Fire Load Calculation for Chemical Company

Please view the Fire load calculation given in the attachment. For many no. of chemicals used in the plant you may consider…

Definition of FIRE LOAD:

• The weight of combustible material per square foot of floor space.

• The combustible contents or interior finish of a building per unit floor area, often expressed as pounds per square foot or as Btu per square foot.

• The amount of fuel within a building which has the potential of burning and releasing heat to feed the growth of a fire.

Fire load can be calculated as follows:-
Weight of material in Kg (mass) X Calorific value of the material – Answer in Kj
For example:

1 tonne of propane @ a calorific value of 47.3 x 10³ Kj/Kg
= 1000 x 47.3 x 10³ = 47300 Kj
If you want to relate this to wood equivalent the formula is:-
mass x calorific value divided by the calorific value of wood,

for example (with the calculation above):
1000 x 47.3 x 10³ divided by the C of wood (17.6 x 10³)
= 47300000 divided by 17600
= 2.7 tonnes (wood equivalent)

Calculating the Fire Loading of a Compartment

The fire loading of a compartment is a way of establishing the severity of a fire and the measurement (kj) is related to the heat output. As stated by Drysdale (1985) the formula for calculating the fire loading is noted as:

Calorific Value x Mass (or volume)       =      Area Fire Loading Kj/m²

Floor Area

Ex: 1 tonne of propane stored in a room having 240m² area (10mx8mx3m)

47.3   x   1000        =       197.08 Kj/m²

240

Information on the mass of materials should be obtained from a number of sources using different methods, these included: contacting the manufacturer, consulting information currently available at the location and using relevant standards. The classification of the fire load in each area should be shown using the above formula.

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