Chemical Engineering Plant

Design

HAZARDS CONSIDERATIONS

Dr. M. Azam Saeed

HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARDS
• The potential health hazard to an individual by a material
used in any chemical process is a function of
1. Inherent toxicity of the material
2. Frequency and duration of exposure.
• A highly toxic material that causes immediate injury is
classified as a safety hazard.
• Material whose effect is only apparent after long exposure
at low concentrations is considered as an industrial health
and hygiene hazard.
Assignment:
Health and safety hazards symbols with their
description
 Contd..
• The inherent toxicity of a material is measured by tests
on animals.
• The short-term effect is expressed as LD 50.
• Lethal dose at which 50 percent of the test animals do
not survive.
• The permissible limits of concentration for the long-term
exposure of humans to toxic materials is set by the
threshold limit value (TLV).
• TLV is defined as the upper permissible concentration
limit of the material believed to be safe for humans even
with an exposure of 8 hr per day, 5 days per week over a
period of many years.
• Recommended TLV values are published by
1. Occupational Safety and Health Agency(OSHA)
2. American Conference of Governmental Industrial
Hygienists (ACGIH)
3. American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
4. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH)
5. United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Sources of Exposure:
• The most common and most significant source of
workplace exposure to chemicals and also the most
difficult to control is inhalation.
• Workers become exposed when the contaminant is
picked up by the air they breathe.
• understanding of the sources of contaminants to which
workers are exposed is important for the recognition,
evaluation, and control of occupational health hazards.
For example
1. mechanical abrasions of solid materials by cutting.
2. Liquid aerosols, on the other hand, may be produced by
any process that supplies sufficient energy to overcome
the surface tension of the liquid.
• A significant source of mercury poisoning is from worker
exposure in laboratories where mercury has been spilled,
trapped in cracks, and then evaporates at room
temperature to exceed the TLV of 0.05 m g/m 3.
• Contamination of air with gas occurs from fugitive
emissions (leaks) or from venting.
• High-value and very toxic materials are usually very
tightly controlled.
• Contaminants that are neither valuable nor toxic but that
create an undesirable atmosphere in neighboring
communities are also controlled to maintain good public
relations.
Exposure Evaluation:
• If health hazards are to be controlled, they must be
recognized and evaluated.
• An estimate of the toxicity or intrinsic hazard is needed
for each material identified in the inventory.
• Such information for many chemicals in the form of a
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).
• To perform a risk assessment and then prioritize the
exposure measurement effort requires an approximate
initial exposure potential assessment.
• It is generally not necessary to make an exposure
estimate for every chemical/exposure source
combination.
• The most commonly used methods for the analysis of
airborne contaminants are listed in Table 2.
Exposure-Hazard Control:
• when exposure problem exists, decisions need to be
made regarding the implementation of hazard-control
measures for the purpose of reducing exposure.
• Decision must be made relative to the degree of risk
reduction that is to be attained.
• series of choices must be made from a wide range of
options available to achieve the desired risk reduction.
• These are three general control principles utilized in
reducing the exposure of workers to occupational health
hazards
 Contd..
1. source controls,
2. transmission barriers
3. personal protection
• Basic or detailed changes in the way the process is
permitted to operate can eliminate or reduce exposure.
• The primary purpose of local exhaust ventilation is to
control contaminant exposure by establishing a control
surface or barrier.
• Local exhaust ventilation is cumbersome, inconvenient,
and requires considerable maintenance.
• Dilution ventilation, on the other hand, removes air
containing a contaminant from the workplace.
• The objective of dilution ventilation is not to prevent any
exposure, but to keep the exposure to acceptable levels
by dilution.
• Various control options or combinations of options need
to be selected to reduce the evaluated exposure level to
an acceptable one.
• The best option or combination of options is then
selected by means of a cost analysis.
• Measurements of exposure, for use in comparison with
occupational-exposure limits, need to be made over the
averaging time appropriate to the standard.
Fire and Explosion Hazards:
• Fire and explosion are the two most dangerous events
likely to occur in a chemical plant.
• These two hazards account for the major loss of life and
property in the chemical and petroleum industry.
• For a fire to occur, there must be
1. a fuel
2. an oxidizer
3. an ignition source
• The minimum concentration of fuel in air required for
ignition at ambient temperature is known as the lower
flammable limit (LFL).
 Contd..
• Any mixture of fuel and air below the LFL is too lean to burn.
• concentration above which ignition will not occur is labeled
as the upper flammable limit (UFL).
• Concentration of oxidizer that must be present for ignition,
called the limiting oxygen index.
• The temperature at which ignition will occur without the
presence of a spark or flame is designated as the auto
ignition temperature (AIT).
• The liquid temperature at which the concentration of the
fuel in the air becomes large enough to ignite is labeled the
flash-point.
• An explosion is a sudden and generally catastrophic
release of energy, causing a pressure wave.
• An explosion can occur without a fire, such as the failure
through overpressure of a steam boiler.
• In a detonation, the chemical reaction propagates at
supersonic velocity and the principal heating mechanism
is shock compression.
• In a deflagration, the combustion process is the same as
in the normal burning of a flammable mixture with the
reaction propagating at subsonic velocity and
experiencing a slow pressure buildup.
• An explosion can result from a purely
1. physical reaction
2. a chemical
3. a nuclear reaction
• In boiling-liquid-expanding-vapor explosion(BLEVE) heat
leak into a container filled with a boiling liquid results in
an excessive vaporization accompanied with a steady
pressure buildup that ruptures the tank.
• Unconfined-vapor-cloud explosion (UVCE) can result
when a large cloud of gas or vapor forms following
release of a flammable material.
The ignition sensitivity depends on
• the ignition temperature
• the minimum ignition energy
• minimum explosion concentration
The explosion severity, on the other hand, is a function of
• the maximum pressure measured during a test explosion
• maximum rate of pressure rise during the test.
 Possible sources of fire are reduced by eliminating all
unnecessary ignition sources.
 The installation of sufficient fire alarms, temperature
alarms, fire-fighting equipment, and sprinkler systems
must be specified in the design.
Classification

