A risk-based approach to design warning system for processing facilities

Alarm flooding is a major safety issue in today's processing facilities. Important recommendations are available for alarm management; however, they are often violated in practice, especially in the alarm systems implemented through the distributed control system. An effective process alarm prioritization and management system is desired for a safe and effective operation of a process facility.In present work, authors address two main issues related to an alarm system – the reliability and the prioritization of the alarms. The main objective is to deal with the alarm-flooding problem in process facilities. A multi alert voting system based on sensor redundancy approach is proposed to improve the reliability. A quantitative risk-based alarm management approach is proposed to address the flooding issue. In the risk-based approach, an integrated model consisting of the probability (P), the impact (I) of the potential hazards, and the process safety time is proposed to prioritize these raised alarms.The proposed approach is further explained by a reactor system with pressure and temperature variable monitoring and controls, where the hazards associated with two alerts caused by over high pressure and over high temperature are analyzed and integrated with response time for alarms generation and prioritization.     

Innovative design of an LDPE reactor bay against gas explosion using a risk-based approach coupled with high fidelity computer tools

High pressure tubular reactors for the production of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) are, for safety reasons, enclosed in a protective bay open towards the sky. They are becoming longer and larger due to production capacity increases. TECHNIP has historically designed these reactor bays based on Licensor information, which include more or less empirical correlations. Further capacity developments require the design of these concrete enclosures to be challenged. With this in mind, the present study shows the interest of implementing an innovative methodology based upon a risk-based approach to define new design criteria for the enclosure walls. The method, which combines both risk analysis with computational fluid dynamics modelling (3D CFD) and non-linear finite element analysis (NLFEA) tools, allows a clear determination of the design overpressure loads applied on walls and offers an optimisation of the concrete wall thickness. The CFD study also leads to a better understanding of the ventilation and efficiency of safety systems (gas detection, depressurisation) with possibility for improvement of the hazardous area classification rating.     

用经济手段管理森林防火的尝试

实践证明,在市场经济条件下,运用经济手段管理森林防火工作,是使森林防火工作由单一行政命令的传统模式向经济、法律、行政相结合的新的森防管理模式转变的有效途径。     

A new approach to determine relieving temperature and thermodynamic behavior of trapped single and multi-phase fluid exposed to fire

Process safety plays a key role in modern industries. This is more significant specifically in off-shore oil and gas platforms where releasing hydrocarbons could cause irreversible damages to both environment and personnel. An important instrument device which can provide safety for process equipment in oil and gas fields is safety relief valve. Correct sizing procedure of such devices depends strongly on physical properties of fluid and relieving condition. The present study revolved around applying thermodynamic concepts and modeling to throw some light on the behavior of trapped fluid exposed to fire in order to evaluate precise temperature and fluid properties at relieving condition. Peng–Robinson equation of state together with a three phase flash has been utilized to handle the calculation. Effect of different design parameters has been evaluated for three distinct categories of fluids namely natural gas, gas-condensate mixture, and gas-oil mixtures. These parameters encompass of operating temperature, operating pressure, Difference of Operating and Design Pressure, gas and oil specific gravities, gas-oil ratio, and water cut. The study depicted that American Petroleum Institute practice number 521 which suggests an ideal gas assumption fails to provide reliable predictions as it significantly overestimate the relieving temperature. Moreover, black oil correlations were also used for the relief temperature estimation of gas-oil-water mixtures. Comparison with HYSYS results as a prominent engineering software proved that black oil models are reliable tools to predict relief temperature.     

活化改性半焦用于烟气脱硫催化剂制备工艺优化

为研究不同制备工艺条件下的烟气脱硫催化剂吸附去除烟气中硫化物的性能,采用硝酸活化的半焦脱硫剂,通过穿透时间和硫容评价所制备催化剂的脱硫性能.采用固定床反应器考察了催化剂表面基团酸碱性、催化剂成型的制备顺序、黏结剂和催化剂尺寸及负载金属氧化物等制备工艺条件对催化剂脱硫性能的影响.结果表明:原料半焦表面呈碱性,半焦经硝酸氧化改性后,表面呈酸性,高温煅烧可以使半焦表面酸性官能团分解成碱性官能团,催化剂表面净碱量越大,脱硫性能越好;采取先将半焦成型再进行高温煅烧、水气活化的工艺,脱硫活性更高;最适合的黏结剂为煤焦油;最佳的催化剂粒径为3mm;烟气中通入O2能显著提高半焦吸附催化剂的脱硫性能,O2体积分数以5％为宜,烟气中适量H2O是脱硫必不可少的条件,水汽体积分数以8％最佳;在催化剂制备过程中添加质量分数为1％的V2O5,可以明显改善催化剂的脱硫性能.     

