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Shiv Nadar University

Employing equipment reliability databases can generate a process of continual improvement. This paper suggests a methodology that uses equipment reliability databases, and a process of benchmarking to establish a continual improvement procedure by learning "how others are doing it". A simple decision-making procedure is suggested too, to assist in prioritizing the processes/equipment that are considered to be improved as well as a methodology to measure the improvement. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

World University root node

Chemical Engineering

(SoE) School of Engineering

Journal of Hazardous Materials

Use of failure rate databases and process safety performance measurements to improve process safety

Inherently safer design (ISD) concepts have been with us for over two decades since their elaboration by Kletz [Chem. Ind. 9 (1978) 124]. Interest has really taken off globally since the early nineties after several major mishaps occurred during the eighties (Bhopal, Mexico city, Piper-alfa, Philips Petroleum, to name a few). Academic and industrial research personnel have been actively involved into devising inherently safer ways of production. The regulatory bodies have also shown deep interest since ISD makes the production safer and hence their tasks easier. Research funding has also been forthcoming for new developments as well as for demonstration projects. A natural question that arises is as to how to measure ISD characteristics of a process? Several researchers have worked on this [Trans. IChemE, Process Safety Environ. Protect. B 71 (4) (1993) 252; Inherent safety in process plant design, Ph.D. Thesis, VTT Publication Number 384, Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland, 1999; Proceedings of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center Symposium, 2001, p. 509]. Many of the proposed methods are very elegant, yet too involved for easy adoption by the industry which is scared of yet another safety analysis regime. In a recent survey [Trans. IChemE, Process Safety Environ. Prog. B 80 (2002) 115], companies desired a rather simple method to measure ISD. Simplification is also an important characteristic of ISD. It is therefore desirable to have a simple ISD measurement procedure. The ISD measurement procedure proposed in this paper can be used to differentiate between two or more processes for the same end product. The salient steps are: Consider each of the important parameters affecting the safety (e.g., temperature, pressure, toxicity, flammability, etc.) and the range of possible values these parameters can have for all the process routes under consideration for an end product. Plot these values for each step in each process route and compare. No addition of values for disparate hazards (temperature, pressure, inventory, toxicity, flammability, etc.) is being suggested to derive an overall ISD index value since that conceals the effects of different parameters. Further, addition of numbers with different units (°C for temperature, atm/bar for pressure, t for inventory, etc.) is inappropriate in scientific sense. The proposed approach has a major advantage of expanding consideration in future to incorporate economic, regulatory, pollution control and worker health aspects, as well as factors such as the experience one has or 'the comfort level' one feels with each of the processes under consideration. Additionally, it would also guide the designers and decision makers into affecting specific changes in the processes to reduce the unsafe features. We demonstrate our simple approach by using the example of six routes to make methyl methacrylate as documented by Edwards and Lawrence [Trans. IChemE, Process Safety Environ. Protect. B 71 (4) (1993) 252; Quantifying inherent safety of chemical process routes, Ph.D. Thesis, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK, 1996] and show that the decision could well have been different if addition of disparate hazards had not been done. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A simple graphical method for measuring inherent safety

The Dow Fire and Explosion Index (F&EI) is universally used in evaluating the hazard category of a process plant, area of exposure, expected losses in case of fire and explosion, etc. In the current procedure, the effects of the loss control measures (LCMs) on the F&EI value are not taken into account. This makes the plant look more hazardous, makes it more spread out, requires more elaborate emergency measures and alarms the public and the civil administration more than is necessary. It also affects the insurance premium. We suggest taking the effects of the LCMs into account in the F&EI value. We call this the 'Offset F&EI' value. It favorably affects all the above items, and other related ones. To do this, we have developed the relevant equations and have proved the efficacy of the Offset F&EI by means of an example. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries

Calculation of Fire and Explosion Index (F and EI) value for the Dow Guide taking credit for the loss control measures

The recent publication by the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) concerning its findings on the Concept Sciences Inc. (CSI) incident involving hydroxylamine (HA) has raised issues with regard to safe production of HA. This CSI incident was followed by another incident that destroyed the Nissin Chemical HA plant in Japan, and today BASF is the sole commercial producer of HA. HA is an important solvent in the pharmaceutical industry and is used as an etching agent in the semi-conductor industry. This paper discusses a Quantitative Risk Assessment of a generic HA production plant, which integrates the findings of the CSB report and the knowledge of potential HA reactivity hazards based on research at the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center. The intent is to highlight safety concerns and major risk factors in the production and handling of HA and to provide risk assessment guidelines for potential manufacturers. These guidelines are also applicable to the production strategies for other hazardous chemicals. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reliability Engineering and System Safety

Hydroxylamine production: Will a QRA help you decide?

