Adopted by DOT and referenced by other agencies including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, NFPA 59A, Standard for the Production, Storage, and Handling of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), governs the site selection, design, construction, and fire protection of LNG plants.
NFPA 59A is required throughout the United States -- and internationally trusted as the final word on safety for these specialized facilities.
Along with prescriptive requirements, the Standard includes a performance-based option that requires analyzing the risks to persons and property in the area surrounding the proposed LNG plant based on risk mitigation techniques incorporated into the facility design. The prevalence of LNG in the United States has caused a shift away from predominantly importing LNG towards becoming a large exporter. Numerous export facilities under development rely on NFPA 59A for guidance on LNG production, storage, and handling.
Updates in the 2023 edition include:
- Adds minimum required records reflecting the current design of the facility in order to serve as the basis for an engineering review of change
- Use of the terms hazardous fluid and ignitible fluid has been standardized to reflect the hazard of concern in regards to the requirement
- Updated standards for location of Fire and Gas Detectors
- Chapter 19 release and conditional probabilities have been updated to reflect new data for failure rates and specific hole sizes of various leaks.
The latest edition of NFPA 59A is a crucial resource for architects, owners, designers, engineers, fire safety officers, AHJs, and anyone responsible for LNG plant safety.
