SAChE Content for Faculty

A Process Safety Management (PSM) Overview

Sponsor: Bruce K. Vaughen (Cabot Corporation)

The objective of this product is to provide an overview of the basic elements of a Process Safety Management (PSM) system. An effective PSM system ensures the safety, health, and welfare of people, the community and the environment by understanding and controlling process hazards. The product defines PSM, Operational Discipline (OD) and Risk, and it describes an approach to process safety risk reduction as well as discussing basic concepts describing the PSM elements that comprise an effective system. This product includes:

• A two-part PowerPoint presentation
• Lecture notes
• Handouts

and can be used by faculty, industrial trainers, and students. Details or specific examples can be added to the PSM elements in the presentation.

Consequence Modeling Source Models I: Liquids & Gases

Sponsor: Jan Wagner (Oklahoma State University)

This module was developed to help introduce issues of safety and loss prevention in undergraduate engineering courses. Each of the five major sections can be used independently, depending on the student's backgrounds.

• Section 1 is an introduction to the role of source models in the risk assessment process.
• Section 2 introduces the basic information required to select or develop an appropriate source model for a given release scenario.
• The fundamental concepts of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, the mechanical energy balance, and friction losses in pipes and fittings are reviewed briefly in Section 3.
• Section 4 deals with flow of liquids in pipes and orifices. The example problems are intended to introduce loss prevention issues, and they can be used in any fluid mechanics class.
• Section 5 presents the flow of ideal gas in orifices and pipes. This material may be appropriate in fluid mechanics or thermodynamics classes. The derivations of equations for compressible flow are intended to show the relationships between physical phenomena and the mathematical model; the fundamental concepts apply to ideal and real gases.

The module resources include text, accompanying PowerPoint presentations, student homework problems, and an instructor's solution manual.

Seveso Accidental Release Case History

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This presentation describes a widely discussed case history that illustrates how minor engineering errors can cause significant problems; problems that should not be repeated. The accident was in Seveso, Italy in 1976. It was a small release of a dioxin that caused many serious injuries.

The package can be used in an undergraduate classroom or an industrial training session. The package can be modified to fit different contexts including: reaction engineering (runaway reactions), heat transfer (heat transport from the reactor walls to the liquid), mass transfer (the resultant dispersion of material from a release), and reaction stoichiometry. The entire module can be presented in about 50 minutes.

The Seveso case history is an especially good teaching module, showing how a minor problem and a minor release can cause very serious injuries. The root cause of this release included a poor engineering design, operator negligence, and poor supervision. The intent of this teaching module is to motivate engineers and supervisors to pay attention to the details.

This product includes five excellent problems and solutions that illustrate the lessons to be learned from this case history. The problems can be used in the following courses: a) Stoichiometry, b) Thermodynamics, c) Kinetics, d) Heat Transfer, and e) Ethics. Or they can be used in industrial training sessions in the areas of process design and engineering management.

Conservation of Life: Application of Process Safety Management

Sponsor: J. Klein (DuPont)

This SACHE product introduces “conservation of life” (COL) as a fundamental principle of chemical engineering design and practice, equivalent in importance to conservation of energy and mass. This presentation provides a good introduction to application of process safety and provides an overall structure for consideration of process safety by students.

COL principles that are discussed include:

• Assess material/process hazards
• Evaluate hazardous events
• Manage process risks
• Consider real-world operations
• Ensure product sustainability.

Most of the presentation is spent on the first three principles, which are most important to chemical engineering design and education, but all principles are introduced. Important factors for assessment of toxicity, flammability, reactivity, and dust hazards are provided. Use of PHAs, layers of protection, inherently safer methodologies, and human factors for managing process risk are highlighted. The “Swiss Cheese Model” is also introduced to consider how layers of protection can fail, potentially leading to catastrophic incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

This product can be used in the university (introductory engineering, design, or kinetics courses) or for the introduction of process safety for new industrial employees. COL can be used by universities as a concept and unifying theme for increasing awareness, application, and integration of process and product safety throughout the chemical engineering curriculum and for meeting the revised ABET accreditation criteria.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 1

Sponsors: J. R. Welker and C. Springer (University of Arkansas)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Problems for Undergraduate Engineering Curricula" Volume 1 was originally published by CCPS in 1990. Copies were given to universities and sold to industry. This was a very popular and valued product that is currently out of print. J. Wagner (Oklahoma State University) recently put this product in electronic format for distribution here. The problems are available via the Links menu on this site and to students logged into the site.

The 90 problems involve issues of safety, health, and loss prevention and provide students and new engineers with important insights to industrial processes. This material can also be used as a reference for industrial courses for new engineering employees. These safety problems and solutions further demonstrate that safety and health issues are handled with basic engineering principles and logic. Finally, through the use of this material, we hope to instill in students and engineers an increased recognition of the importance of chemical process safety and the recognition that they have the professional and ethical responsibility to provide safe chemical plants, processes and products.

The problems were designed to use in existing engineering courses, such as: stoichiometry, material balance, mass transfer, heat transfer, thermodynamics, process control, and design courses. The authors believe that it is important that students work on these problems while attending there undergraduate courses and throughout their education. This process should develop a safety culture within engineers that will help them throughout their careers.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 2

Sponsors:

R. Willey (Northeastern University)

D. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

R. Welker (University of Arkansas)

R. Darby (Texas A&M University)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Volume 2" was originally published by CCPS in 2002 and distributed to SACHE University Members. This was a very popular and valued product that is now out of print. R. Willey recently put this volume in electronic form for distribution here.

Like the Volume 1 problems, the 218 problems teach safety, health, and loss prevention. This solution set represents problems and solutions produced by SACHE in the period 1990 to 2000.

The problems were designed for use in existing engineering courses, such as: Stoichiometry, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Kinetics, Heat Transfer, Process Dynamics and Control, Computer Solutions, and Mass Transfer. The authors believe that including these problems in a required undergraduate course helps engineering students develop a safety culture and mind set that will benefit them throughout their careers.

Student AIChE 2002 Design Problem Solution

Sponsors:

S. Horsch and J. Louvar (Wayne State University)

J. Wehman (BASF Corporation, retired)

This product includes a solution to the 2002 AIChE Design Problem that was developed by a student (S. Horsch) with significant assistance from very knowledgeable design professionals; these are the professionals who developed this design problem, and they have worked on this design in an industrial environment.

This product includes concepts, calculations, and drawings that can be used in future AIChE design solutions, for example:

• Relief valve calculations for gases, liquids, and two phase flows;
• Safety review including hazards and resulting safety measures to prevent accidents and inherent safety concepts and features;
• The process flow diagram (PFD) and process and instrument diagram (P&ID); and
• MathCad programs for making the design calculations.

All of the MathCad programs and Visio drawings can be copied for using in future design problem solutions. Additionally, the safety review and inherent safety discussions will be an excellent aid in the development of safety and inherent design concepts for all future AIChE design problems. The AIChE Student Chapters Committee that administers the annual AIChE Design competition approved posting of this example problem.

Seveso Accidental Release Case History

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This presentation describes a widely discussed case history that illustrates how minor engineering errors can cause significant problems; problems that should not be repeated. The accident was in Seveso, Italy in 1976. It was a small release of a dioxin that caused many serious injuries.

The package can be used in an undergraduate classroom or an industrial training session. The package can be modified to fit different contexts including: reaction engineering (runaway reactions), heat transfer (heat transport from the reactor walls to the liquid), mass transfer (the resultant dispersion of material from a release), and reaction stoichiometry. The entire module can be presented in about 50 minutes.

The Seveso case history is an especially good teaching module, showing how a minor problem and a minor release can cause very serious injuries. The root cause of this release included a poor engineering design, operator negligence, and poor supervision. The intent of this teaching module is to motivate engineers and supervisors to pay attention to the details.

This product includes five excellent problems and solutions that illustrate the lessons to be learned from this case history. The problems can be used in the following courses: a) Stoichiometry, b) Thermodynamics, c) Kinetics, d) Heat Transfer, and e) Ethics. Or they can be used in industrial training sessions in the areas of process design and engineering management.

Case History: A Batch Polystyrene Reactor Runaway

Sponsor: Ron Willey (Northeastern University)

This case history describes a runaway reaction that occurred in a batch reactor manufacturing polystyrene. Companies now use semi-batch reactors (or stepwise addition of reactants) for such highly exothermic reactions. This case history emphasizes the importance of carefully analyzing and controlling exothermic reactions. When control is lost, the consequences can be catastrophic – for this case, a large fire due to an uncontrolled release of a flammable material, or to large reactor explosions (a nitroaniline reactor explosion case history in another SACHE product).

In this case study, lessons learned include:

• use of redundant process control equipment with audible alarms,
• use of semi-automated discharge systems,
• maintenance of critical process control equipment,
• develop, manage, and test emergency procedures,
• understand the hazardous characteristics of exothermic reactions,
• understand that semi-batch reactors should be used for highly exothermic reactions, and
• use of the Dow Fire and Explosion Index to identify and eliminate potential design and operating problems.

This case history is in a PowerPoint format that includes notes. The presentation can be used in reactor kinetics or design courses.

Mini-Case Histories

Joe Louvar and Durai Dakshinamoorthy (Wayne State University)

This product emphasizes learning from history or being doomed to repeat it. It includes three sections:

• Mini-Case Histories
• Process Safety Beacon
• Safety Concepts

as described below:

Mini-Case Histories: There are eight PowerPoint presentations, with notes, that cover the accidents at Bhopal, Monsanto, Phillips, Flixborough, Morton, Tosco, Hickson, and Sonat. The root causes of each accident are included, such as, poor designs, lack of training, and poor management. The information summarized in these case histories was taken from SACHE products, and reports by the Chemical Safety Board.

Process Safety Beacon: The Center for Chemical Process Safety is publishing monthly, one-page case histories or lessons learned. They are available on the Internet via CCPS Beacon. A few of the Beacons are included in this product to remind readers that these lessons are available.

Safety Concepts: This product includes six PowerPoint presentations: Relief Valves; Prevent Runaway Reactions; Manage Design, Construction, and Operations; BLEVEs; Explosions; and Prevent Explosions. The concepts covered are those that are especially relevant to chemical plant accidents.

The Mini-Case Histories and Safety Concepts were developed in a PowerPoint format to give users the opportunity to add slides or lessons as desired.

Chemical Reactivity Hazards

Sponsor: Robert Johnson (Unwin Co.)

This web-based instructional module contains about 100 web pages with extensive links, graphics, videos, and supplemental slides. It can be used either for classroom presentation or as a self-paced tutorial. The module is designed to supplement a junior or senior chemical engineering course by showing how uncontrolled chemical reactions in industry can lead to serious harm, and by introducing key concepts for avoiding unintended reactions and controlling intended reactions. The five main sections in the module cover (1) three major incidents that show the potential consequences of uncontrolled reactions; (2) how chemical reactions get out of control, including consideration of reaction path, heat generation and removal, and people/property/environmental response; (3) data and lab testing resources used to identify reactivity hazards, (4) four approaches to making a facility inherently safer with respect to chemical reactivity hazards; and (5) strategies for designing facilities both to prevent and to mitigate uncontrolled chemical reactions. The module concludes with a ten-question informative quiz. An extensive Glossary and Bibliography are directly accessible from any page.

Conservation of Life: Application of Process Safety Management

Sponsor: J. Klein (DuPont)

This SACHE product introduces “conservation of life” (COL) as a fundamental principle of chemical engineering design and practice, equivalent in importance to conservation of energy and mass. This presentation provides a good introduction to application of process safety and provides an overall structure for consideration of process safety by students.

COL principles that are discussed include:

• Assess material/process hazards
• Evaluate hazardous events
• Manage process risks
• Consider real-world operations
• Ensure product sustainability.

Most of the presentation is spent on the first three principles, which are most important to chemical engineering design and education, but all principles are introduced. Important factors for assessment of toxicity, flammability, reactivity, and dust hazards are provided. Use of PHAs, layers of protection, inherently safer methodologies, and human factors for managing process risk are highlighted. The “Swiss Cheese Model” is also introduced to consider how layers of protection can fail, potentially leading to catastrophic incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

This product can be used in the university (introductory engineering, design, or kinetics courses) or for the introduction of process safety for new industrial employees. COL can be used by universities as a concept and unifying theme for increasing awareness, application, and integration of process and product safety throughout the chemical engineering curriculum and for meeting the revised ABET accreditation criteria.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 1

Sponsors: J. R. Welker and C. Springer (University of Arkansas)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Problems for Undergraduate Engineering Curricula" Volume 1 was originally published by CCPS in 1990. Copies were given to universities and sold to industry. This was a very popular and valued product that is currently out of print. J. Wagner (Oklahoma State University) recently put this product in electronic format for distribution here. The problems are available via the Links menu on this site and to students logged into the site.

The 90 problems involve issues of safety, health, and loss prevention and provide students and new engineers with important insights to industrial processes. This material can also be used as a reference for industrial courses for new engineering employees. These safety problems and solutions further demonstrate that safety and health issues are handled with basic engineering principles and logic. Finally, through the use of this material, we hope to instill in students and engineers an increased recognition of the importance of chemical process safety and the recognition that they have the professional and ethical responsibility to provide safe chemical plants, processes and products.

The problems were designed to use in existing engineering courses, such as: stoichiometry, material balance, mass transfer, heat transfer, thermodynamics, process control, and design courses. The authors believe that it is important that students work on these problems while attending there undergraduate courses and throughout their education. This process should develop a safety culture within engineers that will help them throughout their careers.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 2

Sponsors:

R. Willey (Northeastern University)

D. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

R. Welker (University of Arkansas)

R. Darby (Texas A&M University)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Volume 2" was originally published by CCPS in 2002 and distributed to SACHE University Members. This was a very popular and valued product that is now out of print. R. Willey recently put this volume in electronic form for distribution here.

Like the Volume 1 problems, the 218 problems teach safety, health, and loss prevention. This solution set represents problems and solutions produced by SACHE in the period 1990 to 2000.

The problems were designed for use in existing engineering courses, such as: Stoichiometry, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Kinetics, Heat Transfer, Process Dynamics and Control, Computer Solutions, and Mass Transfer. The authors believe that including these problems in a required undergraduate course helps engineering students develop a safety culture and mind set that will benefit them throughout their careers.

Student AIChE 2002 Design Problem Solution

Sponsors:

S. Horsch and J. Louvar (Wayne State University)

J. Wehman (BASF Corporation, retired)

This product includes a solution to the 2002 AIChE Design Problem that was developed by a student (S. Horsch) with significant assistance from very knowledgeable design professionals; these are the professionals who developed this design problem, and they have worked on this design in an industrial environment.

This product includes concepts, calculations, and drawings that can be used in future AIChE design solutions, for example:

• Relief valve calculations for gases, liquids, and two phase flows;
• Safety review including hazards and resulting safety measures to prevent accidents and inherent safety concepts and features;
• The process flow diagram (PFD) and process and instrument diagram (P&ID); and
• MathCad programs for making the design calculations.

