Bratislava has a huge oil refinery with an annual capacity of six million tons of oil and other chemical products. Mark van Rosse, a BBA Pumps service engineer, recently assisted in the commissioning of the largest mobile firefighting pump unit in Slovakia.
A global security company is responsible for safety at the refinery. Therefore it has its own station equipped with the latest technology and a team of approximately 20 firefighters ready to respond to any emergency day and night. To enhance their operational capacity, BBA Pumps, through its local partner Belohoubek, won the contract earlier this year for the supply of a mobile firefighting pump unit.
Firefighting pumps are almost always custom-built. In this project, BBA Pumps is using the largest high-pressure pump from the BA series, the BA C300S8. This pump is dry self-priming and rated with a working capacity of 1600 m3/h at 10 bar. Of particular importance in this project was the ability to deploy the firefighting unit rapidly, which lead to incorporating the following features:
- A special mounting roll off frame, ensuring the pump set is quickly in the right position.
- The suction connection had to be provided with a manifold so that firefighters can quickly attach lightweight hoses with quick couplings.
- On the discharge side, a bigger manifold was required with eight connectors.
- The “open diesel” arrangement of the unit also had to include special hose clamps, round working lights, and other safety guards.
Despite a pump efficiency of up to 85 percnt BBA has opted for the strongest Volvo Penta diesel engine. The TAD1643VE delivers a massive 565 kW at 1,900 rpm. A gearbox is mounted between the engine and pump, which enables the pump to be brought to the correct speed.
During the commissioning in the refinery Mark van Rosse also conducted training in which all the firefighters were actively involved. Besides the technical ins and outs of the pump, the vacuum system and the drive, Mark also demonstrated how to quickly and safely install and start up the pump set. He says, “The firefighters were very enthusiastic and impressed by the pump unit. At the end of the day the commander proudly explained that now they have the largest mobile firefighting unit in Slovakia.”
For more information, visit www.bbappumps.com.
