Major Fire Hazards In Power Plants

THE ORIENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD. REGIONAL OFFICE : GHAZIABAD

Losses at NTPC Dadri during last few years

Loss Description Crane Accident ICT 25020 (TH) ICT 25019 (TH) ICT 4B (GAS) Busduct (TH) ICT4B (GAS) ICT (Recent Claim)

Loss/Claim(in Lac.) 25.91 98.26 187.96 25.00 6.56 8.00 2.28 Crores

Insurance Policy CPM Fire/MBD MBD MBD Fire MBD Fire

Majority of NTPC Dadris claims pertain to Transformers. Although transformer failures appear to be common, percentage wise they are few, considering hundreds of thousands in service.

NTPC Dadri had the following Transformers :

Plant Thermal Plant Gas Plant No. of Transformers 64 17 Cooling Oil Oil

One Study of all transformers failures over a five year period showed fire developing in 64 of 430 losses caused by lighting, electrical breakdown and fire. Another study of fires and explosions in power and lightning transformers showed that occasional losses could reach upto hundred thousand dollars.

Seventy percent of monetary loss and 40% of fires studied,occurred in transformers rated at 500 KVA or higher. Most of the fires in oil insulated transformers involved ratings of 500 KVA or higher and damaged external attachments and equipments in the immediate vicinity. The following chart shows the distribution of damages to transformers in accordance with their causes: Cause of Damage Product Faults Operational Faults External Influences Distribution Percentages 74% 14% Breakdown of Product Faults Pure Product Faults Faults in Adjusting Devices Winding Faults Distribution Percentages 68% 19%

12%

13%

Fires in oil insulated transformers result principally from breakdown of insulation caused by : - Overload - Switching or lightning surges - Gradual deterioration - Low Oil Level - Moisture or Acid in the Oil - Failure of an insulating bushing Arcing, that follows an electrical breakdown can burn through the case or vaporize the oil, creating pressure sufficient to force off the cover or rupture the casing. Considerable burning oil may be expelled and an intense fire may follow. Notwithstanding the inherent hazard of oil filled transformer, the fire record has been favorable generally due to good design, good electrical protection, safe location and careful maintenance.

Turbo generator Oil Systems :

Steam Turbine driven generators contain large quantities of flammable oil. Machine 15,000 K W, Air Cooled Machine 44,000 KW, Hydrogen Cooled Machine 2,65,000 KW Hydrogen Cooled Machine Oil Storage 900 gallons 2000 gallons 6000 gallons

The flammable turbine oil is contained in the machine under pressure : Oil Pressure Oil seal Pressure 5 to 10 psi 15 to 25 psi Upto 250 psi Areas of Machine In the Generator Casing For the Bearings For the Controls

Turbo generator Oil System includes :

- Storage Tank - Pumps - Coolers - Piping between tank and turbo generator The system serves three main functions through separate pumps and piping. It : - lubricates the generator and turbine bearings, - operates the turbine governor, - in hydrogen cooled units, provides a seal to prevent escape of hydrogen from around the generator bearings Oil system for modern steam turbine driven generators present a serious fire Hazard.

OIL - FIRE HAZARD Modern turbines operate at steam pressures upto 4,500 psi with steam temperature as high as 1150F( around 620C). Ignition temperature of oil is as low as 700F(around 370C). If oil under pressure escapes, it can ignite immediately from hot surfaces. Oil leak can occurr near the : - governor, - at machine bearings, - at oil pressure actuated regulator valve controlling the auxiliary oil pump - at oil piping, - at oil pressure and temperature gages - at any other location The turbine generator units cannot be quickly stopped. The oil supply cannot be shut off while machines continue to rotate. At times, it takes 30 minutes for the machine to stop.Considerable oil is thus fed to fire when accidental leakage occurs. Fire in atomized oil is intense and can involve large areas.