All of the MathCad programs and Visio drawings can be copied for using in future design problem solutions. Additionally, the safety review and inherent safety discussions will be an excellent aid in the development of safety and inherent design concepts for all future AIChE design problems. The AIChE Student Chapters Committee that administers the annual AIChE Design competition approved posting of this example problem.

Seveso Accidental Release Case History

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This presentation describes a widely discussed case history that illustrates how minor engineering errors can cause significant problems; problems that should not be repeated. The accident was in Seveso, Italy in 1976. It was a small release of a dioxin that caused many serious injuries.

The package can be used in an undergraduate classroom or an industrial training session. The package can be modified to fit different contexts including: reaction engineering (runaway reactions), heat transfer (heat transport from the reactor walls to the liquid), mass transfer (the resultant dispersion of material from a release), and reaction stoichiometry. The entire module can be presented in about 50 minutes.

The Seveso case history is an especially good teaching module, showing how a minor problem and a minor release can cause very serious injuries. The root cause of this release included a poor engineering design, operator negligence, and poor supervision. The intent of this teaching module is to motivate engineers and supervisors to pay attention to the details.

This product includes five excellent problems and solutions that illustrate the lessons to be learned from this case history. The problems can be used in the following courses: a) Stoichiometry, b) Thermodynamics, c) Kinetics, d) Heat Transfer, and e) Ethics. Or they can be used in industrial training sessions in the areas of process design and engineering management.

Seminar on Fire

Sponsor: Reed Welker and Charles Springer (University of Arkansas)

This Powerpoint presentation (with notes) covers fundamentals of fires and explosions and is recommended as an introduction to the subject including such topics as:

• technical definition of fires and explosions,
• physical characteristics of various fires,
• necessary conditions for fires and explosions, and
• elementary properties, such as flammability limits (LFL and UFL), minimum oxygen concentration (MOC), minimum ignition energy (MIE), flame speeds, burning rates, etc.

The limiting factor in burning most liquids and solids is the rate of evaporation (liquid) and pyrolysis (solid), and so the burning rates of liquids and solids are dependent on the heat transfer back to the fuel and are functions of the radiant properties of the flame, the energy absorbing properties of the fuel, and the flame temperature. The burning rate of gas is dependent on the fuel release rate. Gases are easy to ignite and solids are relatively difficult to ignite, but dusts are a special class of solids that are easily ignited. Pictures are included of pool fires, BLEVEs, and extinguishing pool fires.

This product helps prepare engineers to design systems that reduce the probability of fires and explosions. Some coverage also discusses the design methods used to mitigate fires (venting, fire proofing, fire suppression, etc.), and provides references for safe designs (NFPA, CCPS. etc.).

Runaway Reactions - Experimental Characterization and Vent Sizing

Sponsor: Ron Darby (Texas A&M University)

This module is an updated and revised version of the module entitled “A Unit Operations Laboratory Experiment for Runaway Reactions”, published by SACHE in 2001. The title has been changed to reflect the more general utility of the module for education, training and instruction of personnel in industrial, governmental or other laboratories who are concerned with the characterization and sizing of relief vents for runaway reactions, in addition to universities who would like to include this subject matter in lecture and/or laboratory courses concerned with process safety.

The Advanced Reactive Screening Tool (ARSST) is an easy to use and cost effective calorimeter that can be used to quickly and safely identify potential chemical reactivity hazards. It can also yield critical experimental data on the kinetic characteristics of runaway reactions that can be scaled up to full scale process conditions and can be used directly to estimate the size of a relief device that would be required to protect the reactor against the over-pressure that would result from a runaway reaction.

This instruction module describes the ARSST and its operation, and illustrates how this instrument can easily be used to experimentally determine the transient characteristics of runaway reactions, and how the resulting data can be analyzed and utilized to size the relief vent for such systems. It can also be easily incorporated into a Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory as an effective educational laboratory experiment utilizing a practical and physically realistic example reactive system.

Reactive and Explosive Materials

Sponsors:

R. Willey (Northeastern University)

J. F. Louvar (Wayne State University)

This module is an updated and revised version of the module entitled “A Unit Operations Laboratory Experiment for Runaway Reactions”, published by SACHE in 2001. The title has been changed to reflect the more general utility of the module for education, training and instruction of personnel in industrial, governmental or other laboratories who are concerned with the characterization and sizing of relief vents for runaway reactions, in addition to universities who would like to include this subject matter in lecture and/or laboratory courses concerned with process safety.

The Advanced Reactive Screening Tool (ARSST) is an easy to use and cost effective calorimeter that can be used to quickly and safely identify potential chemical reactivity hazards. It can also yield critical experimental data on the kinetic characteristics of runaway reactions that can be scaled up to full scale process conditions and can be used directly to estimate the size of a relief device that would be required to protect the reactor against the over-pressure that would result from a runaway reaction.

This instruction module describes the ARSST and its operation, and illustrates how this instrument can easily be used to experimentally determine the transient characteristics of runaway reactions, and how the resulting data can be analyzed and utilized to size the relief vent for such systems. It can also be easily incorporated into a Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory as an effective educational laboratory experiment utilizing a practical and physically realistic example reactive system.

Explosions

Sponsor: Reed Welker (University of Arkansas)

This SACHE product covers the fundamentals of explosions and some practices necessary for preventing explosions. The 35 minute video includes:

• Pictures showing the consequences of explosions.
• Discussion of definitions, such as auto-ignition temperature (AIT), lower and upper flammability limits (LFL/UFL), minimum ignition energy (MIE), limiting oxygen concentration (LOC), flash point (FP), etc.
• The distinction between physical and chemical explosions.
• Detailed discussions covering boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions (BLEVES), dust explosions, deflagrations, and detonations.

The video can be used as an introduction to a lecture on explosions, or given to students for self study prior to a more detailed discussion in a classroom setting. This product can be used in universities or industrial training sessions. In the university, it can be used in various courses such as design, thermodynamics, kinetics, or a safety course. In industry, it can be used for new engineers as an introduction to chemical process safety.

The recommended practices and related references include:

• Explosion prevention technology, such as reliefs, venting devices, etc.
• Codes and Standards – NFPA, ASME, and API.
• Textbooks, CCPS Guidelines, Periodicals, Short Courses, and SACHE materials.

Properties of Materials

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This SACHE product provides an elementary explanation of several important properties of materials and their relationship to chemical process safety. It is intended for chemical engineering students in their second or third year of undergraduate training. It is assumed that the students have had limited industrial experience. This product can also be used for training (or retraining) of young engineers and/or plant operators.

This product includes explanations concerning:

• Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
• Flammability, Explosive and Toxicity Properties
• Flammability Classifications
• NFPA Stability Ratings, and 
• Detailed references for more advanced information

Safety, Health, and Environmental Text for Textbooks

Sponsors:

S. Horsch (Wayne State University)

M. Horsch (University of Michigan) J. Louvar (Wayne State University)

SACHE's objectives are to:

• assist professors to add safety, health, and environmental (SHE) concepts to the core courses of all chemical engineering departments
• assist professionals to appreciate the importance of SHE concepts in university and company environments
• help companies to improve their safety and environmental performance

The genesis of this product was at a Faculty Workshop where a group professors made the following remark: 'The best way for professors to add SHE concepts to their courses is to have these materials in their textbooks.' This product, consequently, was developed to help authors to add safety, health, and environmental concepts to their textbooks. The subjects addressed include:

• Kinetics
• Thermodynamics
• Stoichiometry
• Mass Transport
• Heat Transport
• Design

This product has three major sections:

• Text with Examples to embed into the chapters of textbooks
• Problems and Solutions for the end of the chapters
• SHE related Figures that can be added anywhere within textbooks and/or for enhancing lectures

The materials were primarily adapted from existing SACHE products.

Chemical Reactivity Hazards

Sponsor: Robert Johnson (Unwin Co.)

This web-based instructional module contains about 100 web pages with extensive links, graphics, videos, and supplemental slides. It can be used either for classroom presentation or as a self-paced tutorial. The module is designed to supplement a junior or senior chemical engineering course by showing how uncontrolled chemical reactions in industry can lead to serious harm, and by introducing key concepts for avoiding unintended reactions and controlling intended reactions. The five main sections in the module cover (1) three major incidents that show the potential consequences of uncontrolled reactions; (2) how chemical reactions get out of control, including consideration of reaction path, heat generation and removal, and people/property/environmental response; (3) data and lab testing resources used to identify reactivity hazards, (4) four approaches to making a facility inherently safer with respect to chemical reactivity hazards; and (5) strategies for designing facilities both to prevent and to mitigate uncontrolled chemical reactions. The module concludes with a ten-question informative quiz. An extensive Glossary and Bibliography are directly accessible from any page.

Mini-Case Histories

Joe Louvar and Durai Dakshinamoorthy (Wayne State University)

This product emphasizes learning from history or being doomed to repeat it. It includes three sections:

• Mini-Case Histories
• Process Safety Beacon
• Safety Concepts

as described below:

Mini-Case Histories: There are eight PowerPoint presentations, with notes, that cover the accidents at Bhopal, Monsanto, Phillips, Flixborough, Morton, Tosco, Hickson, and Sonat. The root causes of each accident are included, such as, poor designs, lack of training, and poor management. The information summarized in these case histories was taken from SACHE products, and reports by the Chemical Safety Board.

Process Safety Beacon: The Center for Chemical Process Safety is publishing monthly, one-page case histories or lessons learned. They are available on the Internet via CCPS Beacon. A few of the Beacons are included in this product to remind readers that these lessons are available.

Safety Concepts: This product includes six PowerPoint presentations: Relief Valves; Prevent Runaway Reactions; Manage Design, Construction, and Operations; BLEVEs; Explosions; and Prevent Explosions. The concepts covered are those that are especially relevant to chemical plant accidents.

The Mini-Case Histories and Safety Concepts were developed in a PowerPoint format to give users the opportunity to add slides or lessons as desired.

Rupture of a Nitroaniline Reactor

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This case study of the rupture of a nitroaniline reactor demonstrates safety concepts that are especially important to both new and experienced engineers including:

• Runaway reactions need to be understood and appropriately controlled to prevent major losses.
• A Safety review is an important process for identifying potential problems and developing approaches to solve the problems.
• Redundant controls are needed in critical applications.
• Relief systems consisting of a rupture disk followed by a spring operated relief valve must be properly installed and maintained.
• Training operators and engineers to recognize the consequences of operating errors is important.
• Management decisions to override safety systems must be thoroughly thought through before implementation of such action.

The lessons of this product are very important, and they will be true and relevant forever. The PowerPoint presentation in this product includes problems (with solutions for the instructor). A pdf document provides background for the presentation.

Consequence Modeling Source Models I: Liquids & Gases

Sponsor: Jan Wagner (Oklahoma State University)

This module was developed to help introduce issues of safety and loss prevention in undergraduate engineering courses. Each of the five major sections can be used independently, depending on the student's backgrounds.

• Section 1 is an introduction to the role of source models in the risk assessment process.
• Section 2 introduces the basic information required to select or develop an appropriate source model for a given release scenario.
• The fundamental concepts of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, the mechanical energy balance, and friction losses in pipes and fittings are reviewed briefly in Section 3.
• Section 4 deals with flow of liquids in pipes and orifices. The example problems are intended to introduce loss prevention issues, and they can be used in any fluid mechanics class.
• Section 5 presents the flow of ideal gas in orifices and pipes. This material may be appropriate in fluid mechanics or thermodynamics classes. The derivations of equations for compressible flow are intended to show the relationships between physical phenomena and the mathematical model; the fundamental concepts apply to ideal and real gases.

The module resources include text, accompanying PowerPoint presentations, student homework problems, and an instructor's solution manual.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 1

Sponsors: J. R. Welker and C. Springer (University of Arkansas)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Problems for Undergraduate Engineering Curricula" Volume 1 was originally published by CCPS in 1990. Copies were given to universities and sold to industry. This was a very popular and valued product that is currently out of print. J. Wagner (Oklahoma State University) recently put this product in electronic format for distribution here. The problems are available via the Links menu on this site and to students logged into the site.

The 90 problems involve issues of safety, health, and loss prevention and provide students and new engineers with important insights to industrial processes. This material can also be used as a reference for industrial courses for new engineering employees. These safety problems and solutions further demonstrate that safety and health issues are handled with basic engineering principles and logic. Finally, through the use of this material, we hope to instill in students and engineers an increased recognition of the importance of chemical process safety and the recognition that they have the professional and ethical responsibility to provide safe chemical plants, processes and products.

The problems were designed to use in existing engineering courses, such as: stoichiometry, material balance, mass transfer, heat transfer, thermodynamics, process control, and design courses. The authors believe that it is important that students work on these problems while attending there undergraduate courses and throughout their education. This process should develop a safety culture within engineers that will help them throughout their careers.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 2

Sponsors:

R. Willey (Northeastern University)

D. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

R. Welker (University of Arkansas)

R. Darby (Texas A&M University)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Volume 2" was originally published by CCPS in 2002 and distributed to SACHE University Members. This was a very popular and valued product that is now out of print. R. Willey recently put this volume in electronic form for distribution here.

Like the Volume 1 problems, the 218 problems teach safety, health, and loss prevention. This solution set represents problems and solutions produced by SACHE in the period 1990 to 2000.

The problems were designed for use in existing engineering courses, such as: Stoichiometry, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Kinetics, Heat Transfer, Process Dynamics and Control, Computer Solutions, and Mass Transfer. The authors believe that including these problems in a required undergraduate course helps engineering students develop a safety culture and mind set that will benefit them throughout their careers.

Student AIChE 2002 Design Problem Solution

Sponsors:

S. Horsch and J. Louvar (Wayne State University)

J. Wehman (BASF Corporation, retired)

This product includes a solution to the 2002 AIChE Design Problem that was developed by a student (S. Horsch) with significant assistance from very knowledgeable design professionals; these are the professionals who developed this design problem, and they have worked on this design in an industrial environment.

This product includes concepts, calculations, and drawings that can be used in future AIChE design solutions, for example:

• Relief valve calculations for gases, liquids, and two phase flows;
• Safety review including hazards and resulting safety measures to prevent accidents and inherent safety concepts and features;
• The process flow diagram (PFD) and process and instrument diagram (P&ID); and
• MathCad programs for making the design calculations.

All of the MathCad programs and Visio drawings can be copied for using in future design problem solutions. Additionally, the safety review and inherent safety discussions will be an excellent aid in the development of safety and inherent design concepts for all future AIChE design problems. The AIChE Student Chapters Committee that administers the annual AIChE Design competition approved posting of this example problem.

