This publication is intended as a general engineering handbook and reference guideline for those personnel involved with fire and explosion protection aspects of these critical hydrocarbon facilities. Several other reference books are available that provide portions of the necessary information required to evaluate hazards, provide fire protection measures, or determine insurance needs. However, most are not fully complete in mentioning all technical subjects and some have become somewhat technically outdated. They usually tend to be a collection of technical papers or else provide abroad coverage of subjects without much practical applications or details. The main objective of this handbook is to provide some background understanding of fire and explosion problems at oil and gas facilities and a general source of reference material for engineers, designers and others facing fire protection issues, that can be practically applied. It should also serve as a reminder for the identification of unexpected hazards at a facility.

Explosion and fire protection engineering principles for the hydrocarbon industries are still being researched, evolved and expanded, as is the case with most engineering disciplines. This handbook does not profess to contain all the solutions to fire protection problems associated with hydrocarbon facilities. It does, however, try to shed someinsight into the current practices and trends being applied in the petroleum industry today.

This book is generally written from the point of reference of the United States but does attempt to reference other international codes, standards and practices where they have been referenced or heavily used by the international oil industry. It does use SI units as the normal units of measure, as these are typically used in the international oil industry.