Process Plants A Handbook for Inherently Safer Design, Second Edition

This second edition of a bestseller provides a well-illustrated resource that comprehensively covers the design of inherently safer and user-friendly plants. The book demonstrates how chemical plants can withstand human error and equipment failures without serious effects on safety, output, or efficiency. This edition features new chapters that outline the role of inherently safer design in explosion prevention and mitigation and the link between inherently safer design and process safety design. New sections address the hierarchy of controls and highlight human factors in determining risk. The text also includes case studies that review major process incidents.

How far will an ounce of prevention really go? While the answer to that question may never be truly known, Process Plants: A Handbook for Inherently Safer Design, Second Edition takes us several steps closer. The book demonstrates not just the importance of prevention, but the importance of designing with prevention in mind. It emphasizes the role of inherent safety in process safety management systems and in ensuring an appropriate process safety culture. Keeping the easy to understand style that made the first edition so popular, this book clearly delineates practical, everyday issues and complex technical ones. The second edition provides: Coverage of newinherent safety metrics and how to measure the degree or level of inherent safety New examples of application of the various principles of inherently safer design and 20 new figures New emphasis on the role of inherently safer design in process safety management systems and in ensuring an appropriate process safety culture Discussion of dust explosion risk reduction by means of inherently safer approaches New chapter on case study development, providing a comprehensive approach to the prevention and mitigation of process incidents by timely incorporation of inherently safer design This updated version of a classic text examines how to incorporate inherently safer design into process industry activities, revising and updating information based on recent research and developments. A how-to resource at its core, the book includes numerous examples that illustrate the principles of inherently safer design and how to apply them in practice. It explains how to measure the inherent safeness of a process, referencing metric tools that have been developed during the past decade and the tried and true methods that have become industry stand bys.

Introduction: What are Inherently Safer and User-Friendly Plants?IntroductionInherently Safer and Friendlier Design as Part of an Overall ApproachHierarchy of ControlsReferencesInherently Safer Design: The Concept and Its Scope and BenefitsThe ConceptDefense in DepthThe ScopeThe Benefits of Inherently Safer DesignAppendix: The Lady and the Tiger—A New Version of an Old TaleReferences and NotesIntensificationProcess IntensificationReactionDistillationHeat TransferOther Unit OperationsStorageIntensification by Detailed DesignMany Small Plants or One Big One?Some Thoughts on Intensification as MinimizationAppendix: Conference Report—New TechnologyReferences and NotesSubstitutionThe Use of Safer Nonreactive AgentsChoosing Less Hazardous ProcessesReferences and NotesAttenuationAttenuated ReactionsAttenuated Storage and TransportA Railway AnalogyReferences and NotesLimitation of EffectsLimitation of Effects by Equipment DesignLimitation of Effects by Changing Reaction ConditionsElimination of HazardsReferences and NotesSimplificationThe Reasons for ComplexityStronger Equipment Can Replace Relief SystemsResistant Materials of Construction Can Replace Protective InstrumentsDesigns Free from Opportunities for Human ErrorDesign Change Can Avoid the Need for Better InstrumentationRelocation Can Avoid the Need for ComplicationSimple Technology Can Replace High TechnologyLeaving Things OutPower Fluidics: Avoiding Moving PartsOther Examples of SimplificationModification ChainsReferences and NotesSimplification: Specifications and FlexibilityFollowing Rules to the LetterAsking for Too Much FlexibilityThree ProblemsAppendix: Some Comments on SimplificationReferencesOther Ways of Making Plants FriendlierAvoiding Knock-On EffectsMaking Incorrect Assembly ImpossibleMaking Status ClearTolerance of MisuseEase of ControlComputer ControlInstructions and Other ProceduresLife-Cycle FriendlinessOther IndustriesAnalogiesPassive SafetyReferences and NotesThe Road to Friendlier PlantsConstraints on the Development of Friendlier PlantsThe Action NeededThe Influence of the LawThe Measurement of FriendlinessLooking for New KnowledgeThe Final DecisionInherently Safer Design Offshore: A Case HistoryAppendix: Finding Examples of Inherently Safer DesignReferences and NotesInherently Safer Design and Process-Safety ManagementSafety Management SystemsProcess-Safety Management System ElementsSafety CultureReferences and NotesFriendlier Plants and the Nuclear IndustryNew Types of ReactorFeatures of Nuclear PlantsCriticalityConclusionReferencesThe Role of Inherently Safer Design in Dust Explosion Prevention and MitigationDust Explosion OverviewUse of the Hierarchy of ControlsIntensificationSubstitutionAttenuationSimplificationOther ExamplesSummary of Prevention and Mitigation MeasuresConcluding RemarksReferencesInherent-Safety Case StudiesEveryday Life ExperiencesNewspapers and MagazinesTopical ConferencesTechnical PapersProcess-Safety BooksCase Study BooksOther Inherent-Safety BooksBooks from Other Industries and ApplicationsTraining PackagesTrade LiteratureLoss Prevention BulletinsChemical Safety Board ReportsConcluding RemarksReferencesDo We Go Too Far in Removing Risk?Risks to Output and EfficiencyRisks to Life and LimbThe Contribution of the OperatorReferencesThe History and Future of Inherently Safer and User-Friendly DesignThe Start of the StoryThe Idea DevelopsExtensions of the IdeaConclusionsA True Story (except for the Names): August 2009A Final ThoughtReferences and NotesFurther ReadingIndex to First EditionAppendix A: An Atlas of Safety Thinking