Mini-Case Histories

Joe Louvar and Durai Dakshinamoorthy (Wayne State University)

This product emphasizes learning from history or being doomed to repeat it. It includes three sections:

• Mini-Case Histories
• Process Safety Beacon
• Safety Concepts

as described below:

Mini-Case Histories: There are eight PowerPoint presentations, with notes, that cover the accidents at Bhopal, Monsanto, Phillips, Flixborough, Morton, Tosco, Hickson, and Sonat. The root causes of each accident are included, such as, poor designs, lack of training, and poor management. The information summarized in these case histories was taken from SACHE products, and reports by the Chemical Safety Board.

Process Safety Beacon: The Center for Chemical Process Safety is publishing monthly, one-page case histories or lessons learned. They are available on the Internet via CCPS Beacon. A few of the Beacons are included in this product to remind readers that these lessons are available.

Safety Concepts: This product includes six PowerPoint presentations: Relief Valves; Prevent Runaway Reactions; Manage Design, Construction, and Operations; BLEVEs; Explosions; and Prevent Explosions. The concepts covered are those that are especially relevant to chemical plant accidents.

The Mini-Case Histories and Safety Concepts were developed in a PowerPoint format to give users the opportunity to add slides or lessons as desired.

Rupture of a Nitroaniline Reactor

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This case study of the rupture of a nitroaniline reactor demonstrates safety concepts that are especially important to both new and experienced engineers including:

• Runaway reactions need to be understood and appropriately controlled to prevent major losses.
• A Safety review is an important process for identifying potential problems and developing approaches to solve the problems.
• Redundant controls are needed in critical applications.
• Relief systems consisting of a rupture disk followed by a spring operated relief valve must be properly installed and maintained.
• Training operators and engineers to recognize the consequences of operating errors is important.
• Management decisions to override safety systems must be thoroughly thought through before implementation of such action.

The lessons of this product are very important, and they will be true and relevant forever. The PowerPoint presentation in this product includes problems (with solutions for the instructor). A pdf document provides background for the presentation.

Case History: A Batch Polystyrene Reactor Runaway

Sponsor: Ron Willey (Northeastern University)

This case history describes a runaway reaction that occurred in a batch reactor manufacturing polystyrene. Companies now use semi-batch reactors (or stepwise addition of reactants) for such highly exothermic reactions. This case history emphasizes the importance of carefully analyzing and controlling exothermic reactions. When control is lost, the consequences can be catastrophic – for this case, a large fire due to an uncontrolled release of a flammable material, or to large reactor explosions (a nitroaniline reactor explosion case history in another SACHE product).

In this case study, lessons learned include:

• use of redundant process control equipment with audible alarms,
• use of semi-automated discharge systems,
• maintenance of critical process control equipment,
• develop, manage, and test emergency procedures,
• understand the hazardous characteristics of exothermic reactions,
• understand that semi-batch reactors should be used for highly exothermic reactions, and
• use of the Dow Fire and Explosion Index to identify and eliminate potential design and operating problems.

This case history is in a PowerPoint format that includes notes. The presentation can be used in reactor kinetics or design courses.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 1

Sponsors: J. R. Welker and C. Springer (University of Arkansas)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Problems for Undergraduate Engineering Curricula" Volume 1 was originally published by CCPS in 1990. Copies were given to universities and sold to industry. This was a very popular and valued product that is currently out of print. J. Wagner (Oklahoma State University) recently put this product in electronic format for distribution here. The problems are available via the Links menu on this site and to students logged into the site.

The 90 problems involve issues of safety, health, and loss prevention and provide students and new engineers with important insights to industrial processes. This material can also be used as a reference for industrial courses for new engineering employees. These safety problems and solutions further demonstrate that safety and health issues are handled with basic engineering principles and logic. Finally, through the use of this material, we hope to instill in students and engineers an increased recognition of the importance of chemical process safety and the recognition that they have the professional and ethical responsibility to provide safe chemical plants, processes and products.

The problems were designed to use in existing engineering courses, such as: stoichiometry, material balance, mass transfer, heat transfer, thermodynamics, process control, and design courses. The authors believe that it is important that students work on these problems while attending there undergraduate courses and throughout their education. This process should develop a safety culture within engineers that will help them throughout their careers.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 2

Sponsors:

R. Willey (Northeastern University)

D. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

R. Welker (University of Arkansas)

R. Darby (Texas A&M University)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Volume 2" was originally published by CCPS in 2002 and distributed to SACHE University Members. This was a very popular and valued product that is now out of print. R. Willey recently put this volume in electronic form for distribution here.

Like the Volume 1 problems, the 218 problems teach safety, health, and loss prevention. This solution set represents problems and solutions produced by SACHE in the period 1990 to 2000.

The problems were designed for use in existing engineering courses, such as: Stoichiometry, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Kinetics, Heat Transfer, Process Dynamics and Control, Computer Solutions, and Mass Transfer. The authors believe that including these problems in a required undergraduate course helps engineering students develop a safety culture and mind set that will benefit them throughout their careers.

An Inherently Safer Process Checklist

Sponsor: CCPS

Originally compiled by Du Pont, this checklist can be used as input to the process of inherent safety reviews or process hazard analyses with the expressed purpose of stimulating discussion. The topics for the checklist were taken from CCPS, Guidelines for Engineering Design for Process Safety, AIChE, 1993 and Bolinger et al., Inherently Safer Chemical Processes: A Life Cycle Approach, AIChE, New York, 1996. Because the checklist is intended to be comprehensive, it has some redundancy between sections. The checklist also includes aspects of passive, engineered, and administrative controls in addition to reliance on the standard principles of inherently safer design. The checklist was directly excerpted from Appendix A4 of Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures (3rd ed, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2008).

Inherently Safer Design

Sponsor: Dennis C. Hendershot (Rohm and Haas Co., retired)

This module will introduce the concept of inherently safer design in the chemical processing industry. Inherently safer design, or ISD, is receiving more attention in recent years from industry, community groups, and government. When feasible, ISD can be a more robust and reliable approach to managing risk in the chemical industry. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, ISD has also been promoted as a means to reduce chemical hazards, making chemical handling facilities less attractive terrorist targets. It is important for chemical engineers to understand ISD, including its potential benefits and limitations, both to implement ISD where feasible and also to participate in public discussions about the application of ISD in the chemical industry.

Improving Communication Skills

Sponsors: Robert M. Bethea and Sarah A. Brown (Texas Tech University)

This module is designed to supplement junior and senior chemical engineering courses in which written or oral reports about experiments or other assignments are integral components. Examples of the proper format and style of student written work are included throughout. The module contains four files: Read Me First (instructions for access and use), Outline (the resource guide), and two Appendices.

The Outline emphasizes accuracy and clarity; the effective use of audience analysis; proper organization of material to focus on the conclusion or objective; and format, mechanics, consistency, voice, and tone for all types of communications. Business and technical correspondence, resumes, and various types of written reports including in-text citations and bibliographies are included. Because of the process safety implications for unit operations laboratory courses and undergraduate and graduate research projects, the crafting of safe, efficient, and effective operating procedures is presented as a separate section. The topic of visual aids to support oral presentations emphasizes clear, concise illustrations. The material on oral presentations is designed to focus on the bottom line or conclusions. The use of audience analysis is emphasized as are presentation styles, mechanics, and delivery. The style handbook begins with an intensive review of the parts of speech and their uses. This material is followed by the basic rules of English grammar and is illustrated by several pages of common mistakes. The elements of style and the use of smooth transitions are emphasized.

Five sets of student exercises composed of material taken from old unit operations laboratory reports are included as Appendix 1; these exercises focus on punctuation, grammar, style, and editing. Corrected versions of the student exercises are included as Appendix 2 which should not be distributed to students.

T2 Runaway Reaction and Explosion

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

The main reason for the explosion at T2 Laboratories, Inc. was the lack of understanding of the hazards involved in dealing with a potential runaway reaction. This product emphasizes the following:

• A runaway reaction is a reaction that can no longer be controlled in the existing equipment, and exothermic reactions can run away, especially when (potentially unknown) secondary exothermic reactions can occur at higher than expected temperatures (sometime termed temperatures of no return).
• All major processes should have a complete hazard identification study completed beforehand and revisited regularly after the process is built.

The main source of information for this product is the T2 CSB report cited in the references. This product includes a PowerPoint presentation including lecture notes. An example problem based on this accident is available in the textbook by Scott Fogler entitled “Essentials of Chemical Reaction Engineering” (Prentice-Hall, 2011).

The Bhopal disaster: A Case History

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This SACHE product summarizes the events that led to one of the most significant toxic releases that has occurred to date in the chemical process industry. This product focuses on the chemical processes involved and can best be used in a course devoted to process safety as well as in courses dealing with chemical kinetics (as an example of a runaway reaction) or related to mass transfer and atmospheric dispersion.

This product includes three resources:

• Bhopal SACHE (Adobe pdf file) includes many details of the accident scenario including descriptions of the plant (and its equipment and piping), background chemistry, and potential hazards along with detailed references.
• Bhopal SACHE Presentation (PowerPoint) includes speaker notes and includes much of the material in the word document.
• The video, “Unraveling Bhopal,” describes Bhopal with many scenes of the city, plant, and accident scenario. This 16 minute video was produced by the Union Carbide Corporation and includes details of the accident and the subsequent Union Carbide investigation illustrating the details and complexities of an accident investigation. The video is available through streaming video in BhopalDescription.pdf.

Static Electricity as an Ignition Source

Sponsor: Konanur Manjunath (DOW Chemical)

This PowerPoint presentation covers the fundamentals of selected ignition sources and control methods with an emphasis on static electricity. The presentation was developed to make it easy to jump or return to the desired sections which are:

• Introduction and non-electrical ignition sources (fires, hot surfaces, and mechanically generated sparks)
• Electrically generated sparks and electrical area classifications
• Static electricity and electro-static charge generation
• The meaning of the term “relaxation time”
• Basics of grounding and bonding
• Charge dissipation in dusts (solids) and how it differs in metals and liquids
• Types of dust electro-static discharges
• Induction charging
• Summary

The chemical industry continues to have accidents due to static electricity. The CSB recently stated that “industry and safety professionals often lacked awareness of combustible dust hazards, and MSDSs ineffectively communicate to employers and workers the hazards of combustible dust explosions and ways to prevent them”. This presentation will help professionals become aware of static electricity as an ignition source and methods to prevent static charge buildup, thus reducing the potential for fires and explosions.

Simplified Relief System Design Package

Sponsor: Ed Kitchen (Digital Solutions Technology, Inc.)

The Mach II system is unique to any other relief system design software because it is custom designed specifically for speed, user-friendliness, flexibility, compatibility, API/ASME single-phase sizing, and DIERS two-phase methodology. In short the Mach II is easy to learn simple to use yet it is very comprehensive. The Mach II program will calculate the required capacity of each relief scenario not already input by the user, and will then calculate the required and standard orifice size and standard relief capacity. The program will then select the worst-case scenario, largest required orifice, as the basis for the design of the relief system to include the associated piping. The program also has a built-in piping program where the user can choose the number and type of fitting for both inlet and outlet piping. Mach II then calculates the piping resistance and pressure drop for this piping arrangement. Mach II is intuitive to use and the results are produced instantaneously by just clicking on the Generate Report tab after all input data has been entered. Mach II was designed based on the requirements as set forth in OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119a whereby relief system design and design-based calculations must be compiled and maintained for all processes involving highly hazardous chemicals.

Seveso Accidental Release Case History

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This presentation describes a widely discussed case history that illustrates how minor engineering errors can cause significant problems; problems that should not be repeated. The accident was in Seveso, Italy in 1976. It was a small release of a dioxin that caused many serious injuries.

The package can be used in an undergraduate classroom or an industrial training session. The package can be modified to fit different contexts including: reaction engineering (runaway reactions), heat transfer (heat transport from the reactor walls to the liquid), mass transfer (the resultant dispersion of material from a release), and reaction stoichiometry. The entire module can be presented in about 50 minutes.

The Seveso case history is an especially good teaching module, showing how a minor problem and a minor release can cause very serious injuries. The root cause of this release included a poor engineering design, operator negligence, and poor supervision. The intent of this teaching module is to motivate engineers and supervisors to pay attention to the details.

This product includes five excellent problems and solutions that illustrate the lessons to be learned from this case history. The problems can be used in the following courses: a) Stoichiometry, b) Thermodynamics, c) Kinetics, d) Heat Transfer, and e) Ethics. Or they can be used in industrial training sessions in the areas of process design and engineering management.

Seminar on Tank Failures

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

Storage tanks are encountered in every process environment. This SACHE product covers three significant tank failures

• BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion) in Mexico City (1984),
• LNG (liquefied natural gas) tank failure in Cleveland (1944), and
• diesel storage tank failure (1988).

Each case demonstrates a different root cause (secondary events due to an initial surrounding fire, materials compatibility issues with cryogenic materials, and flaws in a relocation project that did not follow codes and guidelines). This presentation concludes with a review of common failure modes for storage tanks and prevention measures. This presentation increases the student’s awareness of process safety requirements for storage tanks. It can be used effectively by university professors, or industrial trainers. This is a PowerPoint revision of the original 1993 SACHE product.

Seminar on Fire

Sponsor: Reed Welker and Charles Springer (University of Arkansas)

This Powerpoint presentation (with notes) covers fundamentals of fires and explosions and is recommended as an introduction to the subject including such topics as:

• technical definition of fires and explosions,
• physical characteristics of various fires,
• necessary conditions for fires and explosions, and
• elementary properties, such as flammability limits (LFL and UFL), minimum oxygen concentration (MOC), minimum ignition energy (MIE), flame speeds, burning rates, etc.

The limiting factor in burning most liquids and solids is the rate of evaporation (liquid) and pyrolysis (solid), and so the burning rates of liquids and solids are dependent on the heat transfer back to the fuel and are functions of the radiant properties of the flame, the energy absorbing properties of the fuel, and the flame temperature. The burning rate of gas is dependent on the fuel release rate. Gases are easy to ignite and solids are relatively difficult to ignite, but dusts are a special class of solids that are easily ignited. Pictures are included of pool fires, BLEVEs, and extinguishing pool fires.

This product helps prepare engineers to design systems that reduce the probability of fires and explosions. Some coverage also discusses the design methods used to mitigate fires (venting, fire proofing, fire suppression, etc.), and provides references for safe designs (NFPA, CCPS. etc.).

Safety Valves: Practical Design Practices for Relief Valve Sizing

Sponsors: Eric N. Parvin and Arthur M. Sterling (Louisiana State University)

The goal of this module is to inform and educate inexperienced engineers about process safety management in general, and about safety valve sizing and the application of engineering principles to safe process design in particular. We also hope to encourage logical thinking patterns in an overview of process design for inherently safer process systems. The target audience will normally be college engineering students, but may also be entry-level engineers (0-3 years) who have not yet been exposed to this subject matter, or as a refresher for more experienced engineers.