Severe oil fires can also accompany violent rupture of the machine casings owing to : - accidental over speeding, - mechanical failure such as shaft breakage, - failure of the retaining rings on the generator rotor. In some cases, pieces of metal weighing hundreds of kilograms have been thrown through thr building roof. Factors given below also make the fire serious : - Being an in-door fire, heat and smoke can interfare with effective fire fighting - Equipments of high value are exposed to it, - Apart from extensive physical damage, prolonged business interruption can result from the power outage.

FIRE CONTROL : Portable Extinguishers are likely to be ineffective during a serious fire in turbine enclosure since : - Fire is not easily accessible and heat is so intense that operators could not get close enough to apply them effectively. - Fixed dry-chemical or carbon-di-oxide extinguishers are likely to be inadequate for basic protection, since re-ignition is likely to occur as long as the oil continues to discharge from leak. A fixed water spray or sprinkler system is the best method of preventing major damage. Literature mentions that, use of water has been opposed by some generator manufacturers and the station operators.

They believe that the cooling effect of water might distort or crack the turbine shell, steam piping, or other parts operating at high temperatures. There is no loss experience or test data to support such an objection. On the contrary, in one case hose streams were used on an oil fire at a turbine operating at 900F(480C) and 800 psi and caused no damage to the hot metal parts, even though the metal cover of the turbine was off, that time. Some Plants have installed sprinklers above and below generating units that operate at high steam temperatures. Several Power Plants have installed automatic spray system over the : - Turbine Governor, - Emergency Stop Valve, - Bearings.

THE HYDROGEN EXPLOSION HAZARD Present day generators ranging from 15,000 to 12,000 KVA are generally hydrogen cooled. Hydrogen kept automatically at 95% purity, presents no fire or explosion hazard in the generator itself, as long as purity is maintained,even if insulation failure develops. Hydrogen cooled units involve an explosion hazard in the oil system. Hydrogen may leak by the oil seals for the machine bearings and accumulate as an explosive mixture in the oil reservoirs. Several explosions with the localized damage are known to have occurred in older installations. Few of the explosions ruptured the reservoirs dumping thousands of litres of oil. Turbo Generators of NTPC Dadri at Thermal Plant is hydrogen cooled and gas plant is air cooled.

SWITCHYARD Switchgear selection involves : - Voltage of the system, - Maximum Expected Load, - Current Interrupting Requirements. NTPC Dadri has around 18 switchgears in Thermal Plant and around 16 in Gas Plant, with sulphur hexaflouride as an insulating medium. High Voltage Bus bars and conductors are often completely covered with insulating materials.The busbars must be able to withstand the extreme mechanical and thermal stress that fault currents impose. The fault current jumps across the space between conductors and could result in explosion. Faults may be caused by events as : - Repair Work,

- Equipment Maintenance, - Faulty Components, - Incorrectly Selected Components - Bad Electrical Connections, - Deterioration of Insulation. The energy dissipated at faults is incredibly high and the incinerating temperature and explosive pressures, which result are a devastating combination. They create a serious hazard. In Towering Inferno, film the fire that destroyed the skyscraper building started with a switchboard arcing fault. Pure Sulphur Hexaflouride, is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic gas, chemically stable and non-inflammable.At atmospheric pressure and room temperature, it is in gaseous form. It has excellent arc quenching properties when subjected to temperatures of 2000 K.

Natural Gas, the fuel for the Gas Plant. Properties of LNG Composition
Methane Ethane Propane Liquid to Vapor Expansion Theoretical Vaporizing Capability of 1 cf of Dry Earth Wet Earth Water Air Flammable Range 6 gallons LNG 20 gallons LNG 24 gallon LNG 0.0005gallon LNG 5-14%(methane at normal temperatures 83-99% 1-13% 0.1-3% 600 to 1

NTPC Dadri consumes 4mcmd. It receives natural gas from HBJ pipeline. Released Natural Gases present two basic hazards : - Combustion Explosion - Fire Combustion Explosion: Combustion Explosion can occur in the following order : - Released gas mixes with air. - With certain proportions of gas and the air the flammable or combustion range, the mixture is ignitable, - When ignited, the flammable mixture burns rapidly and the produces heat rapidly, - Heat is absorbed by everything in the vicinity of the flame and the very hot combustion products,

