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NFPA 85, Boiler and Combustion Systems Hazards Code

2023 NFPA 85 Code - Current Edition
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  • Description

    Improve building fire and life safety and help ensure compliance by referencing the latest requirements for boiler and combustion systems.

    NFPA® 85, Boiler and Combustion Systems Hazards Code, is a critical resource to help minimize risks and prevent explosions and implosions in boilers, pulverizing fuel systems, and heat recovery steam generators. From design, installation, and inspection criteria to coverage of the full range of equipment and systems, the revised and expanded 2023 edition offers the most current information. 

    Significant changes include:

    • Addition of new requirements, expanded and clarified existing language, and defined terms
    • Added requirements in Chapter 4 and in the annex that prescribe a written commissioning plan for all new and retrofitted boilers
    • Updated requirements for signage and procedures, along with any necessary personal protective equipment to reduce the risk of injury, for observation ports that open into enclosures
    • Introduction of an alternative to the current vent sizing where the potential leakage of the upstream valve is known and a valve-proving system is in use
    • Revised definition for noncombustible material for consistency with other NFPA documents
    • Changes to the safety integrity level (SIL) for single burner boilers in Chapter 5 from SIL 3 to SIL 2 to ensure that the programmable logic controller (PLC) and input/output (I/O) modules are certified by an independent organization and not the manufacturer
    • New SIL requirements clarify that the burner management system logic is implemented in the safety area of the processor and not with the control system in the general-purpose area of the processor
    • Expanded multiple burner boiler requirements in Chapter 6 for interlock functional tests and new annex material that outlines the intent and goals of the test
    • Revised starting sequence for multiple burner boilers to specify that the trial timer begins when the individual igniter safety shutoff valve(s) is energized and not when proven open
    • Change from the nomenclature leak test to the fuel gas header system tightness test to better reflect the requirement to ensure the main safety shutoff valve and upstream individual burner safety shutoff valves are not leaking. (The multiple burner boiler annex material for this test has been rewritten to better contextualize the requirements for the user.)
    • Revised starting sequence for multiple burner boilers throughout Chapter 6 to reflect that overfire air is in service before the boiler is operating
    • Minimum safety requirements and informational text added in Chapter 8 and its associated annex material to more accurately describe the conditions under which a turbine/ heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) system can achieve combustion turbine purge credit
    • The term coal replaced with fuel throughout Chapter 9 since the specific type of raw fuel being used is not necessarily coal
  • Table of Contents (2023 Current Edition)

    NFPA® 85 Boiler and Combustion Systems Hazards Code, 2023 Edition

    Chapter 1 Administration
    1.1 Scope.
    1.2 Purpose.
    1.3 Application.
    1.4 Retroactivity.
    1.5 Equivalency.
    1.6 Enforcement.
    Chapter 2 Referenced Publications
    2.1 General.
    2.2 NFPA Publications.
    2.3 Other Publications.
    2.4 References for Extracts in Mandatory Sections.
    Chapter 3 Definitions
    3.1 General.
    3.2 NFPA Official Definitions.
    3.3 General Definitions.
    Chapter 4 Fundamentals
    4.1 Manufacture, Design, and Engineering.
    4.2 Installation and Commissioning.
    4.3 Coordination of Design, Construction, and Operation.
    4.4 Maintenance, Inspection, Training, and Safety.
    4.5 Basic Operating Requirements.
    4.6 Structural Design.
    4.7 Functional Requirements of Fuel-Burning System.
    4.8 Multiple Boilers or HRSGs.
    4.9 Gaseous Vent System Requirements.
    4.10 Fuel System Piping.
    4.11 Burner Management System Logic.
    4.12 Flame Monitoring and Tripping Systems.
    4.13 Combustion Control System.
    4.14 Power Supplies.
    4.15 Operating Information.
    4.16 Selective Catalytic Reduction.
    4.17 Noncombustible Material.
    Chapter 5 Single Burner Boilers
    5.1 Application.
    5.2 Purpose.
    5.3 Unattended Operation.
    5.4 Equipment Requirements.
    5.5 Starting of a Cold Boiler.
    5.6 Burner Management Systems.
    5.7 Simultaneous Firing of Oil and Gas Fuels.
    5.8 Simultaneous Firing of Oil and Gas for Fuel Transfer Only.
    5.9 Dual Oil Atomizers in a Single Burner.
    Chapter 6 Multiple Burner Boilers
    6.1 Application.
    6.2 Purpose.
    6.3 Mechanical Equipment Requirements.
    6.4 Burner Management and Combustion Control Requirements.
    6.5 Furnace Implosion Protection.
    6.6 Fuel Gas Systems.
    6.7 Fuel Oil Systems.
    6.8 Pulverized Coal Systems.
    6.9 Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) Systems with Bypass Capability.
    Chapter 7 Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Boilers
    7.1 Application.
    7.2 Purpose.
    7.3 General.
    7.4 Equipment Requirements.
    7.5 Furnace Pressure Excursion Prevention.
    7.6 Sequence of Operations.
    7.7 Sequence of Operations for Gas-Fired Warm-Up Burners.
    7.8 Sequence of Operations for Oil-Fired Warm-Up Burners.
    7.9 Interlocks.
    7.10 Alarm System.
    Chapter 8 Heat Recovery Steam Generators and Other Combustion Turbine Exhaust Systems
    8.1 Application.
    8.2 Purpose.
    8.3 Project Coordination.
    8.4 Equipment.
    8.5 HRSG Enclosure and Other Combustion Turbine Exhaust Systems.
    8.6 Electrical.
    8.7 Controls, Monitoring, Alarms, and Interlocks.
    8.8 Purge, Start-up, Operation, and Shutdown of HRSG and Other Combustion Turbine Exhaust Systems.
    8.9 Combustion Turbine Exhaust Bypass Systems.
    8.10 Combustion Turbine and HRSG with Fresh Air Firing Capability.
    8.11 Combustion Turbine Exhaust System.
    Chapter 9 Pulverized Fuel Systems
    9.1 Application.
    9.2 Purpose.
    9.3 General.
    9.4 Direct-Fired Pulverized Fuel Systems.
    9.5 Indirect-Fired Pulverized Fuel Systems.
    9.6 Operation.
    9.7 Special Systems.
    Chapter 10 Stokers
    10.1 Purpose.
    10.2 Fuel-Burning System.
    10.3 Combustion Control System.
    10.4 Operation.
    10.5 Furnace Inspection.
    10.6 On-Line Maintenance.
    10.7 Access Doors or Observation Ports.
    10.8 Ash Hopper Access Doors.
    10.9 Ash Handling.
    Annex A Explanatory Material
    Annex B Concentrated Flame Igniter Supplemental Information
    Annex C Multiple Burner Boiler Low NOx Operation — Special Considerations
    Annex D Fluidized Bed Boilers Supplemental Information
    Annex E Common Pulverized Fuel System Designs
    Annex F Supplemental Information on Stoker-Fired Boilers
    Annex G Sample Ordinance Adopting NFPA 85
    Annex H Safety
    Annex I Fuel Hazards
    Annex J Origin and Development of NFPA 85
    Annex K Informational References
  • Prior Editions

