Conference Presentations - 2010 Global Congress on Process Safety

Process data is often analyzed during the investigation of industrial fires and explosions. Our analyses often reveal near misses or warning signs that foreshadow the eventual causes of a catastrophic event. In some cases the facility may have been unaware of these near misses or not realized their...

A subset of 44 failed spring operated pressure relief valves (SORV) from a set of over 5600 Process Equipment Reliability Database (PERD) proof tests was subjected to root cause of failure analysis (RCA). This paper reports on the findings of those 44 analyses and includes specific examples of root...

Thermal stability of a chemical mixture or pure material can be evaluated using adiabatic calorimetry. Several calorimetry testing instruments and techniques will be used and compared for a comprehensive evaluation. Results from these tests can be used to determine kinetic parameters which can be...

Many companies have made great strides in change management systems since OSHA's Process Safety Management Standard 29 CFR 1910.119 was first promulgated in 1992. This standard required “implementation of written procedures to manage changes… that affect a covered process”i. Although significant...

Distillation is one of the most common unit operations in the chemical processing industry. Using relative volatility as a means of separating chemicals involves adding large amounts of energy to the system at the base of the column, typically through the use of a reboiler, and then removing that...