Creating the environment for business
Safety Services and HAZOP Studies for
Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals
Tractebel Gas Engineering
Entec has an international reputation in the
field of process safety and risk
management, which is particularly
associated with high hazard industries
where highly flammable materials may be
stored and transported under pressure or as
liquefied gases. Entec’s knowledge in this
field stems from a long history of advising
clients on the risks and safety matters
related to such activities. It also comes
from the experience gained as a result of
involvement in high profile accident
investigations such as the Piper Alpha
Disaster Inquiry and subsequent litigation.
One of the many clients to recognise this
expertise is Tractebel Gas Engineering
(TGE), which Entec has advised in matters
associated with process safety and risk
management for the design and
construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG)
terminals.
For one such storage and loading export
facility currently under construction in
northern Europe, Entec has provided design
and process safety advice in a range of
different areas throughout the detailed
PP-972
design phase. The facility is designed to
handle and export LNG, liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG), and condensate.
Entec’s services included quantified risk
assessment (QRA) of the storage and
loading facility, design accident load
(DAL) assessment and design criteria for
the facility, escalation analysis, fire safety
engineering, hazardous area classification,
and general process safety advice.
Entec engineers have also facilitated
HAZOP (hazard and operability) studies of
storage and loading facilities for two other
LNG terminals, one to be located in
Southern Europe and the other in the
Bahamas.
The first HAZOP study was for an LNG
storage and loading facility where the
detailed design had already been conducted
and frozen for analysis. The study involved
representatives of the final user, the design
team, and several independent experts in
safety, process design and operational
fields. It was the chairman’s responsibility
to ensure that all representatives worked as
a team in an unbiased and objective manner
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Improving safety and
operability efficiently
and effectively
to assess the design of the facility
effectively and efficiently, a task further
complicated by the team comprising six
nationalities. The study was completed
within the required time scale and to the
satisfaction of the separate parties involved.
The other study, chaired concurrently by
another Entec representative was held so
that a fixed price sum for the terminal could
be quoted to one of the operating partners.
It was recognised that the study was
performed somewhat earlier than would be
usual for a review of a detailed design.
The primary objective was to identify
issues with the design that could have a
major impact on the scope, and hence cost,
of the installation, as well as to resolve any
potential safety matters.
Rather than being a critical, adversarial
audit of the design, effective HAZOP
studies take a collaborative approach to
enhancing safety and resolving potential
operability issues. In this way, designers
have the opportunity to critically review
and improve their own design with the help
of other experienced engineers and safety
practitioners. Effective resolution of issues
at this stage results in more efficient
construction and commissioning and
ultimately a reduction in costs. It was
considered that this HAZOP approach
successfully met these objectives due to the
knowledge and commitment of the team.
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