A liquid flammable room correctly is a designated room where solvents, fuels and other flammable liquids are properly stored, in either a factory or warehouse environment. Due to the high-risk nature of combustible fumes and the liquids themselves it is a safety requirement that they be stored in a fire rated confined room.
We were contacted by one of our clients to assess the fire safety specifications of their Liquid Flammable Room. This room is currently being used to store all their hand sanitizers for Covid-19.
Naturally, a cache of flammable liquids presents problems, such as flammable vapours that, in the event of a fire can cause a devastating explosion. Therefore, a liquid flammable room is by design a highly fire rated structure, with everything from fireproof walls to fire rated electrical components and sufficient ventilation.
We started with the electrical components. Firstly, we replaced all the electrical components with “explosive-proof” equipment. Fire rated cables, a spark- and flameproof fluorescent light and a spark proof extractor fan with a fireproof isolator was installed to ensure that an electrical malfunction inside the room does not ignite combustible fumes.
The build op of fumes must be adequately addressed by a sufficient ventilation system that can guarantee 30 air changes per hour. Per by-laws of Ekurhuleni, if you use NFPA 30, then it is 0,3m2/min per m2, with a necessary minimum of 4m2/min. That is to say that through natural and forced draught ventilation the entire air volume of the room must be extracted each hour. Fumes are extracted through fire rated spark proof extractor fan and discharged into the atmosphere. Fire rated ducting is placed on low level, between 50 and 100mm from the ground and at least 4 meters from the exhaust of the extractor fan to the other side of the room where the louvre is installed for suitable replacement of fresh air.
Please ensure that your flammable rooms are up to standard. Contact one of our experts for a free survey.
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