Lessons learned from recent fuel storage fires

Industrial fire and explosion hazards due to accidents in fuel storage units have gained a considerable attention in recent years. Both, the regulatory bodies and scientific communities are heavily concerned about the proper safety measures to avoid such calamities in the future. This paper aims to bring some essentials related to the hazards that arose from recent fuel storage fire accidents occurring in Buncefield, UK (2005), Puerto Rico, USA (2009) and Sitapura, India (2009). The potential similarities behind occurrence of these accidents are studied. The applicability of various methods (models) and also computer simulations to estimate the safety distances according to the international standards for both explosion and fire hazard are verified. The overpressures caused by the Vapor Cloud Explosions (VCE) and radiation fluxes emitted by the fires are considered for respective explosion and fire hazard estimations. The prime focus is placed on the regulations laid down by the National Fire Protection Agency of the United States and the European Norms.

► Recent explosion and fire accidents at fuel storage sites are investigated. ► Vapor Cloud Explosion and pool fire hazards are the important scenarios. ► Existing methods to estimate overpressure and safety distances are discussed. ► Methods to estimate the thermal radiation and safety distances are also utilized. ► CFD simulation technique in explosion and fire hazard predictions is used.