<p>Shiv Nadar University is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, research-focused, and student-centric University offering a full range of academic programs at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level. With state-of-the-art infrastructure, the University comprises of academic wings, sophisticated labs, international standard sports facilities, amphitheaters, auditorium, conference rooms and smart classrooms. The University&rsquo;s goal is to become internationally recognized for the quality of its research and creative endeavors and their applicability to improving quality of life, generating new insights and expanding the boundaries of human knowledge creativity. Committed to excellence in teaching, research and service, the University aims to serve the higher education needs of India and the world beyond.</p>

Shiv Nadar University

More than thirty-five years ago, the Bhopal disaster shook the whole world and investigators found out that many people survived just because they turned on the fans in their bedrooms. It was postulated that the forced ventilation played an important role in diluting the toxic gas and saved these people. In order to provide evidence to solve this old mystery, this research employed FLACS software to assess the hazardous degree of a toxic gas (hydrogen sulfide) leakage within a petrochemical process. Series of gas dispersion simulations were performed to actualize the hazardous characteristics and the corresponding risks of the release accident. The study shows that the hazardous level and the hazard range can be greatly influenced when parameters, such as the gas leakage circumstances (atmospheric conditions and wind speed) and the mitigation measures (direction of fans and their speed) are altered. By using explosion-proof fans in different positions and ventilation directions, combined with the natural wind in a certain direction, this research attempts to detect the best combination from various mitigation designs and to compare the influence of fan directions on hazard mitigation. It is also the first time of its kind to simulate the effect of forced ventilation on hazard mitigation within a process plant. The results show that the hazardous level of a toxic release can be effectively alleviated, when the direction of the mechanical ventilation is against the natural wind direction. With the help of the CFD simulation and the quantitative risk analysis technique, different loss prevention strategies can be tested via this method in order to establish a safer working environment. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

World University root node

Chemical Engineering

(SoE) School of Engineering

Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries

A preliminary explore to the forced ventilation on the toxic gas release/dispersion and the hazard mitigation within a petrochemical plant

Process Safety and Environmental Protection

Dr. M. Sam Mannan - Process Safety Pioneer

Editorial

Trevor Kletz - Common sense safety star

Jatropha curcas L. (JCL) is gaining global popularity as a potential feed stock of biodiesel and a candidate species for waste land reclamation. Although the oil yield of this species is better than any other non-edible oil yielding plants, the lack of agronomic practices defame this species for further exploitation. Furthermore, there is paucity of data on the growth performances and yield of JCL plantations. In this context, a systematic study on passport data and yield performance of JCL germplasms (including their indigenous collection number (IC No.), morphological characterization of seeds and seed oil content) growing in a large scale plantation site at Solar Energy Center, Gurgaon, India were carried out during 2007-2008. Ten elite accessions of JCL were screened from this site based on their growth performance and biomass characterization and were deposited at National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi for registration. The oil content of the 10 registered accessions was ranged from 17% to 34%. Cluster analysis was performed to find out promising germplasms. Cluster analysis formed two prominent groups, each one with two sub-clusters. The promising accessions can be further explored for crop improvement programs. Furthermore, multi-locational trials are essential for optimizing the agropractices for maximum yield for a sustainable biodiesel production. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Biomass and Bioenergy

Growth performance, variability in yield traits and oil content of selected accessions of Jatropha curcas L. growing in a large scale plantation site

This study investigated the thermal degradation energy (activation energy, Ea) for nitrocellulose (NC) with low nitrogen content of 11.71 mass%, so-called NC3, by using two different kinds of thermal analysis instruments: thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A comparison of Ea for various nitrogen content NC samples at two scanning rates (5 and 10 °C min-1) tested by TGA and DSC is also discussed in this paper. Meanwhile, our aim was to analyze the anti-degradation of Ea for NC with high nitrogen content, as so-called NC1. Thermal stability for NC1 with diphenylamine (DPA) was tested via DSC with 10 DPA concentrations in weights of 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2.0, and 3.0 mass%. Experimental results indicated that Ea of NC3s was 319.91 kJ mol-1. Moreover, that while dosing DPA into NC1 the best recipe could be employed to avoid any violent NC1 runaway and also can be used to distinguish the differences of thermal decomposition Ea between NC with different nitrogen contents. This study established a fast and efficient procedure for thermal decomposition properties of NC, and could be applied as an intrinsically safer design during relevant operations. © 2010 The Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Comparisons of TGA and DSC approaches to evaluate nitrocellulose thermal degradation energy and stabilizer efficiencies

