that are protected. Further, if one building is on fire, it poses an external hazard to other adjacent buildings and structures, by convection currents and radiation. Therefore, in order to protect a building from external fires, its structures must be well designed right from early design stages. 2. Controlling the process of combustion This strategy is mainly concerned with mechanisms of slowing down the fire so as to allow for sufficient time to come up with more fire safety measures. The design should therefore, ensure little or no possibility of hazards growing huge (Malina, 2013). Halliday (2008) argues that managing fire growth of a building during construction can easily be achieved by way of easing the movement of combustion products such as smoke, gases and flame. The quantity, speed and movement paths of these products should be controlled during the design stages by considering the following factors that are influential during combustion: Interior room finish, air supply, fire load, fuel load, and room shape, size and construction. 3. Controlling Fire by way of construction Incorporating fire resistant barriers into partitions, floors and walls can help in the process of delaying the propagation of fire within a storey building. The other advantage of barriers is that they can determine the size of fire spread (Marberg, 1996). In order for the barriers to be effective, they must be resistant to fire penetration and can be strengthened through the use of fire stop barriers, flame retardant paints, firewalls, windows and doors. 4. Fire detectors & alarms Before fire suppression can be initiated using manual or automatic systems, fire must be detected. Detectors are necessary so that fire incidents can be discovered at early stages and controlled before it becomes unmanageable. Further, the alarms inform occupants so that they start exiting the building in advance. In cases where suspect activities are being carried out, authorities can easily get alarmed and appropriate action taken to arrest the suspects who have started the fire or are carrying out risk activities within a building (Malina, 2013). Alarms should be connected to detectors and are meant to inform occupants about what they should do depending on where they are within a storey building. The response staff can also be fed to the response staff for necessary rescue operations to begin. 5. Manual suppression A 10-storey building requires manual fire suppression strategies. These will entail water use and storage, application of initial agent, having effective ventilation, extinguishing fire, having a fire department near the building, and having effective barriers 6. Automatic suppression The role of automatic suppressor is to apply enough fire suppressors after detection. It involves the use of automatic sprinklers to control hostile fires. It should be remembered that top storeys in a 10-storey building may be difficult to access by manual systems. Even fiery fires are hard to control using manuals systems. Automatic systems can work directly on top of fires without being affected by toxic gases, and reduced visibility, and smoke. A good automatic system for extinguishing fire should be reliable, and be present when need arises. 8. Managing the Exposed There are several persons, operations and properties in a storey building. Therefore, the building should be designed in such a manner to lessen fire impact to exposed persons, processes and properties. The strategy here is to have a design that consists of a safe area where the exposed can temporarily stay safe. Therefore, the building should incorporate a section for occupants’ protection and evacuation drills Formal conclusion & recommendations for development of sustainable construction in the UK Generally, in order to have a suitable building, a number of things should be looked into and they included the construction methods, appropriate materials, and efficient fire safety strategies. The material should be available locally, be renewable and recyclable, and the entire structure should emit low or no carbon emissions. PART 3 Question 1 Nomenclature of Freon and halon systems, for instance, Freon CFC 113 and Halon 1301. CFC-113 is known as 1,1,2 –Trichlorotrifluoroethane. Its formula is CCL2FCCIF2 and the boiling point is 48oC. On the Other hand, Halon 1301 is known also known as Bromotrifluoromethane, and its chemical formula is CBrF3. Impacts