Process Operations Safety

About the Author xxiii
Foreword xxv

1 The Guiding Principles of Process Safety Management 1

2 Process Safety Background and Federal Regulations 6

3 Properties of Hydrocarbons (Fire and Explosion Hazards) 11

4 Vapor Cloud Explosions (VCEs) 22

5 Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) 32

6 An Introduction to Process Safety Management Systems 43

7 Importance of Operating Procedures 56

8 Significant Causes of Process Safety Incidents "What Has Happened, What Can Happen, and Key Lessons Learned" 68
8.1 Returning Equipment to Service 70
8.2 Safe Permit-to-Work -- Breaking Containment and Controlling Work 90
8.3 Managing Change 102
8.4 Ensuring Availability of SSHE Critical Devices (Controlling the Unauthorized and Extended Disarmament of Critical Devices) 113
8.5 Managing Critical Alarms 119
8.6 Managing Safe Operating Limits or Operating Envelopes 125
8.7 Maintaining Safe Product Rundown Control 130
8.8 Storage Tank Safety 134
8.9 Injection and Mixing Point Failures 159
8.10 Hazards of Piping "Dead Legs" 168
8.11 Brittle Fracture 177
8.12 Hazards of Furnaces and Heaters 196
8.13 Corrosion Under Insulation and Under Fireproofing 208
8.14 Hazards of Thermal Expansion 214
8.15 Hydrostatic Testing vs. Pneumatic Testing 222
8.16 Cold-wall Vessel and Piping Failures 229
8.17 Metallurgy Matters: Positive Materials Identification (PMI) 235
8.18 Hazards of Nitrogen and Inert Entry 246
8.19 Hazards of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) 261
8.20 Hazards of Product Sampling and Drawing Water from Process Equipment 270
8.21 Pyrophoric Ignition Hazards in Refining and Chemical Plants 280
8.22 Hazards of Static Electricity 289
8.23 Hazards of Hydrofluoric Acid 303
8.24 Safe Use of Utilities; Connecting Utilities to Process Equipment 314
8.25 The Hazards of Steam and Hot Condensate 321
8.26 Electrical Hazardous Area Classification System 338
8.28 Hazards of Undetected or Uncontrolled Exothermic Reactions 353
8.29 Responding to Minor Leaks and Releases 364
8.30 Electrical Safety Hazards for Operations Personnel 369
8.31 Hazards of Chemical Incompatibility or Reactivity 393
8.32 Hazards of Unintended Process Flow (The Mixing of Hydrocarbons and Air) in Fluid Catalytic Cracking Units
(FCCU) 402
8.33 Hazards of "Normalized Deviation" 412
8.34 Criticality of Car Seal Valve Management Plan 418
8.35 Small Piping Guidelines for Operations Safety 423
8.36 Overpressure Protection (All About Relief Valves and Rupture Disks) 439
8.37 Special Hazards of Rotating Equipment 457
8.38 Two Insidious Hazards Associated with Petrochemical Plants (Popcorn Polymer and Ethylene Decomposition) 491

9 Importance of Operations Emergency Response Drills and Exercises 497

10 Ensuring Comprehensive Shift Turnover 499

11 The Importance of Leading and Lagging Indicators for Process Safety 504

12 Process Safety Hazard Recognition and the Importance of Field Presence and the Value of Periodic Field Walk-arounds 507

13 Process Safety Leadership 513

14 Process Task Management System 515

15 Process Operator Rounds -- Timely, Systematic, and Comprehensive 518

16 The Importance of Behavior-based Safety and Human Factors to Process Safety 520

17 Use of Inherently Safer Design and Technologies 526

18 Putting It All Together and Making a Difference 529

Appendix A End of Chapter Quiz with Answers 531
Appendix B Worldwide Process Safety Incidents and Numbers of Lives Lost 611
Appendix C Auto-Refrigeration, When Bad Things Happen to Good Pressure Vessels 641
Appendix D OSHA Hazards of Combustible Dust Poster 642
Appendix E HF Water Mitigation -- Techniques and Design Considerations 643
Appendix F Authorization for Disablement (Example Only) Safety, Security, Health, and/or Environmental Critical Devices 644
Appendix G Petroleum Refining and Petrochemical Plant Process Operations Safety 646
Appendix Ha The Hazards of Nitrogen Asphyxiation 648
Appendix Hb Safety Bulletin -- Hazards of Nitrogen Asphyxiation 649
Appendix I Technical Guidance -- Car Seals 650
Appendix J Example Blind List and Simplified Blind Sketch 654
Appendix K Chemical Segregation and Storage Table 656
Appendix L Process Safety Field Walkabouts (Example) 657
Appendix M Internal Combustion Engines as Ignition Sources 660
Appendix N The History of Diesel Engine Runaway Accidents and Related Regulations 667
Appendix O Potential Startup Issues -- M. Darry Yoes's "Worry List" 670

Index 675