A study of the design expertise for plants handling hazardous materials

A study of the design expertise for plants handling hazardous material

Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Refining of Mineral Oil and Gas. Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)

The BREF entitled ‘Refining of Mineral Oil and Gas’ forms part of a series presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection, and the Commission, to draw up, review, and where necessary, update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU). This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. This BREF for the refining of mineral oil and gas covers certain industrial activities specified in Section 1.2 of Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU, namely the energy industries of the refining of mineral oil and gas sector. In particular, this document covers the following refineries processes and activities: - Alkylation - Base oil production - Bitumen production - Catalytic cracking - Catalytic reforming - Coking - Cooling - Desalting - Combustion of refinery fuels for energy production - Etherification - Gas separation - Hydrogen consuming processes - Hydrogen production - Isomerisation - Natural gas plants - Polymerisation - Primary distillation - Product treatments - Storage and handling of refinery materials - Visbreaking and other thermal conversions - Waste gas treatment - Waste water treatment - Waste management. Important issues for the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU in the refining of mineral oil and gas sector are the emissions to air of volatile organic substances, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, hydrofluoric acid, ammonia, carbon monoxide, dioxins and furans, and dust; emissions to water of oils, benzene, suspended solids, COD, nitrogen, metals (lead, cadmium, nickel, mercury); energy efficiency; and the prevention of emissions to soil and groundwater. The BREF document contains seven chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide general information on the refining of mineral oil and gas industry and on the industrial processes and techniques used within this sector. Chapter 3 provides data and information concerning the environmental performance of installations in terms of current emissions, consumption of raw materials, water and energy, and generation of waste. Chapter 4 describes the techniques to prevent or reduce emissions from installations in the sector. In Chapter 5 the BAT conclusions, as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive, are presented for the refining of mineral oil and gas industry. Chapters 6 and 7 are dedicated to emerging techniques as well as to concluding remarks and recommendations for future work in the sector, respectively.JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumptio

New trends for conducting hazard & operability (HAZOP) studies in continuous chemical processes

