Safety performace of fireproofing materials for oil&gas off-shore applications

Fire scenarios in off-shore installations have a high potential of asset damage, also due to possible escalation resulting in domino scenarios. Fireproofing materials are a consolidated technique for passive fire protection of equipment units and of support structures. However, the current practice in rating fireproofing materials does not provide sufficient information for safety management purposes (e.g. they can not be used to predict ‘time-to-failure’ of pressurized units, which is fundamental in planning adequate egress and emergency procedures). The current contribution presents the results of a study aimed at a better understanding of the performance of fireproofing materials in the protection of critical equipment. Fundamental models were defined to describe the thermo-physical properties of different fireproofing materials of industrial relevance. The results were validated by labscale experimental runs. Finite Element Model (FEM) simulation allowed for the description of the expected behaviour of process equipment exposed to different fire conditions. The FEM model was validated using available results from large scale tests on storage vessels. The results allowed the identification of criticalities and limits of use of the alternative fireproofing options. As such, the proposed approach paves the way for a safer and more cost effective design of passive fire protection systems in off-shore facilities.