HAZOP – Local approach in the Mexican oil & gas industry

HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) studies began about 40 years ago, when the Process Industry and complexity of its operations start to massively grow in different parts of the world. HAZOP has been successfully applied in Process Systems hazard identification by operators, design engineers and consulting firms. Nevertheless, after a few decades since its first applications, HAZOP studies are not truly standard in worldwide industrial practice. It is common to find differences in its execution and results format. The aim of this paper is to show that in the Mexican case at National level in the oil and gas industry, there exist an explicit acceptance risk criteria, thus impacting the risk scenarios prioritizing process. Although HAZOP studies in the Mexican oil & gas industry, based on PEMEX corporate standard has precise acceptance criteria, it is not a significant difference in HAZOP applied elsewhere, but has the advantage of being fully transparent in terms of what a local industry is willing to accept as the level of risk acceptance criteria, also helps to gain an understanding of the degree of HAZOP applications in the Mexican oil & gas sector. Contrary to this in HAZOP ISO standard, risk acceptance criteria is not specified and it only mentions that HAZOP can consider scenarios ranking. The paper concludes indicating major implications of risk ranking in HAZOP, whether before or after safeguards identification.     

Risk analysis and risk management approaches applied to the petroleum industry and their applicability to IO concepts

Due to changes introduced by Integrated Operations (IO) it is possible that traditional risk analysis and risk management approaches in the oil and gas industry are also challenged. In this paper we study the impact on these approaches by asking two questions: (1) what methods for risk analysis are used in the Norwegian oil and gas industry? (2) What are the risk analysis and risk management challenges in an IO context from the perspective of actors in the Norwegian oil and gas industry? An explorative approach was chosen and the empirical findings are based on three separate studies: (1) a survey of risk analysis and risk management in different business sectors in the oil and gas industry; (2) qualitative interviews about the generation of knowledge for decisions that involve risk in an operating company; and (3) qualitative interviews of people working with risk analyses in different companies exploring their use of risk analysis methods. The four main results are: due to IO it is necessary to look for other inputs to risk analyses; establish suitable assessment approaches to human and organizational issues; develop resilience-based approaches for operational risk assessment; and, utilize IO to improve the risk management process.     

Inherent safety in offshore oil and gas activities: a review of the present status and future directions

Inherent safety is a proactive approach for hazard/risk management during process plant design and operation. It has been proven that, considering the lifetime costs of a process and its operation, an inherently safer approach is a cost-optimal option. Inherent safety can be incorporated at any stage of design and operation; however, its application at the earliest possible stages of process design (such as process selection and conceptual design) yields the best results.Although it is an attractive and cost-effective approach to hazard/risk management, inherent safety has not been used as widely as other techniques such as HAZOP and quantitative risk assessment. There are many reasons responsible for this; key among them are a lack of awareness and the non-availability of a systematic methodology and tools.The inherent safety approach is the best option for hazard/risk management in offshore oil and gas activities. In the past, it has been applied to several aspects of offshore process design and operation. However, its use is still limited. This article attempts to present a complete picture of inherent safety application in offshore oil and gas activities. It discuses the use of available technology for implementation of inherent safety principles in various offshore activities, both current and planned for the future.     

A pattern of contractor selection for oil and gas industries in a safety approach using ANP-DEMATEL in a Grey environment

Contractor selection is one of the major concerns of industry managers such as those in the oil industry. The objective of this study was to determine a contractor selection pattern for oil and gas industries in a safety approach. Assessment of contractors based on specific criteria and ultimately selecting an eligible contractor preserves the organizational resources. Due to the safety risks involved in the oil industry, one of the major criteria of contractor selection considered by managers today is safety. The results indicated that the most important safety criterion of contractor selection was safety records and safety investments. This represented the industry’s risks and the impact of safety training and investment on the performance of other sectors and the overall organization. The output of this model could be useful in the safety risk assessment process in the oil industry and other industries.     

基于IAHP和灾变链式方法的城市油气管道风险诱因与预警研究

城市油气管道穿越城区街道、建筑和居民区等特殊地段,保障其安全运行具有重要意义。为实现城市油气管道风险早期预警,基于城市与野外长输油气管道风险对比分析,识别城市油气管道风险预警指标;建立城市油气管道风险预警指标体系,采用区间层次分析法对预警指标重要度进行定量排序,确定关键预警监测点;并依据灾变链式理论,构建城市油气管道重大事故灾变链式模型,研究管道风险演化过程,发现灾变前兆进行断链减灾。研究结果表明:“腐蚀”及“第三方破坏”占据城市油气管道失效致因比重最大,风险因子“油气管道与市政管道距离”以及“城市工程施工作业”应作为城市油气管道重点监测点。同时,围绕城市油气管道风险预警需致力于孕源断链。     

