For example, the safety distance for large-scale energy storage from significant risk points (fire, explosion) is 50 meters, medium-scale is 50 meters, and small-scale is 50 meters; for densely populated areas and flammable and explosive sites outside the factory area, the safety distances are 30 meters, 15 meters, and 12 meters, respectively.
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What is the minimum horizontal safety distance between combustible objects and buildings?
A range of horizontal safety distances can be established for different categories of fire objects and structures outside buildings. 5.2 Minimum horizontal safety distance The minimum horizontal safety distance between combustible objects and buildings is 2,5m. This is the horizontal safety distance for, for example, point sources of flames.
In addition to NYSERDA's BESS Guidebook, ESA issued the U.S. Energy Storage Operational Safety Guidelines in December 2019 to provide the BESS industry with a guide to current codes and standards applicable to BESS and provide additional guidelines to plan for and mitigate potential operational hazards.
This is done by carrying out an inclination examination of the fire plume, based on which it is possible to estimate the actual safety distances by adding 1m to the safety distances which have been obtained from the calculations.
NYSERDA published the Battery Energy Storage System Guidebook, most-recently updated in December 2020, which contains information and step-by-step instructions to support local governments in New York in managing the development of residential, commercial, and utility-scale BESS in their communities.
Can fire technical calculations be used to determine horizontal safety distances?
It is possible to use the results of the fire technical calculations to determine the horizontal safety distances of objects and structures from buildings. This equation provides a valid result if the height of the fire object is not bigger than its width.
Should a storage venting system take a building ventilation system into account?
For BESS that are located inside a building, storage venting systems should take building ventilation systems into account so that any hazardous gases are not drawn into other rooms, putting building occupants at risk.