process combustion product information · pdf fileburner only 0.0 4.7 4.7 1 ... the modules...

Catalytic and Regenerative

Thermal Oxidisers

Thermal Oxidisers

Water Bath and Process

Heaters

Submerged Combustion Vaporisers

Fire Fighting Training Units

Instrumentation and

Control Systems

FIREFIGHTING TRAINING UNITS

Company Profile Process Combustion Limited is an established supplier of an extensive range of innovative combustion and heat transfer equipment used by a wide range of industries.

Since our formation in 1985, we have gained a reputation for technical innovation and reliability, together with excellent quality and service. Our clients include leading international oil and gas operators, multinational engineering companies and an extensive list of major manufacturers in a number of important industrial sectors.

The The company is registered for compliance with the requirements of BS EN ISO 9001:1994, CORGI and in 1999 was awarded the ‘Investors In People Award’ for staff training.

Process Combustion offers a complete service - from conceptual studies through detailed design, fabrication, installation, commissioning and after-sales service.

The Process Combustion product range includes:

• Specialist fire simulation systems for fire fighter training • Indirect and direct fired Process Heaters • Thermal and catalytic oxidisers for liquids and gases • Submerged combustion equipment • Mobile vaporisers and temporary gas supplies • Combustion Control packages

A division of Process Combustion Limited is Rapid. They specialise in the design, fabrication and commissioning of high-efficiency air heating and handling equipment for use in factories, swimming pools, churches, aircraft hangers, exhibition halls… to name but a few.

Development of Fire Behaviour Training Some two decades ago, after a number of firefighter fatalities and serious injuries, firefighters began to develop a better appreciation of fire behaviour and the chemistry of combustion.

Part of this development saw the first use of training buildings and simulators in which live fire exercises were set to assist firefighters to gain real experience and understanding of fire behaviour and fire development during its various stages.

The first generation of live-fire trainers burned carbonaceous material such as wood and diesel fuel. These not only created a pollution hazard with large volumes of black smoke but also meant that once a fire had been lit, there was no safe method of control during the exercise. Once the trainees had extinguished a carbonaceous fire, it could not be restarted. Preparing and clearing out after a burn also meant that the unit was only available for brief periods during the training day.


Gas Fired Fire Training Simulators As a result, there was a move in the 1980’s to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of gas-fired simulators for procedural training rather than fire behaviour training. Process Combustion Ltd were directly involved in this early work and, since those early days, have remained very active in the design and development of gas-fired firefighting and rescue simulators.

In 1986, Process Combustion Ltd was invited by the Ministry of Defence to design and build an LPG-fuelled firefighting training unit for the Royal Navy together with the appropriate control systems. Such was the success of this development work that Process Combustion was subsequently invited onto the MOD design committee to produce a prototype warship firefighting simulator at Portsmouth.

Over the next twelve years, Process Combustion worked closely on the development of gas-fired training units and, in 1999, the company was awarded the contract to design and supply the new Royal Navy Firefighting Schools at HMS Excellent and HMS Raleigh.

This major contract was completed in 2001 and contained over 100 controlled fires, installed in eleven individual fire training units, together with burner management systems, heating, ventilation, smoke, exhaust cleanup, emergency shutdown, lighting, gas detection and audio systems. As well as working closely with the Royal Navy Process Combustion has supplied fire fighting training equipment to both military and civilian fire departments. These have ranged from small waste paper bin fires to full-scale houses and from HAZMAT and industrial units to aircraft and ship compartments.

Experts in Clean Burn Systems In the past, fire fighting training has not been environmentally friendly. Clouds of black acrid smoke emitted by the Royal Navy's previous trainers had gained them the nickname "Smokey Joe's". The location of many new fire fighter training facilities, often in the centre of residential areas, means smoke stacks or visible emissions are prohibited under the planning permission process.

Using our previous experience in the chemical industry, Process Combustion is able to employ techniques of recycling and catalytic clean-up systems to oxidise any smoke in the exhaust gas, that are not usually found in the fire training industry. This, together with the design of our burner systems, that already exceed current legislation, results in a highly environmentally friendly fire training system. Plumes of smoke are non existent.

Process Combustion are not only able to supply emission-free hot fire and smoke simulators, but are able to offer advice and assistance to provide solutions to any smoke emission problems that a fire brigade may be experiencing during live-fire training sessions.


