13th GCPS Short Courses

13th GCPS Short Course Titles: 

• S2: Introduction to CCPS Safety Automation of Chemical Processes 

• S4: Pressure Relief System Awareness Training

• S5: Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) - SOLD OUT

• S6 Investigating Chemical Process Incidents & Near Misses

• S7: Dust Explosion Dynamics 

• S8: Facility Siting Emergency Shelters  

Registration for the short courses is now closed.

Short Courses Schedule: 9:00AM -5:00PM*

S2: Introduction to CCPS Safety Automation of Chemical Processes 

Price: $600 

Instructor: Eloise Roche &  Angela Summers 

Book: Guidelines for Safe Automation 2nd Edition

Location: Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk, Nueces (Hill Country Level)

Guidelines for Safe Automation of Chemical Processes was first published in October 1993 to provide designers and operators of chemical process facilities with a general philosophy and approach to safe automation, including independent layers of safety controls, alarms, and interlocks (SCAI). Automation technology has evolved rapidly in the intervening decades.  The soon to be published second edition has transformed the original through the incorporation of current concepts in reliable and safe control system design.

This course will cover highlights of the updated book material, including the following topics:

• Safe Automation Lifecycle Process
• Designing Automation for Reliable Control (e.g., inherently safer practices)
• Control System Hardware Selection (e.g., instrumentation, logic solvers, auxiliaries)
• Alarm and Instrument Justification and Alarm Management
• Designing Automation for Functional Safety
• Designing Automation for Cyber Security
• Safe Automation Management Systems

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S4:Pressure Relief System Awareness Training

Price: $600 

Instructor: Raman Rahul

Book: Guidelines for Pressure Relief System and Effluent Handling Systems

Location: Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk, Frio (Hill Country Level)

This is a comprehensive one day awareness course for Pressure Relief System. It highlights the impetus of having a Pressure Safety Review Program, details the minimum mandatory requirements, and a workflow to keep Process Safety Information evergreen. Comprehend the definition of Pressure Relief terminology, detail the workings of pressure relief devices along with their advantages and disadvantages, and understanding the codes and standards of the protected vessel. The target audience of the training is staff engineers and managers who would like to have an awareness or refresher course.

      I. Impetus for having a Pressure Safety Design Review Program

a.     Overpressure accidents

b.    Audit findings / ERS design deficiencies OSHA 1910.119 & Citations (ERS Inspection Record Retention)

c.     ERS Design being performed by untrained engineers

    II. Pressure Safety Requirements

a. Workflow

• Detailed pressure safety review / contingency analysis
• Necessary Information / Data gathering
• Necessary participants
• How to facilitate the review and perform overpressure analysis
• Design & assembling an ERS package
• Review & approval of ERS package

b. Properly documented ERS design packages

c. Understanding Codes of Construction

d. Relief device working

1. PSV – Conventional & Bellows
2. PSV-Trim type
3. Pilot Operated Valve
4. Non-reclosing device (Rupture Disk & Buckling Pin)
5. Weighted Pallet Device / Conservation Vents

  III. Pressure Safety terminology

a. Definition of terms & Formulae

1. MAWP, Accumulation, Overpressure
2. Stagnation Pressure
3. Other important terms
4. Liquid capacity calculation
5. Vapor capacity calculation

b. Simple Design Cases

1. Instrument failure
2. Thermal Expansion
3. Pump Overpressure
4. In-breathing / Out-breathing
5. Other contingencies

c. External Fire

1. Effects of vessel, geometry, and location
2. Effects of credit or environmental factors
3. Effects of code of construction
4. Effects of vessel outage
5. Effects of flow regime

  IV. Advanced ERS Concepts – Knowing when to seek assistance!

a. Effluent handling & treatment

b. Reactive systems

c. Reaction data example

    V. Relief Device Installation

a. Best installation practices

b. Stability of a relief valve

c. Installation of a relief valve

d. Installation of a combination device

e. Installation of weighted pallet devices for low pressure tanks

  VI.          Closing Remarks

a. More trues stories of overpressure incidents

b. Emphasis on doing the right thing!

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S5: Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) 

Price: $500 - SOLD OUT

Instructor: William Bridges 

Location: Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk, Blanco (Hill Country Level)

Are proposed or existing combinations of safeguards enough to prevent an accident or mitigate the consequences? Do you perceive that doing a fully quantitative risk assessment (QRA) would be over-working the problem? Then Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) is the new tool you need to learn.  LOPA combines both qualitative and quantitative elements of hazard evaluation and risk assessment to analyze and judge the adequacy of existing or proposed safeguards against process eviations and accident scenarios.  A key to the success of LOPA is its rules for judging if protection layers are truly independent.  Because of these rules, LOPA helps the analysts make consistent judgments of if the risk of scenarios are “as low as reasonably practical (ALARP)”. This “How To” course is taught by one of the principal authors of the AIChE/CCPS book, Layer of Protection Analysis (2001). The course will also bring you up-to-date on changes from the newly released Guidelines for Initiating Events and Independent Protection Layers, CCPS/AIChE (Mr. Bridges, the instructor, was the primary author of this textbook).  Workshops are used as the primary mode of teaching each aspect of LOPA. You will perform several complete LOPA before leaving class.

Course Outline:

Introduction to LOPA

• Learning objectives and goals of using the LOPA technique
• What is LOPA? How is LOPA applied? Definitions? When is LOPA used?

