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F&EI Introduction
F&EI Introduction
The Fire and Explosion Index (F&E!) calculation is a tool to help determine the areas of greatest
loss potential in a particular process. It also enables one to predict the physical damage that
would occur in the event of an incident.
The first step in making the F&EI calculation requires using an efficient and logical procedure to
determine which process units should be studied. A process unit is defined as any major item of
process equipment. The following process units could be identified in a typical plant.
Unloading facility
Storage tank
Reactor
Distillation Column
Quench Vessel
Storage Vessel
Loading facility
A designation of the Process Unit must be entered in the appropriate space on the F&EI
form. The Manufacturing Unit designation must also be entered on the F&EI form. A
Manufacturing Unit is the entire production facility including chemical processes,
mechanical processes, warehouse, packaging lines, etc.
It is quite clear that most manufacturing units have many process units. To calculate the Fire and
Explosion Index, however, only process units that could have an impact from a loss prevention
standpoint should be evaluated. These are known as Pertinent Process Units.
Important factors for selecting Pertinent Process Units include:
a. Chemical energy potential (Material Factor)
b. Quantity of hazardous material in the Process Unit
c. Process pressure and process temperature
d. Units critical to plant operation, e.g. Reactor
Important Considerations
A.
The Fire and Explosion Index system assumes that a process unit handles a minimum of
2,500 kg of a flammable, combustible or reactive material. If less material is involved,
generally the risk will be overstated. However, F&EI calculations can provide meaningful
results for pilot plants if they handle at least 500 kg) of combustible or reactive material.
B.
Careful consideration is needed when equipment is arranged in series and the items are not
effectively isolated from each other. An example would be a reaction train without an
intermediate pump. In such situations, the type of process determines whether several
vessels or just a single vessel should be considered as the Process Unit.
It should rarely be necessary to calculate the F&EI for more than three or four Process Units
in a single process area of a Manufacturing Unit. The number of Process Units will vary
according to the type of process and the configuration of the Manufacturing Unit.
A separate F&EI form must be completed for each process unit evaluated.
C.
It is also important to give careful consideration to the state or point in time of the operation.
By their nature, such normal stages as startup, steady-state operation, shutdown, filling,
emptying, adding catalyst, etc., often create unique conditions having an impact on the
F&EI. Generally, good judgment will enable selection of the point in time of operation to
perform the F&EI calculation. Occasionally more than one point in time will have to be
studied to determine the significant risk.
Unlisted Substances
If neither Appendix A, NFPA 49, nor NFPA 325M contains values for the substance, mixture
or compound in question, these values will have to be determined from the flammability
ranking or dust class (St) (see Table l). First, the parameters shown in the left column of the
table will have to be determined. The flammability ranking of liquids and gases is obtained
from flash point data, and the St of dusts or mists is determined by dust explosion testing.
The flammability ranking of combustible solids depends on the nature of the material as
categorized in the left column.
Theinstabilityrankingcanbeobtainedfromaqualitativedescriptionoftheinstability(or
reactivitywithwater)ofthesubstance,mixtureorcompoundatambienttemperature.
DefinitionsinNationalFireProtectionAssociation(NFPA)704shouldbeusedtoassignhazard
ratingsformaterialswhicharenotlistedintheF&EIcalculationtoolinS2S.
Instability Ranking
Non-combustible2
14
24
29
40
14
24
29
40
10
14
24
29
40
F.P. 73 F ( 22.8 C)
< 100 F (< 37.8 C) or
F.P. < 73 F (< 22.8 C) &
BP. 100 F ( 37.8 C)
F.P. < 73 F (< 22.8 C) &
B.P. < 100 F (< 37.8 C)
16
16
24
29
40
21
21
24
29
40
16
21
24
16
21
24
24
24
24
29
29
29
40
40
40
4
10
16
14
14
16
24
24
24
29
29
29
40
40
40
Combustible Solids
Dense > 40 mm thick4
Open < 40 mm thick5
Foam, fiber, powder, etc.6
F.P. = Flash Point, closed cup
1
2
3
Notes:
1 Includes volatile solids.
2 Will not burn in air when exposed to a temperature of 816 C for a period of five minutes.
3 K values are for a 16 Litre or larger closed test vessel with strong ignition source. See NFPA
St
68, Guide for Venting of Deflagrations.
4 Includes wood 2 inches nominal thickness, magnesium ingots, tight stacks of solids and tight
rolls of paper or plastic film5 Includes coarse granular material such as plastic pellets, rack
storage, wood pallets and non-dusting ground material such as polystyrene.
6 Includes rubber goods such as tyres and boots,
worst case when focus is placed on the most hazardous operational point involving the MF, and
this will be a realistic worst case one that could actually occur.
In the F&EI system, only one hazard may be evaluated at a time. If the MF is based on a
flammable liquid present in the Process Unit, do not take penalties relating to combustible dusts,
even though dust may be present at a different time. A reasonable approach might be to evaluate
the Process Unit once using the MF of the flammable liquid and a second time using the MF of
the dust. Only the calculation resulting in the highest F&EI and Actual Maximum Probable
Property Damage need to be reported.
One important exception is the hybrid, described previously under Mixtures. If a hybrid
mixture is selected as the most hazardous material present, it is penalized both as a dust and as a
flammable vapor in the Process Unit Hazards Factor sections of this manual.
Some items on the F&EI form have fixed penalty values. For those that do not, determine the
appropriate penalty by consulting the text that follows. Remember analyze only one hazard at
a time, relating the analysis to a specific, most hazardous time (e.g., startup, normal operation or
shutdown). Keep the focus on the Process Unit and Material Factor selected for analysis and
keep in mind that the results of the final calculation are only as valid as the appropriateness of the
penalty assessments.
The entry of all the pertinent information to allow calculation of the Fire and Explosion Index and
the radius of exposure is made in the excel workbook F&EI Calculation workbook S2S July
2006.xls
Whentheindexesforallpertinentunitsintheplanthavebeencalculated,theresultsgiveanindicationof
therankingofriskofeachunitrelativetoanother.Thisrankingcanbeusedforscreeningoutthelowerrisk
itemsandconcentratingstudyonthehigherones.