Safety

Safety is known as being sure of any type of damage (physical, chemical, among others).
Industrial safety has been analyzed by different scientists due to the increase in accidents and
has been studied based on the following trends:

 Increase of industrial machinery

 Handling of industrial tools
 Poor security
 Lack of training for workers
 Increase in industry accidents

An accident is an unexpected event that interrupts the industrial process and can cause injury
to worker. The objective of industrial safety is to achieve zero accidents at the plant through
appropriate training for the worker and the correct use of tools or equipment.

Safety precaution in the urea production plant

 The personnel must wear industrial safety dress in different work areas to avoid
coming into direct contact with the anhydrous ammonia.
 The workers should wear goggles and rubber gloves for their safety. If the worker has
had contact with ammonia, the exposed skin should be washed with water.
 To minimize contact with the ammonia leak, the work of the equipment should not be
done in the opposite direction to the air flow.
 All workers must know the location of fire extinguishers, emergency showers and
industrial protective equipment.
 To treat the ammonia leak in the plant, the water spray nozzels must be turned on.

Safety equipments

Non- respiratory Respiratory Gas leak protection Warning instrument

protective protective system
equipment equipment
 Aprons  Self-  Communication  Confined
 Ear muff contained systems Space
 Ear plugs breathing  Safety Showers Rescue
 Face shield apparatus Equipment
 Goggles  Trolley  Ammonia,
 Hand mounted carbon
gloves self- dioxide,
 Safety contained chlorine,
shoes breathing and oxygen
 Safety apparatus indicator
harness  Airline  Explosive
 Suits masks meters
 Canister gas
mask
 Dust mask
Table 1: Safe equipment. Authors: Cango. P, Espinoza. A, Lopez. C. (2019).

Fire extinguisher
  The fire can be extinguished by limiting the flow of flammables, isolating fuels from the
air, removing heat below the reaction temperature, and among others.
 When a fire is generated by an electrical fault, the electrical energy must be restricted
to the causing equipment.
 Carbon dioxide extinguishers should be used for electric fires.
 If you want to put out a fire in one of the equipment with water or foam, first you
must disconnect them from the electrical source, otherwise it can be very dangerous.
 The operator in a case of fire should protect his life and if possible he should try to put
out the fire as soon as possible
 In industry, most fires are caused by welding during the operation of the plant. If
welding is necessary, it must be done with the permission of supervisor.
 When fire and safety equipment are used, they must be replaced and inspected
frequently so that these devices are available in an emergency.

Exposure control

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set an allowable exposure limit
for working ammonia of 25 parts of ammonia per million parts of air up to 8 hours. The second
standard for short-term exposure (PEL) is a maximum of 2 ppm for a time of 15 minutes.

Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP)

Hazard and Operability Analysis is a method of identifying risks that indicates that accidents
occur as a result of a deviation from the process variables with respect to normal operating
conditions

Equipment Line Deviation Cause Consequences and action

Reactor: It is Stream CO2 No flow Valve stuck closed The ammonia and carbon
intended to reactor dioxide ratio will decrease,
facilitate the and the pressure will
reaction between decrease.
carbon dioxide and More flow Valve stuck open The pressure increases
ammonia to form inside the reactor.
carbamate. Then,
the reaction of Action
carbamate to urea Install a PIC in the reactor
occurs and the with alarms for high and
output stream will low pressure, and high-
have to a pressure switch to stop the
concentration of flow of CO2.
34% urea. An emergency scrubber line
must be installed for
depressurization of the
equipment during the
shutdown.

Stream Nh3 No/less flow Valve stuck closed The ammonia and carbon
reactor dioxide ratio will decrease.
More flow Valve stuck open The ammonia and carbon
dioxide ratio will increase.
 Stream More flow Valve stuck closed The ammonia and carbon
carbomate dioxide ratio will decrease,
and the pressure will
decrease.
No/less flow Valve stuck open The pressure increases
inside the reactor.

Action
Install a PIC in the reactor
with alarms for high and
low pressure, and high-
pressure switch to stop the
flow of CO2.
An emergency scrubber line
must be installed for
depressurization of the
equipment during the
shutdown.

Carbamate Stream cold More flow Failure control in If the temperature of the
condenser: Its water the selection utility carbamate in the stream
objective is to cool decreases, then the TI in the
the carbamate stream will record the
stream before change and the 1 stream
entering the valve will decrease the flow
reactor to ensure that the
carbamate solution does
not cool to the
crystallization temperature.
Stream hot More Failure of TIC If the condenser's water
water temperature outlet stream has a high
temperature, this indicates
that the carbamate's output
stream is cooling more than
required. This excess
cooling can cause a clogging
in the pipes due to
crystallization.
Action
The operators must stop the
plant to repair the
condenser and clean the
pipes
Medium pressure Stream out of More flow Valve stuck open The pressure will increase in
descomposer stripper the medium-pressure
decomposer equipment.
Action
If the pressure increases,
use the pressure relief valve
Low pressure Stream out More flow Valve stuck open The pressure will increase in
descomposer medium the low-pressure
 pressure decomposer equipment.
descomposer Action
If the pressure increases,
use the pressure relief valve
Stream off Gas More/less A pressure indicator in the
Pressure stream # with a controller
should be used to regulate
the flow of out gases.
Pump 2 Stream in of More /less A flow indicator in the
the vacuum flow stream # with a controller
evaporator should be used to regulate
the flow.
Action
If the pump has problems,
the equipment must be
serviced
Pump 3 Stream in of More /less A flow indicator in the
the vacuum flow stream # with a controller
evaporator should be used to regulate
the flow.
Action
If the pump has problems,
the equipment must be
serviced
Vacuum Stream water No flow Valve stuck closed The pressure in the
evaporator evaporator increases, which
makes the product quality
decrease.
Stream water More flow Valve stuck one There is a risk of implosion
in the equipment.
Prilling tower Stream Air Less flow Valve partial closed If the temperature of the air
flow at the exit of the
prilling tower varies greatly,
it means that the air flow at
the entrance is too little.
This causes the product
quality to decrease because
water vapor will not be
eliminated.
Action
The air flow to the inlet
must be regulated
Table 2: Hazard and Operability Analysis. Authors: Cango. P, Espinoza. A, Lopez. C. (2019).