Fires are classified into four groups

Class A fires are those burning ordinary solids.
Class B fires are those burning liquids or gases.
Class C fires are those that burn either Class A or Class B
fuels in the presence of live electrical circuits.
Class D fires consume metals.
 Contd..
Fire-protection systems can be divided into two large
categories
• Passive
Passive fire-protection systems do not require
any action at the time of the fire. They are designed and
installed at the time the plant is built and remain passively
in place until needed.
• Active
Active systems include such agents as water
sprays, foam, and dry chemicals; these require that some
action be taken, either by plant personnel or as a response
by an automatic fire-protection system.
Design
Equipment should be designed to meet the specifications
and codes of recognized authorities such as
• the American Standards Association
• American Petroleum Institute
• American Society for Testing Materials
• Factory Mutual Laboratories
• National Fire Protection Association
• Underwriters’ Laboratories.
• Possible sources of fire are reduced by eliminating all
unnecessary ignition sources, such as flames, sparks, or
heated materials. Matches, smoking, welding and
cutting, static electricity.
Personnel Safety
• Every attempt should be made to incorporate facilities
for health and safety protection of plant personnel in the
original design.
• This includes, but is not limited to, protected walkways,
platforms, stairs, and work areas.
• Physical hazards, if unavoidable, must be clearly defined.
• In such areas, means for egress must be unmistakable.
• All machinery must be guarded with protective devices.
• In all cases, medical services and first-aid must be readily
available for all workers.
• Occupational Safety and Health Act
• Two of the standards directly related to worker health
and important in design work are Toxic Hazardous
Substances and Occupational Noise Exposure.
• The first of these two concerns the normal release of
toxic and carcinogenic substances, carried via vapors,
fumes, dust fibers, or other media.
LOSS PREVENTION
• The phrase loss prevention in the chemical industry is
an insurance term where the loss represents the financial
loss associated with an accident.
• This loss not only represents the cost of repairing or
replacing the damaged facility and taking care of all
damage claims, but also includes the loss of earnings
from lost production during the repair period and any
associated lost sales opportunities.
• Identification and assessment of the major hazards.
• Control of the hazards by the most appropriate means;
for example, containment, substitution, improved
maintenance, etc.
• Control of the process, i.e., prevention of hazardous
conditions in process operating variables by utilizing
automatic control and relief systems, interlocks, alarms,
etc.
• Limitation of the loss when an incident occurs.