Handbook of Fire and Explosion Protection Engineering Principles: for Oil, Gas, Chemical and Related Facilities is a general engineering handbook that provides an overview for understanding problems of fire and explosion at oil, gas, and chemical facilities. This handbook offers information about current safety management practices and technical engineering improvements. It also provides practical knowledge about the effects of hydrocarbon fires and explosions and their prevention, mitigation principals, and methodologies. This handbook offers an overview of oil and gas facilities, and it presents insights into the philosophy of protection principles. Properties of hydrocarbons, as well as the characteristics of its releases, fires and explosions, are also provided in this handbook. The book includes chapters about fire- and explosion-resistant systems, fire- and gas-detection systems, alarm systems, and methods of fire suppression. The handbook ends with a discussion about human factors and ergonomic considerations, including human attitude, field devices, noise control, panic, and security. People involved with fire and explosion prevention, such as engineers and designers, will find this book invaluable. - A unique practical guide to preventing fires and explosions at oil and gas facilities, based on the author's extensive experience in the industry - An essential reference tool for engineers, designers and others facing fire protection issues - Based on the latest NFPA standards and interpretations

Dr. Dennis P. Nolan has had a long career devoted to risk engineering, fire protection engineering, loss prevention engineering and systems safety engineering. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Business Administration from Berne University, Master of Science degree in Systems Management from Florida Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland. He is a U.S. registered professional engineer in fire protection engineering in the state of California.He is currently on the Executive Management staff of Saudi Aramco, located in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, as a Loss Prevention Consultant/Chief Fire Prevention Engineer. He covers some of the largest oil and gas facilities in the world. As part of his career, he has examined oil production, refining, and marketing facilities under severe conditions and in various unique worldwide locations, including Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and North and South America. His activity in the aerospace field has included engineering support for the NASA Space Shuttle launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center (and for those undertaken at Vandenburg Air Force Base, California) and "classified national defense systems. Dr. Nolan has received numerous safety awards and is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers, He is the author of many technical papers and professional articles in various international fire safety publications. He has written at least four books, several published by Elsevier.

Preface About the Author 1 Introduction 2 Overview of Oil and Gas Facilities 3 Philosophy of Protection Principles 4 Physical Properties of Hydrocarbons 5 Characteristics of Hydrocarbon Releases, Fires and Explosions 6 Historical survey of Fire and Explosions in the Hydrocarbon Industries 7 Risk Analysis 8 Segregation, Separation and Arrangement 9 Grading, Containment and Drainage Systems 10 Process Controls 11 Emergency Shutdown 12 Depressurization, Blowdown and Venting 13 Overpressure and Thermal Relief 14 Control of Ignition Sources 15 Elimination of Process Releases 16 Fire and Explosion Resistant Systems 17 Fire and Gas Detection and Alarm Systems 18 Evacuation 19 Methods of Fire Suppression 20 Special Locations, Facilities, and Equipment 21 Human Factors and Ergonomic ConsiderationsAppendices Appendix A: Testing Firewater Systems A-1 Testing of Firewater Pumping Systems A-2 Testing of Firewater Distribution Systems A-3 Testing of Sprinkler and Deluge Systems A-4 Testing of Foam Fire Suppression Systems A-5 Testing of Firewater Hose Reels and Monitors A-6 Fire Protection Hydrostatic Testing RequirementsAppendix B: Reference Data B-1 Fire Resistance Testing Standards B-2 Explosion and Fire Resistance Ratings B-3 National Electrical Manufactures Association (NEMA) NEMA Classifications B-4 Hydraulic Data B-5 Selected Conversion FactorsAcronym List Glossary Index