Dangers with cigarette lighters...

[Trond]

Hi all,

My company is considering banning lighters on their offshore oil & gas installations, and make smokers to use matches instead. Smoking is, and has always been (naturally) restricted to living quarters (and in the case of our FSO, control room).

Playing the devil's advocate here, my question is: Does lighters really pose a safety hazard conpared to matches?

I guess you average lighter contains about 5 cu cm of butane/propane; say 5-600 times expansion upon vapourisation, gives about 2.5-3 liters of gas at atmospheric pressure. I would have thought that this amount of gas, even released in a small room would dillute well below the LEL?

As for ignition sources, are matches a safer bet than lighters?

Would be interested to hear the forums thoughts (and facts, if anyone has any) on the subject.

Cheers,

Trond

 

[hacksaw]

Most plants with flammable process fluids, prohibit matches and lighters in the hazardous areas. It has to do the potential for ignition and the consequences of having combustable fluids in your pocket when a fire does breakout.

This is seen in areas where non-sparking tools are required and the common ban on nylon or polyester shirts. The shits are fine normally, but in a fire they are a real problem to the wearer. Ditto beards, etc.

By the way Nomex is required in many plants. A real hassle on a hot day, but a life saver when the un-expected happens.

 

[d23]

Trond

Most if not all platforms in US waters have had this policy for several years. I never asked about it, but I had guessed with a lighter an employee would carry it at all times. Matches are supplied by the company so they tend to leave them in a smoking area.

Most majors in deepwater won't allow smoking in the quarters. There will be one designated smoking area outside.

Hacksaw made a very good point about NOMEX too. Most (not all) companies in US waters require NOMEX anytime you are outside the living quarters. Most of the major service companies require their employees to use NOMEX even if the operator dosen't.

 

[rbcoulter]

One policy I saw implemented was all lighters & matches were removed upon entering the gate. I designated smoking room was provided near the break area. Cigarettes were lit with a wall-mounted fixed-in-place electric lighter.

 

[smile1]

A simple experiment will tell you why the disposable lighters, and curiously less so the old style lighters, should not be in a process environment. Throw one of each in a fire. The butane lighter is a bomb. The old style lighter burns. It is quite dramatic.

 

[JOM]

What is Nomex? Cheers,
John.

 

[25362]

It is a garment covered by Dupont's ^TM, made of fibers that are flame-resistant, and wouldn't support combustion in air, a protection that -they say- can't be worn away or washed out.

 

[Trond]

Thanks all for the feedback! You've raised some interesting points!

But first let me try to clarify a bit: I am not asking about bringing matches/lighters into the plant, but the presence of these in living quarters and designated smoking areas, and if one is really better than the other. My company want to ban lighters and introduce matches - is there really any safety benefit?

"smile1" mentions throwing a cigarette lighter on a fire - I did this several times as a kid, they resulted in a small burst of flames, but nothing spectacular. I remember we found it rather disappointing (proceeded to throw aerosol cans, which was a different matter altogether - but I am digressing).

As for having a cigarette lighter in your pocket when a fire breaks out - well, if you are so hot that the cigarette lighter ignites, you must be on fire for a while, right? Although I suppose a welding spark or similar could burn though a pocket without really being noticed.....

Liked the idea of the wall-mounted igniter, though!

If anyone has any further thoughts, please do share them.

Cheers,

Trond

 

[owg]

Many lighters can be ignited accidentally, just by inadvertent pressure, like leaning up against something. Matches take more of an effort. Some plants ban single action lighters but allow double action lighters. e.g. 1. take the top off. 2. Rotate the wheel. HAZOP at

http://www.curryhydrocarbons.ca

 

[25362]

Just thinking aloud: both, lighters and matches, start a flame but do it by igniting different fuels and different procedures:

Safety matches can only be ignited when struck against a specially prepared friction surface. This striking strip contains non toxic red phosphorus. The oxidizer is potassium chlorate, the splints -made from chipboard- and the tip are generally impregnated with wax. When there is a high relative humidity in the air they may not spark a flame. Matches may contain a variety of formulations including, for example, animal glue, starch, sulfur, fillers, and burning-rate catalysts to suit.

Lighters I know of, are lit by mechanical or electrical means, and mainly use light hydrocarbons of various volatilities to impregnate wicks.

I could add some other differences, such as, duration and size of flames based on the volumes of fuel, ways to interrupt kindling and put out flames, etc.

Surely somebody out there has sensible reasons for selecting matches over lighters on safety grounds. I'd certainly would like to learn about them.

 

[smile1]

To my recollection, the issue wasn't so much that the lighter would explode in one's coat pocket if he was to catch on fire, although that would be dramatic, it was that the lighter would be inadvertently dropped into a part of the plant where it could be exposed to high temperatures. My Boy Scouts threw "empty" butane lighter into the campfire, and I thought it was dramatic. The issue of full cans of soda into a UBC (used beverage can) recycling plant is also for the same reason; A sealed can of soda inadvertently dropped into the molten aluminum is also a bomb, even though the plant routinely melts aluminum cans.

A really exciting campfire trick was stumbled upon by the scouts at a jamboree, where they were melting wax over an open fire to make camp sterno cans. ( pour wax into a can with corrogated in it) When they were done, they attempted to quickly cool the remaining wax by pouring water on it. The hot wax flashed the water, the open fire ignited it, and a flame 15-20 feet high, lasting less than a second, erupted from a 2 cup melting pot with residual wax. That is dramatic. I recommend tossing the water at the wax pot froma safe distance.

Cheers!

 

[DaveHasse]

To expand on something above, Nomex is a polyaramide (nylon made with aromatic rather than aliphatic components) fiber from Dupont, chemically similar to Kevlar. The material is used as the base thread, so there is no coating, or material to abraid off. Nomex itself is fairly nonflammable, so it makes a good fire resistant material.

OTH, it is not a good material to makes shirts from. It is hot scratchy and itchy, partly because the fibers have no spin coatings to make them less hot scratchy and itchy.

Dave

 

[Nosey]

I believe that the issue with regard to banning lighters from platforms has more to do with the sparking mechanism i.e. it doesn't matter what the fuel is or if it is empty the flint mechanism will still strike and cause a spark. The elimination of spark potential is why electrical equipment in hazardous areas has to be rated against a series of standards (in the UK) for operation in Zone 0, Zone 1 and Zone 2.

In the UK Sector of the North Sea all personnel have their bags and pockets searched at the heliport before boarding the helicopter. Most platforms I've been on provide at least one "dirty" and one "clean" smoking area with matches. The striking surface for these matches is attached to the wall and cannot be removed.

Of course this doesn't stop any body removing the matches (so a wall mounted lighter sounds very good), but I have only come across one instance of a person smoking outside of the permitted areas. This incident was dealt with by the operating company very severely.

Even if all precautions are taken i.e. searches, wall mounted lighters etc. the best precaution is continual re-inforcement to the workforce of the dangers of uncontrolled ignition sources in a highly dangerous environment.

I hope that this is of help to you.