Elements of Process Safety

While Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) can be an essential element of process facility design to minimize the potential for process incidents, in some cases they can also be over-applied in the design phases of capital projects where the Safety Instrumented Functions (SIFs) associated with the SIS...

On the Catastrophic Explosion of the AZF plant in Toulouse (September 21, 2001) Georges Guiochon and Laurent Jacob Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996-1600, USA During the morning of September 21, 2001, a warehouse containing ca. 300 metric tons of production...

Catastrophic incident root causes often may be correlated with power outages. An unanticipated power outage may be an initiating event that leads to a process upset or even an emergency shutdown of a process unit. If the planning and implementation of the emergency shutdown are managed incorrectly...

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 Management Plus or Minus 20 Years - What I Wish I'd Known 20 Years Ago and What We Can't Wait Another 20 Years to Learn Abstract of proposed presentation to the Global Congress on Process Safety: Houston - April, 2012 Presenter: Alan C. (Al) Brackey, Senior Manager PSM Audit - Valero...

The process safety management in an industrial plant is a critical success factor for companies integrated in a global market. The equipments should have maximized performance and operational runlenght without compromising process safety. The challenge for excellence performance drives companies to...

This investigation by the United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) provides unique lessons in process safety. Three incidents occurred over a 33-hour period at the DuPont plant in Belle, WV. The most serious incident occurred on January 23, 2010, when a release of highly...

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,...

The discussion of societal risk criteria for the process industry began in the 1970's, led primarily by the Dutch and British governments. Most of the discussion, however, has centered on fixed facilities. The literature on the societal risk of hazardous goods transportation, particularly by...

Learning from experience is one of the four pillars of Risk-Based Process Safety. Incidents that occur at one facility often provide opportunities to strengthen management systems at other facilities. Sharing the technical lessons learned from incidents is morally right and vital to improving...