An integrated methodology to manage risk factors of aging urban oil and gas pipelines

Aging urban oil and gas pipelines have a high failure probability due to their structural degradation and external interference. The operational safety of the aging urban oil and gas pipeline is challenged by different hazards. This paper proposes a novel methodology by integrating an index-based risk evaluation system and fuzzy TOPSIS model for risk management of aging urban oil and gas pipelines, and it is carried out by evaluating the priority of hazards affecting pipeline safety. Firstly, the hazard factors of aging urban oil and gas pipelines are identified to establish an index-based risk evaluation system. Subsequently, the fuzzy TOPSIS model is employed to evaluate the importance of these hazard factors and to decide which factors should be managed with priority. This work measures the importance of a hazard factor from three aspects, i.e. occurrence (O), severity (S) and detectability (D), and the weights of these three parameters are determined by a combination weight method. Eventually, the proposed methodology is tested by an industrial case to illustrate its effectiveness, and some safety strategies to reduce the operational risk of the pipeline are presented. The proposed methodology is a useful tool to implement more efficient risk management of aging urban oil and gas pipelines.     

Fault detection and diagnostics of a three-phase separator

A high demand of oil products on daily basis requires oil processing plants to work with maximum efficiency. Oil, water and gas separation in a three-phase separator is one of the first operations that are performed after crude oil is extracted from an oil well. Failure of the components of the separator introduces the potential hazard of flammable materials being released into the environment. This can escalate to a fire or explosion. Such failures can also cause downtime for the oil processing plant since the separation process is essential to oil production. Fault detection and diagnostics techniques used in the oil and gas industry are typically threshold based alarm techniques. Observing the sensor readings solely allows only a late detection of faults on the separator which is a big deficiency of such a technique, since it causes the oil and gas processing plants to shut down.A fault detection and diagnostics methodology for three-phase separators based on Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN) is presented in this paper. The BBN models the propagation of oil, water and gas through the different sections of the separator and the interactions between component failure modes and process variables, such as level or flow monitored by sensors installed on the separator. The paper will report on the results of the study, when the BBNs are used to detect single and multiple failures, using sensor readings from a simulation model. The results indicated that the fault detection and diagnostics model was able to detect inconsistencies in sensor readings and link them to corresponding failure modes when single or multiple failures were present in the separator.     

安全风险分级防控在油气开发领域的探索与应用

为推动油气开发领域安全风险分级防控有效落地,提高风险预控能力,本文基于风险防控现状评估结果,探索性地研究安全风险分级防控思路,构建了油气开发领域安全风险分级防控体系推进模型,提出了逆向与正向危害因素识别方法,明确了风险评价关键隐性过程原则,构建了风险-后果-能资分级防控决断模型。选取典型试点单位进行实践,结果证明,油气开发领域安全风险分级防控体系推进模型是科学合理的,其他领域也可借鉴该模型开展安全风险分级防控工作。     

Improvement of integrity management for pressure vessels based on risk assessment - A natural gas separator case study

The process of oil and gas processing plant is complex, the types of pressure vessels are rich, and the functions are critical. However, the working medium is mostly untreated medium, and the hazard factors are complex, which poses a threat to the safe production of oil and gas processing plant. Based on PDCA cycle, this paper establishes a six-step links of integrity management for sustainable improvement of pressure vessels. The typical failure modes of pressure vessels are determined, and the fishbone diagram of risk factors under each failure mode is compiled. Risk quantification and classification of pressure vessels based on failure modes (RBFM) is innovatively proposed. Avoiding incalculable failure frequency index, the process quantification of failure possibility is formed according to the development of hazard factors. A failure consequence calculation model based on the leakage affected area was established. Combined with the failure probability level and risk level, the hierarchical inspection strategy for pressure vessels under different failure modes is established. Finally, the method is applied to the natural gas separator of H processing plant. The research results show that RBFM proposed in this paper can meet the requirements for rapid and accurate risk assessment of pressure vessels in oil and gas processing plant. This paper establishes a safe production barrier for the pressure vessel and improves the intrinsic safety of the equipment.     

Application of dynamic risk analysis in offshore drilling processes

Process safety is the common global language used to communicate the strategies of hazard identification, risk assessment and safety management. Process safety is identified as an integral part of process development and focuses on preventing and mitigating major process accidents such as fires, explosions, and toxic releases in process industries. Accident probability estimation is the most vital step to all quantitative risk assessment methods. Drilling process for oil is a hazardous operation and hence safety is one of the major concerns and is often measured in terms of risk. Dynamic risk assessment method is meant to reassess risk in terms of updating initial failure probabilities of events and safety barriers, as new information are made available during a specific operation. In this study, a Bayesian network model is developed to represent a well kick scenario. The concept of dynamic environment is incorporated by feeding the real-time failure probability values (observed at different time intervals) of safety barriers to the Bayesian network in order to obtain the corresponding time-dependent variations in kick consequences. This study reveals the importance of real-time monitoring of safety barrier performances and quantitatively shows the effect of deterioration of barrier performance on kick consequence probabilities. The Macondo blowout incident is used to demonstrate how early warnings in barrier probability variations could have been observed and adequately managed to prevent escalation to severe consequences.     

