What is Fire-Safe Valve?

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Written by Anup Kumar Dey

Indust rial valves are not an ent it y of fire hazards. For valves used in t he oil and gas
indust ries, t he American Pet roleum Inst it ut e(API) has developed fire t est s. Aft er years of
refinement , API 607, ISO 10497, API 6FA, BS 6755, and BS 5146 have been accept ed as
t he st andards of fire t est s of valves. There are a few ot her st andards and procedures like
API RP6F, FM 6033, Exxon BP3-14-1, OCMA FSV-1, et c. Using t hese st andards as
guidelines, many organizat ions make t heir own int ernal procedure for fire-safe valves.

A universally accept ed fire fight ing st rat egy ment ions t hat if a fire is not beat en in a one-
half hour, a wit hdrawal and cont ainment policy is inst it ut ed. St ruct ural failures like flange
bolt failures, pipe rack collapse, and concret e erupt ions will occur. Based on t his concept ,
a fire t est durat ion of a one-half hour (30 minut es) has been est ablished.

Principle of Fire Testing of Valves

The idea behind t he fire t est s is t hat any fire-safe valve under pressurized condit ions
must operat e aft er being burnt at a specified high t emperat ure for a specified period and
leakage aft er burning should be wit hin specified limit s. The usual principle of fire t est ing
of valves or fire-safe valve t est ing is as follows:

The wat er-filled pressurized closed valve is fully enveloped uniformly in high-t emperat ure
flames of around 750 °C t o 1000 °C for a period of 30 minut es. When t he valve is
complet ely enveloped in fire exposing t he seat and sealing areas t o burn t emperat ure, t he
heat int ensit y is monit ored wit h t hermocouples and calorimet er cubes. During t his period,
t he ext ernal and int ernal leakage past t he valve is measured. This leakage should be
wit hin accept able limit s. Also, once t he valve is cooled aft er t he fire t est , t he pressure-
cont aining capabilit y of t he same valve seat s, shell, and seals are t est ed.

The st em and bore are usually kept in t he horizont al posit ion. Check valves are
t est ed in t heir normal operat ing posit ion.
The t emperat ure is measured using t wo t hermocouples. One is locat ed 25 mm
below t he valve under t est and t he ot her 25 mm from t he upper st em packing box
on t he horizont al cent reline.
The piping t o valve end connect ions for joint leakage is not part of valve fire
t est ing.

API 607 vs API 6FA

The most widely used st andard for fire t est ing of indust rial valves is API 607 and API 6FA.
Bot h t he st andards are devised by t he API. So, what are t he differences?
API 607 provides fire t est crit eria for quart er-t urn valves and ot her valves wit h
nonmet allic seat ing under pressure, whereas API 6FA provides t he fire t est ing
requirement s for API 6A and API 6D valves. API 6FA is applicable for met al seat ed valves.

Fire Safe by Design vs Fire Safe Tested

There are some confusing t erms oft en used relat ed t o t he fire safe valves. They are:

Fire Safe by Design: A “fire safe by design” valve is designed t o make t he valve fire
safe. However, t he valve hasn’t been t est ed.
Fire Safe Test ed: A “fire safe t est ed” valve could have been t est ed. However, t he
valve has not been approved by a governing t hird part y.
Fire Safe Approved and Cert ified: The t erm “fire safe approved and cert ified” for
valves signifies t hat t he has been t est ed, approved, and cert ified by a governing
t hird part y following t he guidelines ment ioned in common st andards like API 607,
API 6FA, ISO 10497, et c.

Fire-Safe Ball Valves

For applicat ions involving explosive or fire-risk environment s, fire-safe ball valves are
produced. These valves are specially designed t o limit t he spread of fire. The fire-safe
ball valves are normally fire-t est ed t o API 607, API 6FA, and BS 6755-Part 2.