A new approach to measuring work-related well-being

The main aim of this study was to develop a short questionnaire to assess work-related well-being from the organizational behaviour perspective. The short well-being questionnaire enables measuring longitudinal work-related well-being. Work-related well-being was assessed with a 147-item questionnaire covering both organizational and intrinsic factors of work-related well-being. The questionnaire consisted of 27 categories. The respondents were 114 women (65%) and 62 men (35%), mean age 39.2 years, in various occupations. From the extensive questionnaire a shorter questionnaire with 33 items was developed by principal component analysis. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure to test the sampling adequacy of 27 factor solutions varied from .62 to .91 and Cronbach?s α was .74-.94. Most κ values of the shorter questionnaire were .50-.94 (p < .001). The reliability of the short version was comparable to that of the original questionnaire. The short one could also be suitable for Internet and mobile questionnaire applications.     

A new approach to road accident rescue

Objective: This article develops and validates a new methodology and tool for rescue assistance in traffic accidents, with the aim of improving its efficiency and safety in the evacuation of people, reducing the number of victims in road accidents.

Method: Different tests supported by professionals and experts have been designed under different circumstances and with different categories of damaged vehicles coming from real accidents and simulated trapped victims in order to calibrate and refine the proposed methodology and tool.

Results: To validate this new approach, a tool called App_Rescue has been developed. This tool is based on the use of a computer system that allows an efficient access to the technical information of the vehicle and sanitary information of the common passengers. The time spent during rescue using the standard protocol and the proposed method was compared.

Conclusion: This rescue assistance system allows us to make vital information accessible in posttrauma care services, improving the effectiveness of interventions by the emergency services, reducing the rescue time and therefore minimizing the consequences involved and the number of victims. This could often mean saving lives. In the different simulated rescue operations, the rescue time has been reduced an average of 14%.     

安全心理学初探

介绍了心理学与安全的关系,分析了可能导致不安全因素的各种心理原因,指出了安全心理学的研究内容,点明了研究心理学在工程中的积极意义。     

基于贝叶斯网络的一种事故分析模型

贝叶斯网络被认为是人工智能研究中不确定性知识表示和推理的重要工具。当前在系统安全领域中已开始运用贝叶斯网络技术进行故障诊断分析，然而故障只是诱发事故的因素之一，无法系统的评价事故背后的隐患，对事故后果的预测也甚少涉及。笔者将贝叶斯网络作为一种事故分析手段，在事故致因理论的基础上提出了一种基于危险因素-事故-事故危害的三层贝叶斯网络拓扑模型；阐述了网络模型层次间的因果关联关系、各层次的构成、节点的描述方法以及网络模型的构建方法；最后通过一个天然气球罐的分析案例验证了该模型分析方法的可行性和有效性。     

电除尘器的设计与探讨

介绍了电除尘器的工作原理、结构特性、基本参数和总体设计计算。这种电除尘器可广泛使用于冶金、化工、轻工 ,水泥和矿山等工业部门 ,随着人们对生态环境质量要求的不断提高 ,电除尘器将成为环保的重要设备     

A structured approach to improved condition monitoring

Improved condition monitoring of production equipment enhances process safety and the ability to prepare maintenance, to perform maintenance efficiently, and thus reduce downtime and associated costs. Currently, there is a somewhat limited focus on condition monitoring of static equipment, such as heat exchangers and separators. This is due to organizational barriers, available technology, and budget constraints at management level. The objective of this article is to present a three-step approach that supports the decision-maker in the selection of condition monitoring methods for production equipment. The approach is exemplified by a heat exchanger and the focus is on condition monitoring in the operational phase, including assessment of life cycle costs (LCC).     

夹竹桃挥发性有机物日变化的测定

探究夹竹桃挥发性有机物(BVOCs)的释放特征可以为景观植物的选择提供依据.于2013年6月10日,使用动态吸附法对夹竹桃中挥发性有机物进行采集,利用GC-MS进行分析,探索其挥发性有机物的日变化规律.结果表明:在夹竹桃的释放物中共检出8大类挥发性有机物,可分为26种,包括EPA重点控制的有害污染物甲苯、乙苯、苯乙烯、苯乙酮、萘、邻苯二甲酸二丁酯等;夹竹桃BVOCs在8:00-10:00释放量最大,在13:00-15:00释放量最小,且不同类型有机物表现出不同的日变化趋势;对邻苯二甲酸二丁酯、乙苯、苯乙烯3种代表物质进行定量分析,这3种物质的平均质量浓度分别为0.019 23mg/m3、0.131 60mg/m3、4.130 20mg/m3.研究表明,夹竹桃会释放少量有害污染物,因而不适合作为景观植物.     

