You’ve probably heard about fire blankets that are designed to protect people in their homes or in their workplaces. These types of fire blankets are commonly used to extinguish and smother fires or as portable safety devices to wrap around people as they run for safety. But, have you heard about fire blankets that are designed to protect industrial safety valves and equipment?
Fire blankets designed to protect industrial safety valves are a type of insulation blanket, but they differ from standard insulation blankets used in industrial settings. Standard blankets are meant to insulate a part to maintain a high level of heat inside the part, or to keep heat away from the outside environment. For instance, in many industries, machine and equipment parts must be kept at the right temperature for the part to function properly; conversely, heat must be contained and kept away from the surrounding area, be it for personnel protection or protecting nearby heat sensitive components. However, fire blankets designed to go over a part – typically a safety-related part, such as a gate valve or an actuator – are designed to keep the heat and fire away from the part. These types of fire blankets are needed in many industries, including the oil and gas industry.
A fire blanket that protects a valve, an actuator or another part from fire and heat is a critical industrial safety tool. Gate valves and actuators function as safety mechanisms in industrial settings. In the event of any type of fire, including chemical fires, these actuators perform a safety shutdown to reduce fire spread and prevent or minimize disaster. The fire blanket is designed to go over a valve or part to protect its covering long enough for safety procedures to function properly. Designed to withstand a fire for up to 30 minutes, this allows enough time for an operator to actuate the safety function on a line and to perform a shutdown to keep the fire under control and to minimize potential damage.
The fire blanket we offer at Firwin works to protect industrial valves and actuators so that they can do their job in a critical safety situation, and they’re proven to work: Our fire blanket for industrial safety valves and parts was tested in a UL rapid rise fire standard test (UL1709) where it was placed in a special compartment and blasted with 2000-degrees-Fahrenheit temperatures for 30 minutes. The fire blanket remained intact throughout the test.
A fire blanket designed to protect industrial safety valves and equipment is definitely worth the investment! To learn more about the fire blanket, read the article Firwin FireBlanket 2000 in our e-newsletter.
