SOG 3203:REFINERY OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

INSTRUCTOR: OGENE FORTUNATE

(B.Sc. ., M.TECH)
Email: ogene.fortunate@gmail.com

17/02/2020 Mobile: +256(0) 759 682273 1

 REFINERY OPERATION

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 REFINERY OPERATION
Emergency Operations
Refineries processes, stores large quantities of flammable materials,
including gasoline and LPG and therefore classified as hazardous;

When an emergency occurs the main concern is to preserve life and

safeguard property and the environment;

Both the authorities and refinery management should ensure that On-site
and Off-site emergency plans;

The following dangerous events are likely to occur in a refinery:

 fire and explosion;
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 REFINERY OPERATION
Emergency Operations
 The following dangerous events are likely to
occur in a refinery:
 release of vapour and gas;
 medical emergencies;
 natural disasters - storm, hurricane, flood
 terrorism and sabotage; FLOODS
 oil or chemical spillage
 These events could be caused by:
 corrosion,
 equipment failure or malfunctioning,
 design deficiencies,
 human
17/02/2020 factors (human error or deliberate act); TERRORISM 4
 REFINERY OPERATION
Emergency Operations
 In the event of an emergency incident, the
Operations team (supervisor and operators)
immediately take initial control measures;

 Emergency Plan can be adapted to suit local

circumstances to oversee typical emergencies in FLOODS
refinery activities;

 In preparing the emergency plan distinction should

be made between incidents limited to the refinery
premises(On-site plan),
 and those foreseen as having damaging effects on
the local community and property (offsite plan); TERRORISM
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 REFINERY OPERATION
Emergency Operations
On-site emergency plan

Basic Location Emergency Organization Chart

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 REFINERY OPERATION
Emergency Operations
On-site emergency plan

 The first action during emergency operations is that the following response
teams move to their predetermined reporting locations:
i. Fire service on shift;
ii. Security force on shift;
iii. Medical service on shift;
iv. Emergency Manager;
v. Department heads or duty officer for:
• operations • firefighting
• movements • medical
• marine • security
• engineering • emergency/safety services
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 REFINERY OPERATION
Emergency Operations

Emergency Control Centre(s)

 These are places from which the emergency operations are controlled and
coordinated;

 The control centres should be clearly marked and equipped with such items as:

 Adequate numbers of telephones;

 Refinery plot plans and area maps;
 Process and engineering flow schemes;
 Stationery and marker boards;
 Working maps which may be marked up during the emergency;

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 REFINERY OPERATION
Management of Change
 Process changes are essential in the dynamic process industry;

 The reasons for such changes may include;

 Improving yields,
 Compensating for available equipment,
 Reducing costs, improving safety, and
 Reducing emissions to the environment

 The purpose of the management of change(MOC) program is therefore to ensure

that safety, loss prevention, environmental, and engineering input are provided at the
planning stage of each process change;

 The MOC program should be executed primarily by plant operations management

staff, process engineering support groups, and first and second- line supervisors of
the operations
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 REFINERY OPERATION
Management of Change
 A process change can be a change in any of the following:

 Process chemicals and raw materials;

 Process technology, including production rates, experimentation, and new
product development;
 Equipment, including materials of construction, specifications, and process
systems;
 Instrumentation, including computer program revisions and changes to
alarms and interlocks;
 Operating procedures and practices;
 Facilities, including buildings and containers that affect the process;
 Process conditions and operating parameters;
 Personnel
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 REFINERY OPERATION
Safety Protective Systems
 The purpose of protective systems is to prevent the occurrence of an incident.

 Some protective systems are intended to mitigate the effects of an incident if

prevention system fails;

 Protective systems include

 Hardware,
 Software, and
 Administrative systems;

 A well-trained and disciplined operations work team using current established

procedures is an example of an administrative protective system;
 Examples of protective system hardware include:
 Process vents: To keep the process under control by venting gas or liquid to the
atmosphere
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 REFINERY OPERATION
Safety Protective Systems
 Pressure relief devices:Safety valves or bursting devices are intended to
operate automatically if some item fails or malfunctions, causing a rise in
pressure;

 Explosion vents:In case an explosion occurs, these vents relieve the explosive
pressure safely;

 Maintenance drains/vents:These vents are required to prepare for maintenance

activities; e.g., vents are necessary to de-pressure vessels before maintenance
begins;

