Human Errors Analysis and Safety Management Systems in Hazardous Activities

The present report describes human error analysis as emerged from the Three Mile Island accident, that was a milestone in the development of studies on human factors; it then presents some methods to quantify and analyse the risks related to human error. A further case of analysis is examined, focusing on the importance of organizationalrelated factors, as the Root causes of operator-error at the sharp end of the accidents chain of events. Some of the most relevant managerial/organizational factors are discussed, following the classification that G.Drogaris (G.Drogaris 1993) derived from his analysis of the MARS database. The classification is then confronted with the aspects required by the Seveso II Directive for a Safety Management System. Finally the sixth chapter considers the way in which human factors are analyzed in the Safety Management System of an Italian Oil Refinery, and possible ways of placement and improvements of this process through a particular use of the Success Likelihood Index Methodology

Human‑centred design in industry 4.0: case study review and opportunities for future research

The transition to industry 4.0 has impacted factories, but it also afects the entire value chain. In this sense, human-centred factors play a core role in transitioning to sustainable manufacturing processes and consumption. The awareness of human roles in Industry 4.0 is increasing, as evidenced by active work in developing methods, exploring infuencing factors, and proving the efectiveness of design oriented to humans. However, numerous studies have been brought into existence but then disconnected from other studies. As a consequence, these studies in industry and research alike are not regularly adopted, and the network of studies is seemingly broad and expands without forming a coherent structure. This study is a unique attempt to bridge the gap through the literature characteristics and lessons learnt derived from a collection of case studies regarding human-centred design (HCD) in the context of Industry 4.0. This objective is achieved by a well-rounded systematic literature review whose special unit of analysis is given to the case studies, delivering contributions in three ways: (1) providing an insight into how the literature has evolved through the cross-disciplinary lens; (2) identifying what research themes associated with design methods are emerging in the feld; (3) and setting the research agenda in the context of HCD in Industry 4.0, taking into account the lessons learnt, as uncovered by the in-depth review of case studies

Discourse and sociotechnical transformation: the emergence of refinery information systems

This thesis considers the emergence and diffusion of British Petroleum's (BP) Refinery Information Systems (RIS). Insights from the associology of translation are coupled with the Foucauldian concepts of discourse and power /knowledge in order to analyse accounts of the system provided by organisational participants. The analysis suggests that a new form of managerialism, or "new commercial agenda" is being selectively deployed both within BP and within the wider commercial world. This transformed managerialism seeks to maintain control and heighten commercialism through a re- working of hierarchical relations within the organisation. Artefacts and practices of organisational life are revealed as prime vehicles for instantiating this new agenda and BP's Refinery Information Systems are thus seen to be both a condition and a consequence of the changes underway

Electrification in Process Industry - The Role of Process Integration and Future Energy Market Conditions

Electrification of industrial processes is a frequently discussed strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy-intensive process industries and is highlighted in many roadmap studies. Electricity is a versatile energy carrier that enables a broad variety of options in which existing process unit operations are replaced with electricity-driven alternatives. However, the implications in terms of greenhouse gas emission reduction potential and cost when integrating such new electrification technologies are not obvious due to often complex interactions between energy flows in existing industrial plants. Understanding these implications and interactions is not only important in order to assess electrification in comparison with current process configurations, but also to allow a comparison with other greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies.In this thesis, a bottom-up framework to assess opportunities for electrification of energy-intensive industrial processes in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and costs was developed. One particular novelty is that the framework includes heat integration studies with pinch analysis tools to analyse how potential changes in heat surpluses or demands associated with the replacement of a fuel- or heat-driven unit operation by a new electricity-driven process affect the heat recovery potentials and utility demands of the overall site. Furthermore, energy flows between the process site and the background energy system are considered and the use of scenarios is introduced in order to assess the impact of electrification options under different possible future energy market conditions. The framework was tested and validated in three case studies for different industrial processes. In these case studies, different parts of the existing processes-related systems (e.g. the reactor system or utility system) were assumed to be electrified, highlighting different aspects of the proposed assessment framework.The results emphasise that electrification may significantly change the heat flows through a process site and that detailed heat integration studies are required to capture these effects. Another finding is that the underlying assumptions for future energy market scenarios have a strong impact on greenhouse gas emission reduction potentials and cost. The framework can be used to compare electrification with other process greenhouse gas emission reduction measures and to support policy and industrial decision making

Safety lifecycle management in the process industries : the development of a qualitative safety related information analysis technique

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Thermochemical and catalytic conversion technologies for the development of Brazilian biomass utilization

The social, economic, and environmental impacts of climate change have been shown to affect poorer populations throughout the world disproportionally, and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–2021 has only exacerbated the use of less sustainable energy, fuel, and chemical sources. The period of economic and social recovery following the pandemic presents an unprecedented opportunity to invest in biorefineries based on the pyrolysis of agricultural residues. These produce a plethora of sustainable resources while also contributing to the economic valorization of first-sector local economies. However, biomass-derived pyrolysis liquid is highly oxygenated, which hinders its long-term stability and usability. Catalytic hydrogenation is a proposed upgrading method to reduce this hindrance, while recent studies on the use of nickel and niobium as low-cost catalysts, both abundant in Brazil, reinforce the potential synergy between different economic sectors within the country. This review gathers state-of-the-art applications of these technologies with the intent to guide the scientific community and lawmakers alike on yet another alternative for energy and commodities production within an environmentally sustainable paradigm

