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Flammability Diagram

The flammability diagram is crucial for understanding fire and explosion risks in hydrocarbon mixtures on tankers, helping to ensure safety during cargo operations. It illustrates the flammability limits and the effects of adding inert gas to reduce the risk of fire by altering the tank atmosphere. Proper interpretation and adherence to the diagram are essential to prevent hazardous situations during loading and discharging processes.

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71 views12 pages

Flammability Diagram

The flammability diagram is crucial for understanding fire and explosion risks in hydrocarbon mixtures on tankers, helping to ensure safety during cargo operations. It illustrates the flammability limits and the effects of adding inert gas to reduce the risk of fire by altering the tank atmosphere. Proper interpretation and adherence to the diagram are essential to prevent hazardous situations during loading and discharging processes.

Uploaded by

jofrasharma05
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Flammability Diagram Detailed Explanation Diagram

Flammability diagram or flammability composition diagram is


one of the important documents used across the world to
understand and prevent fire and explosion.
They are mainly used for the hydrocarbon mixture and so a
key to the cargo and ship’s safety on tankers.
It is essential on-board to follow certain procedures based on
the studies from the flammability graph of the hydrocarbon
mixture.

Flammability diagram explains to us how a gas or mixture of


two gases will behave and catch fire with dilution other gas or
air.

They are also sometimes called a ternary diagram as it


represents flammability range in the mixture of inert gas,
Fire ( Basics )

Fire safety is the key to the successful operation of industries including shipping.
A detailed discussion and planning are required on tankers ( A type of ship ) to
avoid any mishap. Proper tank cleaning, loading, and discharging produce to be
followed to avoid fire and explosion.

It needs only air, heat ( source ) and fuel to start a fire. These three components
are always available onboard ship, and risks are high with tankers.

On tankers fuel is always present in large quantities in different holds, the air is
present everywhere and the heat source can be from hot work to a spark due to
static discharge. removing any side of this fire triangle ( Air, Source, Fuel ) we can
prevent fire on-board.
Inert gas is used on-board to remove the one side of the fire
triangle i.e air; by pumping in inert gas in tanker holds to keep
oxygen level at a minimum.
Flammability diagrams are used to understand the tank’s
atmosphere and help predicts; how much oxygen to be
maintained at all times.
Flammability Diagram

The flammability diagram is the key element for planning safe cargo operation
onboard ship. the diagram itself varies for different hydrocarbon gases; so we
must understand how to read and understand it.

For example, we get the lower and upper flammability limit of 1% to 10% based on
the Flammability diagram for crude oil.

Here, line AB represents the mixture of oxygen ( Air ) and particular hydrocarbon
gas. Anything that is left to the line AB represents the condition where inert gas is
also mixed with the hydrocarbon-air gas mixture.
The gas mixture represented by AC on line AB is too lean to catch fire while DB is
too rich mixture to get fire.

Now according to the diagram, When we go left to the line AB ( Add inert gas to
the tank’s ) there is a sudden change in tank atmosphere.

Similarly, the upper and lower flammability limits changes with more and more
mixing of inert gas. Finally, the upper flammability limit ( The maximum amount of
hydrocarbon gas to air mixture which can sustain fire) and lower flammability limit
(The minimum amount of hydrocarbon to air gas mixture which can sustain fire )
meet at a point, represented on the diagram as Point E.
What is Lean or too Rich mixture?

In a hydrocarbon-air gas mixture; when it is too rich in fuel to burn is known as a


too-rich mixture. Here the amount of oxygen required to sustain the fire is absent
making it impossible to catch fire. Such an atmosphere can be easily tested on
board by using Tankscope.

On another hand when the amount of hydrocarbon-air gas mixture is too lean to
catch fire; the mixture is called a lean mixture. On-board a special equipment
called explosimeter is used to detect the presence of hydrocarbon in such an
atmosphere.
Understanding Cargo Operation on Flammability Diagram

Inert gas is pumped into the tanks while and after the successful cargo operation.
On the flammability diagram, it can be seen as the decreasing gap between the
UFL ( Upper flammability limit ) and LFL ( Lower Flammability limit ). The UFL and
LFL meet at point E; but inert gas is pumped in until it reaches to the point F
represented on the diagram.

Now during cargo discharge, if the tank atmosphere is diluted with air (Oxygen); it
will follow a dangerous path FA. From the diagram itself, we can see that the path
FA pass through the flammable range and so can be hazardous. So to avoid such
a scenario; inert gas is purged into the tank before and during the cargo operation
( Discharging ).
By purging inert gas into the tanks, Oxygen-Hydrocarbon mixture is taken to point H from F.

Now any further dilution with air while discharging won’t cause any risks to the ship; as the line
HA represented on the flammability diagram don’t pass through the flammable range. Now
suppose for some reason the tanks are filled with less inert gas than required.

Then during discharging it will miss the flammable range by a small margin.

On the flammability diagram, it can be seen as line GA; which goes almost touching the
flammable range. This is called the critical dilution; the minimum amount of inert gas required to
ensure the hydrocarbon mixture don’t go into the range of flammable reason.
Conclusion

Flammability diagrams are an important document used to


prevent an explosion onboard ships. An explosion can occur
within the boundaries of the flammable zone in the diagram.

So it’s important to know and understand the diagram to


prevent fire hazards. The flammability diagram shows us that;
the presence of inert gas in the cargo holds don’t guarantee
safe cargo operation.

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