Process Safety Practices

Started to rise from the reaction, causing the vessel bottom head to fail at the weld seam. The force from the escaping gases propelled the tank into the ceiling and overhead structural steel. A small fire erupted which was quickly brought under control by the automatic sprinkler system. Even though the chemists had reviewed the chemistry and did not anticipate any problems, use testing could have identified this problem in the laboratory rather than the plant. 

Process chemistry issues and their effects on batch reaction systems safety are presented in Table 2, beginning on page 11. This table is meant to be illustrative but not comprehensive. 

Listed below are safety practices aimed at minimizing the incidents caused by process chemistry issues. 

Maintain Process Safety Information (PSI) related to chemistry such as  

Use chemical interaction matrices to identify potential incompatibilities between combinations of materials (not just binary reactions) and interactions with cleaning solvents, heat transfer fluids and other utilities, equipment lubricants, scrubbing media, materials of construction, etc. Implement management of change procedures for changes in design, operation, equipment and chemistry. 

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Provide guidance in applying appropriate process safety practices to prevent accidents. 

Each chapter starts with a description of the topic covered in the chapter. This is followed by a short example highlighting a reported incident involving a batch reaction system. The case study is followed by a listing of key issues and process safety practices unique to the topic. The issues and concerns presented in this book, as well as potential design solutions and sources of additional information are presented in the tables. This format concisely conveys the necessary and relevant information in a familiar and convenient format. The organization of the tables is described below. 

Listed below are some process safety practices which can help reduce accidents due to instrumentation and control systems. 

General Considerations The following should be taken into account whenever designing or operating a chemical process that involves intended chemical reactions (Hendershot 2002). CCPS (1999) also details many key issues and process safety practices to consider that are oriented toward the design and operation of batch reaction systems. 

The AcuSafe website provides a comprehensive electronic newsletter entitled AcuSafe News. Their newsletter is devoted to serving industry, government, and interested members of the public by providing process safety practices, incident news, lessons learned, and regulatory developments. Hazard View is a source of advice, comments, and information about major accident hazards in the process industries. It is for safety, environment, and risk professionals. Their View Library has a number of vivid images of the damages from accidents. [1]... 

Since the standard was promulgated in 1992, best process safety practices have continued to evolve. OSHA refers to the 20 elements defined by the CCPS. Examples of additional elements include ... 

Process safety addresses the main hazards of chemicals (fire and explosions, reactivity, toxicity, and corrosivity) during process plant production. Chemical, petroleum, pharmaceutical, and related manufacturing areas are part of the process industry. AU apply process safety practices. Occupational safety mainly considers the protection of people. Process safety addresses safety issues for processes themselves. It may also impact personal safety. Case 24-1 and Case 17-5 are examples of process safety failmes. 

The American Society of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a technical society devoted to chemical engineering and associated technologies and issues. Many chemical engineers work in the chemical process industry. In 1985, AIChE established the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS). It was an industry response to the Bhopal, India, disaster (Case 24-1). It has become the center of expertise for process safety. It publishes many publications on process safety, and conducts conferences and training to advance process safety practices. 

Many process safety practices are combined into a safety management system, recently called Risk Based... 

Tragedy - Behind the Curve [26]. This 14 min video was released on October 28, 2014 and it looks even deeper into current process safety practices. 

U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board - Tesoro Tragedy - Behind the Curve. A 14 minute video which examines current process safety practices and desires to reshape the approach October 28,2014. 

Frequent, effective and healthy communications must be made in a marmer that each individual feels empowered to act with authority to ensure achievement of process safety practices and principles. There must be clear delegation of, accoimtability established and resources available so that individuals can successfully fulfill their re-sponsibihties [11]. 

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