(101f) CFD MODELING of Fire Spread IN AN Offshore Platform

This work presents the methodology used to model a fire spread on an offshore platform. CHEMTECH made this study to recommend the usage of passive protections on the structural elements on the platform. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program was applied to study the temperature range in the structural elements of the platform in case of a fire outburst. Initially, the results of a PRA (Preliminary Risk Analysis) made at the platform were used, and the principal data were input on PHAST® (Process Hazard Analysis Software Tool) - a risk analysis software. This analysis consisted in an initial estimate of the shape and dimension of the fire. Then, those results have been inputted on PHOENICS (Parabolic and Hyperbolic or Elliptical Numerical Integration Code Series) to simulate the impact of the fire on the structural elements of this platform. Four steps were followed: creation and simplification of the platform's geometry, mesh generation, input of boundary conditions and the simulation, each of them with its particular difficulty. CHEMTECH reached very goods results with this study and could recommend the usage of passive protection in the critical structural elements of platform.