The Process Combustion FS Burner The Process Combustion Ltd. Fire Simulator Burner was specifically developed in the 1980’s to provide a controllable, clean fire for fire-fighting training. The most important feature of the burner is that it introduces the propane in a controlled manner to promote combustion with an appropriate airflow; this is a burner, based on sound combustion engineering, not a simple gas release.

The primary requirements for the burner are that it should:

• Give the typical ‘yellow’ flame pattern of a carbonaceous fire.

• Burn with as complete combustion as possible whilst maintaining the ‘yellow’ flame pattern.

• Not form soot. • Be controllable with regard to flame growth and flame

height. • Be configurable with regard to flame spread and

overall heat release. • Be instantaneously extinguished in the event of a

safety violation. • Not be extinguished by the fire-fighting Trainees, whatever extinguishant is applied. • After shutdown, be instantaneously available for re-light to commence a new, possibly different,

training scenario. • Give minimum heat release, whilst satisfying the criteria above, to reduce the size of all the

associated systems.

The Process Combustion Ltd. FS Burner is designed to simulate a fire, which will enhance training, without placing the demands on the Fire-Fighting Trainer System, which a full fire would require. Training is achieved by reproducibility and presenting the opportunity for the Trainee to think about and better understand the training aims.

The burner is designed for minimum heat release for a given flame height and flame spread to reduce the load on the ventilation system and to minimise the gas burn. Also to achieve this aim the burner is mounted as close to the fireplace surround as possible to minimise ‘hidden’ flame height.

The Process Combustion Ltd. FS Burner is fuelled by LPG (Propane) which gives the best flame characteristic. To achieve the yellow flame required, the burner is a raw-gas burner, which can be extinguished if liberally covered by extinguishant. The burner is therefore fitted with an integral dedicated pilot assembly, which re-lights the main burner after the extinguishant is removed. To comply with the requirements of BS EN 746 and BS EN 298, and to achieve greater operational reliability, this pilot burner is fitted with a forced-draught combustion air system. The pilot is continuously monitored by an ultra-violet flame detector. Failure of the pilot or flame detector system results in immediate shutdown of the burner system. This system forms part of the hard-wired protection system, which is integral to the Burner Management System.

Normally, each burner is furnished with a dedicated fuel supply and control line in accordance with BS EN 746. The requirement for instantaneous shutdown is met by this system. Flame height is controlled by a fully modulating control valve integral to this system.

Once the burner is correctly configured, the maximum flame height and heat release is fixed. Thereafter, the flame growth and decay is determined simply by the position of the fuel gas control valve. This can be controlled remotely in response to the actions of the Trainees. Additionally, the growth, decay and even intensity may be controlled to suit a particular Training Scenario; for example, it is desirable to introduce ‘raw’ recruits to a less intense version of a particular fire than Instructors would experience in their training sessions. These parameters can be selected from the fireplace control panel or remotely from the Trainer Control Room, if applicable.


Burner Emissions The FS burner is a genuine combustor designed on sound combustion engineering and does not represent a simple gas release whether achieved by a pipe discharge or by bubbling gas through a water bath. The difference is evident in the quality of combustion achieved.

The Fire Research Station of the Building Research Establishment in Watford, UK, carried out an independent laboratory study on the FS burner and a water tray burner of their own design.

Table 1 shows the results of the bath fire; Table 2, for the FS burner. An oil-based smoke was included in both trials, as there is a small amount of partial burning of the oil resulting in an increase in CO levels. Table 1 Water Bath Trial Results Trials CO %

(peak) CO2 % (peak)

NOx ppm (mean)

SOx ppm (mean)

Optical density OD/m

Benzene ppm

Formaldehyde mg/m³

Particulates mg/m³

Cold Smoke N/A N/A N/A N/A 7 0.03 0.03 2904 Fire and smoke 1.5 5.8 3.75 515 1.5 40 20 2200 Fire, smoke, water 0.8 5.0 4.25 217 1 60 29 2310 Fire, smoke, foam 0.9 5.5 4.20 258 1 50 > 180 1710

Table 2 FS Burner Trial Results Trials CO %

(peak) CO2 % (peak)

NOx ppm (mean)

SOx ppm (mean)

Optical density OD/m

Benzene ppm

Formaldehyde mg/m³

Particulates mg/m³

Burner only 0.0 4.7 4.7 1 0.17 0.03 0.5 5 - 25 Fire and smoke 0.2 5.5 4.8 8 0.25 0.2 48 3 Fire, smoke, water 0.0 4.5 4.8 2 0.62 0.6 45 50 Fire, smoke, foam 0.1 4.9 4.8 5 0.52 0.5 52 -

Aromatics obtained from poor combustion are not necessarily a problem for the crews who would be wearing Breathing Apparatus but it could be detrimental to the health of the trainers who will be open to long term exposure.

