Fire scenarios in the oil and gas, process and chemical industry have the potential to harm people, pollute the environment and cause severe damage to assets. In particular, accidents involving fire may cause direct damages (injuries, fatalities, asset loss, and so on), as well as accident escalation to secondary and more severe scenarios. Structural elements exposed to high temperatures during a fire event may undergo a significant loss of mechanical properties that may cause failures and loss of containment. In particular, the collapse of the support structures of equipment and piping is a well known critical issue, as well as the failure of pressurized vessels exposed to fire. Reducing the risk of structural collapse due to exposure to fire requires the adoption of specific mitigation systems. Fireproofing offers passive fire protection by application of a protective coating that delays temperature rise in structural elements exposed to fire. All active mitigation systems require a start-up phase to be fully effective. When properly implemented, fireproofing delays the effects of fire exposure providing additional time for the implementation of active protection measures. Thus, fireproofing plays a fundamental role in the reduction of losses, in the protection of personnel and equipment, and in the effectiveness of firefighting operations.
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