Hazards pressure vessels

Under-Pressuring Vessels, Hazard Woikshop Module 01 [3]. Trevor Kletz created this module and wrote it in easy-to-understand terms. It was excellent for chemical process operators, chemical plant supervisors, and process engineers. It explained the strength of low-pressure storage tanks in clever ways, including the information in Table 2. 1, which was based on one of the slides in the kit. Table 2.1 is presented with permission from Trevor Kletz. 

Storage tanks should be designed in accordance with the ASME code for unfited pressure vessels. AH-welded constmction is recommended. Ethylene oxide storage tanks should be electrically grounded, isolated from potential fire hazards, and equipped with pressure rehef devices. New equipment should be cleaned of iron oxide and immediately purged with inert gas. 

B31.7 Nuclear Power Piping For fluids whose loss from the system could cause radiation hazard to plant personnel or the general pubhc Withdrawn see ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Sec. 3... 

Close proximity of hazardous process. High pressure vessels which may fail explosively. 

Figure 12-19. The PHI-TEC II adiabatic calorimeter Test cell and calorimeter in main pressure vessel rated for use to 138 bara. (Source Hazard Evaluation Laboratory Ltd.)...

As the previous ehapter discussed nuelear power reactor operation and how to perform a PSA on it, this chapter attempts to apply a similar framework to chemical processing. The problem is the diversity of chemical processing that blurs the focus. This chapter begins by showing that accidents in the chemical process industry cost lives and dollars. Descriptions of deadly chemical accidents arc presented to show the chain of sequences that were involved to suggest how their PSA may be structured. Background on selected hazardous chemical process is presented followed by descriptions of how their PSA have structured. The chapter concludes by applying FTAPSUIT to a pressure vessel rupture analysis. 

Another simple hazard is a pressure vessel rupture due lo over pressure. A steam vessel rupture may scald vorkers and injure them viih shrapnel. Many people died in the last century from boiler explosions. The ves-... 

The modified FMEA approach has been used by the API to develop RP14C. In this document ten different process components have been analyzed and a Safety Analysis Table (SAT) has been developed for each component. A sample SAT for a pressure vessel is shown in Table 14-4. The fact that Tables 14-3 and 14-4 are not identical is due to both the subjective natures of a Hazard Analysis and FMEA, and to the fact that RP14C is a consensus standard. However, although the rationale differs somewhat, the devices required are identical. (The gas make-up system in Table 14-4 is not really required by RP14C, as we shall see.)... 

Another common problem area is having open and closed drain systems tied together. Liquid which drains from pressure vessels flash at atmospheric pressures giving off gas. If this liquid flows in the same piping as open drains, the gas will seek the closest exit to atmosphere it can find, causing a potential fire hazard at any open drain in the. system. 

Open, gravity drains should not be combined with pressure vessel drain systems. The gas flashing from vessel liquids may exit an open drain system at any point and create a hazard. 

Baum, M. R. 1987. Disruptive failure of pressure vessels preliminary design guide lines for fragment velocity and the extent of the hazard zone. In Advances in Impact, Blast Ballistics, arui Dynamic Analysis of Structures. ASME PVP. 124. New York ASME. 

Hazardous Substance Pressure Vessel Inspection Report... 

HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE PRESSURE VESSEL INSPECTION REPORT... 

In the Canvey study (King, 1990 Health and Safety Executive, 1978) the potential hazards to the public from the industrial activities in the Canvey Island/Thurrock area of Essex was studied. The study showed that pressure vessels had ten times bigger assumed frequency of catastrophic failures than LPG-pumps. 

---