Correlations for bubble point pressure, solution gas-oil ratio (GOR), oil formation volume factor (OFVF) (for both saturated and undersaturated crude) and viscosity (for both saturated and undersaturated crude) have been developed for Indian (west coast) crude using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Detailed comparison has also been made with various important correlations currently available in the literature. Sensitivity analysis of the developed models was also performed to determine the relative importance of various input parameters. The training scheme used here is different from those used previously for developing ANN models. Bayesian regularization technique was used to ensure generalization and prevent over fitting. Also genetic algorithm (real coded with parent-centric crossover) was used coupled with a local optimizer (Marquardt-Levenberg) to obtain the global optimum network weights. It was found that the developed models outperformed most other existing correlations by giving significantly lower values of average absolute relative error for the parameters studied. This study shows highly favorable results which can be integrated in most reservoir modeling software. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

PVT correlations for Indian crude using artificial neural networks

Chemical process industries (CPI) handling hazardous chemicals in bulk can be attractive targets for deliberate adversarial actions by terrorists, criminals and disgruntled employees. It is therefore imperative to have comprehensive security risk management programme including effective security risk assessment techniques. In an earlier work, it has been shown that security risk assessment can be done by conducting threat and vulnerability analysis or by developing Security Risk Factor Table (SRFT). HAZOP type vulnerability assessment sheets can be developed that are scenario based. In SRFT model, important security risk bearing factors such as location, ownership, visibility, inventory, etc., have been used. In this paper, the earlier developed SRFT model has been modified using the concepts of fuzzy logic. In the modified SRFT model, two linguistic fuzzy scales (three-point and four-point) are devised based on trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. Human subjectivity of different experts associated with previous SRFT model is tackled by mapping their scores to the newly devised fuzzy scale. Finally, the fuzzy score thus obtained is defuzzyfied to get the results. A test case of a refinery is used to explain the method and compared with the earlier work. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Journal of Hazardous Materials

Security risk assessment: Applying the concepts of fuzzy logic

The oil and gas industry forms a vital and large part of the economy of any country. It provides crucial support to transport, manufacturing and energy sectors, produces valuable exports and provides huge employment. This industry along with fertilizer plants, petrochemical plants, etc., which handle hazardous chemicals, are potential targets for deliberate actions by terrorists, criminals and disgruntled employees. The process industries face different levels of threats. It is imperative to analyze the entire threat scenario before taking steps to counter it, otherwise each and every threat will have to be treated as most severe, thus resulting in a huge and wasteful expenditure. The Security Risk Factor Table (SRFT) and a Stepped Matrix Procedure (SMP) have been developed to assess the security risk of oil and gas industry as well as the other chemical process industries. While the SRFT deals with the effects of individual threats, the SMP deals with the cascading/domino effects which a lone, low probability event can cause. A case study of a refinery has been performed to show the application of the ideas presented. © 2010 The Institution of Chemical Engineers.

New methodologies for security risk assessment of oil and gas industry

Methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKPO) is an unstable material above certain limits of temperature, decomposing into chain reactions by radicals. The influence of runaway reactions on this basic characteristic was assessed by evaluating kinetic parameters, such as activation energy (E a ), frequency factor (A), etc., by thermal activity monitor III (TAM III). This was done under three isothermal conditions of 70, 80, and 90 °C, with MEKPO 31 mass% combined with nitric acid (HNO3 6 N) and sodium nitrate (NaNO3 6 N). Nitric acid mixed with MEKPO gave the maximum heat of reaction (δH d ) and also induced serious reactions in the initial stage of exothermic process under the three isothermal temperatures. The time to maximum rate (TMR) also decreased when HNO3 was mixed with MEKPO. Thus, MEKPO combined with HNO3 6 N forms a very hazardous mixture. Results of this study will be provided to relevant plants for alerting their staff on adopting best practices in emergency response or accident control. © 2009 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry

Runaway effects of nitric acid on methyl ethyl ketone peroxide by TAM III tests

Correlations for bubble point pressure, solution gas-oil ratio, oil formation volume factor (for both saturated and undersaturated crude) and viscosity (for both saturated and undersaturated crude) have been developed for Indian crude using support vector regression (SVR). Detailed comparisons have been made with various important correlations currently available in the literature. Radial basis function (RBF) kernel was used along with ε-insensitive loss function for developing the SVR models. The model hyperparameters were optimized using a combination of grid search and Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm. The quadratic programming (QP) problem resulting from the SVR formulation was solved using sequential minimal optimization (SMO). It was found that the developed models outperformed most other existing correlations by giving significantly lower values of average absolute relative error for the parameters studied. This study shows highly favorable results that can be integrated in most reservoir modeling software. © 2009 American Chemical Society.