Building Safety indicators: Part 2 – Application,practices and results

Petroleum exploration and production in the Barents Sea is a controversial topic. The Goliat field outside the northern coast of Norway will be the first offshore oil development in this region, with planned production start in 2013–2014. Avoiding major accidents at Goliat is critical; not only to reduce the risks to human lives and the environment, but also to gain political acceptance. Providing early warnings of major accidents for Goliat is one of the main objectives of the research project ‘Building Safety’. The objective of this paper is to describe the development of early warnings in the form of indicators. In addition, the paper includes an overview of current status of early warnings of accidents in other major hazard industries; the nuclear power industry, the chemical process industry, and aviation. Experiences from these industries, including lessons learned from recent major accidents, have been used as important input to the development of early warning indicators.     

高硫油炼制企业H_2S中毒风险分析

随着企业炼油规模不断扩大及原油中含硫量不断提高,炼油企业中H2S中毒事故风险迅速增大。在对高硫油炼制企业H2S的分布及危险源状况分析的基础上,指出炼油企业存在两类H2S危险源,即含有H2S的气体和含有H2S的酸性水,炼油装置产出含H2S的气体中H2S含量一般在1%～92%,酸性水中H2S含量一般在0.01%～4.0%;介绍了不同H2S浓度等级的空气可对人产生的毒性危害后果,H2S在空气中数分钟内致人死亡的浓度为1500mg/m3;对炼油企业重大酸性气泄漏事故、酸性水泄漏事故进行定量毒性危害计算和分析,给出H2S毒性危害低危区、高危区及迅速致死区达到的下风距离及覆盖的区域面积,重大酸性气、酸性水泄漏事故迅速致死浓度可达到下风距离分别为300m和89m;指出H2S中毒已成为高硫油炼制企业的重大风险,应该加强安全措施,重点防控。     

基于FLACS CFD的不同气油比油气混输管道泄漏火灾后果对比

不同气油比的油气混输管道泄漏后果危害形式和风险差异的准确判断对于管道泄漏应急处置至关重要。以中国西部某油田集输管道为研究对象,针对不同气油比管道泄漏的火灾危害进行了对比分析,构建了FLACS CFD模型,并研究了油气混输管道原油泄漏形成池火的火灾特征和影响范围,以及天然气泄漏形成喷射火的高温分布和影响规律。研究结果表明:应急处置应考虑不同气油比下池火与喷射火危害的差异。在油气混输管线泄漏10 min形成稳定火焰的场景中,气油比低于100 m3/t时,原油池火为火灾危险的主要影响因素;气油比高于200 m3/t时,天然气喷射火为主要影响因素;气油比超过250 m3/t,高温覆盖距离不再明显增加;40 m为此场景下混输油气泄漏喷射火致死距离上限,120 m为温度影响上限。     

Human factors integration – Bridging the gap between system designers and end-users: A case study

Within any high hazard industry such as chemical, oil and gas, rail or nuclear, it is necessary to involve system end-users within the design process if system design is to be optimised. To facilitate the identification and assessment of end user requirements it is necessary to integrate human factors (HF) into design from the start of the design lifecycle.During 2004, the author facilitated the integration of HF into a development project being implemented at a major gas processing facility on mainland Britain. The approach taken to HF integration on the project is commonly applied across the high hazard industries. This paper will provide information on this process and the benefits that this provided to the operator. Details will be provided on the approach taken in terms of:

• –Liaison between HF and other design disciplines.
• –Analysis undertaken and tools used.
• –HF topic areas covered.
• –Specific issues raised and how these were resolved.

It will demonstrate the advantage of the early integrated approach as compared to the later auditing or assurance approach sometimes taken in relation to HF.     

