Hazard Identification and Quantification

The scope of this book includes several aspects of safe process design and operation, such as the choice of reactor type, safe operating conditions, and the selection of protective systems, primarily related to chemical reactivity. However, even in a process plant where these aspects have been carefully considered and thoroughly applied, there are still numerous events that can occur and can lead to hazardous incidents. Examples of such events are  

It is difficult to identify all of the possible events and their consequences in a complex chemical processing plant without the application of systematic procedures and proper management techniques. Several hazard evaluation procedures have been developed. Most of these procedures are described in other AIChE/CCPS publications such as Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures [2,3] and Guidelinesfor Quantitative Risk Analysis [4]. Other publications on hazard evaluation techniques include [246,247]. 

A few procedures that are used for identifying and evaluating potential hazards are summarized in Section 4.2. These methods are useful in many practical applications. 

Identified hazards can either be reduced at the root (e.g., reduction of inventory) or by introduction of protective systems (e.g., automatic emergency shutdown). The increased understanding of the chemistry and the process that is obtained from hazard evaluation procedures provides guidance for many other elements of process safety management as well (e.g., procedural instructions, emergency strategies, personnel training, and preventive maintenance). 

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In addition to the evaluation of chemical process hazards, and the proper applications of the evaluation to process design and operation, the management systems are important to assure operation of the facilities as intended. Brief introductions into hazard identification and quantification, and into management controls from the perspective of process safety are presented in Chapter 4. Future trends are also briefly reviewed here. 

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