Oven, Furnace, and Dryer Explosion Relief Requirements--Results from the Incident Database

T72
Oven, Furnace, and Dryer Explosion Relief Requirements--Results from the Incident Database
Sreenivasan Ranganathan, Fire Protection Research Foundation Richard Gallagher, Zurich Services

NFPA 86, Standard for Ovens and Furnaces, has required explosion relief on specific ovens and furnaces for over 90 years. While the guidance has been adjusted over the years, the requirements remain incomplete, founded on anecdotal information, prescriptive in nature, and out of step with guidance contained in NFPA 68, Standard on Explosion Protection by Deflagration Venting, and NFPA 69, Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems. To adequately adjust the current requirements stipulated in NFPA 86 to properly reflect existing guidance and experienced conditions, the Technical Committee needs additional information on explosions in relation to ovens and furnaces, including the types of ovens and furnaces experiencing explosions, causes of explosion, outcome of explosions, the control effectiveness, and the impact on people and property.

Presented by:

Sreenivasan Ranganathan, Fire Protection Research Foundation
Sreenivasan Ranganathan is a Research Co-op for the FPRF, an affiliate of NFPA. He holds a BS from the University of Calicut, India, and an MS from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, both in Mechanical Engineering. He is currently working towards his doctoral thesis at the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He has published and presented research findings in different peer-reviewed international journals and conferences.

Richard Gallagher, Zurich Services
Richard Gallagher is "Line of Business Director - Property" for The Zurich Services Corporation Risk Engineering department, where his primary responsibilities include development of technical knowledge, policies, and procedures for the property line of business. He has over 35 years of experience in the loss control industry and has a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware. He is a member of NFPA, an alternate member of the NFPA technical committee on Sprinkler System Discharge Criteria, a member of the NFPA technical committees on Fundamentals of Combustion Systems Hazards and Single Burner Boilers, and presently chairs the NFPA technical committee on Ovens and Furnaces.