Refinery safety handling
Bratislava has a huge oil refinery with an annual capacity of six million tons of oil and other chemical products. A global security company is responsible for safety at the refinery. Therefore they have their own station equipped with the latest technology and a team of approximately twenty firefighters, ready to respond to any emergency day and night. In order to enhance their operational capacity BBA Pumps, through their local partner Belohoubek, won the contract earlier this year for the supply of a mobile firefighting pump unit.
The Challenge
Firefighting pumps are almost always custom-built. In this project BBA Pumps is using the largest high pressure pump from the BA series; the BA C300S8. This pump is dry self-priming and rated with a working capacity of 1600 m3/h at 10 bar. Of particular importance in this project was the ability to deploy the firefighting unit rapidly, which led to the incorporation of the following features:
- A special mounting roll off frame, ensuring the pump set is quickly in the right position
- The suction connection had to be provided with a manifold so that firefighters can quickly attach lightweight hoses with quick couplings
- On the discharge side even a bigger manifold was required with eight connectors
- The ‘open diesel’ arrangement of the unit also had to include special hose clamps, round working lights and other safety guards
Despite a pump efficiency of up to 85%, BBA has opted for the strongest Volvo Penta diesel engine. The TAD1643VE delivers a massive 565 kW at 1900 rpm. A gearbox is mounted between the engine and pump, which enables the pump to be brought to the correct speed.
The Result
During the commissioning in the refinery Mark van Rosse also conducted training in which all the firefighters were actively involved. Besides the technical ins and outs of the pump, the vacuum system and the drive, Mark also demonstrated how to quickly and safely install and start up the pump set. "The firefighters were very enthusiastic and impressed by the pump unit,” Mark says. "At the end of the day the commander proudly explained that now they have the largest mobile firefighting unit in Slovakia."
