MODULE ONE: What is a Process Industry?
This is the first lesson in the course ‘Safety Analysis in the Process Industry’ and is included to introduce the type of industry in which safety is of paramount importance. The process industries are those industries where the primary production processes are either continuous or occur on a batch of materials that is indistinguishable.
Process Industries are defined as:
“An industry, such as the chemical or petrochemical industry, that is concerned with the processing of bulk resources into other products.”
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
What are the Process Industries?
The process industries are those industries where the primary production processes are either continuous or occur on a batch of materials that is indistinguishable. For example, a food processing company making sauce may make the sauce in a continuous, uninterrupted flow from receipt of ingredients through packaging. Or batches may be produced depending on the cook kettle sizes but immediately combined and re-routed. In either case, there is no concept of a unit of sauce while it is being processed. Examples of the process industries include food, beverages, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, ceramics, base metals, coal, plastics, rubber, textiles, tobacco, wood and wood products, paper and paper products, etc. (Source IISE)
Personnel
While most of the processes are either batch operated: i.e. a measured amount of the commodity being processed, or a number of commodities combined and processed until completion, most Process Industries operate on a continuous basis, e.g. an oil refinery where the crude oil is piped from storage tanks to the Refinery for processing into various cuts, from gases to bitumen.
Both processes, whether batch or continuous, require personnel to operate the plant and will require various numbers of operators depending on the expertise required. These personnel will range in seniority from cleaners and operators to management. Depending on the processes there could be engineers and technicians or accountants and health and safety officials.
A batch process would require many of the operators to be “hands-on” and working the pumps and valves and piping and observing the temperatures, pressures and production to complete the batch process. Depending on the severity of the products being processed these operators would be wearing various degrees of sophistication of Personnel Protection Equipment (PPE).
In a continuous process like an oil refinery or petrochemical plant, while there will be operators on the unit itself, many more will be housed in blast proof buildings observing the continuous operation of the unit, and if installed instrumentation does not control the process completely, they will be making online changes to ensure safe and optimum production levels in the unit.
In both processes there is an enormous logistical team making sure finished products and goods are packaged or stored and transported to their final destinations.
HSE Definition – What does Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) mean?
Health, safety and environment (HSE) refers to a branch, or department, within a company that is responsible for the observance and protection of occupational health and safety rules and regulations along with environmental protection. Health, safety and environment (HSE) is also often referred to as environmental health and safety (EHS) or safety, health and environment (SHE). (Source: Workplace Testing.com)
This is why we need to become involved in the design and operation of Process Industries to protect the Health and Safety of all the personnel as well as the Environment around the plant.
With the level of sophistication of instrumentation and the advent of computerised control systems it is imperative that a whole science of Hazardous Operations Analysis has grown up and become refined, often spurred on by the most horrendous Industrial accidents worldwide, which often, after meticulous examination, come down to the most simple explanation, like an open pipe which has not been sealed off with a cap, or a sticking level instrument which has been bypassed rather than bothering to maintain or replace it.
Conclusion
It is therefore the object of this course to guide you through the background of the basic engineering materials we have at our disposal to study:
- The Process flow of the Process Industry being discussed. Block Flow Diagrams BFD’s and Process Flow Diagrams PFD’s.
- The conversion of the Process Flow to the infrastructure of the Process Plant using Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams or P&ID’s.
- The documenting of the Process Equipment by means of Data Sheets describing each item of equipment.
- The General Piping Standards documented on the P&ID’s.
- The instrumentation detailing on the P&ID’s and their source.
Utilising the information above we will prepare a Terms of Reference (TOR) document which will form the basis of the information required by the team who will carry out the Analysis of the Level of Safety of the Process in question. This may be at the design stage of the Process or when modifications are done, or when follow up analysis is required to ensure the continued Safety of the Process Plant.