Name:…………………………………………

Number:………………

PROC2086 – 2017
Process Safety – Class Test
[40 marks in total]

1. a) What is the difference between accepted risk and imposed risk? (2 mks)

Accepted risk is that which is known and accepted because training etc. is provided to mitigate it and
usually extra salary is paid as compensation.

Imposed risk is that which is faced by people who don’t know they are at risk e.g. people living near
a dangerous chemical plant.

b) What is meant by the acronym FAR? How is it defined? (2 mks)

FAR = fatal accident rate = deaths per 1000 people in a working lifetime (108) hours)

c) Safety authorities in Armenia have kept records of oil refinery fires over the past 5 years.
There have been 60 incidents – 15 of them caused injuries to 5 workers, 3 injured 12, 2 injured 24
and the single largest incident injured 65 workers. Use the table below to create the data needed to
draw an F/N Diagram. Indicate which column will be the “x” axis and which the “y” axis”. (4 mks)

N incidents ΣN F (year-1)
X axis Y axis
0 39 60 12

5 15 21 4.2

12 3 6 1.2

24 2 3 0.6

65 1 1 0.2

d) On an F/N diagram, the line separating the “intolerable” from the ALARP risk regions shows a
frequency of 10-3 year-1 for an activity causing 1 fatality. What will be the frequency for 10 fatalities
for the “risk neutral” case and then for the “risk averse” case? (2 mks)

risk neutral = 10-4 year-1 risk averse = 10-5 year-1

2. a) Are confined spaces categorised as “active” or “passive” hazards” Why? (1 mk)

Passive – the person has to be in the hazard to be affected – no matter/energy transfer

b) Why is the breathing of low oxygen atmospheres so very dangerous, even above the levels that
lead to rapid death? (2 mks)

impaired think and attention, reduced coordination, emotional upset, poor judgement
impaired respiration, nausea, vomiting – result in inability to escape the situation

c) Why is LPG (liquified propane) classified as a “liquified vapor” rather than a “liquified gas”?
(1 mk)

Because its critical temperature is above 25oC – raising the pressure of the vapor alone results
in liquefaction.

d) What is the temperature and pressure in a storage vessel of liquified argon gas (Tboil = -186oC
Tcrit = -122oC, Pcrit = 4.9 MPa)? (1 mk)

Temp = -122oC Pressure = atmospheric at storage temperature

e) A storage vessel of the refrigerant R-22, chlorodifluoromethane (Tcritical = 96oC) in Brisbane

fails and rapidly releases 2000 kg of the R-22. Room temperature is 30oC. What mass of R-22
flashes to vapor? What temperature will the remaining liquid pool become? (5 mks)

Remember that, during flashing, the

enthalpy lost by the liquid equals
the enthalpy gained by the vapor.
hls – [1-α]hlb = αhvb ………………….(1 mk)
236.6 - [1-α]154.9 = α388.1 …………(1 mk for correct h values)
236.6 – 154.9 + 154.9α = 388.1α
233.2α = 81.7
α = 0.35 …………… (1 mk)

Mass of R-22 becoming vapor = 0.35 * 2000kg = 700.7 kg ……… (1 mk)

Liquid pool temperature = -40oC (1 mk)

3. a) Estimate the lower flammability limit for diacetyl, whose structure is given below. Air is 79
vol.% N2. (4 mks)

C4H6O2 + 4.5O2(g) = 4CO2(g) + 3H2O(g) …….. (1 mk)

N2 = (79/21)*4.5 = 16.92 ……… (1 mk)
Total moles on reactant side = 1 + 4.5 + 16.92 = 22.42
Stoich value = 100 * 1/22.42 = 4.46vol% …….. (1mk)

LFL = 0.5 * 4.46 = 2.23vol% …….(1 mk)

b) As part of a safety study, the burning behaviour of a 5000 kg capacity tank of methanol
needs to be estimated. The burning rate is assumed to be 0.02 kg/m2/s, the efficiency is 0.8 and the
heat of combustion is 22,700 kJ/kg. The tank is 3m diameter (π = 3.142). How long would the full
tank burn for (in hours)? What is the heat release rate (kW)?

rate = 0.02 * 7.07 = 0.141 kg/s so time = 5000/0.14 s = 35370s = 9.83 hours
Q = burning rate * tank area * efficiency * heat of combustion ……..(1 mk)
Q = 0.02 * π 32/4 * 0.8 * 22,700 = 0.02 * 7.07 * 0.8 * 22,700 = 2568 kJ/s
Q = 2568 kW

1. Burning time = 9.83 hours (1 mk) Heat release rate = 2568 kW (1 mk)

c) Why does an exothermic batch reactor become a “thermal runaway” if some event raises the
temperature above the upper stability limit? (1 mk)

because then the heat release rate exceeds the cooling rate – the temp must continue to rise

d) The dust explosion pentagon has as sides the usual fuel, oxygen and ignition source. What are
the other two sides? (2 mks)

1. dispersion of dust (1 mk)

2. confinement of dust cloud (1 mk)
4. a) Why must a HAZOP be conducted on a process P&ID rather than a PFD? (2 mks)

A PFD is only a process concept, and lacks instrumentation

A P&ID shows actual pipelines, and all additional lines line bypasses etc.

b) What is a “study node”? (2 mks)

A section of the P&ID in which changes occur, its connecting pipelines and instrumention,
and for which a design intention can be specified.

c) With reference to a study node through which a 30/70 methanol/water mixture flows at 5000
litres/hour and 5MPa pressure, choose two different parameters which can combine with the guide
words “none” and “as well as”. Describe both parameter/guide word pairs. (2 mks)

1. “none” can only refer to flow i.e. there is no flowrate of the mixture

2. “as well as” can only refer to composition e.g. either there is a third component there or
that there is more than 30% methanol

d) what are the two general types of action that can be taken to address a concern raised during a
HAZOP study? (2 mks)

1. an action that removes the problem

2. an action that mitigates the risk or the consequence of the problem

e) Give any two disadvantages of the HAZOP process (2 mks)

highly dependent on the accuracy of drawings and data

requires the right mix of team members with the proper technical experience and insight

tiring and difficult to perform over extended periods

requires the commitment of the team, and management, for the duration of the study

Prof. D. Swinbourne 28th March 2017