Utility Facilities | Safety Considerations for Plant Layout Levels
Boilers and Utility Equipment
Boilers and utility equipment should be spaced to prevent exposure to fire or explosion damage. Loss of steam may result in a complete plant shutdown with increased risk due to the possibility of fire and explosion in process units. Within the utility plant area, control rooms, feedwater pumps, deaerators, and so forth may be spaced in accordance with good engineering judgment to provide adequate spacing for operation and maintenance. Fuel oil day tanks, fuel oil pumps, and heat exchangers should be spaced 9 m away from other utility equipment. Fired steam generators and ancillary equipment should be located 30 m minimum from process equipment handling flammable and combustible liquids and gases. Waste heat steam generators that have supplemental firing and are part of a process unit should be spaced in accordance with requirements for fired heaters (see Paragraph 7.2).
Plant Air Instrument Air Compressors
When plant air and instrument air compressors are located in a central utilities plant, they may be located adjacent to the boiler area. Instrument air compressors in vital service should be separated by distances as shown in Tables 1-A and 2-A for fired steam boilers and power generators. Instrument air compressors may be located adjacent to control houses provided a safe source of air is furnished in accordance with Paragraph 7.9.