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HAZARDS IN

CHEMICAL PLANTS
GROUP 1
CHE 522

Hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health,


property, or environment.
Hazards may be natural or technological. A hazardous situation that
has come to pass is called an incident.
Natural hazards are those that have an effect on population resulting
from the natural processes in the environment, like flood, earthquake
etc.
Technological hazards are the threats to people and life-support
systems that arise from the mass production and transportation of
goods and services.
Industrial hazard is a type of technological hazard, industrial hazards
can occur at any stage in the production process, including extraction,
processing, transportation, storage, use and disposal. Losses generally
involve the release of damaging substances (e.g. chemicals,
radioactive and genetic materials) or damaging levels of energy from
industrial facilities. This usually occurs in the form of explosions, fires
spills, leaks or wastes. Releases may be sudden and intensive, as in a
power-plant explosion, or gradual and intensive, as in the buildup of
ozone destroying chemicals in the stratosphere or the progressive
leakage of improperly disposed toxic wastes.

MODES OF A HAZARD

Hazards are sometimes classified into three modes:


DormantThe situation has the potential to be

hazardous, but no people, property, or environment is


currently affected by this. For instance, a hillside may
be unstable, with the potential for a landslide, but
there is nothing below or on the hillside that could be
affected.
Armed People, property, or environments are in
potential harm's way.
Active A harmful incident involving the hazard has
actually occurred. Often this is referred to not as an
"active hazard" but as an accident, emergency,
incident, or disaster. Most hazards are dormant or
potential, with only a theoretical risk of harm;
however, once a hazard becomes "active", it can
create an emergency situation.

TYPES OF HAZARD
Hazards are generally labeled as one of five types:
1. Physical hazards are conditions or situations that can
cause the body physical harm or intense stress. Physical
hazards can result from both natural and human made
elements.
2. Chemical hazards are substances that can cause harm
or damage to the body, property or the environment.
Chemical hazards can be either natural or human made
origin.
3. Biological hazards are biological agents that can cause
harm to the human body. These some biological agents can
be viruses, parasite, bacteria, food, fungi, and foreign toxin.
4. Psychological hazards are created during work related
stress or a stressful environment.
5. Radiation hazards are those which cause harm or
damage to the human body by affecting the cell directly.

CLASSIFYING HAZARDS
There are several methods of classifying hazard, but
most systems use some variation on the factors of
"likelihood" of the hazard turning into an incident and
the "seriousness" of the incident if it were to occur.
(This discussion moved away from hazard to a
discussion of risk.)
A common method is to score both likelihood and
seriousness on a numerical scale (with the most likely
and most serious scoring highest) and multiplying one
by the other in order to reach a comparative score.
Risk = Hazard Vulnerability Capacity
This score can then be used to identify which hazards
may need to be mitigated. A low score on likelihood of
occurrence may mean that the hazard is dormant,
whereas a high score would indicate that it may be an
"active" hazard.

HAZARDS IN CHEMICAL PLANTS

Hazards in chemical plants generally talks about

dangerous or otherwise unwanted outcome,


especially one resulting from the failure of an
engineered system in chemical plants. Sources of

such hazards are mainly from chemical and


petrochemicals, chemical warehouses and storages,
transportation of hazardous substances, pipelines
etc.
There are 3 major hazards namely:
1. Fire
2. Explosions
3. Toxic releases

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF TYPES OF CHEMICAL HAZARDS

FIRE

This is the process of combustion of inflammable materials


producing heat and light and (often) smoke. The flash point of a
liquid is the lowest temperature at which it gives off enough
vapour to form an ignitable mixture with air. There are
essentially the following types of fires associated with chemical
plant:
Flame jets fire: is the combustion of substances emerging
with sufficient momentum from an orifice as ignition occurs
on a substance releasing from a flammable source under
pressure
Flash fire: is the combustion of a flammable vapour and
liquid mixture at less than sonic velocity such that negligible
overpressure is generated.
Liquid pool fires: is the combustion of flammable vapour
from the layer of liquid at the base of the fire e.g. spill liquid
Fireball: is a fire burning sufficiently fast for the burning
mass to rise into the air as a cloud or ball. It is associated
with BLEVE.

EXPLOSION

An explosion is a sudden increase in

volume and release of energy in a violent


manner, with the generation of high
temperatures and the release of gases.
Explosion may be natural like volcanic
eruption from the earth crust or artificial
such as chemical explosion which
generally involves a rapid and violent
oxidation reaction that produces large
amount of hot gases.

CLASSIFICATION OF CHEMICAL EXPLOSION


Thermal explosion
Non-thermal explosion
TYPES OF EXPLOSION
Confined Explosion: is an explosion of a fueloxidant mixture inside a closed system such as a
tank or vessel.
Pressure burst: is the rupture of a vessel or
system under pressure which results in the
formation of a blast wave and missiles.
Vapour cloud Explosion: is a partially
confined explosion in an open air of a cloud made
up of mixture of a flammable vapour or gas with
air.
Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion
(BLEVE): is the sudden rupture of a vessel or

TOXIC RELEASE
This involves the release of poisonous material to
the environment. These materials are capable of
causing harm or death.
TYPES OF TOXIC RELEASE
Irritants: These are substances with the ability
to cause inflammation or chemical burns of the
eyes, skin, nose, throat, lungs and other tissues of
the body, which may come in direct contact.
Asphyxiates: These are typically non-toxic gases
that may cause injury by inhalation only if they
are present in air in such high concentrations that
they displace and exclude the oxygen needed to
maintain consciousness and life

Anaesthetics and Narcotics: include

numerous hydrocarbon and organic


compounds classified as hazardous chemicals,
including some alcohols, act on the body
depressing the central nervous system (CNS).
Sensitizers: Cause allergic reactions.
Carcinogens: cause cancer.
Target organ chemicals: Target-organ
chemicals damage specific body organs and
systems. The types of chemicals used in
chemical processes that affect body organs
include: Hepatotoxins, Nephrotoxins,
Neurotoxins, Reproductive toxins, Cutaneous
hazards, et.c.

HAZARDOUS-WASTE CHARACTERISTICS
Hazardous wastes are classified on the basis of
their biological, chemical, and physical
properties. These properties generate
materials that are:
Toxic waste: These are poisons even in very
small or trace amounts
Reactive waste: These are chemically
unstable and react violently with air or water
Infectious waste: include used bandages,
hypodermic needles, and other materials
from hospitals or biological research facilities.
Radioactive waste: emits ionizing energy that
can harm living organisms.

LIST OF INDUSTRIAL
DISASTERS

Industrial disasters are those disasters that caused by


industrial companies, either by accidents, negligence or
incompetence. They are a form of industrial accidents where
great damage, injury or loss of life are caused. Other
disasters can also be considered as industrial if their causes
are rooted in the product or process of the industry.
Engineering disasters are those disasters that result from
shortcuts in engineering design to reduce cost of
construction and fabrication that leads to unexpected
failures.

INDUSTRI
ES

DATES

DISASTE
RS

LOSS

ENERGY

March 23, 2005.

Texas City
Refinery
Explosion

433,
000
barrels
of crude
oil

February 7, 2010.

Connectic
ut Power
Plant
Explosion

LOSS

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