Safety Integrity Level (SIL) Applied to the Belt Conveyor Design

Contamination from naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) at our manufacturing facilities in Alberta and Ontario is introduced in the form of Radon-222 from our ethane feedstock. The Radon-222 concentration in ethane entering each manufacturing location varies for many reasons such as well depth, travel time, and storage time prior to arriving on site for processing. The Radon-222 decays to Lead-210 which deposits inside piping and equipment. Since Radon-222 progeny emit alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, protecting workers and the environment can be challenging.

NOVA has many years of experience in NORM identification, evaluation, and control during normal operation, routine plant maintenance, and turnarounds; with turnarounds being much more difficult to control due to quantity of NORM contaminated equipment being opened at same time, and number of workers present. This presentation will discuss NOVA Chemicals NORM experiences with identification, evaluation, and control of NORM as it relates to protection of our workers and the environment to levels ALARA during plant maintenance turnarounds.