Energy and Fuels

PVT correlations of Indian crude using support vector regression

Tert-butyl peroxybenzoate (TBPB) is one of the sensitive and hazardous chemicals which have been popularly employed in petrifaction industries in the past. This study attempted to elucidate its unsafe characteristics and thermally sensitive structure so as to help prevent runaway reactions, fires or explosions in the process environment. We employed differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to assess the kinetic parameters (such as exothermic onset temperature (T 0), heat of reaction (ΔH), frequency factor (A)), and the other safety parameters using four different scanning rates (1, 2, 4 and 10°C min-1) combined with curve-fitting method. The results indicated that TBPB becomes very dangerous during decomposition reactions; the onset temperature and reaction heat were about 100°C and 1300 J g-1, respectively. Through this study, TBPB accidents could be reduced to an accepted level with safety parameters under control. According to the findings in the study and the concept of inherent safety, TBPB runaway reactions could be thoroughly prevented in the relevant plants. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Runaway reaction on tert-butyl peroxybenzoate by DSC tests

The thermal stability of solutions of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKPO) dissolved in dimethyl phthalate (DMP), in the presence of nitric acid (HNO 3) and sodium nitrate (NaNO3) as contaminants, was studied. MEKPO is extensively employed in the chemical industries, but despite its large use several severe accidents have been recorded in eastern Asia during the past four decades. This study was conducted to elucidate its essentially hazardous characteristics. We used differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to evaluate the root cause of the runaway reactions, and kinetics-based curve fitting to assess hazardous phenomena by utilizing curve fitting to optimize the kinetic parameters. All the results indicate that the mixture of MEKPO with HNO3 dramatically increases the degree of hazard in the first exothermic peak. In terms of NaNO3, it had no effect on the thermal stability of MEKPO. © 2007 American Chemical Society.

Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research

Evaluation and modeling runaway reaction of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide mixed with nitric acid

Commentary on keynote lectures and papers presented at the conference

Dilution has long been considered a solution to many problems of toxic/flammable material releases. It implies diluting to a concentration that is below physiologically dangerous levels for a toxic substance (generally below TLV), or to a level below LFL for a flammable material release, ensuring that the process adopted for dilution does not itself enhance the risks. In this paper, we discuss the dilution of a gaseous release by deliberate and cautious mixing with air to reduce its concentration to a harmless level. The idea bears its origin to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy where some families saved themselves by turning the ceiling fans on when MIC reached their bedrooms at the dead of very cold night on December 2-3, 1984. The air pushed in by the fans diluted the MIC to below the harm level. Some of the advantages of using air dilution are: no cost of air, no air storage needed, no need to treat the air after use as in case of water curtains; required equipment, its maintenance and staff training in its use are very likely to cost less than in other ways of handling a release. Air dilution may not be feasible in all cases, such as gaseous release within a congested equipment layout, release that forms a liquid pool, etc. The method needs to be evaluated for each case. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dilution with air to minimise consequences of toxic/flammable gas releases

The accident at Bhopal on the night of December 2-3, 1984 was the world's worst accident, resulting in the immediate death of approximately 4,000 and the subsequent death of over 16,000, with life long injuries suffered by over 200,000 followed by genetic mutations to affect several generations of offsprings. The pollution of water bodies is affecting several hundred thousand more. No other recorded accident anywhere in the world has produced even 10% of the above casualties and life-long effects. In this paper, we will briefly describe the accident and the significant effects it has had on regulations, process development and design, training, teaching, RD, etc., all impacting process safety. © 2004 IChemE.

Institution of Chemical Engineers Symposium Series

Bhopal and the global movement on process safety

Bhopal gas tragedy and its effects on process safety International Conference on the 20th Anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy, December 1-3, 2004, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Environmental Health Perspectives

Bhopal: No silver linings [2]

The accident at the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal on the night of December 2-3, 1984 was the worst accident resulting in the immediate death of approximately 4,000 and the subsequent death, over the years, of another over 16,000 with life long injuries suffered by over 200,000 followed by genetic mutations to affect several generations of offsprings. The pollution of water bodies is affecting several hundred thousand more. No other recorded accident anywhere in the world has produced even 10% of the above casualties and life-long effects. In this paper, we will briefly describe the accident and the significant effects it has had on regulations, process development and design, training, teaching, RD, etc., all impacting process safety.

Progress in Safety Science and Technology Volume 4:Proceedings of the 2004 International Symposium on Safety Science and Technology

Bhopal accident and its effect on process safety worldwide

The effectiveness of inherently safer design (ISD) is discussed. There is an alternative philosophy of inherent safety or primary prevention, where the possibility of accidents is removed by the use of safer chemicals and operations. In ISD approach, hazards are identified early and then avoided or at least minimized. The principles of ISD were first enunciated by Trevor Kletz in 1974.