An automated system for batch hazard and operability studies

Abstract

A widely used hazard identification technique within the process industry is HAZOP (hazard and operability study). To overcome the repetitive and time-consuming nature of the technique automated systems are being developed. This work considers batch processes, in which material undergoes processing in distinct stages within the plant equipment items according to a set of operating procedures, rather than each equipment item remaining in a "steady state", as is normal for continuous plants. In batch plants deviations which can lead to hazards can arise both from deviations from operating procedures and process variable deviations. Therefore, the effect of operator actions needs to be considered. CHECKOP is an automated batch HAZOP identification system being developed as a joint project between HAZID Technologies Ltd and Loughborough University. CHECKOP uses a state-based approach to HAZOP analysis. CHECKOP takes a plant description and a set of operating instructions as input and produces a HAZOP report automatically. The overall system architecture and the details of the major components of the systems will be described. Examples of incorrect plant operation along with the resulting output generated by CHECKOP will be shown. The advantages and limitations of CHECKOP will be discussed.

A structural decomposition-based diagnosis method for dynamic process systems using HAZID information

“…All components are instances of specific equipment classes (eg. tank, pipe, valve), process systems are built from them in an object-oriented manner as in [10]. That means that similar parts (eg.…”

“…Fortunately, there have been results for automated generation of them (for HAZOP, in [15] together with a concrete application in [14]). Another possible way is to use qualitative models in such an analysis (again, for HAZOP, see [6] with a batch process system application in [10]). An attempt to unite the two different diagnostic information stored in HAZOP and FMEA analysis results, called the blended HAZID methodology was described in [9] together with its use for process system diagnosis tasks.…”

An efficient method for identifying the chemical hazards of exception‐handling tasks and processes derived from abnormal process conditions

“…To avoid such a situation, the possible exception‐handling tasks should be identified in advance such that any potential hazards arising from the execution of these tasks can also be identified and evaluated beforehand. Under the frameworks proposed in References 13 and 14, the necessary tasks in a process or project are easily identified since the concerned process or project are clear. However, in the chemical processing industry, compiling a full list of the exception‐handling tasks which may be performed in response to process abnormalities, and the potential chemical hazards which may arise from the execution of these tasks, is not easy due to the wide variety of abnormal conditions which may occur and the unpredictability of the operator in responding to these conditions.…”

“…Gerbec et al proposed an approach for designing operating procedures for rare, new or complex processes, such as the infrequent cold water pressure testing of liquefied petroleum gas storage tanks, based on a combination of task analysis, 4D process simulation, task HAZID, and optimization method. 13 Balfe et al similarly integrated task analysis, safety analysis, and optimization techniques to construct a total project planning framework. 14 Both methods commence by identifying the concerned tasks.…”