Process and Plant Safety

672 Pages·2014·14.5 MB·English

by  Ulrich Hauptmanns

Ulrich Hauptmanns
Process
and Plant
Safety
Process and Plant Safety
Ulrich Hauptmanns
Process and Plant Safety
123
Ulrich Hauptmanns
Hauptmanns
Germany
Originally published Hauptmanns: Prozess- und Anlagensicherheit, Heidelberg, 2013;
translated by the author
ISBN 978-3-642-40953-0 ISBN 978-3-642-40954-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-40954-7
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014942622
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(cid:2)Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2015
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Preface to the German Edition
Quidquidagisprudenteragas,respicefinem
Safety is a basic human need. That is why a modern society must ensure that
industrial production is safe. The task of engineers dedicatedto process and plant
safety is to achieve this. They ensure that plants are designed for safety and built
andoperatedsafelyandthatpeoplehavesafeworkplaces.Onlyifthisisfulfilled
is the operation of industrial plants ethically acceptable.
Safety means that hazards are kept small. However, there is no possibility to
eliminate them completely; for whatever is possible will occur with a certain
probability.
In order to make technical systems safe, the probability of hazards must be
reduced as far as possible. This requires a structured approach which is based on
experience as well as experimental and theoretical findings. In this book, the
approach for analyzing and designing safe process plants is described. Starting
pointsarepossiblehazardsfrommaterialpropertiesandoperatingconditions.The
focus is placed on the qualitative and quantitative modelling of technical systems
and the simulation of physical and chemical processes during operation and
accidents. The material presented is extended and complemented by a number of
examples and case studies, which refer to real plants or events.
A characteristic of analyses of process and plant safety is that the interdepen-
dencies within the technical system, the influence of its components on one
anotherandhumaninterventionsmustbeaccountedfor.Afurthercharacteristicis
thestochasticnatureoftheprocessestobeanalyzed,whichrendersit,forexample,
impossible to predict the moment of occurrence of an accident. These aspects are
duly addressed.
Processandplantsafetyisinterdisciplinary.Justasforbuildingandoperatinga
plant process, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering as well as informatics
have to be combined, plant safety needs these disciplines, too. This makes the
v
vi PrefacetotheGermanEdition
selectionoftopicsdifficultandshowsthatexpertsforsafety,whocannotpossibly
have a command of all these areas of knowledge, should address safety tasks in
cooperation with specialists of the areas mentioned.
Theselectionoftopicsfollowsthatofthemodelcurriculum‘‘ProcessandPlant
Safety’’ of ProcessNet. My gratitude goes to my colleagues, Profs. A. Schönbu-
cher, H. W. Brenig, H. U. Moritz, and J. Schmidt as well as to Dr. O. Klais for
instructiveandvividdiscussionswhenelaboratingthecurriculumanddecidingon
unavoidable omissions.
Safety needs foresight. It should not derive from trial and error as it did in the
earliest days of engineering. An important tool is the elaboration of scenarios,
i.e. potential developments of the future. This requires thought experiments to be
performed, which must be based on a broad background of knowledge in engi-
neeringandnaturalsciencesaswellasofexperimentalresultsandthesimulations
of accidents.
The book provides students and practitioners with the necessary tools for
analyzing processes and plants and designing them for safety. It makes use of
knowledge in mathematics, physics, chemistry, as well as of thermal and fluid
dynamics, as taught during the first semesters of engineering courses.
ThetextisbasedoncourseswhichIhavebeenofferingformorethanadecade
and a half at the Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg. Discussions with
collaboratorsandstudentshavecontributedtoit.Ithankthemfortheirdedication.
I gratefully acknowledge the expert advice of Professors U. Stephan and
Y. Ding, and Drs. J. F. Bremen, V. Schröder, D. Jablonski, and Arizal, as well as
that of Dipl.-Ing. P. Guterl and Dipl.-Stat. J. Peschke. To Dr. Arizal I am also
obliged for the technical implementation of a large part of the figures. My
profound gratitude is expressed to all the experts from industry who granted me
access to their plants and shared their knowledge of industrial practice with me.
My thanks go to the Springer Verlag for the good co-operation and fine
presentation of the book.
The author hopes that the book enables students and practitioners to acquire
knowledgeofmodernmethodsofsafetyanalysisandtocontributetothesafetyof
processesandplantsbyusingthem.Indoingsotheyshouldfollowtheadvicefrom
classical antiquity which I have placed in front ‘‘Whatever you do, do it with
intelligence and with the outcome in mind.’’
Schönebeck (Elbe), Spring 2013 Ulrich Hauptmanns
Preface to the English Edition
Thepreparationofthetranslation gave methe opportunitytocorrect anumberof
minor mistakes and to occasionally formulate concepts in a somewhat clearer
language. Wherever possible, German references were replaced by English ones.
All of this should be of benefit to the reader.
Schönebeck (Elbe), Spring 2014 Ulrich Hauptmanns
vii
Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 Hazardous Properties of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1 Flammability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1.1 Safety Parameters for Flammable Gases
and Vapours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Chemically Unstable Materials: Decomposition
and Polymerization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3 Flammable Liquids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3.1 Flash Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3.2 Fire Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.4 Dusts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.4.1 Self-Ignition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.4.2 Glow Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.4.3 Explosion Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.4.4 Minimum Ignition Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.4.5 Limiting Oxygen Concentration (LOC). . . . . . . . . . 46
