Technical area

Fireshelter cabinets by Intertec guarantee full functionality of, for example, ESD valves or fire protection valves in case of a hydrocarbon fire. The operation of the equipment during a fire is ensured by the reduction and maintenance of ESD drives temperature below 60°C for 90 minutes. This guarantees enough time for a controlled shut-off of cricital equipment. The 90-minute fire protection of equipment was tested in accordance with ANSI/UL 1709 by the MPA Dresden laboratory.

Standard flameproof enclosures in process installations usually provide 30 minutes of protection. The new design of Fireshleter cabinets by Intertec at least triples this time. This solution gives installation operators a wide margin for remote control of ESD valves, fire protection valves and the installation safety in terms of restricting fire propagation or damaging tanks as a result of overpressure or overflow. What is more, it ensures the longest possible control time in order to support procedures for personnel evacuation and fire protection response.

Another key feature of the Fireshelter cabinets is the possible installation of panels facilitating access for maintenance works and inspections of the equipment inside. The rigid structure of the cabinets is ensured by composite materials. In other types of flameproof protection measures, such as covers or protection coats, easy and quick access to the equipment inside is hindered.

Since there is no specific international standard for this type of applications, process installations designers tend to apply rapid temperature rise fire curves in accordance with ANSI / UL 1709, the standard applied to structural steel protection in buildings (“Rapid Rise Fire Tests of Protection Structural Steel”). Facilities in the O&G sector are one of the key areas of application, since fires may reach the temperature of 1093C within 5 minutes.

The testing programme was carried out by a third party – MPA Dresden. The testing laboratory tested the impact of a hydrocarbon fire on a typical fireshelter cabinet with the inside cubic capacity of 1 m3, protecting an electric actuator.

After 90 minutes and the impact of a temperature of 1093C, after the test was completed, the temperature on the surface of the electric actuator installed inside the cabinet was still lower than 55C – way below the target level of 60C. The cabinet also maintained its structural integrity which suggests it could survive this temperature for an even longer period of time.

Intertec has been designing flameproof cabinets for the protection of valves, actuators and other critical equipment, such as junction boxes, for more than 55 years. The design of the cabinets is based on a unique layered structure made of a GRP (Glass Reinforced Polyester) laminate and insulation using flameproof mineral wool. Other patented methods are also used that help the cabinets prevent detrimental consequences of a fire and ensure slow and predictable degradation.

The composite materials that Intertec uses for manufacturing these cabinets, combine excellent structural strength and high resistance to weather conditions and the corrosive effect of salt and aggressive chemicals, which is why it can be used even in the harshest conditions, such as those found on offshore platforms, The layered structure means that the cabinets can be manufactured using joining methods in order to eliminate thermal bridges between the inner and the outer layer. A sandwich type composite