Ethanol fire response

An abandoned building in the vacant field inside the Chevron terminal in Batangas suddenly went ablaze, thick black smoke forming an almost solid structure engulfing it. A few people, this writer included, standing a safe distance away, felt the scorching heat of the fire that was staged to demonstrate the emergency preparedness of the members of the Philippine Institute of Petroleum (PIP).

Out of nowhere, some members of a Chevron team rushed to the fire and killed the blaze as suddenly as it had started. The men were trained on ways to combat fire caused by various substances. The fire that we had just witnessed was caused by bio-ethanol diesel.

The response activity ended the 3rd Industry Emergency Response Exercises organized by the Philippine Institute of Petroleum (PIP). It aims to demonstrate the local petroleum industry’s commitment to enhance the safety skills of its workers and their competence in responding to various emergency situations.

A group from each oil company demonstrated emergency responses for the following situations: Oil spill, open tank fires, flange fire fighting, ethanol fire response, cardio pulmonary resuscitation and emergency rescue and transfer.

With the big problem caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its effect on the environment, the oil spill response demo was timely. It showed the procedures that have been prepared in case of such an emergency. Engineers from the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) explained standard procedures via a live demonstration at the Batangas Bay in front of the Chevron Oil Terminal.

It was explained that oil spills are usually categorized into three: Tier 1 (1 to 10,000 liters of oil), Tier 2 (1,000,000 liters and requires the aid of the Philippine Coast Guard and Oil Spill Response Organization), and Tier 3 (1,000,000 liters of oil and would require the assistance of international Oil Spill Response Organization).

Using floating balls to represent the oil spill, the IPIECA demonstrated the use of oil spill booms on-board tug boats to contain the runaway oil, and the deployment of skimmers to recover the thick substance. Oil spill booms are elongated floaters that ‘trap’ the oil from moving towards the shore.

Another demonstration was on the fire drill response. It showed how fire emergencies are situations that easily get out of control. In response, the fire fighting group from Liquigaz, Shell and Chevron demonstrated the ways of controlling various kinds of fire caused by gas sprays, ethanol and other kinds of fuel.

The emergency response exercise is usually timed with fire prevention month or safety week. It gathers PIP’s six member companies: Chevron Philippines, Inc., Liquigaz Philippines Corporation, Petron Corporation, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) Philippines Corporation, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, and Total Philippines Corporation.

“More than the demonstration of skills, the event is a stage for sharing information regarding the different practices and safety guidelines implemented by the different petroleum companies. What is being shown in the emergency response exercises are actually considered industry’s best, and being applied as standard procedure in all oil facilities,” said Toby Nebrida, Chevron communications manager.

PIP organizes the event every year as part of their commitment to maintain the standard being followed by key oil players when it comes to practices in the field of health, safety, environment and security.

This year’s event was also attended by DOE Secretary Jose Rene Almendras and Batangas Vice-Governor Marc Leviste.

During the event, some of the participants also discussed emergency response to a gas leak, like the situation in a condominium tower in Barangay Bangkal, Makati recently.

According to Mr. Nebrida, oil industry players act through due diligence even if their company is not directly involved with the incident.

“When things like gas leaks happen in private properties, we investigate on our own if we have a facility located near the area. If we discover we have a gas station located nearby, we take it upon ourselves to check our stock and if there’s an anomaly in our accounting, then we instantly give the proper response,” he said.