Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) gratings can offer a number of attractive advantages over traditional steel gratings such as enhanced environmental resistance, reduced through life costs and the promise of significant mass savings. However, this preliminary study has demonstrated that the current fire certification of FRP gratings by a standardised (ASTM E119 cellulosic fire) time-temperature curve…...
Most safety professionals are aware of the “Hierarchy of Controls: 1) Elimination/Substitution, 2) Engineering Controls, 3) Administrative Controls, and 4) PPE. Most safety professionals also know this basic principle of industrial safety is often times very difficult to get management buy-in; especially when a safety professional is bold enough to mention eliminating a hazardous chemical for a lesser hazardous…...
Before I begin, nothing I am going to say in this article is required by OSHA or EPA; however, keep in mind that OSHA and EPA process safety requirements are the BOTTOM OF THE BARREL when it comes to true process safety. So with that said, let’s discuss PHA scenario likelihoods. Regardless of methodology used,…...
As most, sadly not all, safety professionals will attest to, there is a hierachy of four (4) controls we use to manage risks: 1) Substitution/Elimination, 2) Engineering Controls, 3) Administrative Controls, and 4) Personal Protective Equipment. In process safety environments, the hazards are often times so great that ALL FOUR layers may be needed. What…...
There have not been many “catastrophic accidents” in the refrigeration industry to study in great detail (PLEASE do NOT translate this into something it is not). But there is one such realitively recent (2008) that occured in Korea and claimed the lives of 40 workers. Although Korea does not have a comparable process safety management…...
The photo above is showing the progression in failure of a commonly used PSM component associated with Mechanical Integrity. The material starts out white as paper (as shown at the bottom of the photo) and turns darker color through it’s progression to failure. In it’s final state it had lost all of its elasticity and…...
Have you ever wondered how relaible your relief devices actually are? Ever wondered why five years is the mximum baseline timeframe for testing and replacement? As a result of years of testing, The National Board has accumulated a good deal of data that helps us analyze the quality and reliability of relief valves. We can…...
Most have seen the amazing CCTV footage from the 2007 ammonia release from the ag business in Seward, IL, but those two videos leave a lot of questions. This posting is a follow-up video regarding the trucking company’s clean-up plan and contains a news video that gives us some perspective on the area’s layout. In…...
I have discussed Stress Corrosion Cracking in refrigeration vessels and have been asked “if it can occur in vessels, can it occur in our piping too”. The short answer is YES. But I want to state again, I am NOT a metallurgist and I am not the person to contact about your SCC concerns. I…...
Unfortunately there are countless industrial disasters that led up to the USA’s version of Process Safety Management standards from both OSHA and EPA; but in my world of flammable liquids and gases, it was Flixborough that resonated with me. It just seemed that every process safety or flammable liquids/gases training that I attended Flixborough always…...
UPDATED on 6/4/2016 – Police investigating the accident said that the hydrofluoric acid spill might have been caused by human error as two workers unloaded the chemical from a delivery tanker. A closed-circuit security video camera recorded the two workers on top of the tanker without protective gear. They connected an air hose to a valve…...
In the world of boiler PSV design, the “length” of a vent line is less about a specific length in feet and more about BACKPRESSURE. According to ASME Section I (Power Boilers) and Section IV (Heating Boilers), the moment you add a vent line to a Pressure Safety Valve (PSV), you are introducing flow resistance…....
