Causes and prevention of fire in FRP cooling tower

Causes and prevention of fire in FRP cooling tower

FRP polyurethane insulation pipes are only a small part of the application of FRP products. Nowadays, the consumption of FRP materials in China is very large each year. For example, the application of FRP cooling towers. Nowadays, accidents often occur when FRP cooling towers are used. Below okmarts.com The editor will analyze the causes and prevention of fires in FRP cooling towers.

　　　In industrial production, the use of glass fiber reinforced plastic cooling towers to reduce water temperature has many advantages and is favored by industrial enterprises. But it also has a big disadvantage, that is, it is prone to fire during installation and construction. It is necessary to analyze the causes of fires in FRP cooling towers and carefully implement preventive measures to prevent similar accidents. Ten years ago, during the installation and construction of a glass fiber reinforced plastic cooling tower in a chemical plant in Florida, sparks fell on the polypropylene corrugated sheets in the tower, causing a fire. In just 10 minutes, the cooling tower was completely destroyed. Ten years later, due to the same reason, the cooling tower was completely destroyed. Similar accidents also occurred in many companies such as New York and Chicago. Fires in glass fiber reinforced plastic cooling towers sometimes cause fires in related equipment and workshops, and the economic loss cannot be underestimated.

Causes and prevention of fire in FRP cooling tower

　　 1. The accident

　　 One day, the welder of the factory was welding the platform and railing near the mouth of the glass fiber reinforced plastic cooling tower. At this time, the welder was instructed by the monitor to suspend work. So the welder stopped the welding operation and hung the welding tongs in the edge of the cooling tower. Since the welding rod on the electric welding tongs touches the steel strip on the edge of the mouth, electric welding sparks are generated, and the electric welding sparks splash from the mouth of the tower to the packing corrugated sheets in the tower. At the same time, someone saw smoke from the corrugated sheet about 30 cm from the tower shell. Next, the smoke spread and a fire broke out. When the personnel working on the lower level of the corrugated sheet looked up, they found that the corrugated sheet was dripping with oily sparks. The fire in the cooling tower spread rapidly, and a fire several meters high soon formed. The construction workers asked the ground personnel for water and fire extinguishers, but before the ground personnel came back, the NBL-200 glass fiber reinforced plastic cooling tower was completely burnt down in only 10 minutes. All that was left at the scene were the glass fiber reinforced plastic melt and the angle steel supporting the cooling tower.

　　 2. Cause analysis

　　 1. Polypropylene corrugated sheet is easy to burn. From the structural point of view, the shell of the FRP cooling tower is formed by using unsaturated polyester as the adhesive and glass cloth as the reinforcing material. The packing in the tower is a modified polyvinyl chloride corrugated sheet or a corrugated sheet made of polypropylene, which is very easy to burn in case of fire, which is the objective cause of fire accidents.

From the scene, the welding rod touched the steel belt at the mouth of the tower, and the welding sparks (temperature as high as 1000 degrees Celsius) splashed on the polypropylene corrugated sheet of the filler in the tower. Under the action of high temperature, it ignites the polypropylene corrugated sheet with a melting point of only 164 degrees Celsius , From the point where the welding spark splashed, melted, smoked, and ignited (the simulation test afterwards confirmed this process). In addition, the tower was well ventilated and the wind assisted the fire. In just 10 minutes, the cooling tower was completely destroyed.

　　2. The company and the workers have weak safety awareness. The cooling tower manufacturer clearly stipulates in Article 10 of the "Installation Precautions": Because the filler is flammable, electric welding is strictly prohibited at the installation site; at the same time, there should be standing fire extinguishing measures in the place where the FRP cooling tower is used. However, the company did not pay enough attention to these precautions before installation and construction, and the cooling tower was not equipped with fire extinguishing facilities.

　　3. Construction workers have weak safety awareness, rules and regulations are not followed, and they work blindly. Before installation and construction, if the hot work permit is not applied, if the hot work safety management regulations are applied for the hot work permit and safety precautions are implemented, it may not cause an accident. However, the operators did not have enough understanding of the importance of applying for a fire permit, and did not implement relevant preventive measures. They worked without authorization, and even after a fire broke out, the rescue measures were ineffective and the accident loss was enlarged. This is also one of the important reasons for the accident.

　　 Three, preventive measures

　　 1. Be familiar with the characteristics of equipment or products, and implement preventive measures as required.

　　2. Comply with the safety regulations for hot work and prevent illegal and undocumented hot fires.

3. Try not to catch fire near the cooling tower. When it is necessary to catch fire, cover the flammable parts with non-combustible materials. Equip fire extinguishers, fire hoses and other fire extinguishers on the fire site, and set up special personnel to supervise and take care of them. If problems are found, they should be eliminated in time .

important hint:

　　 1. Every operation area is required to use Monday's regular meeting to convey the case to every employee, learn lessons, and prevent similar accidents. All operations managers involved in the hot work in the cooling tower must attach great importance to them, notify the relevant professional group and department leaders in time, and take safety measures to ensure that the operation is safe.

2. The recent series of maintenance have a long duration, heavy maintenance tasks, and fatigue of maintenance personnel. The maintenance site must not be taken lightly. It is necessary to tighten the string of safety at all times, strictly implement maintenance measures, strengthen safety monitoring at the work site, and ensure the smooth completion of maintenance tasks .