2.4.6 Maximum Pressure and Maximum Rate
of Pressure Rise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.5 Explosives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.5.1 Brisance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.5.2 Loading Density. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.5.3 Oxygen Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.5.4 Maximum Pressure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.5.5 Explosion Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.6 Toxic Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.6.1 Limiting Long-Term Exposure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.6.2 Limiting Short-Term Exposure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
ix
x Contents
3 Exothermic and Pressure-Generating Reactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.1 Formal Kinetics Description of Chemical Reactions . . . . . . . 69
3.2 Reactor Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.2.1 Ideal Batch Reactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3.2.2 Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.2.3 Tubular Flow Reactor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.3 Autocatalytic Reactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.4 Polymerization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.5 Extreme Process Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.5.1 High Pressures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.5.2 Low Pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.5.3 High Temperatures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.5.4 Low Temperatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.6 Endothermic Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4 Safe Design and Operation of Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.1 Procedure for Ensuring Safety in Planning, Building
and Operating Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.1.1 Process Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.1.2 Planning, Construction and Commissioning
of Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.1.3 Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.1.4 Safety Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.1.5 Quality Assurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.1.6 Alarm and Hazard Defence Plans, Information
of the Public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.2 Principles of Plant Safety and Fundamental Concepts. . . . . . 102
4.2.1 Inherent Safety Measures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
4.2.2 Passive Safety Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
4.2.3 Active Safety Measures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
4.2.4 Organizational Measures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.2.5 Design of Safety Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
4.3 External Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
4.3.1 Earthquakes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
4.4 Plant Layout and Spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.5 Fire and Explosion Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
4.5.1 Sources of Ignition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
4.5.2 Protective Measures Against Fires
and Explosions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Contents xi
5 Personal Safety and Personal Protective Equipment . . . . . . . . . . 189
5.1 Safe Design and the Procurement of Safe Apparatuses
and Work Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
5.2 Apparatuses, Machinery and Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
5.3 Hazard Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
5.4 Personal Protective Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
5.5 Safe Handling of Chemical Substances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
5.5.1 Filling, Draining and Conveying
of Hazardous Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
5.5.2 Sampling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
5.5.3 Cleaning of Vessels and Other Equipment. . . . . . . . 200
5.6 Work with Special Hazards: Permit to Work System . . . . . . 202
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
6 Safety of Process Plants by Process Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
6.1 Control System Characteristics and P&I Diagrams . . . . . . . . 208
6.2 Programmable Electronic Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
6.2.1 Components Close to the Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
6.3 Integration of PCE in the Safety Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
6.3.1 Normal Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
6.3.2 Monitoring Malfunctions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
6.3.3 Damage Avoidance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
6.3.4 Hazard Defence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
6.3.5 General Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
6.4 Case Study: Iron-Catalyzed Oxidation of Ethanol
with Hydrogen Peroxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
7 Protection of Equipment (End-of-the-Pipe Technology) . . . . . . . . 231
7.1 Safety Valves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
7.2 Bursting Disc Protection Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
7.3 Combination of Safety Valve and Bursting Disc
Protection Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
7.4 Dimensioning of Relief Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
7.4.1 Energy Balance for the Stationary Flow Process . . . 234
7.4.2 Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
7.4.3 Gases or Vapours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
7.4.4 Two-Phase Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
7.4.5 Mass Flow Rate to Be Discharged . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
7.4.6 Relief and Retention Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
7.5 Constructive Measures of Explosion Protection . . . . . . . . . . 258
7.5.1 Deflagration and Detonation Arresters for Gases . . . 259
7.5.2 Use of Flame Arresters in Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . 264