Contained within this package are two software files (one MS PowerPoint presentation and one MS Excel file).

• The PowerPoint presentation is intended for educational purposes to gain knowledge and a general understanding of Process Safety Management. It is intended to take about one hour to present the material, but can be shortened (see "instruction" slide for further details).
• The Excel file contains several practical exercises for the students to work in a recitation-type environment, preferably in groups of two or three students. The Excel file contains the problems, solutions, and instructions to prepare the handouts for the class. The recitation is expected to take at least one and a half hours.

Risk Assessment

Sponsor: Ralph W. Pike (Louisiana State University)

This web browser-based, self-study course is designed to provide a working knowledge of risk assessment, management and reduction as applied to chemical plants and petroleum refineries. It includes descriptions of methods with examples and exercises, and it requires about three hours to complete. Although developed for chemical engineering faculty and students, the course material can also be used as part of the safety orientation at industrial facilities. Topics focus on the detection, prevention and mitigation of risks including:

• Screening Analysis Techniques
• Checklist Reviews
• Preliminary Hazards Analysis
• Safety Audit
• What-if Analysis
• Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
• Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOPS)
• Fault Tree and Event Tree Analysis
• Chemical Plume and Dispersion Analysis
• Explosion and Fire Analysis
• Assessment of Health Effects
• Quantified Risk Assessment

The course material prepares students to develop the information needed in plant design in a senior-level design course (e.g., a HAZOP on a process flow diagram) or provides background to topics discussed in a process safety course. The course material emphasizes how the methods for risk assessment, management, and reduction are related and function together.

Much of the material in the course is summarized from: Risk Assessment and Risk Management for the Chemical Process Industry, H. R. Greenberg and J. J. Cramer, Editors, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY (1991); and Process Synthesis and Design, A SeIf-lnstructional Problem Workbook, D. Kauffman, ETS International, Inc. Roanoke, VA (1992). These books are recommended for further details on the topics.

Although following the order of the material as presented is recommended, the course sections can be studied in any sequence if the person has adequate background, and there are links to move easily among topics.

This is a narrated course, and the text is available by clicking on a text icon on each of the topic slides. The text and slides can be modified. The course is in a zipped file to preserve the directory structure. After unzipping the file, start the course by pointing a browser to the file index1.html in the RiskAssessment folder.

Hydroxylamine Explosion Case Study

Sponsors:

C.J. Kelly (Syracuse University)

J.V. Birtwistle (Risk Reliability and Safety Engineering LLC.)

This product is based on an explosion at Concept Sciences, Inc., which occurred in 1999 and was subsequently investigated by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). This package will help students and engineers to:

• Understand the contributing causes of accidents,
• Design plants with the appropriate features to prevent accidents,
• Understand the important concepts relevant to managing a plant to prevent accidents, and
• Introduce the concept of a hazard and operability study.

A well-known principle relevant to safety is that we are not discovering new ways to have accidents; we are just repeating mistakes of the past. The emphasis of this product is to learn from history or be doomed to repeat it! This introduction to safety features a PowerPoint lecture describing the explosion and introducing the concept of a hazard and operability study. The presentation is based on the CSB's Case Study of the incident. Supporting material included in this product is the CSB’s Case Study, several newspaper articles concerning the explosion, and a brief team exercise on HAZOP analysis.

Green Engineering Tutorial

Sponsors:

Hui Chen (Arizona State University)

David Shonnard (Michigan Technological University)

Green Engineering is defined as the design, commercialization, and use of processes and products that are feasible and economical while minimizing risk to human health and the environment. This tutorial contains a detailed description of a systematic methodology for the design of greener and more profitable chemical processes. Concepts and methods that are suited for both early design screening assessments as well as thorough evaluations of detailed designs are presented. A tutorial is included with step-by-step instructions on the use of computer software for environmentally-conscious design. The software also includes algorithms for flowsheet costing as well as multi-criteria decision making. A case study comparing production of maleic anhydride from either n-butane or benzene is used to illustrate concepts and application of the software. This green engineering tutorial will benefit capstone design course instructors and students in chemical engineering, environmental engineering, pulp and paper science and engineering, and mineral processing. Computer programs used in the materials are available from David Shonnard at mailto:drshonna@mtu.edu.

Fundamentals of Chemical Transportation with Case Histories

Sponsors: David Shonnard (Michigan Technological University)

Chemical engineering students typically receive little formal training in the transportation of materials beyond the flow of material within a pipe. Yet, our raw materials must arrive by some means, and our products need to be shipped. In hazard analysis, it is often vitally important that the chemical engineer consider the details of material transfer beyond the pipe. The engineer should be aware of the many regulations that cover the transfer of commercial materials. They should have some sense of the potential hazards of the various means of transportation based on past incidents. They should understand the signage on various transport vessels should an accident occur within the plant or neighborhood and they are called upon to offer expertise in clean up. This overview of transportation of chemical materials addresses these topics and includes several case histories. Review of the total package requires two to three hours. For a classroom presentation, portions can be shown within a 45 minute lecture with several memorable photos particularly in the section “why I lost my job today.”

Fire Protection Concepts

Sponsor: Reed Welker (University of Arkansas)

This SACHE product introduces the fundamental concepts of fires including their extinguishment and control. This streaming video presentation consists of two parts:

Section 1: “Fundamentals of Fire Behavior” describes some of the fundamental characteristics of fires including basic definitions, the fire triangle, and reaction mechanisms. Examples of burning gases, liquids, and solids are discussed and demonstrated in addition to the difference between a premixed flame and a diffusion flame. The importance of turbulence and buoyancy is discussed along with their effects on the behavior and size of large fires. (30 minutes)

Section 2: “Fire Extinguishment and Control” describes the major aspects of fire protection systems. National Fire Protection Association fire classification is discussed. Passive and Active methods of fire control are discussed. Passive methods include inventory reduction, replacement of flammable materials, separation of process areas from storage, diking and impoundment, and fireproofing of structures. Active methods include water for extinguishment and control, regular and high expansion foams, dry chemicals, vaporizing liquids, and inerting agents. Field tests demonstrating these methods are shown. (41 minutes)

Hyperlinks to streaming video sources are included in a word processing file to view the videos.

Explosions

Sponsor: Reed Welker (University of Arkansas)

This SACHE product covers the fundamentals of explosions and some practices necessary for preventing explosions. The 35 minute video includes:

• Pictures showing the consequences of explosions.
• Discussion of definitions, such as auto-ignition temperature (AIT), lower and upper flammability limits (LFL/UFL), minimum ignition energy (MIE), limiting oxygen concentration (LOC), flash point (FP), etc.
• The distinction between physical and chemical explosions.
• Detailed discussions covering boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions (BLEVES), dust explosions, deflagrations, and detonations.

The video can be used as an introduction to a lecture on explosions, or given to students for self study prior to a more detailed discussion in a classroom setting. This product can be used in universities or industrial training sessions. In the university, it can be used in various courses such as design, thermodynamics, kinetics, or a safety course. In industry, it can be used for new engineers as an introduction to chemical process safety.

The recommended practices and related references include:

• Explosion prevention technology, such as reliefs, venting devices, etc.
• Codes and Standards – NFPA, ASME, and API.
• Textbooks, CCPS Guidelines, Periodicals, Short Courses, and SACHE materials.

Emergency Relief System Design for Single and Two-Phase Flow

Sponsor: Ron Darby (Texas A&M University)

This Design Module covers the principles and procedures for sizing emergency relief systems for both single-phase (gas or liquid) and two-phase flow, including relief devices as well as inlet and discharge piping. The Homogeneous Direct Integration method for two-phase flow described herein is simpler, more general, and more rigorous than methods previously presented. The material is in a form which could be incorporated into courses on applied fluid mechanics, process safety, or process design, or it could be presented separately as a "stand alone" topic. It is assumed that the student has a familiarity and working knowledge of the macroscopic conservation laws for mass, energy, and momentum, and Newtonian fluid flow through pipes and fittings, including incompressible as well as compressible flow up to and including choked flow. Several worked examples are included which serve to illustrate applications of the procedures and equations, or which can be used for student exercises. A Power Point presentation is included, as are the spreadsheet calculations for the example problem solutions.

Introduction to Biosafety

Sponsor: Art Schwartz (Bayer Corp., retired)

Biohazards are agents that are biological in nature and have the capability to cause harm to biological organisms. This module is intended to provide a brief overview of the area of BioSafety. A Powerpoint presentation provides an introduction to types of Biohazards and discusses sources of biohazards, classifications of biohazards by risk group, and methods of reducing risk from biohazards. Also discussed are Waste Handling and Universal Precautions. The module is oriented towards dealing with biohazards in a laboratory or clinical setting. Included with the module are several examples of Biosafety Manuals that are typically used in corporate (BiosafetyManual.zip) or public health organizations such as the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Metal Structured Packing Fires

Sponsor: Mark T. Roberts (Texas A&M University)

Metal structured packing fires represent a unique and poorly understood hazard. While a rare occurrence, the potential for capital damage and injury to personnel as a result of such fires is extremely high. Since metal is not often thought of as a combustible material, the risks associated with structured packing fires are magnified by a lack of appreciation and understanding of the risk of packing ignition involved in maintenance activities in an industrial separation tower.

This training module discusses the possible causes of metal structured packing fires and methods for preventing and suppressing metal fires taken from industrial experience. The module contains brief descriptions of actual incidents involving packing fires as well as questions intended for class discussion.

The module contains a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation with notes that would be appropriate for class presentation or independent study and a report on the topic. This training module is appropriate for a separations, process safety, or senior design class.

Mini-Case Histories

Joe Louvar and Durai Dakshinamoorthy (Wayne State University)

This product emphasizes learning from history or being doomed to repeat it. It includes three sections:

• Mini-Case Histories
• Process Safety Beacon
• Safety Concepts

as described below:

Mini-Case Histories: There are eight PowerPoint presentations, with notes, that cover the accidents at Bhopal, Monsanto, Phillips, Flixborough, Morton, Tosco, Hickson, and Sonat. The root causes of each accident are included, such as, poor designs, lack of training, and poor management. The information summarized in these case histories was taken from SACHE products, and reports by the Chemical Safety Board.

Process Safety Beacon: The Center for Chemical Process Safety is publishing monthly, one-page case histories or lessons learned. They are available on the Internet via CCPS Beacon. A few of the Beacons are included in this product to remind readers that these lessons are available.

Safety Concepts: This product includes six PowerPoint presentations: Relief Valves; Prevent Runaway Reactions; Manage Design, Construction, and Operations; BLEVEs; Explosions; and Prevent Explosions. The concepts covered are those that are especially relevant to chemical plant accidents.

The Mini-Case Histories and Safety Concepts were developed in a PowerPoint format to give users the opportunity to add slides or lessons as desired.

Consequence Modeling Source Models I: Liquids & Gases

Sponsor: Jan Wagner (Oklahoma State University)

This module was developed to help introduce issues of safety and loss prevention in undergraduate engineering courses. Each of the five major sections can be used independently, depending on the student's backgrounds.

• Section 1 is an introduction to the role of source models in the risk assessment process.
• Section 2 introduces the basic information required to select or develop an appropriate source model for a given release scenario.
• The fundamental concepts of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, the mechanical energy balance, and friction losses in pipes and fittings are reviewed briefly in Section 3.
• Section 4 deals with flow of liquids in pipes and orifices. The example problems are intended to introduce loss prevention issues, and they can be used in any fluid mechanics class.
• Section 5 presents the flow of ideal gas in orifices and pipes. This material may be appropriate in fluid mechanics or thermodynamics classes. The derivations of equations for compressible flow are intended to show the relationships between physical phenomena and the mathematical model; the fundamental concepts apply to ideal and real gases.

The module resources include text, accompanying PowerPoint presentations, student homework problems, and an instructor's solution manual.

Chemical Reactivity Hazards

Sponsor: Robert Johnson (Unwin Co.)

This web-based instructional module contains about 100 web pages with extensive links, graphics, videos, and supplemental slides. It can be used either for classroom presentation or as a self-paced tutorial. The module is designed to supplement a junior or senior chemical engineering course by showing how uncontrolled chemical reactions in industry can lead to serious harm, and by introducing key concepts for avoiding unintended reactions and controlling intended reactions. The five main sections in the module cover (1) three major incidents that show the potential consequences of uncontrolled reactions; (2) how chemical reactions get out of control, including consideration of reaction path, heat generation and removal, and people/property/environmental response; (3) data and lab testing resources used to identify reactivity hazards, (4) four approaches to making a facility inherently safer with respect to chemical reactivity hazards; and (5) strategies for designing facilities both to prevent and to mitigate uncontrolled chemical reactions. The module concludes with a ten-question informative quiz. An extensive Glossary and Bibliography are directly accessible from any page.

Dust Explosion Prevention and Control

Sponsor: J. Louvar and R. Schoeff (Wayne State University)

This SACHE product covers the fundamentals and guidelines for preventing dust explosions. This product includes three sections:

• Section 1: A PowerPoint presentation describes the basic concepts for understanding dust explosions (deflagrations, detonations, necessary conditions for causing dust explosions, and the consequences of dust explosions).
• Section 2: This includes two videos named Deadly Dust II and III. Deadly Dust II was developed in the 1980s and emphasizes the technology to prevent dust explosions. Deadly Dust III was developed in the early 2000s and emphasizes the injuries caused by dust explosions. Both videos include case histories. Although the videos were specifically developed for the grain industry, everything in this product is relevant to the prevention of any dust explosion. The videos are available through streaming video links in one of the product files.
• Section 3: This section covers the fundamentals for eliminating dust ignitions from the build-up of static electricity. The topics which are described in this PowerPoint presentation include: a) conditions for the accumulation of static charges, b) specific types of static electricity discharges, c) calculation methods for estimating the potential for ignitions, d) case histories, and e) design methods for eliminating ignitions.

A text document includes background for all of the Powerpoint presentations as well as the videos. This product supports the U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s emphasis concerning the hazards of handling dusts. This emphasis is due to the continued accidents and injuries that are the result of dust explosions.

Design for Overpressure and Underpressure Protection

Sponsors:

S. S. Grossel (Process Safety and Design, Inc.)

J. F. Louvar (Wayne State University)

This product will help faculty, students, and professionals incorporate proper overpressure and underpressure protection in their process designs. This package helps students:

• Understand the technology, special engineering devices, and methods that are used for protection against overpressure and underpressure (vacuum) incidents,
• Understand the root causes of overpressure and underpressure incidents, and
• Design plants with the appropriate features to protect against overpressure and underpressure incidents.

This SACHE product contains two PowerPoint presentations that can be copied and modified to fit specific teaching/learning objectives. It includes detailed instructions covering a) reliefs, b) runaway reactions, and c) safeguards to prevent accidents. This product can be used in design, fluid flow, or control courses. Some background information is included in this package (see Abstract - References) to assist the student in understanding these general concepts. The package is deliberately designed to be only an introduction to these topics. Using this introductory approach, the package can be used for three half-hour lectures or two hours of self-study exercises.

