Fire fighting

When fire breaks out, it may be too late by the time the firemen arrive. The fire may already have spread so fast that the fire crew can only attempt to contain it and the burning property is lost. That’s why automatic fire-extinguishing equipment at critical points – especially in a chemical company – is so important.

Such equipment can immediately extinguish a fire when it’s still small. That means less danger for firemen since they will face a much smaller fire when they arrive and don’t have to get so close to the source of the fire. Automatic fire-extinguishing equipment is often set up to automatically alert the fire department as well.

All production and storage facilities at BYK in Wesel are furnished with fire-extinguishing equipment. The older equipment floods the area involved in the fire with CO2 but that means that all employees must have left the area beforehand, since they will be denied oxygen just like the fire is.

For that reason, newer equipment uses either water or water and foam to extinguish fire. The foam covers larger surfaces covered with solvent as well, so it is very efficient for that type of fire.

In older locations, such equipment is being retrofitted or installed for the first time in new buildings. At BYK USA, the raw materials storage has been retrofitted with automated water / foam extinguishing equipment. A new storage facility for finished products has also been equipped with new water / foam equipment that was designed with the required collection capacity for the water used to extinguish the fire. The warehouse doors also feature barriers that can be shut so that no such water escapes into the environment.

At ELANTAS PDG in the U.S., the CO2 fire-extinguishing equipment in a production building was replaced with automatic water-based equipment that automatically notifies the fire department as well. The required detention volumes for water to extinguish fire have already been reached. The total investment was approximately € 850,000. At ELANTAS Deatech in Ascoli, automated water / foam fire-extinguishing equipment was installed for the area where raw material tanks are emptied from tank trucks because electrostatic charges could develop here as well that could lead to explosions. A new warehouse that ELANTAS Deatech has established in Quattordio has also been furnished with automatic water / foam fire-extinguishing equipment with the appropriate detention capacity.

Even more important than this equipment to fight fire is the avoidance of it in the first place. Here too our plants are equipped with the latest state of the art in explosion protection, ventilators with multiple ventilation and warning sensors.

Just as important as the right technology are the correct work methods our employees follow, such as careful monitoring of electrostatic charges. Analysis of the causes of explosions in years past has shown this to be the case. That is why special training classes with experimental presentations on electrostatic charges and their impact were given by outside experts at BYK-Chemie in Wesel and ACTEGA Rhenania. These experts were able to give our staff graphic demonstrations of the importance of avoiding electrostatic charges. These training sessions are to be given at other ALTANA companies with similar situations.