Development of a Steel Component Combustion Model for Fires Involving Pure Oxygen Systems

摘要

Pure oxygen systems pose significant fire and explosion risk to equipment, operations, andpersonnel if a loss of oxygen containment occurs. In industrial oxygen systems, combustion ofmetal can be initiated by a variety of ignition sources. The combustion of process vessel walls,components, or piping can result in loss of containment of pressurized oxygen. Automaticshutdown and isolation systems are designed to detect loss of containment, incipient loss ofcontainment due to process parameters (e.g., pressure drop), or internal fire conditions. Theeffectiveness of these isolation systems is dependent upon the speed with which they activateafter the initiating event.The prediction of failure modes and time scales can be an important tool in the design, operation,and maintenance of industrial high purity oxygen systems. Modeling of metal consumption inoxygen fueled fires requires consideration of multiple ignition mechanisms. Previouslypublished experimentation has been motivated by the need to compare the relative burnresistance of metals and nonmetals under a variety of operating conditions, but has not produceda tool to inform the potential for loss of containment in oxygen systems based on the differentignition mechanism failure modes.This work aims to develop a series of theoretical models using experimental results and kineticrelationships, to predict loss of containment in piping for industrial systems for combinations ofdifferent failure modes. Using this type of analysis, process designers can make informeddecisions on the design of high purity oxygen systems, the timescale required by emergencyshutdown systems, and schedules for routine maintenance and inspection.