Fire suppression system of a small-scale LNG loading facility at PT Badak NGL

Farhan Hilmyawan Yustiarza

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1823, 020070 (2017); doi: 10.1063/1.4978143

View online: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4978143
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/apc/1823/1
Published by the American Institute of Physics

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 Fire Suppression System of a Small-Scale LNG Loading
Facility at PT Badak NGL
Farhan Hilmyawan Yustiarza

Technical Department, PT Badak NGL

Bontang 75324, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia

Corresponding Author: farhan@badaklng.co.id

Abstract. LNG progressively become favorable energy to replace oil-based fuel due to lower cost and more
environment-friendly. In order to support an emerging LNG demands in Kalimantan, PT Badak NGL, one of the leading
LNG Company in the world, develops the land-transported LNG loading facility. This facility performs loading the LNG
into a small-scale tank (ISO Tank) with 20 m3 capacities. Safety reviews over this facility were conducted. Based on
these reviews, the LNG filling station requires supplemental safeguards, such as LNG spill containment and firefighting
foam system besides firewater system and dry chemical system. The spill containment provides holding LNG spill within
the limits of plant property, while the high expansion foam system deals to minimize the vaporization rate to prevent a
fire incident. This paper mainly discusses designing of such supplemental safeguards. The requirement of the spill
containment is 20 m3 (6.3 x 3.3 x 2.0) m and the foam system should be capable generating foam at least 40 m 3/min.

INTRODUCTION
Increasing Indonesia’s needs for energy requires support from PT Badak NGL as one of the leading LNG
Company in Indonesia. Moreover, LNG progressively becomes favorable energy to replace oil-based fuel due to
lower cost and more environmental friendly. In order to reduce Indonesia revenue, especially in energy sector,
heavy-duty transportations for mining expected to replace its fuel by LNG.
For starters, several mining industries in East Kalimantan become pioneer in fulfilling this needs. Besides the
requirements for smaller scale of LNG for their vehicle, they would also require LNG transfer facilities. However,
PT Badak NGL, initially transported the LNG product by shipping either globally or domestically. Thereby, PT
Badak NGL provide a small-scale LNG loading facilities for solving this problem. Loading LNG into small-scale
tank with 20 m3 capacities and transport it by truck is agreed to be the solution. Furthermore, LNG loading facilities
for this small-scale tank, or filling stations, are agreed to be built.

Problem Description
Currently, LNG filling station has already been installed. Furthermore, because PT Badak NGL has high safety
concern, process hazard reviews were conducted. The intention of these reviews is to ensure safe operation at the
facilities. Based on these reviews, several additional safety measures are required. Those are:
• Emergency Safety Device (ESD) Valve
• Emergency Procedure
• Quick Release Coupler
• Additional Process Equipment, such as Temperature Indicator and Pressure Safety Valve
• Electrical Grounding
• Blast Proof Shelter
• LNG Spill Impoundment

International Conference on Chemistry, Chemical Process and Engineering (IC3PE) 2017

AIP Conf. Proc. 1823, 020070-1–020070-7; doi: 10.1063/1.4978143
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1491-4/$30.00

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 • Fire Protection System (includes Dry Chemical and High Expansion Foam)
Besides to improve the safety practices in the plant, there are several considerations why that additional
equipment is required.

Objective
The objective of this study is to provide the design of LNG Spill Impoundment and its High Expansion Foam
System to fulfill the safeguards requirements for the LNG Filling Station.

EVALUATION AND DISCUSSION

LNG Spill Impoundment

LNG is dangerous material due to its vapor properties. It is not toxic or corrosive, but while turns out into vapor
forms and reach certain concentration in air (LFL), it will generate pool fire, even vapor-cloud explosion. Moreover,
it has rapid vaporization rate. Thereby, combustion is easily occurring when LNG are exposed to atmospheric air.
LNG Spill impoundment provides holding to any liquid spill within the limits of plant property and prevent
spreading into public waterways, public sewers, and hazard area. In LNG Filling Station, it also acts to reduce
vaporization rate of LNG by reducing its surface area. However, the impoundment itself has a design requirement to
retain the LNG efficiently.

