Plant Safety

Introduction:

Safety in a gas production plant is of paramount importance. In general, the safety

management work covers both occupational health and safety as well as process
safety. In this part of the course, we are mainly concerned with the process safety
because it is quite specific to process plants or major chemical storage / handling
facilities. Process safety definitely is affecting the performance of occupational
health and safety management as well, but it has a wider implication.

Due to large inventory of hazardous substances (mainly naphtha, town gas and natural
gas in our case) and high pressure / temperature operations in the plant, foreseeable
hazards can be major ones, such as a large fire, explosion and toxic gas release. The
scale of an event could injure employees, damage properties and equipment and, not
unusually, neighbouring companies and population. Many disastrous events
happened in the past in processing and chemical plants in the world around. The
potential impact of failure to manage a high standard of process safety is obvious and
always demanding concerns of plant operators and regulatory bodies.

Layers of Protection:

Different approaches are adopted by companies to ensure their plants are safely
managed. There is not a universal standard and some large petrochemical
agglomerates or oil companies have established their own formal process safety
management systems. However, many different systems still share several identical
key elements. In Towngas, we manage our system with high performance based on
a generic concept of ensuring all layers of protection in good shape. The layers of
protection cover various elements which are more or less the same as those in well
established systems in other international organisations.

The layers of protection consist of:

 Design
 Operation & Maintenance
 Alarm System, Emergency Relief & Shutdown Systems
 Action Protection Systems (Fire / Gas Detection, Fire Fighting Systems)
 Passive Protection Systems (Bunding, Insulation, Zoning)
 Emergency Response
Design
 Proven gas making process
 Design and construction by reputable contractors
 According to international engineering standards (ASIM, BS, API, IP
Code, NFPA) and local legal requirements
 HAZOP Study / Quantitative Risk Assessment conducted in project development
stage
 Use of reliable Honeywell TDC3000 with PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)
for Process Control
 Quantitative Risk Assessment (meet authority’s requirements)
 Individual Risk
 Societal Risk

Operation & Maintenance

 Documented work instructions on all major operation, control and maintenance
procedure (ISO9001 & ISO14001 system)
 Intensive training to operators and plant personnel
 Regular review followed by revision and re-training
 Permit-To-Work & other safety systems
 Use of reliable control systems
 Process Simulator for control training
 Modification Review Committee / Safety Review
 Instrument Inspection, Testing & Calibration
 according to standards / suppliers’ specifications, clear record
 Close monitoring, preventive & corrective maintenance (RBI)
 Experienced engineers to supervise plant maintenance
 Planned overhaul with close supervision by team of experience engineers

Risk Based Inspection (RBI) to enhance plant safety and reliability

 Enhance inspection to equipment with higher risk of failure (due to
corrosion thinning, stress corrosion cracking, corrosion under insulation)
 Carry out repair earlier than failures occurrence
 11 equipment / pipelines identified by studying of operating conditions,
chemical in use, material specifications, age and corrosion mechanism
 Will implement highly effective inspection techniques (eddy current
scan, UT, insulation open up)
 Permit-To-Work System is necessary to coordinate work parties
– manage special hazardous jobs
– issued by experienced plant personnel
– system isolation, gas test for confined spaces, etc.
– safety precaution measures
– specified time duration

 Engineering & Operational Record System

- adopt ISO9001 system & advanced computer system - PIS (Plant Information
System)
 Materials & Spare Parts Inspection
- ISO9001 system

Alarm, Emergency Relief & Shutdown Systems:

 Protect against equipment damage, run-away reaction, explosion or catatrophic
failures
 Alarms on essential process parameters
 Automatic trips on critical conditions

Active Protection Systems

 Firewater main and fire pumps
 Naphtha tank water spray & Oscillating Foam Monitor
 Naphtha tank rim seals heat detection and foam pourers
 Naphtha bund flammable detectors
 Ammonia detector and water sprays
 Control building detectors and fire alarm systems
 Direct link to FSD

Passive Protection Systems

 Naphtha bund
 Naphtha bund area critical cables and valves thermal protection
 Hazardous zone classification
 Restricted use of electronic equipment & Hot Work control
 Explosion-proof electrical equipment
 Blast-proof control room structure
Emergency Response
 Major Emergency Plan
 Emergency Response Teams
 Evacuation Siren
 Fire Exercise s with FSD
 Internal Drills & Table-top exercise
 Reliable Backup Facilities (water, compressed air, electrical power, control room)

Process Safety Management System

Some key functions and programs:

 Clear accountability and organization
 Risk assessment, Compliance with regulations & standards
 Training and performance review
 Incident investigation and prevention
 Inspection, audit and corrective actions
 Safety Committee
 Modification Review Committee Review
- Review project design, operation, maintenance, safety & training
- Major modification - HAZOP (Hazard & Operability Study)
 Systematic identification of Hazards, recommend mitigation control
 Conduct HAZOP for new project to effectively control risk
 Historical Major Accidents (Experience Sharing)

- END -