HAZOP分析方法在石油工业上游业务中的应用

基于国内石油工业上游业务风险分析和安全评价现状,针对油气勘探、油气田开发、油气集输和海洋石油各阶段工艺流程与作业环境特性,选择引导词、偏差进行安全评价,分析和探讨HAZOP分析方法在上游业务中应用的可行性和适用性。研究表明,对于油气田开发、油气集输阶段以及海上油气田生产方面,应用HAZOP分析,可从本质安全角度提出项目风险管理控制措施,提高装置安全性和可操作性,促进企业持续稳定发展。但对于油气勘探阶段,由于其风险呈层次型且评价方法依赖于数学建模和数值计算,不适宜采用HAZOP分析方法。     

Investigating new risk reduction and mitigation in the oil and gas industry

The complexity of the processes and the nature of volatile petroleum products urged the oil and gas industry to utilize various risk assessment techniques to identify potential failure modes that can interrupt operation processes. Consequently, government agencies and nonprofit professional societies guide the industry with regulatory guidelines, standards, and best recommended practices to oversee the operations management, assure safe working environment, and contain failures within tolerable limits. Yet, accidents due to electro-mechanical failures still occur and result in various consequences. Accordingly, critics have raised concerns about the petroleum industry's safety and risk mitigation credentials and question its ability to prevent future major accidents. Therefore, new risk assessment tools need to be introduced to provide decision makers and novice engineers with a diverse perception of potential risks. The aim of this paper is verify the application of Risk in Early Design (RED), a product risk assessment tool, in identifying potential failures in the oil and gas industry. Approximately thirty major accident underwent the RED analysis to verify the software's application to identify and rank potential failure modes.     

油气管道伴行光缆失效统计及对策措施研究

油气管道伴行光缆在油气运输中起着十分重要的作用。由于外部环境的突发性、复杂性、不可控性,导致伴行光缆管理困难、混乱,断缆事件经常发生,给油气管道运输带来较大损失。本文以某公司为例,以2012~2018年光缆断裂事故数据为依托,运用鱼刺图方法梳理出光缆失效的4大原因类别,并应用故障树分析法对光缆失效进行分析,从最小割(径)集、结构重要度方面对光缆失效因素分析,并针对不同的危害因素提出合理的风险管控措施,构建光缆失效保护层,为今后油气管道伴行光缆风险管控提供指导。     

Factors in offshore planning that affect the risk for major accidents

The purpose of this paper is to systematically analyse a typical planning process in the offshore industry from the perspective of causes of major accidents, with the ultimate aim of identifying factors that affect the risk for major accidents occurring. We first study and describe a typical planning process for offshore oil and gas operations in Norway. Then we analyse a number of theories of major accidents, to see how the different theories and their explanations of causes and contributing factors can be of relevance for future plans and planning processes. Finally, we review accident investigations to search for evidence of how weaknesses in planning processes can contribute to major accidents through the above identified factors. Also, we try to identify any additional factors that have not been recognised through the theoretical review. This provides empirical support for the theoretical basis. Thirteen factors which directly or indirectly can influence the planning process causing a major accident potential are identified. These are exemplified through a review of investigation reports. The paper suggests that planning process should focus more on increasing quality in the plans at an early phase, with examples from incidents, and illustrate the relation between planning quality and potential for major accidents.     

An integrated framework of safety performance evaluation for oil and gas production plants: Application to a petroleum transportation station

Safety performance evaluation is a significant way to ensure the safety of oil and gas production plants. Various evaluation methods have been proposed to make safety evaluation more consistent and scientific. However, a major concern is that many existing safety evaluation measurements are still subjective and are not easy to obtain in a uniform way, which can be attributed to the challenges that process plants faced such as people having different knowledge levels, equipment with dispersed locations and management with many processes. This paper aims to display the impact of risk factors on system safety level in a succinct and visual way that may be expected to overcome subjective opinions from experts and provide a more pertinent and practical safety strategies. To this end, an integrated framework is developed, which considers crucial risk factors from pipeline, static equipment, dynamic equipment and management. First, Fault tree analysis (FTA) is used to explicitly determine the crucial r risk factors. Then, a novel fuzzy cognitive map cooperating with relative degree analysis model (FCM-RDA) is proposed to deal with the weigh distribution opinions. Finally, considering the oil and gas production process is a complex system, a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) is employed to calculate the overall safety level.     

An Overview of the Nature of Hydrocarbon Jet Fire Hazards in the Oil and Gas Industry and a Simplified Approach to Assessing the Hazards

High pressure jet fires pose a serious hazard to offshore installations operated by the oil and gas industry as demonstrated by the Piper Alpha incident. Following the Piper Alpha incident a major initiative by the offshore oil and gas industry operators led to the production of Interim Guidance Notes which provided guidance to operators on how to assess jet fire hazards. However, many areas of uncertainty were identified where no data was available. Areas of particular concern identified in the Interim Guidance Notes were two-phase jet fires, the effect of confinement on jet fires and their behaviour with water deluge. Since that time a considerable body of experimental research has been undertaken. Based on this recent data, this paper reassesses jet fire hazards in an offshore environment and provides updated guidance on the hazards they pose, including tabulated data and simple calculation techniques for predicting jet fire hazards.