Comparative Study on Fireproofing Design of Steel Structures in Petrochemical Industry Between Chinese and American Standards

Steel structure has advantages of high strength, light weight, easy processing and simple installation, and has been widely used in petrochemical enterprises. The fireproofing design is significant to the safety and economy of steel structures, and it is necessary for the designers to familiarize the differences between different standards in foreign projects. Through the comparative study on the fireproofing design of steel structures in petrochemical industry between Chinese and American standards, it is found that there are significant differences in the division of fire hazard zones, fireproofing scope, and fire-resistant time between Chinese and American standards. For the fireproofing scope of Chinese standard is mainly based on the explosion hazard zone, while the American standard is based on the fire hazard zone. And both the standards are highly related to the classification of fire hazards of the equipment. The explosion hazard zone in the Chinese standard is divided by electrical engineers, while the fire hazard zone in the American standard is divided by pipeline engineers. In addition, the fire-resistant time of the Chinese standard is stricter than that of the American standard. The fire resistance coating is generally used in the Chinese standard, while the external lightweight concrete is used in the American standard. For fire-resistant layer, domestic petrochemical steel structure devices generally use fire-resistant coatings for fire prevention, and overseas petrochemical steel structure devices generally use outsourced lightweight concrete for fire prevention. 1) The comparison of permeable steel grating, enclosed floor slabs, supporting medium and high hazard equipment indicates that the fireproofing scope of steel structures in both Chinese and American standards considers factors such as fire hazard zone, floor form, and air cooler layout. However, the Chinese standard fire protection height is specific to a certain elevation point, the American standard fire protection height is specific to a certain layer, and the American standard fire protection range should be the support layer of medium and highrisk equipment. 2) The comparison of steel pipe racks indicates that when the height of the first floor is lower than 4. 5 m, the fireproofing height of the Chinese standard is greater than that of the American standard, while the fireproofing height are the same when the height of the first floor is not lower than 4. 5 m. 3) Comparing the fireproofing scope of steel pipe racks with combustible liquid pumps in the lower floor, it is shown that the fireproofing height is specific to a certain point according to the Chinese standard, while fireproofing height is specific to a certain floor according to the American standard. 4) The following parts of load-bearing steel structures, supports and pipe racks in Chinese and American standards may not be covered with fire resistance layer:a. secondary beams that not directly bearing or transferring vertical load of equipment and pipelines; b. beams that only used to support floor slabs and steel grating; c. non-load-bearing supports that only used to resist wind loads and earthquake action; and d. the saddles of horizontal and heat-exchanger equipment. Finally, the fireproofing scope of the steel structure floors with set-back, and the fire protection requirements for column bracing are given. The fire resistance requirements of brace and column should be the same for the steel frame-braced structures. The fireproofing scope should be suitable to use the factors of floor format and the air cooler arrangement in the plane projection.