Specific references were made in the report to the unacceptable levels of sulphur oxides, benzene, and particulates produced by the water bath burner.

In the UK, the PCL burner does not require environmental cleanup to comply with planning regulations.

The FRS study also investigated the time taken to shut the flame simulator down. It was found that the FS burner shut down in one second or less, whereas it could take the water bath as long as 20 seconds to extinguish.


Modular Firefighting Training Units Process Combustion have developed a range of modular FFTU which can be built from basic construction elements to provide a low-cost Training Solution. All controls and safety equipment are included within the unit. The modules are a conventional beam/column steel structure with a design life of 25 years. The basic ‘building blocks’ are 3m wide x 4, 8 or 12m long with an internal height of 2.8m.

The design can be arranged to include multi-floor levels, pitched roofs and inbuilt platforms for 13.5 metre ladder drills and ‘working at height’ training. Potential Configurations: Additional Elements: The basic modules can be ‘customised’ to enhance training realism. Elements, which can be added, include:

Domestic Doors and Windows Platforms Loft Access Hatch Rooflight Ship’s Hatch Ladders and Caged Ladders Removable Stair Treads Removable Chimney

12m Base Module 8m Base Module

8m Roof Module

Basic Modules

Tower


Fire Scenarios (Others Available) Bed, Double/Single Bunks Armchairs and Sofas Waste Bin Domestic Cookers C/W Spill Chip-Pan Industrial Ranges Broken Pipes/Flanges Engines and Sumps Control Panel Electric Motor/Generator Television Computer Tower/Monitor Fuel Spills Work Bench Cylinder Storage Gas Meter Storage Shelves Pallet Storage Cars and Motorcycles HAZMAT Chemical Plant Single Seater Aircraft Transport Aircraft

The Benefits of Process Combustion Fire Training Systems Process Combustion fire training systems offer a wide spectrum of LPG-fuelled simulators of varying fire scenario types and sizes, including a range of fire situations from a waste paper bin fire to an engine room fire on a warship. All fires are fully modulating, from minimum to maximum, under instructor control.

Each fire scenario is set, controlled and shut down in an emergency by a remote control system. This facility allows the training officer to fully control the fire and regulate its development according to the competency of the firefighters under training.

After shutdown, the fire scenario is available for re-ignition, or can be re-configured by the Operator to simulate a new fire situation.

If a trainee gets into difficulty at any time or becomes disorientated, the instructor can initiate an Emergency Shutdown which extinguishes all fires within 1 second, activates all lights and accelerates all ventilation blowers to maximum speed to evacuate all cosmetic smoke.

Ancillary Systems LPG fuelled FFTUs are required to include forced ventilation systems, gas detection systems and temperature monitoring systems to ensure the safety of the system. These systems are included in all Process Combustion units.

Training can be enhanced by additional systems – variable lighting, artificial smoke to obscure the unit, local heating and humidity control, sound systems and strobe lights to add to realism levels and further disorientate the trainees. All systems are available as options to add to the basic FFTU.


Naval and Maritime Firefighting The two projects for Flagship Training Ltd – suppliers of Firefighting Training to the Royal Navy – started operation in January 2001.

Fires on-board ships bring with them a host of problems not encountered on land. In the event of an on board fire, there is nowhere to retreat to and the quantity of water pumped into the ship must be limited. These points, together with the inherent confined spaces found on board ships, makes fighting shipboard fires a complex operation.

The Royal Navy required a centre to process around 15,000 students per year ranging from new recruits to experienced fire fighters. The level of realism required had to be high, both in the representation of a ship and in the fires, smoke, noise and heat experienced in an emergency.

The project was the culmination of seventeen years of research and development with the Ministry of Defence to develop a fire fighting training unit with a level of realism and safety second to none.

