Fire & Blast Walls and Cladding

ProTek^® Fire & Blast Walls and Cladding

ProTek® Fire & Blast Wall and Cladding products are certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and are commonly used on offshore platforms and FPSO’s where space is always a constraint and there is a need to separate high risk process areas from lower risk accommodation areas.

Flat or moulded ProTek® composite panels which are designed to be bolted to a secondary steel structure, are used to protect steel beams and columns, this forms a sealed fire / blast wall that resists fire and blast loadings. ProTek® composite panels are also gas and water tight from the effects of hydrocarbon jet fire.

Typical view of ProTek™ Fire and Blast Wall section (from hazard side)

Solent Composite Systems deliver an engineered lightweight cladding system that is rapid to assemble, permits inspection and maintenance access and avoids the use of hazardous materials or hot work during the installation.

The design details rely upon a bolted connection because the ProTek® is manufactured from high strength composite materials that cannot be welded. It is therefore common for steel supports to be welded in place for fixing the panels, which are bolted to the steel supports to transfer the blast loads to the main platform structure.

Typical view of ProTek™ Fire and Blast Wall section (from non-hazard side)

The ProTek® panels are designed to deflect elastically under the blast load so that they are not deformed and are able to resist a hydrocarbon jet or pool fire if it occurs after the blast. The blast load is absorbed by the panels and transferred to the bolted ends where the panel fixings resist the bending and shear loading and transfer the load into the main platform structure. The fixings are also designed to restrain the panels immediately after the blast overpressure. Following the explosion the resultant air movement generates a smaller negative suction load that pulls the panels away from the wall putting the bolts into tension.

The connection details are calculated for every application and form part of any engineering or certification report that is produced for a ProTek® fire and blast wall.

Fixings are either galvanised high strength steel or 316 stainless steel.

View from hazard side of ProTek® panel connection details at tubular showing exploded view of bolts and gasket seal

View from hazard side of ProTek® panel connection details at tubular showing bolts and gasket seal assembled

View from non-hazard side of panel connection at structural member and tubular upright

View from hazard side of panel connection at structural member showing bolts and gasket sea

View from non-hazard side of panel connection at structural member and tubular

Industry Leading

Being virtually inert, there is zero corrosion risk and outstanding weather resistance, thus offering a maintenance free life for at least 30 years. In addition ProTek^® does not contribute to water or air pollution Fire and blast performance is certified by Lloyds and DNV and will withstand a two hour jet fire test at 0.3 kg /sec gas release, and blast tests up to 1.5 barg.

ProTek^® product performance:

Fire Protection up to 2.5 hours Hydrocarbon (H-Class), Jet fire (J-Class) or Pool fire and Cellulosic (A-Class) fires - all fully certified by third parties, who have witnessed full scale tests. These tests achieve heat flux up to 350 kW / square metre.
Blast Protection up to 1.5barg over pressure, plus suction loads – fully third party certified.
Jet Fire after Blast - Tested to 1.3 barg followed by full scale jet fire.
Thermal Insulation - keeps equipment temperatures below 45ºC whilst jet fire outside is more than 1200ºC. NO additional thermal insulation is required as it is incorporated into the ProTek® structure.
Sound Attenuation – up to 38DB noise reduction (fully satisfies NORSOK R-004 sub sections 6, 7 and 8)
Weather resistance - worldwide environmental conditions offshore onshore and subsea -50 to +50ºC continuous use and high wind and snow loads and ultraviolet and chemical resistance. High temperature products for internal areas and modules can accommodate up to 120ºC service temperature
Zero pollution risk to water, air or personnel
Operations experience is very good permitting fast and easy installation and maintenance access to equipment using doors, lift off hatches etc. - means lower risk and lower cost.
Installation requires no hot work as it relies on mechanical fixings requiring no special skill or equipment and can be carried out by incumbent local site installation crews.
No maintenance whatever is required using ProTek^® products – we have examples that have been installed for 29 years with no problems of any kind and the product has a design life for this application of at least 30 years.
Products are lightweight minimising structural support requirements, facilitating rapid installation and ensuring low HSE risk during operations
Zero claims in over 29 years in Oil and Gas installations worldwide