of Environmental Impact for the halons and the reasons for replacing the halon Halons have an impact on global warming and completion of the ozone later, and it is for these reasons they should be replaced with other species that have a short atmospheric lifetimes, and are good fire extinguishers. Question 2 Flame height for fires involving plastic material with a circle area of 0.7 m2 and burning rate of approximately 15 g/s, and heat of combustion 37.5 kJ/g. Hf = 0.235Q2/5 - 1.02D where Hf = the height of a pool fire flame (m) Q = rate of heat release from pool fire (kW) D = diameter of the pool fire (m) = 3.142 X D2/4 = 0.7855D2 = 0.7 D = 0.9440 m Therefore, Hf = 0.235 x 37.52/5 - 1.02 x 0.9440 = 0.038 m Question 3 Lower flammable limit of a concentration is given by Le Chatelier mixing rule: LFLmix stands for the mixture’s lower flammability, and LFLi stands for the ith component within the mixture. = 11.5237 % Question 4 Hf = 0.235Q2/5 - 1.02D = = 63.65m Question 5 The rate of a chemical reaction depends on whether it is endothermic or exothermic. For an endothermic reaction, the reaction at -200K will be higher followed by the one at 400K and 600K. In case of exothermic reaction, higher temperatures will lead to increased reaction rate. Therefore, in an exothermic reaction, the reaction rate will be higher at 600K, followed by 400K and -200K respectively. How temperature impacts on a chemical reaction For endothermic reactions, higher temperature lowers the rate of a chemical reaction and vice versa whereas for exothermic reactions, higher temperature will increase the chemical reaction and vice versa. Question 6 Wavelength for infrared m The Wavelength of BBC Radio m Question 7 Thermal radiation emission is given by: = 0.85 X 5.67 x 10-11 X = 12.976 X kW Radiative heat flux is given by Where T = absolute temperature for a hot cloud of gas Emissivity of a cloud of hot gas = Stefan-Boltzman constant (5.67 x 10-11 kW/m2K2) =2.789791 x kw Therefore, from the above calculations, thermal radiation emission is greater than radiative heat flux Question 8 Initial velocity Speed along AB (constant speed) whereas after reaching B, Constant deceleration is 0.01 Distance and and = 11.55 mm = 9.622 seconds (escape time along s = For BC, Distance, s = where t = time for distance BC 5 = 1.2 X t + ½ x (-0.01) x t2 t= 120 + or t = 120 - t = 120 + or t = 120 - t = 244.1 seconds Therefore, time to achieve exit = 9.622 + 244.1 = 253.722 seconds Question 9 If we consider a person getting into the exit through the corridor at a constant speed of 0.02m/s and experiencing strong air movement whose speed is 0.2m/s and corridor width as 15m, then the assumption of air resistance will be considered. Therefore, the resultant speed, R, is given by Cos 10 = 15/AC Length = AC = 15/ cos 10 = 15.244 m Thus, exit time = Distance/ speed 15.244/1.2166 =12.53 seconds This is not the right exit following the fact that it crosses the direction of strong wind. The original exit direction can, therefore, be revised to the one shown by the red line in the figure below Question 10 If the condition for question is changed by wind speed moving in opposite direction (-Um/s), then resultant speed, R, is given by Cos 10 = 15/AC Length = AC = 15/ cos 10 = 15.244 m Thus, exit time = Distance/ speed 15.244/1.1832 =12.88 seconds This duration is higher as compare to that in Question 9 for reason that exit direction is agains the direction of wind. References CALKINS, M. (2009). Materials for sustainable sites: a complete guide to the evaluation, selection, and use of sustainable construction materials. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. HALLIDAY, S. (2008). Sustainable construction. Amsterdam, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. http://app.knovel.com/web/toc.v/cid:kpSC00001B. MALINA, M. (2013). Delivering sustainable buildings. Chichester, West Sussex, UK, Blackwell Pub. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9781118511022. MARBERG, PER-ANDERS, FRANTZICH, HÅKAN, JÖNSSON, ROBERT, LUNDIN, JOHAN, & RANTATALO, TOMAS. (1996). The Swedish Case Study, Fire Safety Design for a Multitenant Business Occupancy. Department of Fire Safety Engineering, Lund University. http://lup.lub.lu.se/record/605459. SWIENTON, R. E. (2013). Emergency Medical Task Force Deployment to the West Fertilizer Company Explosion. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 7, 337. Read More