Case Study: Fire Protection Specialty EPC
2020 / CASE STUDY
Tailored Fire Protection Design Leads to Improved Overall Safety
Introduction
A full-service EPC firm was design-building a gas-liquid processing site along the Gulf Cost. Wary of the rigors of ever evolving code compliance, standards and local laws, the firm was looking for guidance.
Impressed by Hydrus’ initial proficiency, the firm decided to add Hydrus’ to the team to help push the fire protection system across the finish line.
Like many full-service EPC firms, staff excelled at all the facets to bring a major project from concept to completion. The firm was flourishing with vast experience in each engineering discipline, a nimble but disciplined project management approach, and well-developed in-house fabrication capabilities.
However, fire protection and risk management was rarely a project component handled in-house. Keeping full-time, licensed fire protection engineers on staff just didn’t make sense.
In the past, the firm had depended upon vendor design when it came to fire protection. One too many times, vendors produced designs clearly spec’d to sell as much equipment as possible, resulting in overdesigned systems that would underperform when it came to the actual hazards at hand.
Exhausted by vendor’s games, the firm decided to plug Hydrus into the project at the start of the design cycle. With Hydrus incorporated into the project team, fire protection no longer was an afterthought, but a tightly integrated project element.
UNEXPECTED UPGRADES
Hydrus’ concise design approach, closely adapted to match process needs, freed up budget to raise the bar on site safety. The owner opted to utilize the savings to go above and beyond, investing into upgraded automation that cut response times, better protected operators and reduced the asset’s catastrophic risk exposure.
Integrating Hydrus into the project early gave both the owner and project team the peace of mind that fire protection was handled well and handled right
Put Hydrus in your corner.
WHEN RULES OF THUMB AREN’T GOOD ENOUGH
Hydrus’ comprehensive approach included more than managing the fire and explosion risk a process presents. Hydrus’ integration into the team uncovered simple, but effective process-level improvements that would have otherwise gone unnoticed resulting in safer operability and reduced long-term risk.
FROM START TO FINISH
Hydrus let the project team focus on what they were good at – building a processing plant. The team leveraged Hydrus to design, build, and commission the site’s entire fire protection system, freeing them from the burden of managing, sourcing and executing yet another subsystem from a world with unfamiliar rules.
“Hydrus’ approach gave us a cheaper design than any vendor ever would have.
”
DON’T LET THE FOX GUARD THE HEN HOUSE
Many firms often look to a fire protection equipment vendor to design, install and commission fire protection infrastructure and equipment. Even the best vendors struggle to balance profit over a project’s actual needs. Keep someone in your corner that benefits from a successful project, regardless of the equipment put in the field.
Having Hydrus on the team made sure the system was fit for the site’s needs, uncovering opportunities to increase safety and reduce risk all around.
THE HYDRUS APPROACH
MINIMIZE ASSUMPTIONS
Eliminate the guesswork with measured, real-world data to push your project out of the theoretical
DO THE HOMEWORK
Leverage sound, data-driven design analyses and decision making to ensure any project’s success
EXCEED PROJECT GOALS
Uncover opportunities not typically revealed through conventional engineering approaches