Hazardous Industrial Facilities Research Articles

Integration of geoelectric methods and remote sensing in assessing the environment state in the area of impact of ecologically hazardous objects

Relevance. The need for comprehensive assessment of environmental components in the zones of ecologically hazardous industrial facilities impact, which enables to operatively identify the spatial structure of technogenic pollution. Aim. Chemical pollution assessment of the geological environment in the zones of industrial objects impact, based on the combined use of remote sensing and ground-based geoelectric methods. Objects. Sources of pollution during the production of mineral fertilizers (phosphogypsum dumps, sulfur storage). Methods. The author has developed a complex of methods, consisting of multispectral space imaging (Sentinel-2 satellite images) and ground-based geoelectric researches: water surface resistivity measurements, natural electric field potential imaging, vertical electrical sounding. According to satellite image data (vegetation indices NDVI, NBR, SWVI), technogenic geosystems modifications are distinguished, characterizing different levels of chemical pollution (TM-1, TM-2 and natural geosystem). Within the modification zones, geoelectrical studies are carried out to assess the depth of contamination. Results. In the zone of phosphogypsum dumps impact, two technogenic modifications were distinguished, with a total area of 83.3 hectares, characterized by a statistically significant decrease in the values of vegetation indices compared to the average level. Based on the results of vertical electrical sounding, it was established that the depth of contamination in the TM-1 zone reaches up to 20 m, in the TM-2 zone – up to 2.5 m. The migration of contaminated substances from the dumps occurs with surface drain. In the zone of impact of the sulfur storage, the area of pollution, specified with vegetation indices, covers two hectares. According to the results of the natural electric field method and vertical electrical sounding, the flow of pollution from the sulfur storage site penetrates into groundwater, which is discharged in the TM-1 zone, causing the death of vegetation. In the TM-2 zone, contamination is registered only in the ground aquifer. The developed set of methods enables to quickly and relatively comprehensively diagnose the state of the undergoing technogenic impacts geological environment.

Automated wireless system for monitoring the technical condition of chimneys

The present paper considers the technology of monitoring the technical condition of chimneys in order to identify areas of increased heat losses. The technology involves an automated wireless monitoring system that includes an unmanned aircraft with additional equipment. Aim. To study the operation safety of reinforced concrete chimneys used in hazardous industrial facilities. The presented monitoring technology tackles the task of prompt identification of defects and damages to reduce the risks of potentially hazardous conditions. While developing technology for monitoring the technical condition, special attention is paid to its autonomy and intelligence. At the first stage, sensors, coordinators and remote thermometry system are installed with the transmission of data on the temperature of the chimney trunk to the control center. At the next stage, the outer surface of the chimney is examined using an unmanned aicraft equipped with a thermal imaging camera to verify information about heat losses. The final stage involves creating a thermogram of the object and a scheme of the possible locations of the identified defects in order to plan repair works. In addition, the paper introduces main advantages of the suggested technology.

Temporal trends in sociodemographic composition and land development within U.S. fenceline communities surrounding hazardous industrial facilities: 2001–2019

Unintended releases from industrial facilities can expose fenceline communities to hazardous substances, and distance between facilities and nearby residential development can play a role in preventing exposures. Here, we assess trends in fenceline community sociodemographic characteristics, land development, and the association between the two using sociodemographic data for census tracts (n = 34 068) surrounding 2457 petroleum refining and chemical manufacturing facilities between 2001 and 2019. We find a higher median growth in percentage of Latinx populations among fenceline communities compared to neighboring communities with no industrial facilities. The increase in the median percentage of Latinx populations within fenceline communities was six times higher than for White populations overall (+6 and +1 percentage points, respectively). Though the percentage of the Black populations did not change within fenceline communities over this period, we find a minor sustained higher percentage of Black residents within fenceline communities relative to neighboring communities (20% versus 19%, respectively). Employing a spatial autoregressive model with autoregressive disturbances, we find that an increase in community percentage Latinx population is associated with a decrease in the rate of land development. Comparing fenceline and neighboring communities, we conclude that Black and Latinx populations are disproportionately located near industrial facilities, potentially contributing to inequitable exposure to unintended chemical releases. Our work lends support to the value of considering of sociodemographic composition of fenceline communities when evaluating industrial facility hazards.