Identifying hazards is fundamental for ensuring the safe design and operation of a system in process plants and other facilities. Several techniques are available to identify hazardous situations, all of which require their rigorous, thorough, and systematic application by a multi-disciplinary team of experts. Success rests upon first identifying and subsequently analyzing possible scenarios that can cause accidents with different degrees of severity. While hazard identification may be the most important stage for risk management, it depends on subjectivity issues (e.g., human observation, good judgment and intuition, creativity, expertise, knowledge) which introduce bias. Without a structured identification system, hazards can be overlooked, thus entailing incomplete risk-evaluations and potential loss. The present Thesis is focused on developing both managerial and technical aspects intended to standardize one of the most used techniques for hazard identification; viz. HAZard & Operability (HAZOP) study. These criteria have been carefully implemented not only to ensure that most of the hazardous scenarios will be identified, but also that US OSHA PSM Rule, EPA RMP, and Seveso Directive requirements will be accomplished. Chapter I pioneers the main research topic; from introducing the process safety concept up to the evidence of more detailed information is required from related regulations. A review of regulations (i.e., US, Europe legislation) focused on Hazard Identification has been conducted, highlighting, there is an absence of specific criteria for performing techniques intended to identify what can go wrong. Chapter II introduces the risk management system required to analyze the risk from chemical process facilities, and justifies that hazard identification stage is the Process Safety foundation. Hereafter, an overview of the key Process Hazard Analyzes (PHA) has been conducted, and the specific HAZOP weaknesses and strengths have been highlighted to establish the first steps to focus on. Chapter III establishes the scope, the purpose and the specific objectives that the research covers. It answers the following questions on the spot: why the present research is performed, which elements are included, and what has been considered for acquiring the final conclusions of the manuscript. Chapter IV gathers HAZOP-related literature from books, guidelines, standards, major journals, and conference proceedings with the purpose of classifying the research conducted over the years and finally define the HAZOP state-of-the-art. Additionally, and according to the information collected, the current HAZOP limitations have been emphasized, and thus, the research needs that should be considered for the HAZOP improvement and advance. Chapter V analyzes the data collected while preparing, organizing, executing and writing HAZOPs in five petroleum-refining processes. A statistical analysis has been performed to extract guidance and conclusions to support the established criteria to conduct effectively HAZOP studies. Chapter VI establishes the whole set of actions that have to be taken into account for ensuring a wellplanned and executed HAZOP study. Both technical and management issues are addressed, criteria supported after considering the previous chapters of the manuscript. Chapter VI itself is the result of the present research, and could be used as a guideline not only for team leaders, but also for any related party interested on performing HAZOPs in continuous chemical processes. Chapter VII states the final conclusions of the research. The interested parties should be released about the hazard identification related-gaps present in current process safety regulations; which are the key limitations of the HAZOP study, and finally, which are the criteria to cover the research needs that have been found Annex I proposes the key tools (tables, figures and checklists "ready-to use'') to be used for conducting HAZOPs in continuous chemical processes. The information layout is structured according to the proposed HAZOP Management System. This information is intended to provide concise and structured documentation to be used as a reference book when conducting HAZOPs. Annex II is intended to overview the most relevant petroleum refining processes by highlighting key factors to take into account in the point of view of process safety and hazard identification, i.e. HAZOP. In this sense, key health and safety information of specific petroleum refining units is provided as a valuable guidance during brainstorming sessions. Annex III illustrates the complete set of data collected during the field work of the present research, and also analyzed in Chapter V of the manuscript. Additionally, it depicts a statistical summary of the key variables treated during the analysis. Finally, the Nomenclature, References, and Abbreviations & Acronyms used and cited during the manuscript have been listed. Additionally, a Glossary of key terms related to the Process Safety field has been illustrated.La present Tesis doctoral té com a objectiu estandarditzar l'aplicació d'una de les tècniques més utilitzades a la industria de procés per a la identificació de perills; l'anomenat HAZard & OPerability (HAZOP) study, específicament a processos complexes, com per exemple, unitat de refineria del petroli.El capítol I defineix el concepte de Seguretat de Processos, i progressivament analitza les diferents regulacions relacionades amb la temàtica, detallant específicament les mancances i buits d'informació que actualment hi ha presents a la primera etapa de la gestió del risc en industries de procés: la identificació de perills.El capítol II defineix el sistema de gestió del risc tecnològic que aplica a les industries de procés, i es justifica que l'etapa d'identificació de perills és el pilar de tot el sistema. Finalment, es mencionen algunes de les tècniques d'identificació més utilitzades, els anomenats Process Hazard Analysis (PHA), i es detallen les seves mancances i fortaleses, característiques que han acabat definint la temàtica específica de la Tesis. Concretament, es dóna èmfasis a la tècnica anomenada HAZard & OPerability (HAZOP) study, objecte principal de la recerca.El capítol III defineix l'abast, el propòsit i els objectius específics de la recerca. La intenció d'aquest capítol és donar resposta a les següents qüestions: el perquè de la recerca, quins elements han estat inclosos i què s'ha considerat per tal d'assolir les conclusions de la Tesis.El capítol IV descriu l'estat de l'art de la literatura relacionada amb el HAZOP. Aquesta revisió no només permet classificar les diferents línies de recerca relacionades amb el HAZOP, sinó que també permet assolir un coneixement profund de les diferents particularitats de la pròpia tècnica. El capítol finalitza amb un conjunt de mancances tant de gestió com tècniques, així com les necessitats de recerca que poden millorar l'organització i execució dels HAZOPs.El capítol V analitza la informació que ha estat recopilada durant la fase experimental de la tesis. Les dades procedeixen de la participació en cinc estudis HAZOP aplicats a la industria de refineria del petroli.En aquest sentit, el capítol V desenvolupa una anàlisi estadística d'aquestes dades per extreure'n conclusions quant a la preparació, organització i execució dels HAZOPs.El capítol VI estableix el conjunt d'accions que s'ha de tenir en compte per tal d'assegurar que un estudi HAZOP estigui ben organitzat i executat (la metodologia). Es defineix un Sistema de Gestió del HAZOP, i a partir de les seves fases, es desenvolupa una metodologia que pretén donar suport a tots aquells punts febles que han estat identificats en els capítols anteriors. Aquesta metodologia té la intenció de donar suport i guia no només als líders del HAZOP, sinó també a qualsevol part interessada en aquesta temàtica.El capítol VII descriu les conclusions de la recerca. En primera instància s'enumeren les mancances quant a la definició de criteris a seguir de diferents regulacions que apliquen a la Seguretat de Processos.Seguidament, es mencionen les limitacions de la pròpia tècnica HAZOP, i finalment, es descriuen quins són els criteris establerts per donar solució a totes aquestes febleses que han estat identificades.L'Annex I és una recopilació de diferents criteris que han estat desenvolupats al llarg de l'escrit en forma de taules i figures. Aquestes han estat ordenades cronològicament d'acord amb les diferents fases que defineixen el Sistema de Gestió HAZOP. L'annex I es pot utilitzar com a una referència concisa i pràctica, preparada i pensada per ésser utilitzada directament a camp, amb la intenció de donar suport a les parts interessades en liderar estudis HAZOP.L'annex II recopila informació relacionada amb aspectes clau de seguretat i medi ambient en diferents unitats de refineria. Aquest informació és un suport per tal de motivar el "brainstorming" dels diferents membres que conformen l'equip HAZOP.L'Annex III recopila les dades de les diferents variables que han estat considerades a la fase experimental de la recerca, juntament amb un conjunt de figures que mostren la seva estadística bàsica

