A bisphenol A production plant possesses considerable potential risks in the top of the methanol separation column, as pressurized acetone, methanol, and water are processed at an elevated temperature, especially in the event of an abnormal pressure increase due to a sudden power outage. This study assesses the potential risks in the methanol separation column through hazard and operability assessments and evaluates the damages in the case of fire and explosion accident scenarios. The study chooses three leakage scenarios: a 5-mm puncture on the methanol separation column, a 50-mm diameter fracture of a discharge pipe and a catastrophic rupture, and, simulated using Phast (Ver. 6.531), the concentration distribution of scattered methanol, thermal radiation distribution of fires, and overpressure distribution of vapor cloud explosions. Implementation of a safety-instrumented system equipped with two-out-of-three voting as a safety measure can detect overpressure at the top of the column and shut down the main control valve and the emergency shutoff valve simultaneously. By applying a safety integrity level of three, the maximal release volume of the safety relief valve can be reduced and, therefore, the design capacity of the flare stack can also be reduced. Such integration will lead to improved safety at a reduced cost.
-For a methanol separation column of the BPA (Bisphenol A) plant, HAZOP (hazard and operability) assessment was performed and damage ranges were predicted from the accident scenarios for the fire and the explosion. As a result, the damage range of the jet fire was 20 m in the case of rupture of the discharge pipe (50 mm diameter) of safety valve, and that of the flash fire was 267 m in the case of catastrophic rupture. Also, the damage ranges of the unconfined vapor cloud explosion (UVCE) for the rupture of the discharge pipe and for the catastrophic rupture were 22 m and 542 m, respectively. For the worst case of release scenarios, safety measures were suggested as follows: the pressure instruments, which can detect abnormal rise of the internal pressure in the methanol separation column, should be installed by the 2 out of 3 voting method in the top section of the column. Through the detection, the instuments should simultaneously shut down the control and the emergency shut-off valves.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.