Passive Fire Protection:
• PRO FLEX
• Pro Flex is a flexible system for protecting devices that control plant shutdown, thus making it possible to minimise damage and danger provoked by fire and explosion in environments exposed to risk of serious accidents in connection with fire and blast overpressure.
• Our flexible fire proofing blankets are made up of pre-shaped padding made up of layers of mineral fibres with very high thermal insulation capacity. The exterior is covered by special technical fabrics, able to resist the high temperatures of hydrocarbon flames. Designed for installation around the equipment to be protected, the pads are held together tightly by means of a system of high-temperature straps, belts and stainless steel clasps, springs and washers.
• The technical fabrics used are finished with a protective skin, making jacket weather resistant and resistant to attack from chemicals or UV rays. Our Research & Development department has compiled a wide selection of technical fabrics and insulating materials in order to deal with the most various environmental conditions where the protective system might be installed.
• Since jackets are tightly wrapped to the component needing protection, they are particularly appropriate for reduced spaces and in circumstances where reducing the weight and encumbrance of the fire protection system is necessary, such as in offshore plants or situations where the protected component is close to plant structures (parapets, beams, gangways, etc.) which do not need fire protection.
Characteristics
• Flexible, easy to transport, handle, install and dismantle both on site and in the factory. Does not require special equipment for installation, provided that it is carried out in accordance with the procedure indicated in the installation manual
• Special inspection doors allow fast access to the components of the protected equipment that require control, inspection or maintenance
• Ordinary and extraordinary maintenance can be carried out by dismantling and re-assembling the protection in a short time, unlike moulded-on coatings which do not allow for this possibility
• Can be equipped with practical access penetration for push buttons, knobs, control panels, handwheels, eyebolts, etc.
• Can be supplied with exit penetrations for position indicators, adjustment levers for manually operated pumps, declutch devices, stems and handwheels, as recommended by API 2218 standards
• Can be installed onto any piece of equipment already operating on site, without the need to disconnect cables/infeed pipes and interrupt production
• Electrical and pneumatic passages can be made
• Upon customer request, they can be supplied with heatproof grids to assist ventilation inside the protection, allowing the removal of any heat generated by the protected component
• Fabric colour can be customised in line with plant identification policies, assisting operators in case of emergencies
• Each blanket is encoded with an alphanumeric code in order to trace it in a timely manner. The encoding data together with the customer name and the tag number of the protected device are engraved on a stainless steel plate attached to the Pro Flex
Performances
Our flexible fire proofing systems guarantee full functioning of the protected component for the period of time specified, allowing it to continue working even in critical conditions such as those experienced following a hydrocarbon fire or following an explosion, that is:
• Pool Fire - 1100 °C - in accordance with UL 1709 specifications and Hydrocarbon Fire
• Jet Fire - 1350 °C - in accordance with OTI 95634 specifications and ISO 22899-1
• Blast generating overpressure of 2.9 barg.
Design using a 3D solid modeller is aided by our computation software that takes into account heat transfer factors and determines the minimum thickness necessary for the flexible fire protection to guarantee functioning of the protected equipment for the period of time and fire conditions specified.