Safety in the Chemical Process Industries

Sponsor: D.A. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

This video series entitled "Safety in the Chemical Process Industries" presents a strong introduction to the application of chemical process safety technology in an actual chemical facility. All video material was taped at the Chemical Engineering Research Department at BASF Corporation in Wyandotte, Michigan. Most of the demonstrations are given using actual process equipment in the BASF Process Development (PD) facility.

This series is designed as instructional material for undergraduate students in chemical or mechanical engineering as well as industrial engineers or chemists who are being introduced to industrial safety for the first time. This series provides significant supplementary material for an existing undergraduate chemical engineering course on chemical process safety. This series was funded by the National Science Foundation and by BASF Corporation. 

Hyperlinks to streaming video sources are included in a word processing file (updated 31 January 2007). A Study Guide and Instructor's Guide were written to accompany the video, and both guides are included with this product.

Piper Alpha Lessons Learned

Sponsor: Joe Louvar (CCPS Staff Consultant)

Piper Alpha was an oil production platform in the North Sea that caught fire in 1988 resulting in 167 fatalities and the loss of the platform. The root causes of the accident included many process deficiencies which were evident before the accident but were not corrected. Many of the problems on Piper Alpha were not unique to an oil production platform because the facility’s process equipment was typical of many chemical plants including tanks, pipes, compressors, pumps, reliefs, etc. All of the problems identified on Piper Alpha could have been eliminated by the appropriate application of OSHA’s Process Safety Management regulations.

This SAChE product includes a DVD on Piper Alpha entitled "Piper Alpha - Spiral to Disaster" which was distributed to 2007 SAChE members by mail by AIChE/CCPS. The Piper Alpha DVD includes a re-creation of the events in 1988 as well as dramatic and motivational material for understanding and practicing the important concepts of chemical process safety. This DVD is an excellent tool for motivating university students and practicing engineers to be keenly aware of safe practices particularly in process settings including process hazard analysis and permitting systems.

This SAChE product also includes a brief description of the Piper Alpha accident, and a list of the actual deficiencies that contributed to this accident (downloadable document).

Venting of Low Strength Enclosures

Sponsors:

W. B. Howard (Monsanto, retired)

J. F. Louvar (Wayne State University)

This package on Explosion Prevention Research was originally produced for SACHE university members to help them add an element of chemical process safety to their Process Design Courses and/or help professors and graduate students to:

Understand the violence of explosions, and

Understand the technology required to prevent explosions.

Although this product was originally designed for academic setting, it contains many concepts and/or pictures that will be very useful in training programs in an industrial environment.

A narrated movie “Venting of Low Strength Enclosures” discusses: a) damage due to non-vented explosions, b) design criteria for sizing vents, c) NFPA 68 vent equation for sizing vents, d) discussions regarding the design details of the vent panels and constraints, and e) details of experimental tests that were made to develop the design criteria for explosion vents. The movie contains many excellent pictures and video clips of explosions that illustrate the magnitude, speed, and consequences of explosions. All of the files necessary to show the narrated movie are in Venting.zip. After restoring the files and starting the Astound Player (astdplay.exe), select the file venting.asd, and click the play button to start the narrated movie.

The PowerPoint presentation with this product (venting.ppt) can be used as is or modified to fit an instructor’s requirements. The presentation has 17 slides. The slides include excellent pictures of the consequences of explosions taken from the narrated movie. The file venting.ppt includes presentation notes, and additional notes are included in venting.doc.

Static Electricity I - Everything You Wanted to Know about Static Electricity

Sponsor: Marc Rothschild (Rohm and Haas)

Static electricity is a significant problem in both plant and non-industrial environments. About 13% of the ignitions of chemical fires and explosions are due to static electricity. This SACHE product covers the elementary, fundamental, and practical concepts of static electricity including static charge build-up and discharge that can be the ignition source for flammable gases and dusts. Excellent illustrations are given that will help plant designers and operators, as well as the private citizen, understand the fundamentals of static electricity. Some elementary concepts and special design techniques for preventing static charge build-up and discharge are included. The PowerPoint presentation can be used as a one-hour lecture and can be modified as desired. References are provided in the Word Document. Note that the PowerPoint lecture links to the video clip included with this product, and this link may need to be modified after the product is downloaded.

Inherently Safer Design Conflicts and Decisions

Sponsors:

Dennis C. Hendershot (Rohm and Haas Company, retired)

John Murphy (United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, retired)

Inherently Safer Design (ISD) is a different philosophy for addressing safety issues in the design and operation of chemical plants. ISD focuses on eliminating or significantly reducing hazards. Often, the traditional approach to managing chemical process safety has accepted the existence and magnitude of hazards in a process, and efforts to reduce risk have concentrated on managing the risk associated with the hazards. Where feasible, ISD provides more robust and reliable risk management, and has the potential to make the chemical processing technology simpler and more economical in many cases.

However, it is important to recognize that any change to a technology or product, even a change intended to enhance safety, has the potential to introduce new hazards and risks, and to increase the magnitude of existing hazards and risks. It is important to recognize this potential and fully evaluate any change in technology with regard to all hazards and potential risks. Thus, a process or product which is inherently safer with respect to one or more hazards may introduce new risks, and these must be considered in choosing the appropriate process technology. This module describes these issues with respect to ISD, with examples of ISD conflicts. Once the potential conflicts are understood, the problem becomes a traditional engineering optimization problem, with the objective of selecting a technology option which generates the greatest overall value considering all of the conflicting requirements.

The basic principles of Inherently Safer Design (ISD) are covered in more detail in the SACHE module “Introduction to Inherently Safer Design”, distributed to SACHE members in 2006 and available for download by SACHE members on this site.

Spanish translation: Available for one or more files.

Process Hazard Analysis: An Introduction

Sponsor: David Mody (Queen’s University at Kingston)

This is an introduction to Process Hazard Analysis that discusses the definition of PHA, why PHAs are important, what is a hazard, general safety concepts, and fire concepts including jet fires, pool fires, vapor cloud explosions, BLEVEs, physical explosions, chemical explosions, deflagrations, detonations, LFL/UFL, etc. Pictures of fires and explosions are also included.

The PowerPoint presentation can be used as a presentation to a group or as a self directed study (or homework). The product could be used in a university (in a design or safety course, for example) or in an industrial training setting as an orientation session for new engineers. Further information regarding PHAs can be found in the accompanying 2009 SAChE product “Process Hazard Analysis: Process and Examples”.

Process Hazard Analysis: Process and Examples

Sponsor: David Mody (Queen’s University at Kingston)

This discussion of Process Hazard Analysis focuses on the process, tools, and documentation required to complete a PHA. This product uses examples to illustrate the process and checklist methods typically used in a PHA, but details of the techniques for hazard review by HAZOP’s, FMEA’s, and FTA’s are not included (these are well documented in other resources). At the end of this module, participants should have a good grasp of how Hazard Identification, Hazard Evaluation, and Risk Analysis all combine into a process for documenting and performing a PHA. Liberal use of examples provides students with the experience necessary to apply these skills in new situations.

The presentation can be made to a group or as a self directed study (or homework). The product could be used in a university (in a design or safety course, for example) or in an industrial training setting as an orientation session for new engineers. An introduction to PHAs can be found in the accompanying 2009 SaChE product “Process Hazard Analysis: An Introduction”. This Introduction includes several files (material balance, P&ID, plant 3D model) that can be used as a project for students to apply the knowledge outlined here.

Process Safety Course Presentations

Sponsors:

D. Crowl (Michigan Technological University)

S. Mannan (Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, Texas A&M University)

This SACHE product contains 31 PowerPoint presentations that were developed in conjunction with two process safety courses taught by the authors of this product at their respective institutions for over ten years. Although many of the presentations are tied to a specific textbook (Crowl and Louvar, “Chemical Process Safety, Fundamentals with Applications,” Prentice Hall, 2002), the presentations can be used for any safety course (with or without a textbook). Each presentation includes speaker notes. Topics include:

• Introduction
• Toxicology
• Industrial hygiene
• Source models
• Atmospheric dispersion models
• Fires and explosions
• Designs to prevent fires and explosions
• Introduction to relief systems
• Sizing reliefs
• Hazard identification
• Risk assessment
• Accident investigation

These PowerPoint presentations can be adapted to fit the needs of the instructor.

A Process Safety Management (PSM) Overview

Sponsor: Bruce K. Vaughen (Cabot Corporation)

The objective of this product is to provide an overview of the basic elements of a Process Safety Management (PSM) system. An effective PSM system ensures the safety, health, and welfare of people, the community and the environment by understanding and controlling process hazards. The product defines PSM, Operational Discipline (OD) and Risk, and it describes an approach to process safety risk reduction as well as discussing basic concepts describing the PSM elements that comprise an effective system. This product includes:

• A two-part PowerPoint presentation
• Lecture notes
• Handouts

and can be used by faculty, industrial trainers, and students. Details or specific examples can be added to the PSM elements in the presentation.

Jeopardy Contests for Process Safety

Sponsor: Jon Bernardi (Lubrizol Corp.)

This SACHE product contains some important elementary concepts in chemical process safety. The understanding of these concepts is assessed and reinforced with two class Jeopardy Games. For the game, it is recommended to divide the class into teams of four or five students. Topics include process descriptions, process safety management, process control, flammability, corrosion, relief device basics, and Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems (DIERS).

This SACHE product includes:

• Background resources for some questions (student resources to study)
• Two PowerPoint case history presentations (student resources to study)
• Jeopardy Game instructions for the game facilitator, and
• Two Jeopardy Games

Layer of Protection Analysis - Introduction

Sponsor: Art M. Dowell (Chemical Process Safety Consultant and Rohm and Haas, retired)

Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) is a semi-quantitative tool for analyzing and assessing risk that has gained acceptance in the Chemical Processing Industries (CPI) and has risen to be one of the leading risk assessment techniques used for process safety studies. LOPA generally employs more rigor and science than what is encountered with qualitative risk assessments but is less demanding than a detailed Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA).

LOPA uses simplified methods to characterize the consequences and estimate the frequencies in the risk assessment process. To lower the frequency of the undesired consequences, layers of protection can be added to a process including: inherent process safety; the basic process control system; safety instrumented functions; passive devices, such as dikes or blast walls; active devices such as relief valves; and human intervention. The primary purpose of LOPA is to determine whether there are sufficient layers of protection against a specific accident scenario.

This product discusses important LOPA concepts, such as, a) rules for independent protection layers (IPL), b) basic process control systems (BPCS), c) safety integrity levels (SIL), d) methods for calculating mitigated consequences, and e) advantages of LOPA. An example using LOPA on a distillation column is included. This product assumes that students are familiar with process hazards analysis (PHA) techniques such as HAZOP and is intended for undergraduate students (especially in design courses) and practicing engineers interested in using LOPA.

Case History: A Batch Polystyrene Reactor Runaway

Sponsor: Ron Willey (Northeastern University)

This case history describes a runaway reaction that occurred in a batch reactor manufacturing polystyrene. Companies now use semi-batch reactors (or stepwise addition of reactants) for such highly exothermic reactions. This case history emphasizes the importance of carefully analyzing and controlling exothermic reactions. When control is lost, the consequences can be catastrophic – for this case, a large fire due to an uncontrolled release of a flammable material, or to large reactor explosions (a nitroaniline reactor explosion case history in another SACHE product).

In this case study, lessons learned include:

• use of redundant process control equipment with audible alarms,
• use of semi-automated discharge systems,
• maintenance of critical process control equipment,
• develop, manage, and test emergency procedures,
• understand the hazardous characteristics of exothermic reactions,
• understand that semi-batch reactors should be used for highly exothermic reactions, and
• use of the Dow Fire and Explosion Index to identify and eliminate potential design and operating problems.

This case history is in a PowerPoint format that includes notes. The presentation can be used in reactor kinetics or design courses.

Dow Fire and Explosion Index (F&EI) and Chemical Exposure Index (CEI) Software

Sponsors:

S. Mannan (Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center)

W. Smades (Dow Chemical Company)

This SACHE product covers The Dow Fire and Explosion Index Hazards Classification Guide 7th edition and Chemical Exposure Index Guide developed by The Dow Chemical Company and published by AIChE. The program was developed as a collaborative effort between the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, The Dow Chemical Company and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

F&EI is a quantitative hazard index. It is based on historical data as well as the energy potential of the materials under evaluation and the extent to which loss prevention practices are applied. F&EI helps engineers to be aware of the hazards in each process unit and facilitates decisions to reduce the severity and/or the probability of the potential incident.

The Chemical Exposure Index (CEI) provides a simple method of rating the acute health hazard to people in neighboring plants or communities due to chemical release incidents. The CEI system provides a method of ranking one hazard relative to another. The CEI is used:

• For conducting an initial Process Hazard Analysis (PHA),
• To identify recommendations to mitigate risks, and
• In Emergency Response Planning.

This product includes the programmed calculations for the Fire and Explosion Index and Dow Chemical Exposure Index. User input determines the penalties and credits used to calculate the Fire and Explosion Index. Dow CEI lets the user simulate six different and independent release scenarios (gas, liquid overfill, etc) simultaneously. The results include the airborne quantity, Chemical Exposure Index, and Hazard Distance.

Instructions for installing the software are included in the startup file.

Safety Guidance for Design Projects

Sponsor: Bruce K. Vaughen (Cabot Corporation)

This SACHE Product provides guidance for engineering design teams to help them meet the process safety requirements of academe and industry. A design project road map is included to help design teams incorporate the elements of Process Safety Management (PSM) used in industry. Specific SACHE products and SACHE Safety Certificates are referred to in this road map.

This product includes a description of the T2 accident that was the genesis of an important CSB recommendation that AICHE and ABET work together to add reactive hazard awareness to undergraduate chemical engineering curricula. This product includes:

• An overview,
• A PowerPoint presentation discussing: background including T2; project design process (road map); available SACHE resources; and a summary that gives a historical perspective of this product, and
• Handouts that are used with the PowerPoint presentation.

The Powerpoint presentation in this product was updated in January 2011.

Conservation of Life: Application of Process Safety Management

Sponsor: J. Klein (DuPont)

This SACHE product introduces “conservation of life” (COL) as a fundamental principle of chemical engineering design and practice, equivalent in importance to conservation of energy and mass. This presentation provides a good introduction to application of process safety and provides an overall structure for consideration of process safety by students.

COL principles that are discussed include:

• Assess material/process hazards
• Evaluate hazardous events
• Manage process risks
• Consider real-world operations
• Ensure product sustainability.