Chemical Engineering Education

Letter to the editor [3]

Current status of Inherently Safer Design (ISD) use.

Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering

Letter to the editor

Hydrocarbon Processing

Inherently safer design [1]

Hazardous wastes, once generated, have to be stored, transported, treated, disposed off, recycled, depending upon the situation. With laws being tightened, all of the above operations have to be done safely without causing harm to people and environment. Before any operation is carried out, it is vital to know the hazardous characteristics of the waste to be handled. Because waste, generally, is a mixture instead of a pure compound, its hazardous characteristics are difficult to determine and generalize because each waste is specific. A new Hazardous Waste Index (HWI) is proposed in this paper. The index measures hazards related to flammability, reactivity, toxicity and corrosivity as well as the pH value for a hazardous waste. Two examples are given for its use. The index can be modified to include radioactive or mixed waste. Copyright (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. Hazardous wastes, once generated, have to be stored, transported, treated, disposed off, recycled, depending upon the situation. With laws being tightened, all of the above operations have to be done safely without causing harm to people and environment. Before any operation is carried out, it is vital to know the hazardous characteristics of the waste to be handled. Because waste, generally, is a mixture instead of a pure compound, its hazardous characteristics are difficult to determine and generalize because each waste is specific. A new Hazardous Waste Index (HWI) is proposed in this paper. The index measures hazards related to flammability, reactivity, toxicity and corrosivity as well as the pH value for a hazardous waste. Two examples are given for its use. The index can be modified to include radioactive or mixed waste.

A new Hazardous Waste Index

Fulltext

Green Chemistry

Inherently safer design-a course for sciene and engineering students

DOW's Fire and Explosion Index Hazard Classification Guide (DOW Index) has become a standard document in many countries, including several developing countries. The DOW Index, first issued by the DOW Chemical Co. in 1964, was based upon the Factory Mutual's Chemical Occupancy Classification Guide. The latter as well as subsequent revisions of the DOW Index are based primarily on the experiences in the U.S. which, while applicable to other developed countries, will not be applicable to developing countries in toto, due to differences in costs, training, attitudes and regulations. (This is not intended as a criticism of the situation in the developing countries, since many of the developed countries had themselves passed through similar situations in previous years.) Application of the DOW Index as is, therefore, results in lower than realistic values, thus giving a false sense of security than is actually warranted by the situation in hand. Suggested below are changes that should be and can easily be made to take into account the ground realities. Mentioned in separate sections are also a few comments on the recently issued DOW Index, 7th edition, to make it more internationally user-friendly, as well as suggestions to include some more items to make the DOW Index more dynamic. DOW's Fire and Explosion Index Hazard Classification Guide (DOW Index) has become a standard document in many countries, including several developing countries. The DOW Index, first issued by the DOW Chemical Co. in 1964, was based upon the Factory Mutual's Chemical Occupancy Classification Guide. The latter as well as subsequent revisions of the DOW Index are based primarily on the experiences in the U.S. which, while applicable to other developed countries, will not be applicable to developing countries in toto, due to differences in costs, training, attitudes and regulations. (This is not intended as a criticism of the situation in the developing countries, since many of the developed countries had themselves passed through similar situations in previous years.) Application of the DOW Index as is, therefore, results in lower than realistic values, thus giving a false sense of security than is actually warranted by the situation in hand. Suggested below are changes that should be and can easily be made to take into account the ground realities. Mentioned in separate sections are also a few comments on the recently issued DOW Index, 7th edition, to make it more internationally user-friendly, as well as suggestions to include some more items to make the DOW Index more dynamic.

