1I N T R O D U C T I O N
1.1. OBJECTIVE
The objective of this volume is to provide, under one cover,
guidance inperforming many basic operations encountered in chemical
facilities in a safeand professional manner. The book endeavors to
achieve the following:
Provide a comprehensive reference for certain fundamental
operations.Provide guidance in applying appropriate practices to
prevent acci-dents.Indicate unsafe and inadequate practices that
should be avoided.
The audience visualized in the preparation of this book is the
personnelof an independent chemical operation located in the United
States that maylack a full complement of specialists. Such plants
may tend to be below mediansize and to emphasize batch processing.
The equipment selected for specificdiscussion reflects this
orientation.
1.2. SCOPE
The book selectively discusses operations not extensively
covered in readilyavailable publications. These operations are
usually covered by proprietarysafety standards and operating
procedures which are not generally accessibleto the public. The
book cannot possibly include every conceivable safetyfundamental
and therefore focuses on the more obvious and more
frequentlyoccurring operations.
The book emphasizes general principles and the fundamentals of
organ-izing a safety program. From the vast literature on this
subject, we have chosento emphasize the material most widely used
and most readily available to anoperation without complete library
facilities. Accordingly, there are manyreferences to recognized
standards and published US government regula-tions. The reader is
assumed to have a general familiarity with these sources,
but one section of the book lists relevant agencies and
societies along with theiraddresses. Many of the primary references
are to material published in theFederal Register (FR) or the Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR). Typically, theseare referred to by
their location in the CFR in the abbreviated form
(titlenumber)-"CFR"-(section number), for example, 29CFR1910.
1.3. ORGANIZATION
Chapter 2, Materials/Chemicals Handling, discusses handling of
chemicalsubstances and materials. Safe handling requires knowledge
of the material'shazardous properties and conditions created during
storage, transport, andprocessing, and one section covers general
material hazards. Liquids, solids,gases, and waste materials then
are covered separately.
Chapter 3, Process Equipment and Procedures, covers safety
considera-tions in the design, installation, operation, and
maintenance of selected proc-ess equipment and auxiliary
systems.
Design considerations are those which pertain to the various
types ofequipment covered in the chapter. Safety in design should
begin at the earlieststages by considering a facility as a whole
and striving for inherent safety [I].
Chapter 4, General Topics, deals with safety topics not directly
related tospecific operations. Principal subjects include the
inspection and maintenanceof equipment, spare parts handling,
storage and warehousing, plant modifi-cations, hazardous work, and
worker protection.
Chapter 5, Cleanup and Process Changeover, identifies potential
prob-lems associated with safe and efficient cleanup operations. It
addresses proc-ess planning, the cleaning process, the problem of
changeover, and methodsof equipment preparation.
Chapter 6, Training, stresses the need for educating operating
personnel.Applying appropriate methods in the performance of their
jobs is a keycomponent in promoting plant safety.
Chapter 7, Plant Safety Programs and Auxiliary Topics, covers
plantwidesystems and more general programs whose purpose is the
improvement ofthe overall plant safety performance.
A glossary and a compilation of abbreviations and acronyms are
alsoprovided.
REFERENCES
1. Englund, S. M., Opportunities in the Design of Inherently
Safer Chemical Plants.In Advances in Chemical Engineering, Vol. 15,
pp. 73-135, Academic Press, SanDiego, 1990.
Front MatterTable of Contents1. Introduction1.1 Objective1.2
Scope1.3 OrganizationReferences
Index
