Plant Design and Operations

Ian Sutton

• Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780323311472
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Industrial Management
• Index: Business

Plant Design and Operations provides practical guidance on the design, operation, and maintenance of process facilities. The book is based on years of hands-on experience gathered during the design and operation of a wide range of facilities in many different types of industry including chemicals, refining, offshore oil and gas, and pipelines. The book helps managers, engineers, operators, and maintenance specialists with advice and guidance that can be used right away in working situations.

Each chapter provides information and guidance that can be used immediately. For example, the chapter on Energy Control Procedures describes seven levels of positive isolation — ranging from a closed block valve all the way to double block and bleed with line break. The Safety in Design chapter describes topics such as area classification, fire protection, stairways and platforms, fixed ladders, emergency showers, lighting, and alarms.

Other areas covered in detail by the book include security, equipment, and transportation. A logical, practical guide to maintenance task organization is provided, from conducting a Job Hazards Analysis to the issue of a work permit, and to the shutdown and isolation of equipment. Common hazards are covered in detail, including flow problems, high pressure, corrosion, power failure, and many more.

• Provides information to managers, engineers, operators and maintenance personnel which is immediately applicable to their operations
• Supported by useful, real-world examples and experience from a wide range of facilities and industries
• Includes guidance on occupational health and safety, industrial hygiene and personal protective equipment

Chapter 1

Operations

The purpose of this book is to provide practical guidance on issues to do with the design, operation, and maintenance of process facilities, including chemical plants, oil refineries, offshore facilities, and pipelines—with a focus on safety issues. This book is part of a series that includes Process Risk and Reliability Management and Offshore Safety Management.

Keywords

Safety; Operations; Design; Maintenance; Regulations; OSHA; EPA; BSEE; SIMOPs; Area classification; Housekeeping

Chapter Outline

Introduction 2

Professional Advice 3

Regulations, Standards, and Guidance 4

Regulations 4

Industry Standards 4

ISO 5

ANSI 5

Guidance Documents 5

Units of Measurement 5

Risk Reduction 6

Risk Analysis 6

Quantification 6

Flammable and Combustible Materials 7

Flammable Range 7

Flammable Limits 7

Flash Point 7

Combustible Liquids 8

Class II liquids 9

Class III liquids 9

Flammable Liquids 9

Ignition Sources 10

Area Classification 11

Housekeeping 12

General Neatness 12

Proper Placement 13

Grass and Brush 13

Equipment and Piping 13

Storage and Handling of Flammable Liquids 13

Regulations and standards 14

Handling requirements 14

Nonprocess Operations 15

Outside Storage 15

Coal and Coke Storage 15

Drum Storage 16

Drainage 16

Fire Protection and Prevention 16

Cylinders 16

Loading Racks 17

Simultaneous Operations 18

Managing SIMOPs 19

SIMOPs Matrix 19

Conducting the SIMOPs 20

Kickoff meeting 20

Communication meetings 21

Closeout 22

Examples 22

Example 1—Facility Design 22

Example 2—Heat Exchanger 23

Introduction

The purpose of this book is to provide practical guidance on issues to do with the design, operation and maintenance of process facilities, including chemical plants, oil refineries, offshore facilities and pipelines—with a focus on safety issues. It is organized into the following chapters:

Chapter 1 Operations

Chapter 2 Maintenance and Inspection

Chapter 3 Energy Control Procedures

Chapter 4 Occupational Safety

Chapter 5 Chemicals

Chapter 6 Personal Protective Equipment

Chapter 7 Health and Industrial Hygiene

Chapter 8 Human Factors and Ergonomics

Chapter 9 Firefighting

Chapter 10 Safety in Design

Chapter 11 Siting and Layout

Chapter 12 Equipment

Chapter 13 Piping and Valves

Chapter 14 Safety Instrumentation

Chapter 15 Transportation

Chapter 16 Security

Chapter 17 Common Hazards

This book is one in a series to do with the management of process facilities, both onshore and offshore. Other titles include Process Risk and Reliability Management (PRRM) and Offshore Safety Management. There is a particularly strong overlap between the contents of this book and those of PRRM which discusses the process safety management systems that lie behind much of what is written here. For example, this book’s Chapter 9 (Firefighting) is tightly integrated with Chapter 12 (Emergency Management) of PRRM. Another example is to do with the topic of Inherent Safety, the principles of which are discussed in PRRM. This book shows how those principles are applied to design of equipment such as pressure safety relief valves, tanks, and stairways.

The table of contents for PRRM is shown as follows:

Chapter 1—Risk Management

Chapter 2—Compliance and Standards

Chapter 3—Culture and Participation

Chapter 4—Technical Information

Chapter 5—Hazard Identification

Chapter 6—Operating Procedures

Chapter 7—Training and Competence

Chapter 8—Prestartup Reviews

Chapter 9—Asset Integrity

Chapter 10—Management of Change

Chapter 11—Incident Investigation and Root Cause Analysis

Chapter 12—Emergency Management

Chapter 13—Audits and Assessments

Chapter 14—Consequence Analysis

Chapter 15—Frequency Analysis

Chapter 16—Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability

Chapter 17—Managing a Risk Program

Chapter 18—Project Management

Chapter 19—Contractors

Chapter 20—The Risk Management Professional

Professional Advice

This book covers a wide range of professional topics such as health, human factors, and equipment design. It goes without saying that a properly qualified professional should be consulted for specific advice in specialized areas such as these.

Note: This book also describes some of the regulations to do with safety, design and operations. However, because each country has its own legal system and regulatory interpretations are constantly changing, qualified legal advice should always be obtained for each particular system and location.

Regulations, Standards, and Guidance

The design and operation of process facilities is covered by a wide range of regulations, industry consensus standards, and guidance documents such as books, company standards, and manufacturer’s information. Many of these documents are referred to and described in this book. The guidance provided here is general in nature; each company and facility should use the material provided as a basis for developing its own standards.

Regulations

As the name implies, regulations must be followed—they are the law of the land. They can be national/federal, state/province, or local.

In the United States, many of the regulations to do with the safety of process facilities are written and enforced by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). It is often found that OSHA’s rules and the interpretation of those rules are used internationally, even when there is no legal requirement to do so. The U.K. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is another regulatory agency whose influence often extends beyond its own immediate jurisdiction.

Information as to how regulations are developed and enforced is provided in Chapter 2 of PRRM.

Industry Standards

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines a stan...