150 - Wind Turbine Fires with Guillermo Rein

Wind turbine fires - are they an issue, or are they not? In this episode, I am joined by Prof. Guillermo Rein of the Imperial College London, who raised this issue 10 years ago at the IAFSS conference, and I believe we still do not have a clear answer.In this episode, we discuss the fire safety of wind turbines using the layers of protection framework - from suppression, detection, and prevention to firefighting. We have discussed the challenges with evacuation and the subsequent fires triggered by "firebrands" flying out of the burning wind turbine. I try to show this discussion also as a great example case study for fire safety engineering. Having this sharp cost of the fire (loss of turbine, loss of income), pretty much binary outcomes of fires (if there is a fire the turbine is most likely lost) and a cost of safety features, we can truly put a number on how much monetary value the fire safety features of a wind turbine bring. If you would like to learn more about wind turbine fires, I highly recommend the more recent article in SFPE Fire Protection Engineering magazine and the IAFSS paper on the topic (from 2013).----The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.