It is not uncommon to find shelter-inplace or safe haven locations designated across chemical facilities. What varies is the level of protection. Functionality can range from merely a muster point (shelter-in-place) to an external positively pressurized room (safe haven). Either way, when determining acceptable performance criteria, the industry generally applies a vulnerability factor. An acceptable vulnerability factor is often deemed the probability of a fatality being less than 1 percent. To put it another way, if the shelter-in-place or safe haven is designated for 100 people, at least one person -- according to the accepted industry standard -- is probably not going to survive. As MineARC sought to improve current technologies, this criteria was deemed unacceptable. MineARC is dedicated to the protection of life. In view of that, its engineers have developed a method they believe ensures all occupants will ultimately survive a toxic gas release.
The process starts with a site assessment to determine the suitability of any shelter-inplace location for conversion to a fully functioning safe haven. This may also include a blower door or tracer gas test to generate a baseline for the room's leakage and ultimately its potential infiltration concentration rate.
Conventional manual sealing of the room is then undertaken and generally includes the installation of a clean room-style roof and lighting. The removal of windows and installation of purpose-designed doors and/or door sweeps provide further air-tightness. This type of conventional sealing can improve the tightness of a typical room by at least twofold.
If further sealing is necessary, aerosol- based envelope sealing has been used effectively to seal orifices that cannot be sealed by manual means. One of MineARC's clients has shown this type of sealing to improve the air-tightness of its safe haven rooms by up to 90 percent. A final post-sealing blower door or tracer gas test is then needed to determine the safe haven's final leakage rate. Infiltration concentration rates are once again calculated by MineARC engineers along with the vulnerability rate. If the probability of a fatality is greater than zero, MineARC will specify its AirBANK Positive Pressure System.
The AirBANK provides rapid pressurization, which is activated and maintained using the AirBANK CONTROL via a simple human machine interface (HMI) touch screen. MineARC's integrated Aura-FX Gas Monitor ensures breathable air automatically remains within acceptable limits. Rooms can be fitted with supplementary oxygen and carbon dioxide scrubbing systems.
The AirBANK System is designed to store up to 11 breathable air cylinders and allows any number of cylinder racks to be daisy-chained as required.
The remote-activated AirBANK CONTROL is designed to maintain a life-sustaining environment via a differential pressure device. Contained in a wall-mounted NEMA-rated enclosure, the unit features an HMI screen that monitors cylinder pressure levels, alarming when levels fall below the acceptable limit.
The AirBANK CONTROL features an active bypass of the system if internal gas levels are not within breathable air limits. Voiceactivated commands instruct the user to activate the bypass system. The Aura-FX monitors and displays gas levels in real time, including site-specific toxic gases.
MineARC Systems has the capabilities to manage the entire shelter-in-place to safe haven conversion process, including sub-contractor management. MineARC is ISNET, Browz and Avetta Contractor Management certified.
MineARC Systems provides safe haven equipment to Nutrien, INVISTA, Chemours, Duke Energy, BP Castrol, IOWA Fertilizer and many other petrochemical customers.
For more information, visit www. minearc.com or call (214) 337-5100. â¢