Most of the presentation is spent on the first three principles, which are most important to chemical engineering design and education, but all principles are introduced. Important factors for assessment of toxicity, flammability, reactivity, and dust hazards are provided. Use of PHAs, layers of protection, inherently safer methodologies, and human factors for managing process risk are highlighted. The “Swiss Cheese Model” is also introduced to consider how layers of protection can fail, potentially leading to catastrophic incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

This product can be used in the university (introductory engineering, design, or kinetics courses) or for the introduction of process safety for new industrial employees. COL can be used by universities as a concept and unifying theme for increasing awareness, application, and integration of process and product safety throughout the chemical engineering curriculum and for meeting the revised ABET accreditation criteria.

University Access to SuperChems and ioXpress

Sponsor: Georges A. Melhem (ioMosaic, Inc.)

SuperChems is an advanced tool for pressure relief design, consequence analysis, and thermal hazards assessment. Developed by ioMosaic, SuperChems helps companies meet process safety design objectives and management needs. Its rigorous modeling capabilities enable companies to make technically sound decisions about key process design issues. SuperChems contains an extensive databank of more than 1200 components with equation-of-state based computer code and incorporates many features that add tremendous value to the quality of a detailed hazards analysis. It has been extensively validated against experimental data to ensure its accuracy.

ioXpress is a web-based enterprise knowledge management solution and is designed to help companies effectively manage their data and documents, enable knowledge sharing, and enhance communication. It serves as a knowledge manager for creating, editing, storing, and retrieving reusable documents within your organization. All documents are categorized, centralized, and managed through a secure database platform. As a web-based application, ioXpress Knowledge Manager allows users to share documents from any location. It can produce significant returns in the form of cost savings and productivity gains for small and large organizations.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 1

Sponsors: J. R. Welker and C. Springer (University of Arkansas)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Problems for Undergraduate Engineering Curricula" Volume 1 was originally published by CCPS in 1990. Copies were given to universities and sold to industry. This was a very popular and valued product that is currently out of print. J. Wagner (Oklahoma State University) recently put this product in electronic format for distribution here. The problems are available via the Links menu on this site and to students logged into the site.

The 90 problems involve issues of safety, health, and loss prevention and provide students and new engineers with important insights to industrial processes. This material can also be used as a reference for industrial courses for new engineering employees. These safety problems and solutions further demonstrate that safety and health issues are handled with basic engineering principles and logic. Finally, through the use of this material, we hope to instill in students and engineers an increased recognition of the importance of chemical process safety and the recognition that they have the professional and ethical responsibility to provide safe chemical plants, processes and products.

The problems were designed to use in existing engineering courses, such as: stoichiometry, material balance, mass transfer, heat transfer, thermodynamics, process control, and design courses. The authors believe that it is important that students work on these problems while attending there undergraduate courses and throughout their education. This process should develop a safety culture within engineers that will help them throughout their careers.

Student AIChE 2002 Design Problem Solution

Sponsors:

S. Horsch and J. Louvar (Wayne State University)

J. Wehman (BASF Corporation, retired)

This product includes a solution to the 2002 AIChE Design Problem that was developed by a student (S. Horsch) with significant assistance from very knowledgeable design professionals; these are the professionals who developed this design problem, and they have worked on this design in an industrial environment.

This product includes concepts, calculations, and drawings that can be used in future AIChE design solutions, for example:

• Relief valve calculations for gases, liquids, and two phase flows;
• Safety review including hazards and resulting safety measures to prevent accidents and inherent safety concepts and features;
• The process flow diagram (PFD) and process and instrument diagram (P&ID); and
• MathCad programs for making the design calculations.

All of the MathCad programs and Visio drawings can be copied for using in future design problem solutions. Additionally, the safety review and inherent safety discussions will be an excellent aid in the development of safety and inherent design concepts for all future AIChE design problems. The AIChE Student Chapters Committee that administers the annual AIChE Design competition approved posting of this example problem.

Consequence Modeling Source Models I: Liquids & Gases

Sponsor: Jan Wagner (Oklahoma State University)

This module was developed to help introduce issues of safety and loss prevention in undergraduate engineering courses. Each of the five major sections can be used independently, depending on the student's backgrounds.

• Section 1 is an introduction to the role of source models in the risk assessment process.
• Section 2 introduces the basic information required to select or develop an appropriate source model for a given release scenario.
• The fundamental concepts of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, the mechanical energy balance, and friction losses in pipes and fittings are reviewed briefly in Section 3.
• Section 4 deals with flow of liquids in pipes and orifices. The example problems are intended to introduce loss prevention issues, and they can be used in any fluid mechanics class.
• Section 5 presents the flow of ideal gas in orifices and pipes. This material may be appropriate in fluid mechanics or thermodynamics classes. The derivations of equations for compressible flow are intended to show the relationships between physical phenomena and the mathematical model; the fundamental concepts apply to ideal and real gases.

The module resources include text, accompanying PowerPoint presentations, student homework problems, and an instructor's solution manual.

Compressible and Two-Phase Flow with Applications Including Pressure Relief System Sizing

Sponsors: J. Wagner and R. Whiteley (Oklahoma State University)

This SACHE product introduces mass, momentum, and energy balances for fluid flow in pipes and orifices. A brief review of incompressible fluid flow reinforces fundamentals and illustrates problem-solving techniques using spreadsheets to introduce concepts of compressible flow in pipes and orifices. These materials can be used in several courses; e.g., fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and senior design courses.

The differential momentum balance for real gases is used to describe vapor flow in pipes including limitations of sonic velocity (choked flow) on mass flow rates (illustrated with examples). The material on two-phase flow is limited to friction losses and slip. Friction factor and void fraction correlations based on both separated flow and homogeneous flow models are presented (illustrated with examples of flashing and non-flashing systems). Important for sizing emergency relief systems, flashing liquid flows modeled as non-equilibrium flow in short pipes and nozzles are discussed along with the effect of sub-cooled liquid at the relief inlet.

The Pipe Flow.xls and Pipe Flow 3-Point.xls applications each contain over three thousand lines of Visual Basic(c) code to solve the mass, momentum, and energy balances for single-phase liquid, single-phase vapor, or vapor-liquid two-phase flow in pipes of constant diameter. Users can select the type of flow problem (calculate flow, inlet pressure, or outlet pressure) and correlations for two-phase friction factor and void-fraction. Both applications accommodate single and multi-component systems.

Pipe Flow 3-Point.xls fits property expansion models to user input results for three adiabatic flash calculations. These models are used to calculate the physical and transport properties and vapor quality required for the numerical integration of the differential momentum balance.

Pipe Flow.xls uses Chemstations’ Chemcad(c) process simulator as a VBA server to perform flash calculations and to calculate the physical and transport properties, as well as the vapor and liquid phase compositions.

Nozzle Flow.xls and Nozzle Flow 3-Point.xls are Visual Basic(c) applications for sizing or rating relief valves or flow through orifices. Nozzle Flow 3-Point.xls uses property expansion models based on the results of user input isentropic flash calculations, while Nozzle Flow.xls uses Chemcad(c) to directly perform flash calculations.

This SACHE product is a companion to several previously published SACHE products by Darby (2005), Grossel and Louvar (2006), Parvin and Sterling (2003), and Wagner (2004).

This product was updated January 2011, and an errata from the first printing is available.

Emergency Relief System Design for Single and Two-Phase Flow

Sponsor: Ron Darby (Texas A&M University)

This Design Module covers the principles and procedures for sizing emergency relief systems for both single-phase (gas or liquid) and two-phase flow, including relief devices as well as inlet and discharge piping. The Homogeneous Direct Integration method for two-phase flow described herein is simpler, more general, and more rigorous than methods previously presented. The material is in a form which could be incorporated into courses on applied fluid mechanics, process safety, or process design, or it could be presented separately as a "stand alone" topic. It is assumed that the student has a familiarity and working knowledge of the macroscopic conservation laws for mass, energy, and momentum, and Newtonian fluid flow through pipes and fittings, including incompressible as well as compressible flow up to and including choked flow. Several worked examples are included which serve to illustrate applications of the procedures and equations, or which can be used for student exercises. A Power Point presentation is included, as are the spreadsheet calculations for the example problem solutions.

Safety Valves: Practical Design Practices for Relief Valve Sizing

Sponsors: Eric N. Parvin and Arthur M. Sterling (Louisiana State University)

The goal of this module is to inform and educate inexperienced engineers about process safety management in general, and about safety valve sizing and the application of engineering principles to safe process design in particular. We also hope to encourage logical thinking patterns in an overview of process design for inherently safer process systems. The target audience will normally be college engineering students, but may also be entry-level engineers (0-3 years) who have not yet been exposed to this subject matter, or as a refresher for more experienced engineers.

Contained within this package are two software files (one MS PowerPoint presentation and one MS Excel file).

• The PowerPoint presentation is intended for educational purposes to gain knowledge and a general understanding of Process Safety Management. It is intended to take about one hour to present the material, but can be shortened (see "instruction" slide for further details).
• The Excel file contains several practical exercises for the students to work in a recitation-type environment, preferably in groups of two or three students. The Excel file contains the problems, solutions, and instructions to prepare the handouts for the class. The recitation is expected to take at least one and a half hours.

Understanding Atmospheric Dispersion of Accidental Releases

Sponsor: R. Schneider (CCPS Staff)

This SACHE product is a relatively short CCPS concept book that includes a basic description of the processes involved in accidental releases of chemicals and the resulting downwind concentrations of gases, vapors, and aerosols. It describes the complex physics of neutrally buoyant vapors, dense-vapors, high-momentum releases, boiling and evaporating liquids, multiphase flow, and aerosol releases.

The focus of this document is not on the calculation methods, but on the physical problem descriptions. This information will give the reader an excellent background to understand the assumptions and results of dispersion analysis useful in developing emergency response plans or as a part of a process hazard analysis. The document is also a useful tool to assess methods to prevent or mitigate releases.

The material is intended only as a basic introduction to dispersion modeling and the interested reader is encouraged to consult the cited references for further information.

Simplified Relief System Design Package

Sponsor: Ed Kitchen (Digital Solutions Technology, Inc.)

The Mach II system is unique to any other relief system design software because it is custom designed specifically for speed, user-friendliness, flexibility, compatibility, API/ASME single-phase sizing, and DIERS two-phase methodology. In short the Mach II is easy to learn simple to use yet it is very comprehensive. The Mach II program will calculate the required capacity of each relief scenario not already input by the user, and will then calculate the required and standard orifice size and standard relief capacity. The program will then select the worst-case scenario, largest required orifice, as the basis for the design of the relief system to include the associated piping. The program also has a built-in piping program where the user can choose the number and type of fitting for both inlet and outlet piping. Mach II then calculates the piping resistance and pressure drop for this piping arrangement. Mach II is intuitive to use and the results are produced instantaneously by just clicking on the Generate Report tab after all input data has been entered. Mach II was designed based on the requirements as set forth in OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119a whereby relief system design and design-based calculations must be compiled and maintained for all processes involving highly hazardous chemicals.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 2

Sponsors:

R. Willey (Northeastern University)

D. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

R. Welker (University of Arkansas)

R. Darby (Texas A&M University)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Volume 2" was originally published by CCPS in 2002 and distributed to SACHE University Members. This was a very popular and valued product that is now out of print. R. Willey recently put this volume in electronic form for distribution here.

Like the Volume 1 problems, the 218 problems teach safety, health, and loss prevention. This solution set represents problems and solutions produced by SACHE in the period 1990 to 2000.

The problems were designed for use in existing engineering courses, such as: Stoichiometry, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Kinetics, Heat Transfer, Process Dynamics and Control, Computer Solutions, and Mass Transfer. The authors believe that including these problems in a required undergraduate course helps engineering students develop a safety culture and mind set that will benefit them throughout their careers.

Student AIChE 2002 Design Problem Solution

Sponsors:

S. Horsch and J. Louvar (Wayne State University)

J. Wehman (BASF Corporation, retired)

This product includes a solution to the 2002 AIChE Design Problem that was developed by a student (S. Horsch) with significant assistance from very knowledgeable design professionals; these are the professionals who developed this design problem, and they have worked on this design in an industrial environment.

This product includes concepts, calculations, and drawings that can be used in future AIChE design solutions, for example:

• Relief valve calculations for gases, liquids, and two phase flows;
• Safety review including hazards and resulting safety measures to prevent accidents and inherent safety concepts and features;
• The process flow diagram (PFD) and process and instrument diagram (P&ID); and
• MathCad programs for making the design calculations.

All of the MathCad programs and Visio drawings can be copied for using in future design problem solutions. Additionally, the safety review and inherent safety discussions will be an excellent aid in the development of safety and inherent design concepts for all future AIChE design problems. The AIChE Student Chapters Committee that administers the annual AIChE Design competition approved posting of this example problem.

Mini-Case Histories

Joe Louvar and Durai Dakshinamoorthy (Wayne State University)

This product emphasizes learning from history or being doomed to repeat it. It includes three sections:

• Mini-Case Histories
• Process Safety Beacon
• Safety Concepts

as described below:

Mini-Case Histories: There are eight PowerPoint presentations, with notes, that cover the accidents at Bhopal, Monsanto, Phillips, Flixborough, Morton, Tosco, Hickson, and Sonat. The root causes of each accident are included, such as, poor designs, lack of training, and poor management. The information summarized in these case histories was taken from SACHE products, and reports by the Chemical Safety Board.

Process Safety Beacon: The Center for Chemical Process Safety is publishing monthly, one-page case histories or lessons learned. They are available on the Internet via CCPS Beacon. A few of the Beacons are included in this product to remind readers that these lessons are available.

Safety Concepts: This product includes six PowerPoint presentations: Relief Valves; Prevent Runaway Reactions; Manage Design, Construction, and Operations; BLEVEs; Explosions; and Prevent Explosions. The concepts covered are those that are especially relevant to chemical plant accidents.

The Mini-Case Histories and Safety Concepts were developed in a PowerPoint format to give users the opportunity to add slides or lessons as desired.

Metal Structured Packing Fires

Sponsor: Mark T. Roberts (Texas A&M University)

Metal structured packing fires represent a unique and poorly understood hazard. While a rare occurrence, the potential for capital damage and injury to personnel as a result of such fires is extremely high. Since metal is not often thought of as a combustible material, the risks associated with structured packing fires are magnified by a lack of appreciation and understanding of the risk of packing ignition involved in maintenance activities in an industrial separation tower.

This training module discusses the possible causes of metal structured packing fires and methods for preventing and suppressing metal fires taken from industrial experience. The module contains brief descriptions of actual incidents involving packing fires as well as questions intended for class discussion.

The module contains a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation with notes that would be appropriate for class presentation or independent study and a report on the topic. This training module is appropriate for a separations, process safety, or senior design class.

Conservation of Life: Application of Process Safety Management

Sponsor: J. Klein (DuPont)

This SACHE product introduces “conservation of life” (COL) as a fundamental principle of chemical engineering design and practice, equivalent in importance to conservation of energy and mass. This presentation provides a good introduction to application of process safety and provides an overall structure for consideration of process safety by students.

