Equipped for emergencies: special vehicles for the oil refining industry

Oil: still one of the most important raw materials today. It forms the basis of countless products, and thus has enormous influence on the world market.

Prior to the final products being created, a large number of processes and process steps are often necessary: from extraction through various transport methods, to refining and further processing. The processes are associated with complex procedures, with the processing plants themselves being technologically sophisticated industrial complexes of which advanced fire protection technology is an essential component.

However, a combustible raw material always represents a risk. Thus, there is always the underlying risk that – according to Murphy’s Law – this could lead to a sequence of mishaps or human errors, eventually culminating in a catastrophe.

For this reason, a wide variety of vehicle concepts have been born which are tailored to the individual steps in the process chain and the various associated risk scenarios.

Conceived for major events: high-performance industrial vehicles

Maximum output quantities, maximum throw ranges, hours of continuous duty: in the event of a major fire, these attributes are the prerequisite for successful operation. In the following I would like to further elaborate on the peculiarities of some special vehicle concepts for refinery applications.

Roof turret RM130C
Bumper turret RM35C

ULF 3000/4000/750

In addition to 3,000 litres of water and 4,000 litres of foam, this vehicle carries 750 kilograms of dry chemical powder and thus can be considered a multi-talented firefighting vehicle.

Two turrets ensure the discharge of extinguishing agent: the powerful roof-mounted RM130C and an RM35C as a bumper turret. A special feature is the RM130C’s ChemCore nozzle. This allows the combined use of water/foam and dry chemical powder. This technology can significantly increase the dry chemical powder throw range compared to conventional turrets. However, a ChemCore nozzle – in the branch pipe this time – is not only used on the roof turret but also for the rapid attack via the twin agent hose reel.

The supply of the corresponding water/foam quantities is ensured by the N100 HYDROMATIC pump unit. The HYDROMATIC direct injection foam proportioning system also allows continuous proportioning with different proportioning rates for each outlet.

Foam proportioning system MIXMATIC
Bumper turret RM15C

SLF 10000

In petrochemical plants, redundant high-performance hydrant networks often ensure the supply of water. Vehicles that have only a small, or no water tank, and therefore only carry foam agents, are sometimes used here. The pumps increase the pressure of the water taken from the hydrants.

The foam firefighting vehicle in the picture carries 10,000 litres of foam compound. The N100 built-in pump and the MIXMATIC foam proportioning system can deliver large quantities of water-foam mixture.

The largest turret within the Rosenbauer turret family, the RM130C, ensures huge output quantities and the largest throw ranges. An additional RM15C bumper turret completes this vehicle.

Pump unit N100 MIXMATIC
Crew cab

TLF 6000/5000

This industrial firefighting truck can be used as a powerful initial attack vehicle, and holds 6,000 litres of water and 5,000 litres of foam.

The N100 MIXMATIC pump unit can be used both to adjust the admixed amount of foam specifically for each outlet, and to operate the RM130C turret.

In addition, 4 respirators can be fitted in the vehicle’s crew cab from the COMFORT SCBA brackets even during the journey to the operational site, thus allowing firefighting to begin immediately.

There are many more interesting special requirements for firefighting vehicles in the petroleum industry, be it storage, transport or remote premises. More about these, along with additional concepts, will be presented in the next blog article.