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Elements of Process Safety

The four pillars and the twenty elements of risk based process safety can be designed and implemented at varying levels of rigor to optimize process safety management, performance, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Inherently Safer Technology Implementation -Risk Reduction and Risk Shifting

Apr 4, 2012
Iclal Atay
On March 25, 2008 the State of New Jersey adopted rules requiring facilities regulated under the Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act (TCPA) Program to perform Inherently Safer Technology (IST) reviews. By January 2010, 85 facilities performed IST reviews and submitted their findings to the New Jersey...

Two Incompetent Workers; Too Close for Comfort ñ Part 1

Apr 4, 2012
Mike Broadribb
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...

Using LOPA to Establish SILs for Power Outage Protection

Apr 4, 2012
Carlos A. Barrera
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...

Turnaround Excellence - Key Success Factors

Apr 4, 2012
Bobby Vichich
Turnaround Excellence is more than a state of being… it is a journey. Achieving and sustaining excellence is wholly dependent on a site approach of shared accountability towards Turnaround Excellence and must be a continually improving process. Starting well in advance of “feed out”, a long range...

Fatal Exposure: Tragedy At DuPont

Apr 4, 2012
Marc G. Sáenz
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...

Design Challenges in Tankage Modernization

Apr 4, 2012
James Kong
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...

Major Turnaround in An Olefins Plant: A Process Safety Point of View

Apr 4, 2012
Pablo Ricardo Barrera
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...

Evaluation of Dispersion Models for LNG Siting Applications

Apr 4, 2012
Andrew Kohout
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,...

Process Plant Safety: An Attorney's Perspective on Key Legal and Regulatory Issues

Apr 3, 2012
Lynn L. Bergeson
That process plant safety is critically important to the sustainable growth of any manufacturing or other impacted company is indisputable. High profile process plant safety failures such as Deepwater Horizon, Bhopal, and BP Texas City are cautionary tales illustrating the tragic consequences that...

Continuing Our Process Safety Management (PSM) Journey: How Time and Technology Have Helped Change the Public's View (A Case Study for Where We Are Today and Where We Can Go Tomorrow)

Apr 3, 2012
Bruce K. Vaughen
This paper briefly explores the history of basic PSM principles, first describing a historical view of how PSM developed into today's PSM Elements. Then this paper covers a proposed direction for PSM's future that may help address the changing nature of the public's view of the chemical industry –...

Maintain Safety Excellence in Laboratory Test Facilities

Apr 3, 2012
Amy Theis
Our laboratory contains calorimeters to characterize reactive chemical hazards and multiple different instruments to characterize both dust and gas/vapor explosion hazards. It is a challenge to ensure that each project is completed safely since a wide variety of chemicals are used. Our goal at...

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