Tactics of group application for ground robotic complexes at fire fighting in tank farms

Abstract

Экономический рост предприятий нефтегазового комплекса (НГК) неизбежно влечет за собой повышение уровня их пожарной опасности. Обеспечение их противопожарной защиты в современных условиях требует применения принципиально новых технических решений. Одним из перспективных путей решения проблемы представляется совместное использование групп мобильных робототехнических комплексов (РТК) и традиционных средств пожаротушения. В статье рассматривается вопрос группового применения мобильных РТК. For oil and gas complex facilities there are provided the highest safety requirements. Every year in Russia there are recorded up to 100 man-made accidents at the facilities of this industry, about half of which are fires. Large-scale fires occur every 6 - 8 years. But despite the high level of fire hazard of the industry it is necessary to increase production for profitability insurance. The most cost-effective way of industry development is to increase the volume of single tanks, to reduce both fire breaks to save space in farm area and technological costs. But under these conditions a fire in one of the tanks can cause a cascade fire development with spreading over the whole tank farm and adjacent area. The development and improvement of fire control equipment are carried out in parallel with the development of the industry. Fire equipment is improved, namely, there is increased the power of power plants, the level of fire protection, the productivity of pump installations and monitor nozzles. But the resource for increasing the tactical capabilities of fire divisions by improving existing equipment is almost exhausted. The main deterrent is the presence of a “human operator” who needs to be protected from the fire impact. Increasing the power and efficiency of fire extinguishing equipment imposes increased requirements for the reaction speed and accuracy of human-operator actions. The accumulated experience of fire fighting and the level of robotics development in EMERCOM of Russia allow to move to the stage of development of practical application of robots on fires, which corresponds to the general trends of science and technology development oriented to the concept “Industry 4.0.” Existing fire-fighting technologies requiring human participation in hazardous areas limit the possibility of improving the fire-fighting effectiveness. Active implementation of robotics is a necessary condition for complex development of fire safety system and industry.