Developing LOPA Scenarios

• Selecting candidate scenarios from brainstorming hazard evaluations
• Scenarios from design questions and from incidents

Estimating the Consequence of the Scenario

• Using a look-up table of consequence; Developing a consequence look-up table for your company; Alternative methods for estimating consequences
• Workshop 1: Estimating the consequence of a scenario (part of a continuing example)

Estimating the Likelihood of the Selected Initiating Event

• Using a look-up table of initiating event categories and frequencies
• How to develop an initiating event look-up table for your company
• Addressing enabling conditions and time-dependent initiating events
• Workshop 1: Estimating the frequency of an initiating event of a scenario (part of a continuing example)

Estimating the Probability of Failure of Independent Protection Layers

• Definitions, rules, and exceptions for giving credit for an independent protection layer (IPL); Using a look-up table of IPL categories and probability of failure on demand (PFOD); How to develop an IPL look-up table
• Workshop 1: Deciding which safeguards are valid IPLs and estimating the PFOD of the valid IPLs (part of a continuing example)

Calculating the Risk

• Using a standardized LOPA worksheet; Rules for calculating risk for an individual scenario (LOPA); Rules for summing risk of related scenarios
• Workshop 1: Calculating the risk of a LOPA scenario (part of a continuing example)

Judging the Risk

• Examples of risk tolerance criteria from the industry
• Development and implementation of a company risk tolerance criteria
• Workshop 1: Judging the risk of a LOPA scenario (cont. example)

Special Applications of LOPA

• Using LOPA for facility siting questions; Selecting the SIL for an interlock 

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S6: Investigating Chemical Process Incidents & Near Misses

Price: $600 

Instructor: Brenton Cox & Trey Morrison 

Book: Guidelines for Investigating Chemical Process Incidents

Location: Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk, Llano (Hill Country Level)

A principal goal of process safety professionals everywhere is to prevent chemical process incidents from occurring. However, even the most risk adverse organizations experience learning opportunities. Through the scientific investigation of incidents and near misses, a company can take advantage of these opportunities and acquire the knowledge necessary to avoid repeating past mistakes. Effectively sharing lessons learned may also reduce the frequency of similar incidents across the Chemical Process Industry.

This course will follow the incident investigation techniques set forth in CCPS’ Guidelines for Investigating Chemical Process Incidents, while incorporating information from other industry guidance documents. Each aspect of incident investigation will be illustrated with case studies pulled from real incidents and near misses. The course will incorporate brief team-based workshops to provide attendees with hands-on experience in applying investigation principles.

The curriculum will proceed chronologically through an investigation, first discussing the initial response to an incident or near miss. Then the course will cover the assembly of an investigation team, which can span from two engineers to a multidisciplinary team of experts. The team picks up where the initial response left off, preserving and collecting forensic evidence, witness statements, and process information. Then the data is analyzed in an attempt to determine the direct and root causes of the incident or near miss. Last but not least, the findings of the investigation are documented and shared. 

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S7: Dust Explosion Dynamics 

Price: $500 

Instructor: Russell Ogle 

Location: Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk, Pecos (Hill Country Level)

Dust Explosion Dynamics focuses on the combustion science that governs the behavior of the three primary hazards of combustible dust: dust explosions, flash fires, and smoldering. It explores the use of fundamental principles to evaluate the magnitude of combustible dust hazards in a variety of settings. Models are developed to describe dust combustion phenomena using the principles of thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and chemical kinetics. Simple, tractable models are described first and compared with experimental data, followed by more sophisticated models to help with future challenges. There are 59 worked examples in the text that are designed to give the reader an appreciation for the relative magnitude of physical quantities important to dust explosion dynamics.

• Demonstrates how the fundamental principles of combustion science can be applied to understand the ignition, propagation, and extinction of dust explosions
• Explores fundamental concepts through model-building and comparisons with empirical data
• Provides detailed examples to give insight into the hazards of combustible dust as well as an introduction to the relevant scientific literature

Course outline:

1. Introduction to combustible dust hazards
2. The key physical properties of combustible dust
3. Thermodynamics of dust combustion
4. Transport phenomena for dust combustion
5. Smoldering phenomena
6. Dust particle combustion models
7. Unconfined dust flame propagation
8. Confined unsteady dust flame propagation
9. Dust flame acceleration effects
10. Comprehensive dust explosion modeling

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S8: Facility Siting Emergency Shelters 

Price: $500 

Instructor: Gary Fitzgerald

Note: Please bring a calculator or computer with a spreadsheet program to use at the course. 

Location: Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk, Directors (Hill Country Level)

This 1-day course from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. is an overview of API RP 752, 753 and 756 requirements and industry best practices for Emergency Shelters evaluations in a Facility Siting study, active discussions for different interpretations and workshops. Anyone managing, performing, or reviewing facility siting needs should attend. A brief course outline is below:

• Introduction - Brreif Introduction of Instructor and Participants 
• API RP Review - A review and discussion of API RP 752, 753 and 756 references to Emergency Shelters
• Emergency Shelter Publications - A review of publications that industry often uses in evaluating Emergency Shelters
• Building Leakage - Discussion of how to evaluate potential flammable and toxic gas leakage/ingestion into an occupied building
• Workshop: Emergency Shelter for Flammable Clouds - A group discussion and problem-solving activity of postulated facility siting results to determine if a building can be used as an Emergency Shelter during a flammable vapor release
• Workshop: Emergency Shelter for Fires - A group discussion and problem-solving activity of postulated facility siting results to determine if a building can be used as an Emergency Shelter during a fire
• Workshop: Emergency Shelter for Toxic Clouds - A group discussion and problem-solving activity of postulated facility siting results to determine if a building can be used as an Emergency Shelter during a toxic vapor release

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