Fire Protection in the Mining Industry Garry Kwok Board Member
Mine Sites Across Australia are both board & varied in how they operate. One common thread highly expensive and mission critical equipment operating under extreme hostile conditions, in vast, remote and difficult to access environments a fire will have a catastrophic impact on the Safety of Operators and Mission-critical Equipment. Mine fires and explosions have been identified as 1 of 8 key causes of over 85% of fatalities over the past 15 years.* *Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre Sustainable Minerals Institute; University of Queensland March 2005
Where will you find fire protection systems/equipment? Fire systems/equipment safeguarding: Heavy mining vehicles Process control centres Switch rooms Large mobile plants Auxiliary power supply facilities Focus is on gaseous fire suppression systems /equipment Sites could have a combination of scheduled and non-scheduled gaseous fire suppression systems.
Non-Scheduled Gaseous Agents Come in 2 gaseous groups Inert gases naturally occurring gases - nitrogen, argon, CO 2, or combinations (eg IG-541, IG-55). They extinguish fires by reducing the oxygen level below 15%. Synthetic gases manmade agents like Novec 1230. Extinguishes fires by reducing heat and interfering with the fire s chemical reaction Non-scheduled agents are NOT regulated by the Act & Regs. Have no ozone depletion or negligible global warming potential.
ODS & SGG Scheduled Agents Most commonly used ODS & SGG scheduled extinguishing agents on mines are mainly FM-200, NAF-SIII. Halon is now typically not found on mining sites phased out due to its significant ozone depleting and global warming impact to the environment These agents are used as they are: Efficient in fire suppression Have a small system footprint Sensitive to minimise damage to equipment Better environmental properties compared to Halon
ODS & SGG Scheduled Agents Regulated under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 (the Act) and the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Regulations 1995 (Regulations) Stipulate obligations in how the agents are to be acquired, stored, used, handled, disposed of, and maintained - to minimise their impact on the environment. Systems containing the agents can only be discharged in response to an actual fire. Discharge for testing or training purposes are not permitted (unless applied for & granted a permit by the ODS & SGG Board.
ODP & GWP Extinguishing Agent Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP) Global Warming Potential (GWP) Atmospheric Lifetime (ATL) Inert Gases Zero Zero N/A Novec 1230 Zero 1 5 days Carbon Dioxide Zero 1 N/A FM200 (HFC227ea) Zero 3300 36.5 years NAF S III 0.36 1450 12 years Halon 1301 10-16 6200 65 years
Identifying fire suppression system has been installed Rooms or enclosures protected by gaseous fire suppression systems typically have warning signs installed on or above doorways into the room/enclosure. Manual Gas Release Point near doorways. Systems will operate automatically in the event of a fire. The detection system will go into alarm then the gaseous fire suppression system will operate after a delay. Some systems may also have manual controls installed as well.
Correct servicing and installation of fire protection systems All fire equipment and systems need to be regularly tested, serviced and maintained, so that they are ready to operate in the event of a fire. Australian Standard, AS 1851-2012: Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment sets out these requirements. Section 7 contains the inspection and testing requirements for gaseous fire suppression systems.
Mine Fire Safety - EAHL Have Extinguishing Agent Handling License (EAHL) licensed technicians working on ODS & SGG agent fire suppression systems/equipment. There are specific EAHL licenses - installing/ decommissioning (EAHL2), servicing/testing (EAHL3) & control systems (EAHL6) Ensure that maintenance log books are used to record the maintenance history for such systems, including the EAHL license no. of technician who serviced the system. Report any accidental discharges of scheduled agents from gaseous fire suppression systems, portable fire extinguishers or containers should be reported.
Key Outcomes - Data of Reported Discharges by Cause Mining Data of Reported Discharge by Cause (FM-200 & NAF S-III) Data of Reported Discharges by Cause 2005-2015 DUST EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION 521 510 HUMAN ERROR 297 HUMAN ERROR SYSTEM NOT ISOLATED 92 SMOKE DETECTION 129 UNKNOWN 83 VOLTAGE SURGE 402 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Approx. (Kg)
Key Outcomes - Increase Industry Awareness Mining Industry Awareness 635 EAHL license holders (out of 1145 total) involved in Mining Segment Targeted Mining Industry vertical awareness program in Aug 2016: Mining Article Fire Protection in the Mining Industry Mining Fact Sheet Scheduled Extinguishing Agents in the Mining Industry
Key Outcomes - Increase Industry Awareness
Amount Key Outcomes - Increase Industry Awareness 6 EAHL by Mining Sector 5 5 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Mining
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