COL principles that are discussed include:

• Assess material/process hazards
• Evaluate hazardous events
• Manage process risks
• Consider real-world operations
• Ensure product sustainability.

Most of the presentation is spent on the first three principles, which are most important to chemical engineering design and education, but all principles are introduced. Important factors for assessment of toxicity, flammability, reactivity, and dust hazards are provided. Use of PHAs, layers of protection, inherently safer methodologies, and human factors for managing process risk are highlighted. The “Swiss Cheese Model” is also introduced to consider how layers of protection can fail, potentially leading to catastrophic incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

This product can be used in the university (introductory engineering, design, or kinetics courses) or for the introduction of process safety for new industrial employees. COL can be used by universities as a concept and unifying theme for increasing awareness, application, and integration of process and product safety throughout the chemical engineering curriculum and for meeting the revised ABET accreditation criteria.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 1

Sponsors: J. R. Welker and C. Springer (University of Arkansas)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Problems for Undergraduate Engineering Curricula" Volume 1 was originally published by CCPS in 1990. Copies were given to universities and sold to industry. This was a very popular and valued product that is currently out of print. J. Wagner (Oklahoma State University) recently put this product in electronic format for distribution here. The problems are available via the Links menu on this site and to students logged into the site.

The 90 problems involve issues of safety, health, and loss prevention and provide students and new engineers with important insights to industrial processes. This material can also be used as a reference for industrial courses for new engineering employees. These safety problems and solutions further demonstrate that safety and health issues are handled with basic engineering principles and logic. Finally, through the use of this material, we hope to instill in students and engineers an increased recognition of the importance of chemical process safety and the recognition that they have the professional and ethical responsibility to provide safe chemical plants, processes and products.

The problems were designed to use in existing engineering courses, such as: stoichiometry, material balance, mass transfer, heat transfer, thermodynamics, process control, and design courses. The authors believe that it is important that students work on these problems while attending there undergraduate courses and throughout their education. This process should develop a safety culture within engineers that will help them throughout their careers.

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 2

Sponsors:

R. Willey (Northeastern University)

D. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

R. Welker (University of Arkansas)

R. Darby (Texas A&M University)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Volume 2" was originally published by CCPS in 2002 and distributed to SACHE University Members. This was a very popular and valued product that is now out of print. R. Willey recently put this volume in electronic form for distribution here.

Like the Volume 1 problems, the 218 problems teach safety, health, and loss prevention. This solution set represents problems and solutions produced by SACHE in the period 1990 to 2000.

The problems were designed for use in existing engineering courses, such as: Stoichiometry, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Kinetics, Heat Transfer, Process Dynamics and Control, Computer Solutions, and Mass Transfer. The authors believe that including these problems in a required undergraduate course helps engineering students develop a safety culture and mind set that will benefit them throughout their careers.

T2 Runaway Reaction and Explosion

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

The main reason for the explosion at T2 Laboratories, Inc. was the lack of understanding of the hazards involved in dealing with a potential runaway reaction. This product emphasizes the following:

• A runaway reaction is a reaction that can no longer be controlled in the existing equipment, and exothermic reactions can run away, especially when (potentially unknown) secondary exothermic reactions can occur at higher than expected temperatures (sometime termed temperatures of no return).
• All major processes should have a complete hazard identification study completed beforehand and revisited regularly after the process is built.

The main source of information for this product is the T2 CSB report cited in the references. This product includes a PowerPoint presentation including lecture notes. An example problem based on this accident is available in the textbook by Scott Fogler entitled “Essentials of Chemical Reaction Engineering” (Prentice-Hall, 2011).

Dow Fire and Explosion Index (F&EI) and Chemical Exposure Index (CEI) Software

Sponsors:

S. Mannan (Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center)

W. Smades (Dow Chemical Company)

This SACHE product covers The Dow Fire and Explosion Index Hazards Classification Guide 7th edition and Chemical Exposure Index Guide developed by The Dow Chemical Company and published by AIChE. The program was developed as a collaborative effort between the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, The Dow Chemical Company and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

F&EI is a quantitative hazard index. It is based on historical data as well as the energy potential of the materials under evaluation and the extent to which loss prevention practices are applied. F&EI helps engineers to be aware of the hazards in each process unit and facilitates decisions to reduce the severity and/or the probability of the potential incident.

The Chemical Exposure Index (CEI) provides a simple method of rating the acute health hazard to people in neighboring plants or communities due to chemical release incidents. The CEI system provides a method of ranking one hazard relative to another. The CEI is used:

• For conducting an initial Process Hazard Analysis (PHA),
• To identify recommendations to mitigate risks, and
• In Emergency Response Planning.

This product includes the programmed calculations for the Fire and Explosion Index and Dow Chemical Exposure Index. User input determines the penalties and credits used to calculate the Fire and Explosion Index. Dow CEI lets the user simulate six different and independent release scenarios (gas, liquid overfill, etc) simultaneously. The results include the airborne quantity, Chemical Exposure Index, and Hazard Distance.

Instructions for installing the software are included in the startup file.

Runaway Reactions - Experimental Characterization and Vent Sizing

Sponsor: Ron Darby (Texas A&M University)

This module is an updated and revised version of the module entitled “A Unit Operations Laboratory Experiment for Runaway Reactions”, published by SACHE in 2001. The title has been changed to reflect the more general utility of the module for education, training and instruction of personnel in industrial, governmental or other laboratories who are concerned with the characterization and sizing of relief vents for runaway reactions, in addition to universities who would like to include this subject matter in lecture and/or laboratory courses concerned with process safety.

The Advanced Reactive Screening Tool (ARSST) is an easy to use and cost effective calorimeter that can be used to quickly and safely identify potential chemical reactivity hazards. It can also yield critical experimental data on the kinetic characteristics of runaway reactions that can be scaled up to full scale process conditions and can be used directly to estimate the size of a relief device that would be required to protect the reactor against the over-pressure that would result from a runaway reaction.

This instruction module describes the ARSST and its operation, and illustrates how this instrument can easily be used to experimentally determine the transient characteristics of runaway reactions, and how the resulting data can be analyzed and utilized to size the relief vent for such systems. It can also be easily incorporated into a Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory as an effective educational laboratory experiment utilizing a practical and physically realistic example reactive system.

Safe Handling Practices: Methacrylic Acid

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This SACHE product introduces students to the hazards of handling acrylic monomers along with safe handling practices that are relevant for handling any monomer. Acrylic monomers have some unique challenges including being corrosive and combustible with the potential for unanticipated, uncontrolled exothermic runaway reactions. The product includes five files that give an excellent introduction for handling monomers:

• SACHE Product Introduction 2009: This describes the Rohm & Haas accident including a time line.
• Tank Car Video: This is a TV news report and and Rohm and Haas description of the tank car accident with methyacrylic acid that happened on July 22, 1988. (7 minutes)
• R&H Article: This is a description of an accident investigation method as applied to the Rohm & Haas accident.
• Acrylic Monomer Handling: This is a Rohm & Haas training presentation for safely handling acrylic monomers. Although the presentation is for acrylic monomers, the seven principles described are generally applicable for handling any monomer. European Bulletin: A Safe Handling Manual for methacrylic acid developed in Europe.

Note that a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) and International Safety Card (containing NIOSH safety information) are included for methacrylic acid; since this information can become stale, updated information (available on the web) should be obtained when this instructional material is used.

The Bhopal disaster: A Case History

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This SACHE product summarizes the events that led to one of the most significant toxic releases that has occurred to date in the chemical process industry. This product focuses on the chemical processes involved and can best be used in a course devoted to process safety as well as in courses dealing with chemical kinetics (as an example of a runaway reaction) or related to mass transfer and atmospheric dispersion.

This product includes three resources:

• Bhopal SACHE (Adobe pdf file) includes many details of the accident scenario including descriptions of the plant (and its equipment and piping), background chemistry, and potential hazards along with detailed references.
• Bhopal SACHE Presentation (PowerPoint) includes speaker notes and includes much of the material in the word document.
• The video, “Unraveling Bhopal,” describes Bhopal with many scenes of the city, plant, and accident scenario. This 16 minute video was produced by the Union Carbide Corporation and includes details of the accident and the subsequent Union Carbide investigation illustrating the details and complexities of an accident investigation. The video is available through streaming video in BhopalDescription.pdf.

Safety in the Chemical Process Industries

Sponsor: D.A. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

This video series entitled "Safety in the Chemical Process Industries" presents a strong introduction to the application of chemical process safety technology in an actual chemical facility. All video material was taped at the Chemical Engineering Research Department at BASF Corporation in Wyandotte, Michigan. Most of the demonstrations are given using actual process equipment in the BASF Process Development (PD) facility.

This series is designed as instructional material for undergraduate students in chemical or mechanical engineering as well as industrial engineers or chemists who are being introduced to industrial safety for the first time. This series provides significant supplementary material for an existing undergraduate chemical engineering course on chemical process safety. This series was funded by the National Science Foundation and by BASF Corporation. 

Hyperlinks to streaming video sources are included in a word processing file (updated 31 January 2007). A Study Guide and Instructor's Guide were written to accompany the video, and both guides are included with this product.

Seveso Accidental Release Case History

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This presentation describes a widely discussed case history that illustrates how minor engineering errors can cause significant problems; problems that should not be repeated. The accident was in Seveso, Italy in 1976. It was a small release of a dioxin that caused many serious injuries.

The package can be used in an undergraduate classroom or an industrial training session. The package can be modified to fit different contexts including: reaction engineering (runaway reactions), heat transfer (heat transport from the reactor walls to the liquid), mass transfer (the resultant dispersion of material from a release), and reaction stoichiometry. The entire module can be presented in about 50 minutes.

The Seveso case history is an especially good teaching module, showing how a minor problem and a minor release can cause very serious injuries. The root cause of this release included a poor engineering design, operator negligence, and poor supervision. The intent of this teaching module is to motivate engineers and supervisors to pay attention to the details.

This product includes five excellent problems and solutions that illustrate the lessons to be learned from this case history. The problems can be used in the following courses: a) Stoichiometry, b) Thermodynamics, c) Kinetics, d) Heat Transfer, and e) Ethics. Or they can be used in industrial training sessions in the areas of process design and engineering management.

Rupture of a Nitroaniline Reactor

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This case study of the rupture of a nitroaniline reactor demonstrates safety concepts that are especially important to both new and experienced engineers including:

• Runaway reactions need to be understood and appropriately controlled to prevent major losses.
• A Safety review is an important process for identifying potential problems and developing approaches to solve the problems.
• Redundant controls are needed in critical applications.
• Relief systems consisting of a rupture disk followed by a spring operated relief valve must be properly installed and maintained.
• Training operators and engineers to recognize the consequences of operating errors is important.
• Management decisions to override safety systems must be thoroughly thought through before implementation of such action.

The lessons of this product are very important, and they will be true and relevant forever. The PowerPoint presentation in this product includes problems (with solutions for the instructor). A pdf document provides background for the presentation.

Reactive and Explosive Materials

Sponsors:

R. Willey (Northeastern University)

J. F. Louvar (Wayne State University)

This module is an updated and revised version of the module entitled “A Unit Operations Laboratory Experiment for Runaway Reactions”, published by SACHE in 2001. The title has been changed to reflect the more general utility of the module for education, training and instruction of personnel in industrial, governmental or other laboratories who are concerned with the characterization and sizing of relief vents for runaway reactions, in addition to universities who would like to include this subject matter in lecture and/or laboratory courses concerned with process safety.

The Advanced Reactive Screening Tool (ARSST) is an easy to use and cost effective calorimeter that can be used to quickly and safely identify potential chemical reactivity hazards. It can also yield critical experimental data on the kinetic characteristics of runaway reactions that can be scaled up to full scale process conditions and can be used directly to estimate the size of a relief device that would be required to protect the reactor against the over-pressure that would result from a runaway reaction.

This instruction module describes the ARSST and its operation, and illustrates how this instrument can easily be used to experimentally determine the transient characteristics of runaway reactions, and how the resulting data can be analyzed and utilized to size the relief vent for such systems. It can also be easily incorporated into a Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory as an effective educational laboratory experiment utilizing a practical and physically realistic example reactive system.

Fire Protection Concepts

Sponsor: Reed Welker (University of Arkansas)

This SACHE product introduces the fundamental concepts of fires including their extinguishment and control. This streaming video presentation consists of two parts:

Section 1: “Fundamentals of Fire Behavior” describes some of the fundamental characteristics of fires including basic definitions, the fire triangle, and reaction mechanisms. Examples of burning gases, liquids, and solids are discussed and demonstrated in addition to the difference between a premixed flame and a diffusion flame. The importance of turbulence and buoyancy is discussed along with their effects on the behavior and size of large fires. (30 minutes)

Section 2: “Fire Extinguishment and Control” describes the major aspects of fire protection systems. National Fire Protection Association fire classification is discussed. Passive and Active methods of fire control are discussed. Passive methods include inventory reduction, replacement of flammable materials, separation of process areas from storage, diking and impoundment, and fireproofing of structures. Active methods include water for extinguishment and control, regular and high expansion foams, dry chemicals, vaporizing liquids, and inerting agents. Field tests demonstrating these methods are shown. (41 minutes)

Hyperlinks to streaming video sources are included in a word processing file to view the videos.

Explosions

Sponsor: Reed Welker (University of Arkansas)

This SACHE product covers the fundamentals of explosions and some practices necessary for preventing explosions. The 35 minute video includes:

• Pictures showing the consequences of explosions.
• Discussion of definitions, such as auto-ignition temperature (AIT), lower and upper flammability limits (LFL/UFL), minimum ignition energy (MIE), limiting oxygen concentration (LOC), flash point (FP), etc.
• The distinction between physical and chemical explosions.
• Detailed discussions covering boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions (BLEVES), dust explosions, deflagrations, and detonations.

The video can be used as an introduction to a lecture on explosions, or given to students for self study prior to a more detailed discussion in a classroom setting. This product can be used in universities or industrial training sessions. In the university, it can be used in various courses such as design, thermodynamics, kinetics, or a safety course. In industry, it can be used for new engineers as an introduction to chemical process safety.

The recommended practices and related references include:

• Explosion prevention technology, such as reliefs, venting devices, etc.
• Codes and Standards – NFPA, ASME, and API.
• Textbooks, CCPS Guidelines, Periodicals, Short Courses, and SACHE materials.

Mini-Case Histories

Joe Louvar and Durai Dakshinamoorthy (Wayne State University)

This product emphasizes learning from history or being doomed to repeat it. It includes three sections:

• Mini-Case Histories
• Process Safety Beacon
• Safety Concepts

as described below:

Mini-Case Histories: There are eight PowerPoint presentations, with notes, that cover the accidents at Bhopal, Monsanto, Phillips, Flixborough, Morton, Tosco, Hickson, and Sonat. The root causes of each accident are included, such as, poor designs, lack of training, and poor management. The information summarized in these case histories was taken from SACHE products, and reports by the Chemical Safety Board.

