A Foam Fire Protection System is a fire suppression system.
Its success mainly depends on properly mixing foam concentrate
with air and water to create a uniform foam blanket that
extinguishes flames.
Back Ground of Foam Fire Protection System
Water is known for suppressing fires, but unfortunately not best in
all the cases. Water is not effective on an oil fire, and can be of no
use during emergency. To suppress oil fire foam is reliable to use,
since it prevent the direct contact of fire with oxygen, resulting in
suppression of the combustion.
Application of Foam Fire Protection System
A Foam Fire Protection System is designed to counter oil fires,
including light diesel oil and heavy furnace oil fires. It is often used
to protect and extinguish fires in oil tanks.
The foam system serves two purposes: it extinguishes fires in oil
tanks and cools the tank from the outside using circular pipelines.
This helps prevent the fire from spreading to nearby tanks.
Foam Fire Protection System Comprises of
The concentration of the foam is an important factor in this system.
It comprises of foam concentration tank, proportioning device,
automatic controlling valves, controlling panel, foam producer,
discharge outlet etc.
System Tank – for storing the foam, tank can be of cylindrical
vertical or horizontal type stainless steel.
Proportioning Devices – for discharging the sufficient
amount of foam- concentrate into the spray-water based on
specific requirement. These devices are sized and designed
keeping in mind the minimum loss of pressure.
Foam-chambers.
Automatic Foam Protection system mainly includes all areas
where fuel oil storage tanks are built.
Apart from this, it covers all the sensitive areas of the power
plant where hydrant system and spray system do not perform
fairly.
Foam Fire Protection System Design
Principles
Given below are the design basics which need to be given due
importance before installing Foam system:
The fixed foam system operates automatically with help from
a fire detection system around the tank. It forms a network
of pipes near all fuel oil storage tanks.
The complete system should be designed as per NFPA-11
regulations.
Concentration of foam is a very important factor and it should
be 100 % AFFF type, and stored in a tank of double of its
capacity and it is discharged through a foam pump of capacity
of 200 %.
The minimum effective capacity of each foam concentrate tank
and foam pumps should be designed for the protection of one
largest fuel oil tank at its design capacity for a minimum
duration of 60 minutes.
Automatic foam protection system covers an area of oil
storage tank and its surroundings. As fire detection
system sense any smoke in the surroundings, automatic foam
protection system starts working automatically.
Foam concentrate is drawn by two foam inductors, each with
100% capacity—one motor-driven and one diesel-engine-
driven.
Special attention shall be given for foam pumps material and
the complete system should be designed as per the TAC
norms.
The minimum effective capacity of foam concentrate tank
should keep in consideration while designing and there should
be an extra margin of 10 % over the calculated capacity.
The material used for making tanks shall be of carbon steel of
Grade ‘B’ and there should be inner lining of 2 mm of FRP.
LDO tanks should be well equipped with foam proportioner.
Water required for foam system is supplied by hydrant system
mains.
Supply line of oil tanks should be equipped with automatic
solenoid at the upstream of foam proportioner.
In foam protection system, the network of pipelines has
been done over the ground on RCC foundation.
Foam carrying pipelines should be of stainless steel.
For fixed roof type tanks, foam application rate should be 3%
and foam solution shall be 6 lpm/sq.m.
Special components like non-return valves, strainers and
isolation valves of pumps etc. should be used to avoid mixing
of water with foam concentration.
Strainers should be used at the water inlet point so that raw
impurities could be captured there and non-return valve in the
pipelines avoids mixing of water with foam.