Impoundment Area Dimension

The area is used for fluid retention. Generally, it shall be located in particular distance from another plant or
hazard area. NFPA 52 (2013) mentions 2 standards of requirement of the impoundment volume capacity (point
10.2.3.3 and point 10.2.3.5). Calculations in accordance with NFPA 52 (2013) point 10.2.3.3 are as follows,
x LNG actual transfer flow rate
Data shows that actual LNG filling rate (Qact) is,

…(1)
x Spill Impoundment Volumetric Capacity
According to NFPA 52 (2013), Chapter 10, impounding areas for LNG transfer shall have minimum volumetric
capacity equal to the amount of maximum LNG transfer for 10 minutes.
For t = 10 minutes, the amount of maximum LNG transferred is,

…(2)
For safety reason, these volumetric capacity multiplied by safety factor 1.1. Therefore, impoundment volumetric
capacity needed to be provided is 3.7 m3.
On the other hand, in accordance with that point NFPA 52 (2013) point 10.2.3.5., the volumetric capacity shall
be equal to the liquid container. In this case, the liquid container is ISO Tank which has volumetric capacity of 20
m3. Therefore, after multiplied by the safety factor (1.1) the calculated impoundment volumetric capacity by using
this method is 22 m3. To prevent overflow, the selected volumetric capacity for this LNG Spill Impoundment is the
larger one, which is 22 m3.
Another thing to take as consideration, spill impoundment shall be provided with additional depth at least 0.9 m
for holding foam as protection matter. By referring to the existing design of spill impoundment and safety issue
consideration on height, the depth of this spill impoundment is defined to be 2.0 m. The remaining depth used for
the LNG spill is 1.1 since the 0.9 used to holds the foam. Therefore, the surface area required to cover the
volumetric capacity is 20 m2. Length and width of the impoundment are determined by considering sprinkled foam
solution from the foam generator. According to actual design of spill impoundment, it has length-width ratio about
2:1, which resulting in length 6.2 m and width 3.3 m. Hence, proposed spill impoundment dimension is 6.2 m x 3.3
m x 2.0 m. The proposed impoundment scheme is shown in Fig 1.

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 6.20 m

2.00 m

3.30 m

FIGURE 1. Impoundment scheme with dimension

Impoundment Locations

LNG spill impoundment shall be located outside the fire risk area. Based on simulation using Canary by Quest,
the fire risk area (LNG vapor dispersion) caused by this impoundment is only 5 m radius. The simulation results are
shown in Fig 2.

FIGURE 2. Impoundment vapor dispersion simulation results

However, according to PT Badak NGL General Specification Number B.7.2.9 Safety Distance and Zoning,
minimum radius to prevent the spread of fire is 15.2 m (50 ft). Since there are condensate loading and LPG bottling
facilities at north-east from the loading area. Therefore, the installations for this LNG spill impoundment located 20
m from the loading area and also 20 m from the street (south east from the loading area). The location of LNG spill
impoundment is illustrated in Fig 3.

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 FIGURE 3. LNG spill impoundment location

In order to channel the LNG spill from loading area to the impoundment, sewer needs to be provided. The sewer
has offset 0.5 m surrounding the loading area with depth 0.37 m. It shall be equipped with grate in order to prevent
people from falling.

High Expansion Foam System

Impoundment only serves as flammable liquid containment in order to prevent LNG spill from contaminate and
endanger the environment. The hazard from LNG vapor shall be reduced extensively by applying extinguishing
agent. There are several fire extinguishing media available in the market. However, based on its water portion in the
foam, the one that would be fit for this purpose, which is the LNG spill is High Expansion Foam.
High Expansion Foam reduce LNG vaporization rate by blanketing the surface area of the LNG spill. However,
the high expansion foams are not effectively used to extinguish fire because of its weight. Moreover, they can’t be
projected, hence the discharge outlet has to be as close as possible to the hazard.

Foam Discharges System

It is not only foam type that determine effective foam utilization to handle a fire, foam system is also crucial
matter for this matter. In general, foam discharge system is composed by 3 parts, which shown in Fig 4.

FIGURE 4. Foam discharge system scheme

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 Based on its portability and operability, foam system is categorized in 2 types,
x Fixed system is a complete installation in which foam is piped and controlled from central fire station, then
discharged from outlets to hazard. The devices are permanently installed near hazard area and
automatically operate when hazards are detected. Hence, it has faster response time in dealing with the
hazards. However, manual control for this type of system shall also be installed to activate during
automatic system failures. Manual activation does not mean all the action from setting up equipment until
foam comes out will be done by human, but all the system is connected, but it requires human action to
activate.
x Portable system usually consists of foam generator(s), foam concentrate container, water supply, and
portable hose. These are installed when hazard, in this case LNG leaks, is detected. This system is applied
for small hazard area which is not required a lot of people to install it. If this system alone is proposed,
several things must be considered, such as time required to respond, quantity of personnel required, and
time for setting up the equipment.
Since the nearest local control room has a distance more than 3 minutes walking, in order to minimize the
response time during any LNG spill incident, the selected foam system is fixed system.

