Processing industries environmental risk

A leader in applying PSA to other parts of the chemical process industry has been the AlChf. s Center for Chemical Process Safety. A major difference between PSA for nuclear power and PSA for chemical processing has been the lack of government regulations that require risk analysis for chemical processes. A primary impetuous has been the Occupational Safety and Health Administration s (OSHA) PSM rule that defines the application of PSA to the chemical industry for ihc proteciion of the public and workers. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agcrii, . (EPA) regulates waste disposal. 

The Chemical Process Industry (CPI) uses various quantitative and qualitative techniques to assess the reliability and risk of process equipment, process systems, and chemical manufacturing operations. These techniques identify the interactions of equipment, systems, and persons that have potentially undesirable consequences. In the case of reliability analyses, the undesirable consequences (e.g., plant shutdown, excessive downtime, or production of off-specification product) are those incidents which reduce system profitability through loss of production and increased maintenance costs. In the case of risk analyses, the primary concerns are human injuries, environmental impacts, and system damage caused by occurrence of fires, explosions, toxic material releases, and related hazards. Quantification of risk in terms of the severity of the consequences and the likelihood of occurrence provides the manager of the system with an important decisionmaking tool. By using the results of a quantitative risk analysis, we are better able to answer such questions as, Which of several candidate systems poses the least risk Are risk reduction modifications necessary and What modifications would be most effective in reducing risk ... 

During the last three decades an increasing awareness is observed into the environmental problems caused by human activities22. These environmental problems are a direct risk for human health and the human survival potential. To challenge these problems, human activities, in particular agricultural and industrial production processes, industrial products, and transport, but also the individual way of living have to be made more sustainable. Sustainability does not only focus on the environment. It also involves economic aspects and aspects dealing with implementation. Implementation includes in this respect education, acceptance, human involvement into the application, and incorporation into the human mind. 

The potential buffer capacity against environmental risks and the capacity of selforganization are getting lost in those cases where the pressure on the agricultural land is high and industrialization and urbanization processes determine more and more the rural development. 

Industrial processes use concentrated mineral acids to catalyze the alkylation reaction. This poses serious safety and environmental risks arising from the transport and storage of the concentrated liquid acids and the need to dispose of acid-oil sludges. 

Chemical Process Industries are vital for the modem society. However, often these are perceived as major sources of risk and pollution. Modem technologies must face the challenge of changing this negative image into a safe and environmental friendly look. In addition, chemical processes must be more intensive. Modem plants should occupy a much modest place in the landscape compared with the old industrial giants, and offer absolute safety in operation. 

B-l] Mannan S (ed) (2005) Lees loss prevention in the process industries, hazard identification, assessment and control, 3rd edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam [B-2] Louvar JF, Louvar BD (1998) Health and environmental risk analysis fundamentals with applications, vol 2. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River [B-3] PHASE Version 6.51 (2006)... 

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