Vipo Testing Facilities
for optimum performance
Vipo hosts a unique range of testing facilities, providing the ability to develop and design innovative, bespoke solutions, tested in-house. With the setup to provide in-house testing, we are confident in meeting the rapidly changing industry requirements, demands and safety standards. With this, we are able to provide peace of mind and confidence for our customers.
We carry out a wide range of tests on raw materials, production samples and finished products to guarantee the highest level of quality through our manufacturing process.
Our unique solutions are designed and engineered to specific customer requirements across a wide range of industry applications.
We strive to provide our customers with peace of mind and confidence, while ensuring superior quality, performance and efficiency in the products we manufacture and deliver.
Fire testing
Many structures and control systems located in areas with an increased fire risk are protected by passive fire protection (PFP) systems. In demanding offshore environments, jet fires represent a major fire risk in installations with pressurized hydrocarbons.
Our facility located in Krokstadelva, Norway, houses our in-house jet fire testing rig, and high heat flux testing rig, allowing us to continually develop and test our range of passive fire protection materials, in a controlled, repeatable environment.
Jet fire testing
A jet fire may occur when combustible liquids (oil, gas) leak from a damaged pipeline, forming a fluid pit or reservoir which ignites. The extent of the fire can vary significantly depending on different conditions including surrounding environment, type of fuel, pressure, and volume.
ISO22899 (previously OTI95634) defines the test set up required for testing the resistance of passive fire protection materials to jet fire. ISO22899 describes a set-up with a pressurized gas release of 0.3kg/s giving a severe combination of erosive forces and heat. This can be highly destructive to some PFP systems, resulting in potential failure of the system. The test setup is sufficient when giving an indication of the performance of a wide range of PFP materials and systems, with the heat flux achieved limited to 250 kW/m².
Extended jet fire and high heat flux (HHF) testing
It is now recognized that the higher heat flux and temperatures of jet fires, requires the need for new extended jet fire and HHF testing standards to be created. HHF testing, often performed sequentially with HC fire testing, currently has no standardized test protocols or programs, and it is often left to individual suppliers to demonstrate HHF material or system compliance.
We have created a large-scale bespoke HHF testing rig to assess PFP materials in higher temperatures and heat fluxes. A larger than normal chamber measuring 3 x 3 x 2.7 meters with pressurized gas input to the same standard as stated in ISO22899, has been constructed. For the HHF test, air is added to the chamber to increase the temperature, creating a high heat flux environment of 350kW/m2 with a temperature of approximately +1300 °C. For comparison, our standard jet fire test chamber built and operated in accordance to ISO22899 measures 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 meters.