Large space structures and systems in the space station era: A bibliography with indexes (supplement 03)

Bibliographies and abstracts are listed for 1221 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between January 1, 1991 and June 30, 1991. Topics covered include large space structures and systems, space stations, extravehicular activity, thermal environments and control, tethering, spacecraft power supplies, structural concepts and control systems, electronics, advanced materials, propulsion, policies and international cooperation, vibration and dynamic controls, robotics and remote operations, data and communication systems, electric power generation, space commercialization, orbital transfer, and human factors engineering

Market Fragmenting Regulation - Why Gasoline Costs So Much (And Why It\u27s Going to Cost More)

Virtually everyone holds an opinion on what is wrong with gasoline markets. Some critics argue that gasoline costs too much, fattening greedy oil barons at the expense of consumers. Some link reducing oil producers\u27 profits to stopping terrorism. Others contend that gasoline costs too little, subsidizing suburban sprawl and gas-guzzling SUVs at the expense of the environment. Web sites track gasoline prices and grocery stores sell low-cost fuel to lure shoppers. Policy makers debate whether gas taxes should be cut to lower the cost of living; need to be increased to make drivers pay the full cost of their behavior; or whether gas taxes should be a user fee for highway use. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), congressional committees, and a host of state governments have repeatedly investigated gasoline prices, searching for someone to blame when prices rise. These debates treat gasoline as a fungible commodity, widely traded in a national or international market. And for most Americans, gasoline gives every appearance of being just such a commodity--you can fill up in Boston or Dallas, Los Angeles or Cleveland, from pumps that look much the same from city to city, and your car will run without noticeable differences in performance regardless of where you bought gas. But Gulf Coast refinery closures in the wake of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina highlighted the fragility of gasoline markets, and significant differences in gasoline prices throughout the United States over the last few years have raised questions about whether a national market really exists. If the gasoline market is not a national one, there are serious implications for both consumer welfare and public policy. Broad, national markets are able to absorb the impact of regulations at lower costs to the consumer than are narrow, fragmented markets. Moreover, fragmented markets offer the potential for implicit collusion among producers, collusion that can be facilitated by regulatory measures. A recent regional price spike in Phoenix, Arizona illustrated the fragmented nature of U.S. gasoline markets. On July 30, 2003, the pipeline supplying gasoline to Phoenix ruptured, cutting gasoline supplies to Phoenix by 30%. Phoenix gas stations sought alternate supplies from West Coast refineries, offering to pay higher prices to bid the gasoline away from California retailers. These West Coast refineries had limited gasoline supplies, however, after earlier unplanned refinery closures had left them with lower than normal inventories. Because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires Phoenix to use a special blend of gasoline to control air pollution, gasoline from nearby Tucson could not be sold in Phoenix until the EPA waived the boutique fuel requirement on August 20. Once the waiver was granted,gas from Tucson was trucked to Phoenix, raising prices in Tucson but lowering them in Phoenix. U.S. gasoline markets are fragmented and that fragmentation stems from over a century of often inconsistent, overlapping regulations of gasoline and petroleum markets. This article charts the sources and extent of that fragmentation and its likely effects on the domestic gasoline market. We highlight the dangers of following the current regulatory trend toward additional fragmentation and recommend that policy makers and industry analysts acknowledge the market\u27s fragile condition and take remedial steps to avert future crises. Part I outlines the characteristics of competitive markets and examines the structure of the gasoline market as shaped by the traits of gasoline, refining, distribution, and crude oil. Part II turns to the regulatory measures that affect the market for gasoline, tracing the impact of economic and environmental regulation. We then identify the incentives created by the structure of U.S. environmental regulation that lead to the creation of regulatory market externalities and we suggest measures to reduce those incentives and so avoid market fragmentation. Part III concludes with recommendations for avoiding this problem in the future

Market Fragmenting Regulation: Why Gasoline Costs So Much (And Why It\u27s Going to Cost More)