关于大中型企业防震减灾工作的探讨

文章通过介绍强烈地震对大中型厂矿企业所造成的地震灾害 ,主要探讨在大中型厂矿企业开展抗震设防、地震应急及防震减灾宣传三方面工作     

A multi-criteria approach to screening alternatives for converting sewage sludge to biodiesel

The search for cheaper feedstock for use in the production of biofuels such as biodiesel has turned attention to various forms of waste products including animal fats, waste oils and now lipids in sludge. With the potential of obtaining sludge at a reduced cost, free, or possibly with incentives, sewage sludge is being investigated as a potential feedstock for biofuel production. For the extraction of oils from the sewage sludge and the subsequent processing, there are various alternatives that should be designed, analyzed, and screened. In developing and screening these alternatives, it is necessary to have a consistent basis for comparing alternatives based on key criteria. While most of the design studies focus on techno-economic criteria, it is also important to include safety metrics in the multi-criteria analysis. In this work, a detailed economic analysis and a safety evaluation are performed on a process involving extraction of triglycerides and fatty acids, pre-treatment of fatty acids (direct conversion to biodiesel), and transesterification of triglycerides to biodiesel. Four solvents, toluene, hexane, methanol and ethanol, are individually used in the extraction process. The resulting triglycerides and fatty acids from each extraction are modeled in the pre-treatment process. ASPEN Plus software is used to simulate the detailed process. Economic analysis is performed using ASPEN ICARUS, and scale-up of a previously analyzed process is used to estimate the cost of the biodiesel portion of the process. A new safety metric (referred to as the Safety Index “SI”) is introduced to enable comparison of the various solvent extraction processes. The SI is based on solvent criteria as well as process conditions. A case study is presented to demonstrate the insights and usefulness of the developed approach. The results of the techno-economic analysis reveal that of the four solvents used for the initial extraction, hexane and toluene were least costly (2.89 and 2.79 $/gal, respectively). Conversely, the safety analysis utilizing the SI reveals that methanol and ethanol are the safer solvent options. The issue of cost/safety tradeoffs is also discussed.     

A suggested approach to the selection of chemical and biological protective clothing--meeting industry and emergency response needs for protection against a variety of hazards.

The paper describes the development of a comprehensive decision logic for selection and use of biological and chemical protective clothing (BCPC). The decision logic recognizes the separate areas of BCPC use among emergency, biological, and chemical hazards. The proposed decision logic provides a system for type classifying BCPC in terms of its compliance with existing standards (for emergency applications), the overall clothing integrity, and the material barrier performance. Type classification is offered for garments, gloves, footwear, and eye/face protection devices. On the basis of multiple, but simply designed flowcharts, the type of BCPC appropriate for specific biological and chemical hazards can be selected. The decision logic also provides supplemental considerations for choosing appropriate BCPC features.     

A new approach to quantitative assessment of reliability of passive systems

The objective of this paper is to show how probabilistic reliability can be assessed for complex systems in the absence of statistical data on their operating experience, based on performance evaluation of the dominant underlying physical processes. The approach is to distinguish between functional and performance probabilities when dealing with the quantification of the overall probability of a system to perform a given function in a given period of time (reliability). In the case of systems where sufficient statistical operating experience data are available, one can focus the quantitative evaluation entirely on the assessment of the functional probability for a given active item (e.g. a pump) by assuming that the specification, layout, construction and installation is such that the item is providing the assigned performance, e.g. in the form of generating the required flow rate. This is how traditional probabilistic safety assessments (PSAs) focus the reliability analysis for the various safety features on the calculation of values for the availability per demand. In contrast, for various systems relevant in advanced technical applications, such as passive safety features in innovative reactor designs, it is essential to evaluate both functional and performance probabilities explicitly and combine the two probabilities later on. This is of course due to the strong reliance of passive safety systems on inherent physical principles. In practice, this means that, for example, in case of a passive cooling system based on natural circulation of a given medium, one has to evaluate and to assess the probability to have a medium condition and a flow rate such that a cladding temperature, represented by a probability distribution, can be hold at a required level. A practical example of this method is given for the case of the reliability assessment of a residual passive heat removal system. General conclusions are drawn regarding reliability estimation of complex, interconnected systems in the absence of statistical performance data, such as for infrastructures.     

A Bayesian approach to construct bow tie diagrams for risk evaluation

Bow tie diagrams have become a popular method for risk analysis and safety management. This tool describes the whole scenario of a given risk graphically, and proposes preventive and protective barriers to reduce, respectively, its occurrence and its severity. The weakness of bow tie diagrams is that they are restricted to a graphical representation of different scenarios exclusively designed by experts that ignore the dynamic aspect of real systems. Thus, constructing bow tie diagrams in an automatic and dynamic way remains a real challenge. This paper proposes a new Bayesian approach to construct bow tie diagrams from real data and improve them by adding a new numerical that enables us to implement the appropriate preventive and protective barriers in a dynamic manner.