Gas and fire detection in a tankage area

A new detection system in a refinery’s tankage area has transformed the

level of safety in the event of gas leakage and fire

NÍYAZÍ BOZKURT
Tüpraş Kirikkale Refinery

A
state of the art gas and
fire detection system has
been installed in Turkish
Petroleum Refineries’ (Tüpraş)
Kirikkale Refinery. The
purpose of the system is to
detect both fire and gas leak-
ages across the entire tankage
area. The detection system is
based mainly on hydrocarbon
gases, so most of the detectors
are of the hydrocarbon type
and calibrated with reference
gases. Furthermore, flame,
hydrogen, hydrogen sulphide
and linear heat detectors are
located wherever appropriate. Figure 1 Overview of tankage area
In total, there are 169 hydrocar-
bon (HC) detectors, two at least one hydrocarbon detec- Seven linear heat detectors are
hydrogen sulphide detectors, tor at their entry or exit points. positioned on the system.
49 flame detectors, one hydro- Besides the tanks, there are
gen detector, and seven linear four pumping stations to be Division of the tankage area
heat detectors. considered. Flame detectors into regions
In the first step of the instal- have been placed at high The tankage area has been
lation of the detection system, points on the pumping separated into smaller sections,
the tankage area was divided stations. The most important or regions, for better control of
into eight separate segments. function of the system is to the system. In each of these
The criteria for establishing this make operators aware of any regions, alerting flash lamps
separation of the sectors is the liquid leakage around the dyke and horns are installed. When
area, and the distance between of the tanks. Hydrocarbon the detectors of a region sense
tanks and detectors. detectors help the system to do a gas escape, the flash lamps
The main objective of the this. and horns are activated. An
system is to detect both fire Linear heat detection (LHD) overview of the tankage area
and gas leakages in the tank- systems are installed on the can be seen in Figure 1. As
age area. All of the tanks have surface of floating roof tanks. indicated, it is divided into