Virtually everyone holds an opinion on what is wrong with gasoline markets. Some critics argue that gasoline costs too much, fattening greedy oil barons at the expense of consumers. Some link reducing oil producers\u27 profits to stopping terrorism. Others contend that gasoline costs too little, subsidizing suburban sprawl and gas-guzzling SUVs at the expense of the environment. Web sites track gasoline prices and grocery stores sell low-cost fuel to lure shoppers. Policy makers debate whether gas taxes should be cut to lower the cost of living; need to be increased to make drivers pay the full cost of their behavior; or whether gas taxes should be a user fee for highway use. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), congressional committees, and a host of state governments have repeatedly investigated gasoline prices, searching for someone to blame when prices rise. These debates treat gasoline as a fungible commodity, widely traded in a national or international market. And for most Americans, gasoline gives every appearance of being just such a commodity--you can fill up in Boston or Dallas, Los Angeles or Cleveland, from pumps that look much the same from city to city, and your car will run without noticeable differences in performance regardless of where you bought gas. But Gulf Coast refinery closures in the wake of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina highlighted the fragility of gasoline markets, and significant differences in gasoline prices throughout the United States over the last few years have raised questions about whether a national market really exists. If the gasoline market is not a national one, there are serious implications for both consumer welfare and public policy. Broad, national markets are able to absorb the impact of regulations at lower costs to the consumer than are narrow, fragmented markets. Moreover, fragmented markets offer the potential for implicit collusion among producers, collusion that can be facilitated by regulatory measures. A recent regional price spike in Phoenix, Arizona illustrated the fragmented nature of U.S. gasoline markets. On July 30, 2003, the pipeline supplying gasoline to Phoenix ruptured, cutting gasoline supplies to Phoenix by 30%. Phoenix gas stations sought alternate supplies from West Coast refineries, offering to pay higher prices to bid the gasoline away from California retailers. These West Coast refineries had limited gasoline supplies, however, after earlier unplanned refinery closures had left them with lower than normal inventories. Because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires Phoenix to use a special blend of gasoline to control air pollution, gasoline from nearby Tucson could not be sold in Phoenix until the EPA waived the boutique fuel requirement on August 20. Once the waiver was granted,gas from Tucson was trucked to Phoenix, raising prices in Tucson but lowering them in Phoenix. U.S. gasoline markets are fragmented and that fragmentation stems from over a century of often inconsistent, overlapping regulations of gasoline and petroleum markets. This article charts the sources and extent of that fragmentation and its likely effects on the domestic gasoline market. We highlight the dangers of following the current regulatory trend toward additional fragmentation and recommend that policy makers and industry analysts acknowledge the market\u27s fragile condition and take remedial steps to avert future crises. Part I outlines the characteristics of competitive markets and examines the structure of the gasoline market as shaped by the traits of gasoline, refining, distribution, and crude oil. Part II turns to the regulatory measures that affect the market for gasoline, tracing the impact of economic and environmental regulation. We then identify the incentives created by the structure of U.S. environmental regulation that lead to the creation of regulatory market externalities and we suggest measures to reduce those incentives and so avoid market fragmentation. Part III concludes with recommendations for avoiding this problem in the future

List of Bureau of Mines publications and articles, January 1, 1965, to December 31, 1969, with subject and author index

"This compilation supplements the 50-year list of Bureau publications issued from July 1, 1910, to January 1, 1960; the 50-year list of articles by Bureau authors published outside the Bureau from July 1, 1910, to January 1, 1960; and the 5-year list of Bureau publications and articles published from January 1, 1960, to December 31, 1964. It includes all the material in the four annual lists of Bureau publications and articles for January 1, 1965, to December 31, 1968, as well as the Bureau publications and articles for 1969. More than 2,500 publications by Bureau authors published in the regular Bureau of Mines series, in scientific, technical, or trade journals, or in other media are listed and summarized; those available from the Bureau of Mines are indicated. Libraries which maintain files of Bureau publications are listed. Cooperative publications issued by organizations with which the Bureau conducted joint research are described. Patents issued to Bureau personnel are also listed, and instructions are given on how to apply for permission to use them. One of the outstanding features of this special publication is an exhaustive subject and author index." - NIOSHTIC-2NIOSHTIC no. 1000888719701171

Design and engineering of microreactor and smart-scaled flow processes

This book is a reprint of the special issue that appeared in the online open access journal Processes (ISSN 2227-9717) in 2013 (available at: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/special_issues/smart-scaled_flow_processes)