Hi All, A few questions just for clarity and peace of mind, would appreciate your input.

Got a diesel tank and adjacent plant on a site in Saudi Arabia.

The tank is 20,000l.

Foam would be an appropriate extinguisher for small fires in the area of the tank, but what size/quantity of extinguishers would be suitable? Obviously if the tank is on fire it would be a case of evacuating not going near it with an extinguisher, but what's appropriate for small 'fightable' fires in a high volume/risk area?

Also Saudi hits temperatures in excess of 55degrees, The recommended storage temperature of fire extinguishers is below 48degrees. Is there a control for this? Are extinguisher jackets appropriate? (that's all that came to my mind)

I think I have everything else covered it's just these two points as I don't have experience with high volume diesel tanks nor high ambient temperatures.

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by: peter gotch

Self and Hasty

You probably need to look at what the local regulatory requirements are.

+ may be ask what others do. As example, Saudi Aramco would have lots of comparable (and much larger) installations.

....and just because the ambient temperature for fire extinguishers is 55 degrees C, it doesn't follow that any fire exinguishers would need to be stored at that temperature. However, if you have a tank of that size on fire a few fire extinguishers are not going to be much help.

Thanks, absolutely, I've ensured that engineers know only to tackle 'wastepaper bin sized' fires if they feel comfortable/confident in doing so, but if the tank is on fire to evacuate!

The range for storing FE's is -40 to 48 degrees, my query was because Saudi reaches 55+ degrees, but I've been speaking with peers who have done tests on below range storage and found the units still to work. To control this unlikely and low risk of FE failing due to occassionally hotter than ideal temperatures I'll just monitor the temperatures (already being logged for staff welfare records) and frequent FE inspections.

The client specifically wants UK standards in play, I did do a cursory search on Saudi regulatory and alsoSaudi Aramco came up too, though the documentation I found was all very much ship specific.

Thanks for your help.