Application of DOW's fire and explosion index hazard classification guide to process plants in the developing countries

International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer

A note on 1-2 heat exchanger trouble shooting

A method is proposed for computing the upper hound on the local water temperature rise with respect to the hulk temperature in a spent fuel pool. The solution involves casting the continuity and momentum relationships in integral form in terms of the unknown velocity functions. The method of collocation is used to solve the problem. Computer application of this method shows it to he an efficient and cost-effective design tool. © 1986 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Heat Transfer Engineering

Method for computing the maximum water temperature in a fuel pool containing spent nuclear fuel

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

Mass transfer in a rotating disc oxygenator

Entrainment of liquid droplets in vapor or gas is frequently encountered in gas-liquid contactors and in vapor generators, such as reboilers, evaporators, trays of distillation column, etc. , due to an incomplete separation of the two phases when the vapor leaves the liquid. Entrainment lowers the efficiency of the equipment as well as the quality or purity of the product. The authors have done a dimensional analysis of the variables involved and carried out experiments to evolve a correlation. The dimensionless correlation so obtained is given.

Heat Transfer, Proceedings of the International Heat Transfer Conference

STUDY OF LIQUID ENTRAINMENT IN GAS-LIQUID CONTACTORS AND VAPOUR GENERATORS.

Heads are one of the important accessories to pressure vessels and heat exchangers. The end of the vessels are closed by means of the heads before putting them into operation. The common types in use are: ellipsoidal, spherically dished (torispherical), and flat head. This paper describes a computer program which has been written in Fortran for the design of the types of various heads. For the flat heads, both the ASME Code formulas and the TEMA formula are used when a pass partion groove is present and the higher value is used. For the flat heads without pass partion groove ASME Code is followed. The program has been organized into a MAIN program and three subroutines (COVER, FLTCOV and HEAD). The flow charts for the MAIN program and the subroutines are given.

COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR PRESSURE VESSEL HEAD DESIGN.

This work deals with energy conservation in the petroleum refineries. These refineries produce usable products from the crude and, in the process, consume large amounts of energy in the form of fuel, steam and electricity. They also provide a great opportunity to save energy since the present level of energy consumption is approximately 7 multiplied by 10**5 BTU vertical bbl compared to a theoretical value of 7 multiplied by 10**4 BTU vertical bbl arrived at by thermodynamic analysis. The authors look at some of the important developments made in this field, integrate them all together and calculate a conservative value for the expected energy savings. As an example, a refinery processing 100,000 bbld crude has been taken as the basis. 45 refs.

Chemical Age of India

POTENTIAL FOR ENERGY CONSERVATION IN PETROLEUM REFINERIES.

In fixed tubesheet exchangers, the temperature differential between the shell and the tubes causes differential thermal expansion. Since the tubes are not free to move, severe stresses are induced in the tubes unless a provision is made to accommodate this expansion, especially in the case of high temperature units. The flanged and fluid expansion joint, installed on the shell side of a fixed tubesheet exchanger, accommodates this thermal expansion. This joint falls under the category of ring expansion joints and is commonly used. This paper describes the Fortran computer program which designs and analyzes flanged and flued exchanger expansion joints. The working of the program has been tested by analyzing the expansion joints and comparing theoretical results with those obtained from practice.

COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR FLANGED AND FLUED EXPANSION JOINTS.

Vessel parts are weakened when material is removed to provide nozzle openings. The stress concentration is high at the edge of the opening and decreases with distance from it becoming negligible beyond twice the diameter of the opening. These openings require compensation or reinforcement to avoid vessel failure in those regions due to high stress concentration. This can be done either by increasing the entire shell thickness, or by using a self-reinforcing nozzle. This paper is concerned with the CAD of reinforcing nozzle.

COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR NOZZLE OPENING REINFORCEMENT DESIGN.

This paper describes the Fortran program which first selects optimum bolt size and then performs the flange design. Several different flange types can be accommodated. The program has been organized into a MAIN program and four subroutines (STRESS, FACTSF, FACTFV, SOLVE) as shown in Fig. 1. The flow chart for the MAIN program is given in Fig. 2.