Process safety in labs, chemical compatibility, and other topics in process safety newsletters

Process safety in the laboratory – “Wherever you work – in a process plant, a research laboratory, a pilot plant, a quality control laboratory, a maintenance shop, or anywhere else – make sure you fully understand the hazards associated with all of your materials, equipment, and operations. You can’t manage the risk from a hazard that you don’t know about!”

Understanding chemical compatibility – “This is important information to understand so you can take proper precautions to make sure that incompatible materials are not inadvertently mixed. That can happen when making material transfers such as unloading shipments into storage tanks or other containers, when containers are stored adjacent to each other in warehouses or production areas, and when products are transferred to tank farms for storage before being shipped.”

Dangerous chemical reactions at home – “Did you know that mixing some household cleaners could be fatal?”

A little static can cause a big fire – “Static charge is generated by contact and separation of two different materials. Once generated, charge may remain on the materials until it finds a lower electrical potential, then it discharges. The spark can have enough energy to ignite flammable vapors, gases, or a combustible dust cloud.”

Can you recognize a change – “On the passenger vessel that experienced the engine fire, couplings on three of the four engines had been replaced with threaded hose fittings and rubber hoses. One of those hoses failed and sprayed fuel directly onto the hot engine exhaust, which likely provided the ignition source.”

15 years of the “Process Safety Beacon” – “When you read a Beacon, think about what you can learn from it, even if it discusses an incident which happened in a very different kind of plant.”

Hazards of high oxygen concentration, mixing incompatible materials, and more in process safety newsletters

Hazards of high oxygen concentration – “Autoignition temperature (AIT) and minimum ignition energy (MIE) are lowered markedly by higher oxygen content. Substances ignite more readily, burn faster, generate higher temperatures, and are difficult to extinguish.”

Mixing incompatible materials in storage tanks – “Understand potential hazardous interactions among different materials that you unload into your plant’s storage tanks. The July 2016 “Beacon” describes the “Chemical Reactivity Worksheet,” a tool which your engineers and chemists can use to help understand chemical interactions.”

…but the temperature was below the flash point! – “Because the vessel was operating below the flash point of the contents, the concentration of fuel vapor in the vessel atmosphere was too low for ignition. There should not have been an explosion hazard. But the fuel may not only be present as a vapor (remember dust explosions). The investigation determined that the vessel agitator created a fine mist of liquid droplets (Fig. 2). The tiny droplets were estimated to have an average size of about 1 micron. … Flammability testing demonstrated that the mist could be ignited at room temperature in air – and the mist would be ignited even more easily in a pure oxygen atmosphere.”

Are you sure that vessel is empty? – “When returning equipment to service following maintenance, make sure that it is completely clean and does not contain anything that could be incompatible with process materials or operating conditions.”

Corroded tanks! – “Holes in tanks can allow toxic or flammable vapors to escape into the surrounding environment. Corrosion can weaken tanks, pipes, or other equipment so they can fail under normal operating conditions.”

Incident investigation of a steam pipe failure – “There is a reason for including a team of people with different expertise in an incident investigation… In this incident, the engineers and other experts did not recognize the machine tool marks on the failed pipe, and yet it was immediately obvious to the expert, experienced machinist. His knowledge completely changed the conclusions of the investigation, and was essential for understanding the cause of the incident.”