Fire Zone Mapping
Protection Planning
Equipment and/or areas within facilities can be identified and grouped into fire zones. These are areas where a pool or flash fire can be expected to occur and be contained by safety systems (passive fire barriers such as trenches and dikes, and active systems).
The following are some items that should be considered when establishing fire zones:
- Location of employees
- Fire, explosion, toxic health hazards of the processes and of the materials being handled
- Volume of material contained in the process, and how it is isolated during a fire
- Placement and effectiveness of active and passive fire protection
- Ability of employees to safely exit the fire zone, and access of firefighters and their equipment to the fire zone
- Possible fire hazards from adjacent hazards or zones
- Adequacy of a flare or atmospheric vent system to handle simultaneous relief from all PRDs within a fire zone
Fire zone drawings serve as an aid to clients in determining areas of the facility that already have or may need appropriate fire protection equipment (fireproofing, firewater monitors, adequate drainage, etc).
Mr. Johnson is responsible for engineering services in the areas of Pressure Relief engineering, as well as technical and chemical process engineering. He is also proficient in various technical engineering softwares and UCC programs and has performed software implementation for numerous non-US UCC locations in North America. Mr. Johnson is currently assisting E2G with Quality Assurance for a Relief Valve Integrity Program. 
Ms. Thomas is responsible for engineering consulting services in the areas of Pressure Relief, Process Safety Management and Process Technology. She is a specialist in the design, installation, sizing and selection of pressure relief devices and relieving systems and is currently an active member of the API Pressure Relieving System Subcommittee’s Task Force on RP 520 and RP 521, related to the design and installation of pressure relieving systems. She conducts audits of pressure relieving systems to ensure compliance with OSHA PSM legislation and ASME, API and DIERs Standards, Codes and Publications. She also evaluates pressure relieving systems including scenario development, relief device sizing, collection header design and evaluation, relief device equipment recommendations and documentation.