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Figure 2 Detail of a tankage region
many smaller areas.
The main criterion for deter-
mining the area of each of
these divisions is the number
of detectors required within it.
Figure 2 shows a more detailed
overview of an individual
region.
How to locate detectors
The locations of the detectors
are decided according to differ-
ent criteria for pumping
stations and tankage areas, but
the main criterion for position-
ing any detector is for it to be
close to a potential explosion
point.
Detectors are located at the
entry and exit points of tanks
since leakages tend to occur
where pumps and other equip-
ment that handle materials
entering and leaving the tanks
are located.
Flame detectors are posi-
tioned in the tankage area’s
four pumping stations, taking
into account items of critical
equipment. The flame detectors
are placed on high platforms to
broaden the area each detector
observes. In addition, there are
2 Gas 2015
flame detectors in the LPG
tanks area.
Hydrogen sulphide detectors
are located in the control room
buildings, close to the ground.
Furthermore, hydrogen detec-
tors are positioned in the
higher parts of electrical
substations.
To summarise, detectors are
located according to their
distance from potential explo-
sion points and the molecular
weight of the gas each detector
is designed to detect. If the
molecular weight of the sens-
ing gas is higher than the
molecular weight of air, the
detector is positioned close to
the ground. In other circum-
stances, the detectors are
located in high positions.
Field
Junction Remote input
box Out (RIO) panel
Control Room
Figure 3 Carrying the signal to the DCS
Naming detectors
Each detector is named accord-
ing to the type of gas it senses
and the tankage or pumping
station number where it is posi-
tioned. The name of a detector
begins with the name of the
tankage or pump station and
continues with an abbreviation
of the detector type, such as
hydrocarbon (HCD), hydrogen
sulphide (HSD), flame (FLD),
and LHD. Finally, the number
of detectors present in a loca-
tion is added to the name. An
example of nomenclature for
several detectors is:
4101- HCD- 001: Tank 4101
first hydrocarbon detector
3160- HSD- 001: 3160 Building
first hydrogen sulphide
detector
3100- FLD- 009: 3100 Pump
station ninth flame detector
4218- LHD- 001: Tank 4218
linear heat detector
Carrying signals to the DCS
All detector signalling devices
are connected to a control
board via gas detection system
(GDS) panels. Detector signals
are carried to junction boxes via
3X2.5 armored instrument
cables. In the junction boxes,
these signals are jointed and
carried by main cables to the
control board. If the distance
between a junction box and the
control board is not too far, the
junction box’s main cables are
connected directly to the
control board.
Remote input-output (RIO)
panels are employed as gas
detection system panels in the
field. The reason for using RIO
is the relatively long distances
between the detectors and the
control board. Communication
between RIO and GDS is
achieved by Modbus which is
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faster and safer at carrying long
distance signal applications.
The signals combined in GDS
are sent to DCS via instrument
cables. A connection diagram of
the system is shown in Figure 3.
System redundancy
The system is redundant in
both the GDS and the DCS
panels. A GDS panel sends the
duplicated data with separate
cards. There is no connection
between these two communica-
tion cards.
In the DCS, there are two
redundant Modbus cards: the
master and the slave. Each card
receives signals from separate
GDS communication cards. The
master DCS card scans the field
and accepts data from the GDS
panel. If there is any fault in
the master DCS card receiving
data from the field, the slave
DCS card begins to accept data
from the other GDS communi-
cation card.
LHD terminology
LHD becomes compulsory as
the risk of fire increases above
tanks. LHD terminology is
based on resistance change in
an electrical cable. As the
amount of heat increases, there
is an increase in resistance
caused by the length of the
cable.
The main leakage points for
tanks are seals. LHD cable is
located close to the seals. At
Tüpraş, we have applied LHD
systems to floating roof tanks.
LHD cable is placed close to
the second seal and moves as
the roof of the tank moves.
There are special mechanisms
to protect the cable from
mechanical damage during
such movement.
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Sprinkler systems
There are two sprinkler
systems in the tankage area:
one in the marker building and
the other in the LPG tanks
region. The philosophy is simi-
lar in both systems. Flame
and hydrocarbon detectors are
connected to the sprinkler
systems. If there is an alarm in
any flame detector, the sprin-
kler system activates.
Furthermore, when there are
alarms in any two hydrocarbon
detectors, the sprinkler system
is similarly activated.
Alternatives and improvements
The main alternative to the
system established by Tüpraş
is to use wireless detectors. An
advantage of a wireless system
is avoiding the need for under-
ground cable trenches.
Installation of some parts of
the system has been difficult
because of the need to dig up
thousands of metres of ground.
Wireless detectors are thus
easier to maintain. The chief
disadvantage of a wireless
system is that the detectors are
open to possible noise and
other disturbances.
We could also improve the
system by adding more hydro-
gen sulphide detectors close to
the tanks.
Manual call point
The manual call point (MCP) is
a manually activated compo-
nent of the gas detection
system. It is used if there is any
leakage or fire and the auto-
mated system is not activated.
In other words, it helps the
system to warn operators when
any alarm situation arises
outside the scope of the detec-
tion system.
Conclusion
In this article, the main points
of the gas and fire detection
system in the tankage area of
Tüpraş Kirikkale Refinery have
been introduced. The system
cost million dollars to install
and is unique.
With the help of this new
system, the tankage area is
safer than before and its instal-
lation was considered
compulsory in view of the risk
of fire and gas leakages. The
system is used efficiently by
the tankage area’s unit opera-
tion team, and different types
of detector in the system
include flame, hydrocarbon,
hydrogen sulphide, linear heat
and hydrogen.
References
1 Turkish Petroleum Refineries, Kirikkale/
Turkey, Experiences.
2 h t t p : / / l i f e s a f e t y m a g a z i n e .
com/2009/11/guidelines-top-five-
things-to-know-about-heat-detectors/
3 www.gmigasandflame.com/articles.
html
Níyazí Bozkurt is Instrumentation
Chief Engineer in the Projects and
Investment Department of Turkish
Petroleum Refineries’ Kirikkale Refinery,
where he has managed various types of
instrumentation and electrical projects.
His previous role was Advanced Process
Control Engineer, where he established
many process control techniques for
different units. He holds degrees from
the electrical and electronics engineering
departments of Middle East Technical
University, Ankara,Turkey.
LINKS
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Instrumentation, Automation &
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