Commitment to Process Safety

Located at Dow's Freeport, Texas site, the B-4000 Multifunctional Pilot Plant has safely supported diverse research initiatives related to the development of chemical processes and evaluation of catalysts, raw materials and products since 2000. The facility provides the necessary infrastructure...

To perform LOPA's, fault tree analysis, SIL verifications and other quantitative likelihood analyses requires data. As much as everyone wants data, it always seems to be elusive or lacking in quality. This paper explores various issues that the authors have experienced when dealing with end user...

ABSTRACT: “Guidelines for Evaluating Plant Buildings for Fire, Explosion, and Toxic Releases—2 nd Edition” (New Requirements of API RP 752, 3 rd Edition (2009) and continuing requirements of API RP 753) Authors: Wayne Garland (Wayne Garland ( wgarland@eastman.com ) Quentin A. Baker ( qbaker@...

In order to comply with regulation requirements, a refinery needs to perform major revamps to produce different grades of Diesel, namely ULSD, Off-road Grade and Regular Diesel. The existing tankage allocation needs to be changed to accommodate the hydrotreater feed components and the new products...

Process safety status in China

Industrial transformers and circuit breakers operate with large voltage differences between current-carrying internal components and the grounded tank walls. A breakdown in the dielectric strength of the insulating oil in the tank due to contamination or other causes can lead to the formation of an...

The federal safety standards for LNG facilities under 49 CFR Part 193 approves the use of specific dispersion models for performing vapor-gas dispersion exclusion zones. In addition, provisions allow for the use of alternative models if approved by PHMSA. In 2010, PHMSA, in consultation with FERC,...

A truck driver loading a tanker was fatally injured in a flash fire. The accident occurred at the loading rack of a petroleum refinery. The truck driver was on top of the tank trailer loading a liquid petroleum byproduct material similar to asphalt through an open hatch on the trailer. The material...

Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) continues to be more and more widely utilized in the Petrochemical and other industries. LOPA is a “simplified” tool, which is true relative to tools such as Quantitative Risk Assessment and Fault Tree Analysis. However, simplified does not mean simple on an...

In 16 th century London, a statement that describes impossibility was referred to as a “black swan” because all historical records of swans up to that time had reported that swans only had white feathers. The Greek philosopher Aristotle first used the term “white swan” as an example of necessary...