    2019 Edition

    Access clear information for boiler and combustion systems fire safety compliance -- from design and installation to inspection -- in the 2019 edition of NFPA 85.

    Boiler hazards not only impact operational performance, but they can also cause explosions and jeopardize the lives of facility occupants and maintenance personnel. NFPA 85, Boiler and Combustion Systems Hazards Code, gives everyone involved with large boiler installations and pulverized fuel systems the information they need for fire safety compliance -- from design and installation to inspection.

    NFPA 85 presents up-to-date requirements for the full range of equipment:

    • Large boilers, including atmospheric fluidized bed boilers with a minimum fuel input rating of 12.5 million Btu/hr (3.6 MW)
    • Stoker operations
    • Pulverized fuel systems
    • Fired or unfired steam generators used to recover heat from combustion turbines

    Changes reflect terminology used in today's field, clarify code application, and facilitate code use.

    • Updated and new definitions and standardized language address interlock, trip, and permissive, and correlated terms used throughout the code -- such as safety interlock, interlock system, safety device, interlock device, and master fuel trip.
    • New language requires specification of the autoignition temperature for fuels over the range of expected operating conditions.
    • Added text clarifies the allowed uses of Class 2 and Class 3 igniters.
    • Requirements for overpressure protection are now located in the Fundamentals chapter to reduce repetition. New text clarifies how to apply overpressure protection and methods to achieve it.
    • Reformatted Single Burner Boiler requirements eliminate repetition and combine similar procedures used for both water-tube and fire-tube boilers.
    • Clarified language states that a combustion turbine purge is not required on subsequent starts, provided purge credit is maintained.
    • Clarified operational leak test frequencies state that the test does not need to be repeated if completed within eight hours.
    • New annex material provides guidance on the frequency of testing for Multiple Burner Boiler interlocks.
    • The Supervised Manual Systems Annex is replaced with an annex on Concentrated Flame Igniters.

    Boiler or combustion system designers, operators, facility managers, and enforcers all need to stay up-to-code with NFPA 85. (Print, 233 pp., 2019)

     

    2015 Edition

    In response to newly identified fire safety concerns, the 2015 NFPA 85 presents updated requirements for boiler and combustion systems.

    Boiler hazards not only impact operational performance, they can cause explosions and jeopardize the lives of facility occupants and maintenance personnel. Revised for 2015, NFPA 85, Boiler and Combustion Systems Hazards Code gives everyone involved with large boiler installations and pulverized fuel systems the information they need for fire safety compliance -- from design and installation to inspection.

    NFPA 85 presents requirements for the full range of equipment:

    • Large boilers, including atmospheric fluidized bed boilers with a minimum fuel input rating of 12.5 million Btu/hr (3.6 MW)
    • Stoker operations
    • Pulverized fuel systems
    • Fired or unfired steam generators used to recover heat from combustion turbines

    Major changes in the 2015 edition of NFPA 85 include:

    • New requirements to facilitate safe purging of fuel gas piping in and out of service, including requiring a designated equipment isolation valve, purging upstream piping in accordance with the applicable standard, and minimum safety requirements for purging piping and equipment downstream of the equipment isolation valve.
    • Several provisions concerning multiple burner boilers (formerly in Chapter 6) were relocated to Chapter 4, General Requirements to indicate they apply to all equipment under the scope of NFPA 85. Relocated requirements include conducting a process hazard analysis for unattended operation, restrictions on removing interlocks from service during startup or operation, and preventing the flow of flue gases from a common stack into an idle boiler or Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG).
    • Safety-rated programmable logic controllers are recognized in the Code for use with single-burner boilers where they are certified as at least SIL 3-capable according to IEC 61508.
    • Chapter 9, Pulverized Fuel Systems, was completely rewritten to separate requirements for direct-fired and indirect-fired systems to help users identify and apply requirements for specific equipment.

    Boiler or combustion system designers, operators, facility managers, and enforcers all need to stay up-to-code with NFPA 85. (Softbound, 233 pp., 2015)

     

    Interested in other editions of NFPA 85? Use the drop down menu above to select the edition year you need.

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