Project 251: Process Safety in Pilot Plants and Laboratories

This project will develop and publish a book providing advisory guidance on process safety for laboratories and pilot plants, where laboratories are defined as specially designed research or manufacturing area where relatively small quantities of materials are used, and pilot plants are small-scale manufacturing facilities to systematically evaluate process steps under conditions simulating a full production unit, validate lab research, and/or simulate full scale plant production. The current version of NFPA 45 (2011) clearly draws a distinction between laboratories and pilot plants, but does not provide detailed guidance on many aspects of process safety in either labs or pilot plants. This book will pull together both literature information and company experience to develop processes and procedures that are specific to bench and small scale chemical operations.