HMS Excellent consists of eight fire training units and one demonstration area for live fire, search and rescue and stress training. Each of the eight units has three floors and four compartments. A network of corridors, ladders and hatches link together the galley, mess deck, machinery control room and engine room. The facility at HMS Excellent, in Portsmouth, comprises 84 fire simulations and handles in excess of 10,000 Trainees per annum. The smaller facility at HMS Raleigh, in Plymouth, has 24 fire simulations and handles 5000 Trainees per annum.

HMS Excellent also includes 80 Concept Viscount smoke generators and 16 catalytic oxidisers to clean-up the facility exhaust. Almost every aspect of the training environment can be changed to meet the requirements of the exercise. These include the level of heat, visibility, lighting levels, background noise and explosions, together with the fire scenario's height and intensity.


In the control room, scenarios can be designed and safety levels can be set to suit the skill level of the trainee. When the unit is armed, control of the fires passes to the safety officer in the compartment who controls the unit via a local control pendent. Every aspect of the unit and training is monitored and recorded in the control room.

Maintenance and diagnostics also start at the control room, where the operation and usage of all the equipment is logged. In addition to the procedural training for ship crews Process Combustion has been involved in the developing of realistic ship board training environments for civilian personnel who will not be as familiar with the layout of ships.

This training requirement can be met by either the modification of an existing ship by placing it in dry dock and refitting the interior or by the fabrication of a purpose built structure to resemble the interior and exterior of a ship.

The solution shown is a purpose built facility fabricated with four decks each having a flat central section and 15˚ sloping sections to port and starboard to simulate the listing of a ship. This is then fit out with an assortment of fire training scenarios and effect as in the procedural simulators.


Traditional Fire Training Units All Process Combustion fire scenarios can be installed in a traditional build Training Unit, purpose designed and built steel structures or retrofitted to existing installations, such as Breathing Apparatus Smoke Chambers. Severn Park Fire and Rescue Joint Training Centre is an example of a purpose built traditional structure

into which gas fired training systems are installed. In 2002 Somerset, Avon & Gloucester Joint Fire Brigades awarded us the contract for the design, fabrication, installation and commissioning of a new fire training ground including a house, tower, industrial building and hazmat area.

The supply in the house section of the training simulator includes a double bed fire, a bunk bed fire, sofa fire with

ceiling fire, television fire, cooker fire including pan, spill and ceiling fires, smoke generation, ventilation system, gas detection, temperature monitoring, lighting and emergency lighting

The supply in the industrial building includes a storage box fire, crib fire, smoke generation, ventilation system, gas detection, temperature monitoring, lighting and emergency lighting.

The supply in the hazmat area includes an industrial spill fire and a burst flange fire.

Control is via a PC user interface in a central control room with local instructor pendants in all fire active areas.

Cheshire Fire Service is an example of a purpose built steel training structure supplied by Process Combustion. This consists of a three storey building with a variety of pitched and flat roofs.

The building is of a steel construction with nine training rooms, one plant room and one central control room. The building is used for both fire and search and rescue training.

Process Combustion Ltd supplied the whole of the facility which includes three LPG fires representing domestic and industrial scenarios.


The Fire Service at RAF Molesworth had an existing fire training building that they used for carbonaceous fires and required it to be refit with propane fuelled fires. It is a two storey building with four rooms representing a kitchen, living room, garage and bedroom.

Process Combustion Ltd installed three fires representing a domestic cooker with fire ball, an armchair fire and a bunk bed fire. We also installed a ventilation system and control panel.

Images from Severn Park Fire and Rescue Joint Training Centre and Cardiff Gate Training Centre, courtesy of Julian Hickman of Vosper Thornycroft.


Hazardous Material Fire Training Firefighters are increasingly called to deal with emergency incidents and accidents situations involving HAZMAT materials, both in industrial use, storage or transportation.

Process Combustion offer a range of fire simulations to enable training for HAZMAT fires and emergency scenarios. The props and fires can be arranged to represent a typical batch chemical processing plant, refinery or rig equipment and include overhead drench systems, burst pipes, liquid spillages, broken flanges and process plant with associated pressure vessels for boundary cooling. Pipework includes manual valves, both local and remote, requiring the trainees to search out the correct valve and close it to extinguish the fire. Realism can be enhanced by the addition of coloured smokes, dyed liquors and strobe lights and sound effects.