 Operations and maintenance personnel are responsible for ensuring that

protective systems remain operational and that operating practices do not subvert
the systems;
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 REFINERY OPERATION
Safety Protective Systems

 There are two most important protective systems :

i. Safety shutdown systems

 Plants are designed with various emergency shutdown systems that can
automatically shut down specific units and isolate parts of the plant or the
whole plant, as appropriate;

 The primary purpose is to reduce the effect of an emergency on the plant and
its surroundings by responding to emergency conditions that can escalate to a
catastrophic event;

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 REFINERY OPERATION
Safety Protective Systems
i. Safety shutdown systems

 A system to detect conditions that require an emergency shutdown could

consist of

 an independent detector or sensor;

 an independent logic switching system;
 an automatic alarm, or operator observation;

 The supervisor should apply the following principles when managing operation
team's work use of safety shutdown systems:

 The team should have a genuine respect for and basic understanding of the
facility's
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safety shutdown systems; 14
 REFINERY OPERATION
Safety Protective Systems
i. Safety shutdown systems

 The supervisor should apply the following principles when managing

operation team's work use of safety shutdown systems:

 If a safety shutdown system or the alarms associated with it need to be

repeatedly shut down, something is not correct and the supervisor should
initiate corrective action to the problem;

 If alarms are repeatedly acknowledged and left in alarm, something is not

correct and the supervisor should initiate action to correct the problem;

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 REFINERY OPERATION
Safety Protective Systems
ii. Pressure Relief Equipment

 Pressure relief equipment is intended to operate automatically in case an

overpressure occurs;

 Pressure relief devices may vent to the atmosphere or to an abatement system,

depending on the design and on regulatory requirements;

 Operations and maintenance personnel can ensure the continued integrity of these
systems by:

 continuous monitoring,
 inspections, and tests, and
 by avoiding activities that may subvert the system or render it useless;
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 REFINERY OPERATION
Operator Training
 Process operators and other persons directly involved in process operations
require basic training in operations skills and in the operating procedures
specific to the process;

 Operators of different areas and units may need to cross-train in certain areas
where separate operations are highly interdependent;

Refresher Training

 Refresher training is the "booster shot" that keeps the original, comprehensive
training alive and effective;

 Lack of refresher training leads to a decrease in work team proficiency and a loss of
knowledge
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about critical procedures; 17
 REFINERY OPERATION
Operator Training
Refresher Training

 An effective refresher training program should at least have the following key features:

 Content and frequency of refresher training keyed to understanding the critical

issues of the operation;

 Regularity of practice of the refresher training;

 Effectiveness of the refresher training monitored by checking on the trainee's

understanding of the critical issues.

 The content and frequency of refresher training for a particular facility should be
decided by persons who know the critical operating issues;
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 REFINERY OPERATION
Refresher Training Operator Training
 Less frequent activities require more refresher training;

 For example, lack of refresher training about freeze protection procedures for
plants located in areas where cold weather is infrequent may lead to hazardous
incidents;

 The following incident illustrates the point.

 …In a BTX purification unit, water had accumulated in a drain line at the bottom
of the column of a distillation tower. During an unusually cold spell that lasted a
few days, the water froze. The line expanded and cracked, and when the
ambient temperature warmed, a large quantity of benzene was released and
ignited. The resulting fire seriously injured two workers…

 What17/02/2020
should have been done! 19
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Operator Training
Playing "What-lf" Games

 Training becomes fun when the trainees are genuinely involved and participating;

 What-if games are an approach that yields effective participation from operations
personnel about what can happen in hypothetical scenarios;

 This informal learning method is based on problem-solving in small groups;

 The approach allows participants to think through the possible outcomes of varying
operator responses to abnormal conditions or of human errors;

 For example, a cracking furnace what-if scenario could be:

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 REFINERY OPERATION
Operator Training
Playing "What-lf" Games

 What would happen if steam flow to the furnace was lost?"

 This scenario would eventually result in the formation of coke in the radiant section
of the furnace and possibly a tube blowout, with disastrous consequences;

 Other issues that may be investigated during a brainstorming session are: "Would
we know if steam flow is lost?" and "What would we do if steam flow
is lost?“

 Given the scenario, the objective of the what-if game is to create alertness about a
potential incident and rehearse ways to take corrective measures;
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