(56r) Protective Construction Options for Multi-Purpose Buildings with Explosion Hazards

This paper examines facility siting issues pertinent to multi-purpose buildings that include one or more process areas with explosion hazards co-mingled with occupied areas (e.g., control room, laboratory space, offices). In this setting, when the process room is of conventional construction, the explosion can fail walls and pass through door openings, propagate blast down corridors, and expose all portions of the building to extreme hazards. Past vapor and dust explosions in such buildings has resulted in significant wall and roof failures with associated debris hazards and tragic consequences. This paper provides examples of such situations and the use of explosion venting in combination with protective construction to control the explosion event and to protect personnel in occupied areas. This paper also addresses occupancy and need for protection for personnel in different work areas of a multi-purpose building. API RP-752 provides guidance for enclosed process areas stating that “enclosed process areas where only essential personnel are assigned to perform activities similar to those performed at an outdoor process area” are excluded from building siting evaluation with the additional comment that “rooms intended for occupancy (e.g. office, shop, control room) within an enclosed process area” are included in siting evaluation. The guidance has gaps when addressing areas within a multi-purpose building. Examples include corridors between areas with transient foot traffic; quality test rooms associated with a process area; separate operating lines required protection from each other; maintenance areas supporting an operating line; and product warehousing with frequent worker presence. These situations are addressed in this paper.