- Nearly all materials expand when they absorb heat. The one material in the vicinity of the flame or hot gaseous combustion products, that expands most, when heated is air. It should be noted that air expands to double its original volume for every 238C it is heated. - If the heated air is not free to expand because it is confined in a room, the result is a rise in pressure in the room, - If the room structure is not strong enough to withstand the pressure, some part of the room will suddenly and abruptly move and depart from its original position and a bangwoosh, boom or other noise will be heard. This activity in part describes an explosion. Because the source of pressure is combustion, this kind of explosion is called a combustion explosion. Fire : The flammable gas fire can be considered as an aborted combustion explosion, whereby an excessive quantity of flammable gas-air mixture does not accumulate because the mixture is either ignited quickly or a confining structure is not present. As would be expected, when flammable gas escapes outdoors, fires usually occur.

EXPLOSIONS FROM LEAKS IN BURRIED PIPES: Leaks in the buried gas piping are ordinarily result of : - Corrosion, - Breakage due to brittleness at poorly made welds - Weakness at threaded connections. Brakes have occurred in pipes subject to soil settlements or to loading by the passage of trucks or other heavy objects. The leaking gas may travel considerable distances underground along the gas pipe or : - Water,Steam or Electric Service pipes - Enter the building through through unprotected pipe openings - In the foundation wall or floor slab or even bypassing below the wall. If the gas thus enters a crawl or unfrequented basement space or pipe chase where detection is unlikely or living quarters, where detection may be delayed, an explosion danger develops.

Bituminous Coal - Fuel for Thermal Plants: NTPC Dadri consumes around 3.66million tones per annum which use to sourced from Piparwar block of North Karanpura coal fields in Bihar. Bituminous Coal is subject to Spontaneous Heating as it absorbs oxygen from the air. The heat generated by oxidation may start, the coal burning and the fire may be difficult to stop because of the large amount of fuel available and the difficulty of getting at the seat of trouble. Moisture aids spontaneous heating by assisting oxidation. Water used in fighting a coal pile fire may aggravate the trouble, if it cannot reach the seat of fire, in sufficient quantity to cool it. Coal having a high moisture content should be stored separately and used promptly. Freshly mined coal absorbs more oxygen more rapidly and is more likely to heat spontaneously than coal that has been out of mine for sometime.

Ranges of Densities of Coal: Physical Description of Coal Range of Density Appropriate % Lbs per cubic foot of Coal Pile occupied by Air Coal in the seam before mining Coal size 2x 0 normal shipping size as loaded in RR car, truck etc. No Compaction Coal size 2x 0 compacted with track mounted dozers Coal size 2x 0 compacted with rubber tired carryall or sheepfoot roller 80 85 50 55 0% 36%

60 65 70 - 75

24% 12%

Heating from inherent characteristics of coal usually occurs within 90 to 120 days after the coal is stored. Coal consisting much fine dust or fine coal is more susceptible to spontaneous ignition than coal that is free from such material. Iron Pyrites and other sulphur compounds in coal oxidize with liberation of considerable heat. Coal with high sulphur content is more brittle, resulting in more breakage and more fresh surface areas exposed to oxidation. As far as possible coal should be bought on definite specifications to secure characteristics least likely to support spontaneous heating while providing a satisfactory fuel. Sulphur content should be held to 1% and moisture content to 3% , as mined, particularly if coal is not to be used for several months.

Sources of Ignition: One study has analyzed the sources of ignition, in the Process Industries. The trend generally holds true for other industries, as well. Causes of Ignition : Electrical Matches and Smoke Friction Hot Surfaces Overheated Materials Foreign Substances Spontaneous Heating Combustion Sparks Cutting and Welding Miscellaneous Total 21 percent 18 percent 11 percent 9 percent 7 percent 5 percent 5 percent 4 percent 4 percent 10 percent 100 percent

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