11/6/2025

Fire and Explosion

 Fire and Explosion are the most common incidents in
industry.

Fire & Fire Prevention Dr. Bramantyo Airlangga,ST

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BSAIKAH KITA HIDUP TANPA API? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

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Fire
 Combustion or fire: Combustion or fire is a
chemical reaction in which a substance
combines with an oxidant and releases energy.
Part of the energy released is used to sustain the
reaction.
 The color of fire is determined by the temperature of
the flame and the chemical elements or compounds
being burned. Different substances emit different
colors when heated due to their unique atomic
structures, which affect the way they absorb and emit
light.

Which is false about definition of fire?

a. Energy emitted from a chemical reaction
b. A jet of material from a heated substance
c. Something that comes from a spark

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Penyebab api

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Invisible fire occurs when a substance burns with little or no visible light emission. This happens because The fire triangle is the most frequently
the combustion process produces heat but not enough visible wavelengths of light to be easily detected used practical concept to understand the
by the human eye. causes of fire.

Invisible Fire Example of reaction:

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Fire Triangle
• Two common examples of the three components of the fire triangle are
– wood, air, and a match
– gasoline, air, and a spark
• Various fuels, oxidizers, and ignition sources common in the chemical
industry are
– Fuels
• Liquids: gasoline, acetone, ether, pentane
• Solids: plastics, wood dust fibers, metal particles
• Gases: acetylene, propane, carbon monoxide, hydrogen Flame Explosion
– Oxidizers
• Gases: oxygen, fluorine, chlorine
What is the difference between fire and explosion?
• Liquids: hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid, perchloric acid
• Solids: metal peroxides, ammonium nitrite a) Reaction speed
– Ignition sources b) Amount of energy released per unit of time
• Sparks, flames, static electricity, heat c) Explosions always require large amounts of fuel
d) The energy propagation of an explosion is very fast

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Lower Flammability Limit

(LFL)>Flammable
Flammability Diagram
Concentration>Upper Flammability
Flammability diagrams show the regimes of flammability in mixtures of fuel,
Limit (UFL)
oxygen and an inert gas, typically nitrogen.
“Flash point” is the minimum • Useful for
temperature at which a liquid gives • Determining if a mixture is
off vapor within a test vessel in flammable
sufficient concentration to form an • Required for control and
ignitable mixture with the air near the prevention of flammable
surface of the liquid mixtures
• Red zone – flammable zone

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• The air line represent all possible
TX4 combination of fuel plus air.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DA-- • The stoichiometric line represent all
nMkWeA stoichiometric combination of fuel
plus oxygen
• The LOC any gas mixture
containing oxygen below the LOC is
not flammable.

Stoichiometric is the calculation of quantities relationship of the reactants and products in a

balanced chemical reaction. It can be used to calculate quantities such as the amount of products
that can be produced with given reactants and percent yield.

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Flammability Characteristics of liquids

and vapors
Flammability Limits
• The flash point temperature is one of the major
quantities used to characterize the fire and explosion
 A mixture is flammable only when the
hazard of liquids. composition is between the LFL and the UFL
• Vapor mixtures  Commonly used units are volume percent fuel
frequently Lower Flammability Limit (LFL) and Upper (percentage of fuel plus air)
Flammability Limit (UFL) for mixture are needed.  Lower explosion limit (LEL) and upper
These mixture limits are computed using the following explosion limit (UEL) are used
formulae; interchangeably with LFL and VFL
Flammability limits

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Flammability Limits Flammability Limits

 LFLi – lower flammability Assumptions
limit for component i (in  Constant heat capacities
volume %) of component i in
fuel and air  Constant number of moles
 UFLi – upper flammability  Combustion kinetics
limit for component i (in unchanged
volume %) of component i in  Adiabatic temperature rise is
fuel and air the same for all species
 yi – mole fraction of
component i on a
combustible basis
 n – number of combustible
component

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LFL, UFL Dependence on T & P Estimating Flammability Limits

 Previous formula valid at 25°C and 1 atm  Many hydrocarbon vapors exhibits LFL and UFL as
a function of stoichiometric concentration of fuel
 T & P , flammability ranges 
(Cst) [Cst is volume % fuel in fuel plus air]
 P has little effect of LFL, except at very low
pressures (< 50 mm Hg absolute)  LFL = 0.55Cst & UFL = 3.50Cst (Cst = 100 / (1 +
(z/0.21))
 General combustion reaction;
CmHxOy + zO2  mCO2 + 0.5xH2O [z = m + x/4 – y/2]

 Hc is heat of combustion

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Example
Estimating Flammability Limits
 Correlation between flammability limits with What are the LFL and UFL of a gas mixture composed of
heat of combustion of the fuel 0.8%
hexane, 2.0% methane and 0.5% ethylene by volume ?
 A good fit was obtained for 123 organic
materials containing C, H, O, N, S
 UFL is only applicable over the range of 4.9-23
%

Answers
LFL 2.75% by volume total combustibles
UFL 12.9% by volume total combustibles

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Fires and Explosions Preventions

 Twofold strategies
 Prevent the initiation
 Minimize the damage after a fire/explosion has occurred
 Most important is to eliminate any of the three
conditions of the fire triangle

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Fires and Explosions Preventions

Fires and Explosions Preventions  Strategies
 Strategies
 Controlling static electricity
 Inerting  How did it happen?

 To reduce the oxygen or fuel concentration to

below a target value using an inert gas
 Nitrogen is the most common
 By separation of two materials
 Use flammability diagram  As materials are separated, electrons must redistribute themselves
 If materials are both conductors, electrons move rapidly
 If one or more materials are non-conductors, the electrons cannot move very fast and
final result is a difference in charge
 Examples: Rubbing, Falling, Moving, Flowing

Fire fighting system filled with

inert gas

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Fires and Explosions Preventions Fires and Explosions Preventions

 Strategies • Strategies
 Controlling static electricity – Ventilation
 Grounding and Bonding • For inside storage areas, use 1 ft3/min/ft2 of floor area
 Be careful of • For inside process areas, use 1 ft3/min/ft2 or more of floor area


Glass containers /vessels/pipes
Plastic containers /vessels/pipes/pumps
– Sprinkler system
 Low conductive liquids: benzene, toluene, • Closed Head: Typically found in occupied buildings
xylene, heptane, hexane • Open Head: Activated from a central location
 Avoid free fall of liquids into vessels • Monitor nozzles: Fixed location, but can be directed
• Water requirements: 0.25 – 0.5 gpm/ft2 protected

– Fire extinguisher
– Foam

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Fires and Explosions Preventions

ventilatio
n sprinkle

Fire extinguisher

foam

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Terima kasih

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