Standards All Process Combustion LPG fuelled firefighting training systems comply with the following high-level standards, which call up many other standards:

Fire Service Manual Volume 4 Fire Service Training

NFPA 1402 Guide to Building Fire Service Training Centres

BS EN 746-2 Industrial Thermo-processing Equipment - Safety Requirements for Combustion & Fuel Handling Systems

IEC61508 Functional Safety of Electrical/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-Related Systems


Aircraft Firefighting Training Aviation firefighting and rescue services, both civil and military, are able to benefit from the realism and repeatability of LPG fire scenarios in custom-built aircraft simulators.

Process Combustion aviation simulators are able to provide a variety of emergency scenarios ranging from a high-level engine fire to various internal and external fires on a full-size aircraft structure ranging from single seater planes and helicopters to large transport and passenger jets. Amongst these can be fuel spill fires, engine, wheel and brake fires, through to fires in galley, toilet, flight deck, cabin and cargo bay areas of

an aircraft. These realistic training scenarios allow the attainment of a high standard of professional competency for firefighters.

All aviation simulator fires are available with full control systems, safety shutdown, and data capture.


Control and Data Capture Nowadays, it is critical for fire brigades to maintain detailed records of the precise fire, heat and smoke conditions in which firefighters are training. Process Combustion’s FFTU control system provides for complete electronic capture and storage of training data which can be downloaded from the system PC at any time.


Example Fires from Previous Projects

Domestic furniture

Cookers

Bunks, double and single beds

Sofas


Televisions and Waste Bins

Industrial and Maritime

Storage Drums and Boxes


Galley ranges

Industrial plant fires complete with valves

Marine Engine fires from conceptual design to final product


Process Combustion’s Fire Simulators

1986 Royal Navy – First Prototype LPG Fuelled Naval Firefighting Trainer

1989 Royal Navy – Prototype Compartment – LPG Fuelled Naval Firefighting Trainer

1992 RAF Mildenhall - KC135/DC10 Aircraft simulator (the first of its kind supplied to the USAF in Europe)

1993 RAF Lakenheath - Smoke House

1994 RAF Lakenheath - F15 Aircraft simulator

1998 Barnston Mere - Heating and Ventilation systems for two fire training buildings

2000 RAF Mildenhall - New Smoke House

2001 HMS Excellent – Flagship Firefighting Training

2001 HMS Raleigh – Flagship Firefighting Training

2001 RAF Molesworth - Upgrade to fire training building RAF

2001 North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service – Fire House

2002 Cheshire Fire Service - Modular realistic fire training unit

2002 Severn Park Fire & Rescue Training Centre (Avon, Somerset and Gloucestershire Fire Brigades)

2003 West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service – Stress Heating upgrade to three smoke buildings

2003 Vigilaris Ltd - Mobile fire training unit

2003 Essex Fire & Rescue Service – Stress Heating upgrade to three smoke buildings

2003 RAF Menwith Hill - new modular fire training building

2004 Hellenic Navy – Firefighting Training Unit

2004 Singapore Civil Defence Force – Maritime Firefighting training Unit

2004 South Wales Fire & Rescue Service – Training Centre

2004 RAF Linton-on-Ouse – Domestic Fire Fighting Training Unit

2005 Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service – Maritime Firefighting training Unit

2006 Strathclyde Fire Brigade – Training Centre

Hornbeam ParkHookstone Road

HARROGATENorth Yorkshire HG2 8PB

ENGLAND

Tel: +44 (0) 1423 879944Fax: +44 (0) 1423 879946

http:\\www.process-combustion.co.ukemail: [email protected]

Clients Include:

AMEC Process and EnergyBOC Process Plant

BPDickinson Legg

Essex Fire & RescueFlagship Training Ltd

Foster WheelerHellenic Navy

Hydro PolymersICI

Lothian & Borders Fire & Rescue ServiceNational Grid Transco

NGF (Europe) North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

Pilkington GroupRolls Royce Nuclear Engineering Services

Royal Air ForceRoyal Navy

Scottish NuclearSelas-Linde GmbH

Severn Park Fire Training CentreSingapore Civil Defence

South Wales Fire & RescueStrathclyde Fire Brigade

3M UKTractebel Industrial Engineering

UnileverUnion Carbide

US Air ForceVT Group

West Sussex Fire & Rescue

DEFRegistration No. 34912

[1q] ISO 9001 Cert No. 1447

abcde

http://www.process-combustion.co.uk/

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