A model formulation approach for system support engineering

Organizations today face intense competitive pressure to do things better, faster and cheaper. This pushes organizations to improve their performance over time, while meeting (or catching up with) increased customer demands and competitor pressure. Classical techniques in asset management involve performance monitoring, process control and fault diagnosis techniques that aim to determine the limit of the asset’s service life. Theoretically, replacements should be made at the time when the asset is about to fail so that the full service value of the replaced components can be utilized. However, this is not possible as modern machine systems are of increasing complexity and sophistication. Many other factors govern the operation of the asset. Decisions such as asset replacement, upgrade or system overhaul are in many respects equivalent to a major investment, which is risk sensitive. A high value engineering complex system is expected to be in service for years. Therefore, in order to meet functional demand by the end users, the capability and efficiency of the system should keep increasing. In general, the more complex the systems become, better solutions in both technical and management domains is required. Literature suggests that there is a need to develop a tool or a set of techniques that practitioners in the industry can apply to design support system for operating assets in order to maintain long term optimized performance and best return on investment. This tool should integrate industry domain knowledge to create and deliver a specific support solution for in-service assets, as the circumstance requires. At the moment, there is no generic framework or architecture available for practitioners to use. This leads to the following research question “Can industrial practitioners have generic architecture to simplify the development of such a system”? If the answer is yes; then how possible is it?” This research proposes a validated answer for this important question and discusses the development of the system support engineering (SSE) generic architecture as a fundamental structure for providing a systematic modelling approach that enables industrial practitioners to design, implement and measure a support system performance. The development of such a structure is the result of combining both literature analysis and empirical work. As a result of the above activities, a conclusion is reached that the architecture consists of three elements (product, process and people) in a business environment structured in three levels (Execution, Management and Enterprise). This model is called multi-level 3PE model. The system support engineering approach aims to develop support systems that can sustain constant high performance. The essence of this approach is its ability to capture strategic planning and operation issues by: •  Adapting a whole of systems approach to identify the support system’s requirements. •  Providing a hierarchical structure of three management levels linking support system requirements in one level to requirements in other levels such that the system design can be traceable in the whole system. As a result, operational and commercial issues are integrated in a seamless fashion in the support system. Furthermore, the thesis presents a methodology which industrial practitioners can easily use to evaluate and calculate the performance of a support system. The methodology captures all system support factors in three basic elements, i.e. product process and people in a unified performance scoring process that can be analysed by simple mathematical equation to demonstrate the operational performance of the support system. As main contribution of this research, a generic architecture has been created with the following characteristics: •  Clearly identified requirements. •  An overview of the behaviour vector of the model and clearly drawn relations between elements. •  Captures the strategic decisions, inventions and engineering trade‐offs. •  All activities associated with various phases of the effort at the level of elements in the system breakdown structure.  •  Technical and commercial issues that are linkable from the maintenance and development (expansion) point of view

Following a cleaner production approach to guide the permitting process of odour producing industries : an assessment of case studies.

Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.The eThekwini Municipality is facing two major challenges in controlling odorous emissions by various industries in the South Durban Basin; firstly, getting industry to manage their onsite odorous emissions and, secondly regulating these odorous emissions. This study focused on the Jacobs’s Industrial Complex (JIC) which comprises various industries releasing air emissions which impact on the local air quality. The impact of these emissions is supported by the number of odour complaints reported to the eThekwini Environmental Health Department by the public. Cleaner production (CP) is an integrated approach aimed at continuously reducing environmental impacts of processes, products and services through applying preventive approaches rather than controlling and managing pollution once it has been created. This dissertation has assessed the application of CP as a concept to prevent and reduce emissions of odours by industries in the JIC that are an impacting on the environment and neighbouring communities. Three CP case studies are analysed to demonstrate the applicability of the approach. These are a CP project for drum reprocessing company based in the South Durban Basin and two waste minimisation clubs which operated from 1998 to 2000 in Durban. The key findings, outcomes, experiences and lessons learnt from these case studies underpin the recommendation of an approach that can be applied by eThekwini Municipality to incorporate CP in the scheduled trade (ST) permitting of odour producing industries. This research has applied a multi-case study design implying both qualitative and quantitative approaches. A qualitative approach was used in the detailed analyses of case studies whilst the quantitative one was applied in the graphical analyses of the odour complaints statistics for the JIC. The study concludes by drawing two major recommendations from the lessons leant. Recommendation 1: The general CP strategy that can be applied by eThekwini Municipality in regulating, promoting, enforcing, monitoring and evaluating application of CP practices among stakeholders. The recommended objectives for the general strategy include: · Enforcement of uniform regulatory standards. · Development of a policy or guidelines. · Effective compliance monitoring and enforcement. · Develop a local Cleaner Production Centre (LCPC). · Ensure co-operative governance. · Provide adequate financial resources. · Monitoring and evaluation. Recommendation 2: Strategy for incorporating CP in the ST permitting of odour producing industries. It is recommended that the ST permit holder for an odour producing industry comply with the following: · Prioritisation of odour like the other priority pollutants. · Industry to perform an audit to map odour emitting areas. · Permit holder to development a CP based odour management plan. · Investigate possible CP projects that can be undertaken to prevent and mitigate odour emissions. · Incorporate an odour management plan into a 5 year environmental improvement plan. · Develop and appropriately manage an odour complaints management system. · Set odour management performance indicators and baselines for targets and reporting. · The permit holder should include odour management performance including odour complaints management in the annual report