Application of human factors evaluation in engineering design and safe operation of dense phase ethylene treaters |
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| Institution: | 1. Center for Offshore Engineering and Safety Technology, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, 266580, PR China;2. State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 257061, PR China;3. Department of Environment and Safety Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, 266580, PR China;1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihta, Bihar, 801103, India;2. Division 2.2, Reactive Substances and Systems, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Unter den Eichen 87, 12205, Berlin, Germany;3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400076, India;1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea;2. Hyundai Heavy Industries, 17-10, Mabuk-ro 240 Beon-gil, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, 446-912, Republic of Korea;1. School of Chemical Machinery and Safety Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China;2. State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China;3. Department of Chemical System Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Ethylene treaters are widely used in the petrochemical industry to remove impurities from ethylene feedstock imported from pipeline networks or storage caverns. The safety concerns of dense phase ethylene treaters due to the reactive and highly flammable nature of ethylene are well known and studied. Under certain conditions, ethylene may self-polymerize and decompose violently with heat release. Under other conditions, ethylene will auto-refrigerate, generating cold liquids that may cause potential brittle fracture hazards. Therefore, dense phase ethylene treaters present design challenges with the unique combination of high temperature decomposition and cold temperature brittle fracture hazards.Due to these safety concerns, it is important to select the appropriate engineering design options for dense phase ethylene treaters and the associated regeneration facilities. Totally automated treater regeneration systems add complexity and instrument maintenance requirements while manually operated systems rely heavily on operator training and procedures. Unfortunately, little or no information or design guidance is available from published research findings in the literature on the evaluation and risk assessment of current industrial design options and practices for dense phase ethylene treaters.This paper presents a systematic risk assessment method to evaluate the engineering design and safe operation options for dense phase ethylene treaters. The proposed risk assessment method integrates human factors task analysis into the traditional HAZOP, LOPA and fault tree analysis to allow evaluation of automated, manual and hybrid approaches with a goal of selecting and optimizing design options to ensure plant safety. This approach provides a realistic assessment of the operational risk and allows identification of fit-for-purpose risk reduction. Applying this systematic risk assessment approach, a simpler and more cost effective design solution can be justified, thereby avoiding the need for a high integrity protective system. |
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| Keywords: | Ethylene treater Human factors Fault tree analysis Engineering design Brittle fracture Decomposition |
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