Process Safety Beacon: The Center for Chemical Process Safety is publishing monthly, one-page case histories or lessons learned. They are available on the Internet via CCPS Beacon. A few of the Beacons are included in this product to remind readers that these lessons are available.

Safety Concepts: This product includes six PowerPoint presentations: Relief Valves; Prevent Runaway Reactions; Manage Design, Construction, and Operations; BLEVEs; Explosions; and Prevent Explosions. The concepts covered are those that are especially relevant to chemical plant accidents.

The Mini-Case Histories and Safety Concepts were developed in a PowerPoint format to give users the opportunity to add slides or lessons as desired.

Chemical Reactivity Hazards

Sponsor: Robert Johnson (Unwin Co.)

This web-based instructional module contains about 100 web pages with extensive links, graphics, videos, and supplemental slides. It can be used either for classroom presentation or as a self-paced tutorial. The module is designed to supplement a junior or senior chemical engineering course by showing how uncontrolled chemical reactions in industry can lead to serious harm, and by introducing key concepts for avoiding unintended reactions and controlling intended reactions. The five main sections in the module cover (1) three major incidents that show the potential consequences of uncontrolled reactions; (2) how chemical reactions get out of control, including consideration of reaction path, heat generation and removal, and people/property/environmental response; (3) data and lab testing resources used to identify reactivity hazards, (4) four approaches to making a facility inherently safer with respect to chemical reactivity hazards; and (5) strategies for designing facilities both to prevent and to mitigate uncontrolled chemical reactions. The module concludes with a ten-question informative quiz. An extensive Glossary and Bibliography are directly accessible from any page.

Design for Overpressure and Underpressure Protection

Sponsors:

S. S. Grossel (Process Safety and Design, Inc.)

J. F. Louvar (Wayne State University)

This product will help faculty, students, and professionals incorporate proper overpressure and underpressure protection in their process designs. This package helps students:

• Understand the technology, special engineering devices, and methods that are used for protection against overpressure and underpressure (vacuum) incidents,
• Understand the root causes of overpressure and underpressure incidents, and
• Design plants with the appropriate features to protect against overpressure and underpressure incidents.

This SACHE product contains two PowerPoint presentations that can be copied and modified to fit specific teaching/learning objectives. It includes detailed instructions covering a) reliefs, b) runaway reactions, and c) safeguards to prevent accidents. This product can be used in design, fluid flow, or control courses. Some background information is included in this package (see Abstract - References) to assist the student in understanding these general concepts. The package is deliberately designed to be only an introduction to these topics. Using this introductory approach, the package can be used for three half-hour lectures or two hours of self-study exercises.

Case History: A Batch Polystyrene Reactor Runaway

Sponsor: Ron Willey (Northeastern University)

This case history describes a runaway reaction that occurred in a batch reactor manufacturing polystyrene. Companies now use semi-batch reactors (or stepwise addition of reactants) for such highly exothermic reactions. This case history emphasizes the importance of carefully analyzing and controlling exothermic reactions. When control is lost, the consequences can be catastrophic – for this case, a large fire due to an uncontrolled release of a flammable material, or to large reactor explosions (a nitroaniline reactor explosion case history in another SACHE product).

In this case study, lessons learned include:

• use of redundant process control equipment with audible alarms,
• use of semi-automated discharge systems,
• maintenance of critical process control equipment,
• develop, manage, and test emergency procedures,
• understand the hazardous characteristics of exothermic reactions,
• understand that semi-batch reactors should be used for highly exothermic reactions, and
• use of the Dow Fire and Explosion Index to identify and eliminate potential design and operating problems.

This case history is in a PowerPoint format that includes notes. The presentation can be used in reactor kinetics or design courses.

Conservation of Life: Application of Process Safety Management

Sponsor: J. Klein (DuPont)

This SACHE product introduces “conservation of life” (COL) as a fundamental principle of chemical engineering design and practice, equivalent in importance to conservation of energy and mass. This presentation provides a good introduction to application of process safety and provides an overall structure for consideration of process safety by students.

COL principles that are discussed include:

• Assess material/process hazards
• Evaluate hazardous events
• Manage process risks
• Consider real-world operations
• Ensure product sustainability.

Most of the presentation is spent on the first three principles, which are most important to chemical engineering design and education, but all principles are introduced. Important factors for assessment of toxicity, flammability, reactivity, and dust hazards are provided. Use of PHAs, layers of protection, inherently safer methodologies, and human factors for managing process risk are highlighted. The “Swiss Cheese Model” is also introduced to consider how layers of protection can fail, potentially leading to catastrophic incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

This product can be used in the university (introductory engineering, design, or kinetics courses) or for the introduction of process safety for new industrial employees. COL can be used by universities as a concept and unifying theme for increasing awareness, application, and integration of process and product safety throughout the chemical engineering curriculum and for meeting the revised ABET accreditation criteria.

Properties of Materials

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This SACHE product provides an elementary explanation of several important properties of materials and their relationship to chemical process safety. It is intended for chemical engineering students in their second or third year of undergraduate training. It is assumed that the students have had limited industrial experience. This product can also be used for training (or retraining) of young engineers and/or plant operators.

This product includes explanations concerning:

• Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
• Flammability, Explosive and Toxicity Properties
• Flammability Classifications
• NFPA Stability Ratings, and 
• Detailed references for more advanced information

Solutions to Student Problem Set Volume 2

Sponsors:

R. Willey (Northeastern University)

D. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

R. Welker (University of Arkansas)

R. Darby (Texas A&M University)

"Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention in Chemical Processes - Volume 2" was originally published by CCPS in 2002 and distributed to SACHE University Members. This was a very popular and valued product that is now out of print. R. Willey recently put this volume in electronic form for distribution here.

Like the Volume 1 problems, the 218 problems teach safety, health, and loss prevention. This solution set represents problems and solutions produced by SACHE in the period 1990 to 2000.

The problems were designed for use in existing engineering courses, such as: Stoichiometry, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Kinetics, Heat Transfer, Process Dynamics and Control, Computer Solutions, and Mass Transfer. The authors believe that including these problems in a required undergraduate course helps engineering students develop a safety culture and mind set that will benefit them throughout their careers.

Student AIChE 2002 Design Problem Solution

Sponsors:

S. Horsch and J. Louvar (Wayne State University)

J. Wehman (BASF Corporation, retired)

This product includes a solution to the 2002 AIChE Design Problem that was developed by a student (S. Horsch) with significant assistance from very knowledgeable design professionals; these are the professionals who developed this design problem, and they have worked on this design in an industrial environment.

This product includes concepts, calculations, and drawings that can be used in future AIChE design solutions, for example:

• Relief valve calculations for gases, liquids, and two phase flows;
• Safety review including hazards and resulting safety measures to prevent accidents and inherent safety concepts and features;
• The process flow diagram (PFD) and process and instrument diagram (P&ID); and
• MathCad programs for making the design calculations.

All of the MathCad programs and Visio drawings can be copied for using in future design problem solutions. Additionally, the safety review and inherent safety discussions will be an excellent aid in the development of safety and inherent design concepts for all future AIChE design problems. The AIChE Student Chapters Committee that administers the annual AIChE Design competition approved posting of this example problem.

Project Risk Analysis (PRA): Unit Operations Lab Applications

Sponsor: Bruce Vaughen (Cabot Corporation)

Project Risk Analysis (PRA) is part of the OSHA Process Safety Management standard that considers both process-related hazards (e.g., fire, explosion, and toxic release) as well as other personnel safety-related hazards (e.g., noise, utilities, etc.). This SaChE product helps a lab instructor apply PRA in an undergraduate unit operations laboratory setting. Based on an industrial risk analysis approach, students document that they understand the potential hazardous events related to their project before experimental work begins based on an area tour; blank PRA check lists are provided. Whether students continue on to graduate school or begin their careers at an industrial site, this risk-based approach teaches tools that enhance students’ awareness of hazards to help ensure their safety when working in new and potentially hazardous environments.

This SAChE product includes:

• An overview of the information and its application (PRADescription.rtf),
• A detailed description of a risk analysis approach with applications to typical unit ops labs (PRAManual.doc, PRA Table 13.pdf, and PRA Table 14.pdf),
• Blank (Excel) tables that are used for each unit operations experiment considered (also available to students after logging into this site), and
• A PowerPoint presentation to introduce students to the concepts of PRA.

Improving Communication Skills

Sponsors: Robert M. Bethea and Sarah A. Brown (Texas Tech University)

This module is designed to supplement junior and senior chemical engineering courses in which written or oral reports about experiments or other assignments are integral components. Examples of the proper format and style of student written work are included throughout. The module contains four files: Read Me First (instructions for access and use), Outline (the resource guide), and two Appendices.

The Outline emphasizes accuracy and clarity; the effective use of audience analysis; proper organization of material to focus on the conclusion or objective; and format, mechanics, consistency, voice, and tone for all types of communications. Business and technical correspondence, resumes, and various types of written reports including in-text citations and bibliographies are included. Because of the process safety implications for unit operations laboratory courses and undergraduate and graduate research projects, the crafting of safe, efficient, and effective operating procedures is presented as a separate section. The topic of visual aids to support oral presentations emphasizes clear, concise illustrations. The material on oral presentations is designed to focus on the bottom line or conclusions. The use of audience analysis is emphasized as are presentation styles, mechanics, and delivery. The style handbook begins with an intensive review of the parts of speech and their uses. This material is followed by the basic rules of English grammar and is illustrated by several pages of common mistakes. The elements of style and the use of smooth transitions are emphasized.

Five sets of student exercises composed of material taken from old unit operations laboratory reports are included as Appendix 1; these exercises focus on punctuation, grammar, style, and editing. Corrected versions of the student exercises are included as Appendix 2 which should not be distributed to students.

Introduction to Biosafety

Sponsor: Art Schwartz (Bayer Corp., retired)

Biohazards are agents that are biological in nature and have the capability to cause harm to biological organisms. This module is intended to provide a brief overview of the area of BioSafety. A Powerpoint presentation provides an introduction to types of Biohazards and discusses sources of biohazards, classifications of biohazards by risk group, and methods of reducing risk from biohazards. Also discussed are Waste Handling and Universal Precautions. The module is oriented towards dealing with biohazards in a laboratory or clinical setting. Included with the module are several examples of Biosafety Manuals that are typically used in corporate (BiosafetyManual.zip) or public health organizations such as the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Static Electricity as an Ignition Source

Sponsor: Konanur Manjunath (DOW Chemical)

This PowerPoint presentation covers the fundamentals of selected ignition sources and control methods with an emphasis on static electricity. The presentation was developed to make it easy to jump or return to the desired sections which are:

• Introduction and non-electrical ignition sources (fires, hot surfaces, and mechanically generated sparks)
• Electrically generated sparks and electrical area classifications
• Static electricity and electro-static charge generation
• The meaning of the term “relaxation time”
• Basics of grounding and bonding
• Charge dissipation in dusts (solids) and how it differs in metals and liquids
• Types of dust electro-static discharges
• Induction charging
• Summary

The chemical industry continues to have accidents due to static electricity. The CSB recently stated that “industry and safety professionals often lacked awareness of combustible dust hazards, and MSDSs ineffectively communicate to employers and workers the hazards of combustible dust explosions and ways to prevent them”. This presentation will help professionals become aware of static electricity as an ignition source and methods to prevent static charge buildup, thus reducing the potential for fires and explosions.

Runaway Reactions - Experimental Characterization and Vent Sizing

Sponsor: Ron Darby (Texas A&M University)

This module is an updated and revised version of the module entitled “A Unit Operations Laboratory Experiment for Runaway Reactions”, published by SACHE in 2001. The title has been changed to reflect the more general utility of the module for education, training and instruction of personnel in industrial, governmental or other laboratories who are concerned with the characterization and sizing of relief vents for runaway reactions, in addition to universities who would like to include this subject matter in lecture and/or laboratory courses concerned with process safety.

The Advanced Reactive Screening Tool (ARSST) is an easy to use and cost effective calorimeter that can be used to quickly and safely identify potential chemical reactivity hazards. It can also yield critical experimental data on the kinetic characteristics of runaway reactions that can be scaled up to full scale process conditions and can be used directly to estimate the size of a relief device that would be required to protect the reactor against the over-pressure that would result from a runaway reaction.

This instruction module describes the ARSST and its operation, and illustrates how this instrument can easily be used to experimentally determine the transient characteristics of runaway reactions, and how the resulting data can be analyzed and utilized to size the relief vent for such systems. It can also be easily incorporated into a Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory as an effective educational laboratory experiment utilizing a practical and physically realistic example reactive system.

Safe Handling Practices: Methacrylic Acid

Sponsor: Ronald J. Willey (Northeastern University)

This SACHE product introduces students to the hazards of handling acrylic monomers along with safe handling practices that are relevant for handling any monomer. Acrylic monomers have some unique challenges including being corrosive and combustible with the potential for unanticipated, uncontrolled exothermic runaway reactions. The product includes five files that give an excellent introduction for handling monomers:

• SACHE Product Introduction 2009: This describes the Rohm & Haas accident including a time line.
• Tank Car Video: This is a TV news report and and Rohm and Haas description of the tank car accident with methyacrylic acid that happened on July 22, 1988. (7 minutes)
• R&H Article: This is a description of an accident investigation method as applied to the Rohm & Haas accident.
• Acrylic Monomer Handling: This is a Rohm & Haas training presentation for safely handling acrylic monomers. Although the presentation is for acrylic monomers, the seven principles described are generally applicable for handling any monomer. European Bulletin: A Safe Handling Manual for methacrylic acid developed in Europe.

Note that a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) and International Safety Card (containing NIOSH safety information) are included for methacrylic acid; since this information can become stale, updated information (available on the web) should be obtained when this instructional material is used.

Safety in the Chemical Process Industries

Sponsor: D.A. Crowl (Michigan Tech University)

This video series entitled "Safety in the Chemical Process Industries" presents a strong introduction to the application of chemical process safety technology in an actual chemical facility. All video material was taped at the Chemical Engineering Research Department at BASF Corporation in Wyandotte, Michigan. Most of the demonstrations are given using actual process equipment in the BASF Process Development (PD) facility.

This series is designed as instructional material for undergraduate students in chemical or mechanical engineering as well as industrial engineers or chemists who are being introduced to industrial safety for the first time. This series provides significant supplementary material for an existing undergraduate chemical engineering course on chemical process safety. This series was funded by the National Science Foundation and by BASF Corporation. 

Hyperlinks to streaming video sources are included in a word processing file (updated 31 January 2007). A Study Guide and Instructor's Guide were written to accompany the video, and both guides are included with this product.