Q. Explain about Fired Heaters and Combustion Engines?

Fired heaters and combustion engines shall normally be located at a safe distance from hazardous areas as they provide potential sources of ignition. Where practical, they should be located on the upwind side of a process unit, near battery limits, with consideration given to the effects of adjacent units as well as the equipment in the same unit. Spacing also minimizes damage to other equipment in case of a fired heater fire.

Steam or motor driven engines require maintenance spacing only. Where hazardous areas cannot be avoided, the potential for an incident to escalate shall be minimized, e.g. through use of segregation and/or fire barriers.

The air intake shall be located in a safe area and in such a position to prevent the ingress of dust, moisture, corrosive gases, sand, etc. Exhaust piping shall discharge into a safe area, shall not prove hazardous to personnel or foul air intakes to other equipment.

Fired Heaters are generally grouped together for convenience often sharing a common stack, but with each furnace having individual positive isolation. Heaters should be located on the extremities of the process units with good road access.