Waterspray & Deluge
THE CHALLENGE
Versalis, Grangemouth
The Italian chemical firm, Versalis recently invested in the region of £45m at its plant in Grangemouth to expand elastomer production. The Grangemouth site produces synthetic elastomers and lattices which serve the automotive tyre industry. The expansion to the plant included a 4th Finishing Line. The fire engineering solution established that water spray and deluge would be required to the associated fourth finishing line plant. All systems were required to be UL approved and to NFPA standards.
THE SOLUTION
The systems were to be designed in accordance with NFPA 13. One work package was dedicated to the conventional sprinkler system and a further four work packages outlined the requirements for water deluge systems to provide protection to external chemical plant areas. Careful planning is pivotal to fixed fire systems and Vipond provided key lead-in dates. One of the more unusual requirement’s in one of the water deluge works packages was to bend the pipework to follow the contour of the tank to be protected. Close tolerances were required to ensure that the fabricated lengths matched the curvature of the tank.