Abstract
A study of operability and assessment of the safety level of a crude distillation unit in a Nigerian refinery has been carried out. In a crude distillation unit of a refinery, the desalter and preflash column, as well as their associated pipe works and pumps, are considered to have high-risk factors that can present operability problems and possibly hazardous conditions. Applying the HAZOP methodology, a total of 25 guide words were suitably applied on 4 nodes to study the possible deviations that may occur. The 89 causes of these deviations identified in the study could be classified under human errors and equipment malfunctioning. From the nature of the 46 consequences identified, the plant is likely to experience more of operability problems and less of deadly hazardous scenes. Suitable recommendations that will improve the operability and safety levels of the plant were however presented in the study and presented in tables. If the 61 recommendations given in this study can be incorporated into the design with the few safeguards already present in the original design of the plant, the operability problems of the plant will be greatly minimized and safety level will improve drastically.
Highlights
Building and operating a chemical plant without accident-preventive measures can cause an unquantifiable magnitude of hazards
Applying the Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) methodology, a total of 25 guide words were suitably applied on 4 nodes to study the possible deviations that may occur
The main equipment of the crude distillation unit of the refinery considered in this work was the desalter, the preflash furnace, the preflash column and their associated pipe works and equipment like pumps
Summary
Building and operating a chemical plant without accident-preventive measures can cause an unquantifiable magnitude of hazards. Thousands of people were killed and properties worth billions of dollars destroyed in the 1984 Bhopal disaster which was a direct consequence of human error [3]. Facilities worth billions of dollars were destroyed in the 2005 Buncefield disaster while the 2010 BPL refinery disaster caused much pollution to water bodies [4]. The accidents that have occurred in the process industry have prompted owners and operators of modern day’s chemical plants to incorporate safety measures to prevent accidents. Steam stripping is very effective in the vapourisation of more products in refineries [9] but due to cost of steam, some refiners have employed the use of water steam which is less expensive [10] [11] but with its associated hazards and operational problems
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