ETANKFIRE Ethanol Tank Fire Fighting
What is ETANKFIRE? At the initiative of SP Fire Technology and the Swedish Petroleum Institute (SPI), a proposal for a research project on ethanol storage tank fires has been developed – ETANKFIRE Ethanol Tank Fire Fighting. The ultimate goal of the ETANKFIRE project is to develop and validate a methodology for suppression of tank fires containing ethanol fuels and to determine the large scale burning behavior of ethanol fuels to ensure proper investment in the fire protection of ethanol storage facilities.The intention is to invite stakeholders on an international basis to participate in the project, both to obtain the necessary funding and also to provide a wide understanding of the problem and an acceptance of the project scope and results. An executive summary of the project proposal, as well as the fully detailed project proposal, are available for download, see the links along the right side of this page. Note that ETANKFIRE is an evolving project at this time, the details may change as new stakeholders contribute their expertise to the project goals, milestones, and deliverables.
Why do we need the ETANKFIRE project?
In many countries, the use of ethanol has increased significantly as a means to fulfill climate goals by replacing fossil fuels with renewable fuels, but the use of ethanol fuels will create new risks and challenges from a fire protection point of view. In general, oil companies and fire brigades have extensive fire protection and suppression experience for petroleum-based product fires. However, there is a significant lack of experience concerning water miscible fuels, such as ethanol, especially regarding storage tank fire scenarios. Those few tank fires that have been reported resulted in burn out rather than extinguishment.
