Q. Steam and Power Generation Equipment?
Locating steam and power generation equipment outside of the process areas ensures that critical facilities feeding major portions of the plant are protected from possible fires or explosions in the process areas. Non-critical steam generators (supplying less than 25% of total demand, or only supply a single plant) may be located within a process area with spacing as for fired heaters.
Central services, such as cooling towers, boilers, power stations and electrical substations shall be located centrally but away from hazardous areas so they will neither be affected by a fire or explosion within the plant nor provide a source of ignition for any potential flammable liquid or gas release. Maintain adequate separation between different utility services because utility losses could then lead to unsafe conditions in other plant units, possibly creating fires or explosions. Increase the reliability of utilities by keeping adequate spacing between boilers or generators. Refer to the Appendices for suggested adequate separation between different utilities.
Properly pressurize substations in accordance with NFPA 496 or install separate electrical substations and motor control centers. Locate substations away from hazardous areas to increase the reliability of the power supplies should an accident occur. Bury electrical distribution cables to limit their exposure to explosions, fires, storms and vehicles and to ease fire fighting accessibility.