Jet fire testing of topside pipework
- British Gas plc, Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom)
The weight saving potential and inherent corrosion resistance of glass reinforced plastics (GRP) make them attractive candidates for offshore topside seawater piping applications. Glass reinforced plastics, however, comprise a combustible organic matrix, and one of the main areas of concern currently restricting the more widespread use of GRP on offshore platforms in the UK sector of the North Sea is the perceived poor fire endurance of this material. On an offshore platform, the most severe fire scenario envisaged is a hydrocarbon jet fire. A series of large-scale jet fire tests has therefore been conducted at the British Gas Research and Technology Spadeadam test facility, on pipe spools representing the ring main and deluge components of an offshore topside firewater system. The purpose of the tests was to assess the jet fire endurance of GRP with and without passive fire protection coatings, and to compare its performance with existing metallic materials used for this application. The paper presents the results obtained in the first stage of the program addressing the start-up period of firewater system operation when the ring main may contain either stagnant or flowing water and the deluge piping is empty.
- OSTI ID:
- 33215
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930641--; ISBN 0-7918-0785-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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