Foam Requirements

The high expansion foam type for LNG filling station expected to give immediate response whenever leak is
occurred to reduce consequences, including at midnight. Thus, adequate discharge system for handling this scene is
fixed system. Moreover, this foam system also acts to prevent combustion. If it is installed in portable system, and
assuming firefighter response are 10 minutes. LNG vapor in the air might form LFL concentration, then potential
combustion could be possible to occur.
x Minimum Discharge Rate
By assuming foam covers overall impoundment surface area, which is 20 m3. Then by using best practice from
Ansul for recommended application rate, 1.83 m3/min/m2, we can calculate the design rate of discharge. By adding
more safety margin to the rate into 2 m3/min/m2, we could also obtain lower fire control time as the advantage.
Graph that shown the recommended practice for minimum discharge rate from Ansul is shown in Fig 5.

1.83 m3/min/m2 is a generally

Fire control time (s)

accepted minimum design rate

High Expansion Foam Application Rate (m3/min/m2)

FIGURE 5. Fire control time vs. high expansion foam application rate graph

Referring to Fig 5., the optimum application rate is stated 1.83, which can be rounded up to 2 m3/min/m2, while
the application area, which is the impoundment surface area is stated before as 20 m 2. The minimum discharge rate
of high-expansion foam generator can be obtained by,

020070-5
 …(3)
x Required finished foam quantity
Based from NFPA11 (2010), chapter 6, high expansion foam concentrate and water shall be provided for
minimum 4 times operation. While the minimum discharge rate of high-expansion foam generator is calculated as
40 m3/min and the fire control time for the generally accepted application rate is 180 s (3 min), the required finished
foam quantity can be calculated as follow,

…(4)
x Required foam solution quantity
The foam solution is composed by mixing foam concentrate and water before it is aspirated, thus the amount of
required foam solution is the finished foam multiplied by the aspiration ratio of the foam type. Since the foam type
used is high-expansion type which has aspiration ratio 1:500, the required foam solution can be calculated as follow

…(5)
x Required foam concentrate quantity
The foam concentrate demand is depending on type of percentage concentration of the applied foam concentrate.
Badak LNG usually used foam concentrate with 3% concentration, thereby calculation of requires quantity shows as
follow

…(6)

CONCLUSION
This paper gives a conclusion as follows,
1. The require LNG spill impoundment for LNG Filling Station adjacent to Plant 26 has the following
specifications,
x Surface area : 20 m2
x Inside length : 6.2 m
x Inside width : 3.3 m
x Impoundment depth : 2.0 m

2. Based on spillage liquid type and distances from nearest MCR, the most suitable high expansion foam
system to support the LNG Spill Impoundments has the following specifications,
x Fixed system
x Foam generator capacity : 40 m3/min
x Foam concentrate quantity : 40 L

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was fully supported and granted by PT Badak NGL permission. I also thank my colleagues from
Technical Department who provided insight and expertise that assisted the research.

REFERENCES
1. PT Badak NGL, General Specification: Foam System (Bontang, 2001).
2. PT Badak NGL, General Specification: Safety Distance and Zoning (Bontang, 2001).
3. Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate, Fire Service Manual Vol. 2: Fire Service Operations (The Stationary
Office, London, 1998).
4. N. H. Kusnandar, #76381-Temporary LNG Filling Facility in Plant 26 (Bontang, 2014).

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5. National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 11: Standard for Low-, Medium-, and High-Expansion Foam
(2010).
6. National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 52: Vehicular Gaseous Fuel System Code (2013).
7. National Fire Protection Association. NFPA 59A: Standard for the Production, Storage, and Handling of
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) (2013).
8. B. Tjajadi and D. Murdiadi, Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) Study Report for LNG Filling Station (PT
Denvegraha DNV GL Oil & Gas, 2015).
9. F. Yohanes, Process Hazard Analysis of LNG Filling Station at Plant 26 (Bontang, 2014).

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