Правовые аспекты обеспечения прав титульного владельца газопровода при выполнении работ на чужих земельных участках

This article is dedicated to a complex study of the issues of protection of rights of title gas pipeline holders (gas pipeline owners and gas pipeline operating companies) in performance of engineering works on gas transmission network sections located within the boundaries of land plots owned by others. Considering the special nature of a gas transmission network as a source of increased danger and a hazardous industrial facility, the author believes that one of the priority areas of gas pipeline operation is regular diagnostics and maintenance as well as in-process current (emergency) repair performed to avoid any breakdowns of the normal operation mode of the gas transmission network and causing of damage to lives, health and property of third parties. Taking into account these circumstances and the specifics of legal regulation of gas pipeline operation, the author of the article singles out the legal problem that lies in the ambiguity of approaches to the solution of the issue of provision of the title gas pipeline holder with access to the operated section of the gas transmission network if such facility is located within the boundaries of a land plot not owned by the gas pipeline holder. In order to solve this problem, the author performs a systemic analysis of the applicable laws of the Russian Federation and the legislative practice of some foreign countries and singles out three key concepts of provision of access to a gas pipeline located at a land plot owned by another person; such concepts include an opportunity to establish private or public easement and imperative proclamation of the unconditional right of the gas pipeline holder to unrestricted access to any section of the operated gas transmission network irrespective of the ownership of land plots such sites are located at. The author gives a systemic evaluation of each of the mentioned conceptual approaches; based on such evaluation, the author brings forward recommendations for improvement of the applicable laws to comply with the proclaimed principle of ensuring energy security of the Russian Federation.

Элементы визуализации при обследовании опасных производственных объектов с использованием беспилотного летательного аппарата

The paper considers the possibility of using visualization when preparing a task for frontal surface examination of hazardous industrial facilities using unmanned aerial vehicles. The research is based on the results of an experimental survey of buildings and structures of a large metallurgical enterprise in Russia. As initial data, photographs of buildings and structures obtained using a camera of an unmanned aerial vehicle and their drawings were used. When building a 3D model, the capabilities of Autodesk AutoCAD and Autodesk Revit were used. When building a 2D information model, a combination of a 3D model and a photograph of the object was used. The resulting 3D and 2D models are included in the structure of the flight chart as part of an applied digital platform in an automated decision-making system for expert assessment of the technical condition compliance of a hazardous production facility with regulatory requirements. Violation of regulatory requirements entails the occurrence of emergencies and incidents at an industrial enterprise. Visualization elements allow increasing the reliability of information entering the database of expert information.

Способы повышения эффективности производственного контроля

The article focuses on the main shortcomings of production control at hazardous production facilities and on practical methods of improving the effectiveness of production control including methods determining the main causes of deviations in the production process from the safety standards, developing measures to eliminate the deviations and ensuring the observance of such measures. The cases of activating the production control at the hazardous industrial facilities have been shown, a new approach to observing the production control has been reasoned, a universal algorithm for implementing production control at hazardous production facilities has been developed. Improving the operating principles of production control can be realized through the introduction of new control tools. One of them is a checklist of patterns of emerging a hazardous production situation, which allows to make a score evaluation of the danger. The main elements for implementing the developed algorithm and checklist into the production process are considered. There are shown the main structural elements of formulating a technical task for writing a program code: setting a project goal, substantiating the project budget, listing the specific works, description of the final product, required result, deadlines, and future maintenance costs.

АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ВОПРОСЫ ПЛАНИРОВАНИЯ И ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ МЕРОПРИЯТИЙ МЕДИЦИНСКОЙ СЛУЖБЫ ПРИ ВОЗНИКНОВЕНИИ ЧРЕЗВЫЧАЙНЫХ СИТУАЦИЙ НА ОПАСНЫХ ПРОИЗВОДСТВЕННЫХ ОБЪЕКТАХ

The article presents the tasks of the medical service, carried out in order to plan and organize measures to protect personnel from exposure to hazardous chemicals in the event of emergencies at chemically hazardous industrial facilities, and to eliminate the consequences of such accidents. A brief description of the methods for predicting the consequences of a chemical accident is given, sources for obtaining information about hazardous production facilities are identified.

Employee scheduling and maintenance planning for safety systems at the remotely located oil and gas industrial facilities

Abstract The safety of operations is vital in any process in the oil and gas sector, especially given that increasingly more hydrocarbon reserves are discovered in non-conventional remote and Arctic locations. Safety systems are designed as a part of a complex IT system for process control. The design of these systems is conducted in the form of an engineering project. This research presents a decision-making framework to facilitate formulating clear and comprehensive recommendations for the requirements specification developed for the safety systems. The contribution of this research to the strategic planning area of IT solutions for hazardous industrial facilities is integrating the problems of designing a safety system, planning its maintenance, and scheduling the employees to conduct the required maintenance. With this joint decision-making, it is possible to explore trade-offs between investments into the systems’ complexity and workforce-related expenditures throughout the solution’s lifecycle. The reliability modelling is conducted with the help of Markov analysis. The multi-objective decision-making framework is employed to deduce straightforward requirements to the safety system design, maintenance strategy, and workforce organisation. This research is relevant to managing the petroleum sector engineering projects with regard to the design of technological solutions.

Application of bacterial optimization algorithms for selecting a site to construct a tank park on the main oil pipeline

The oil industry is the leading sector of the Russian economy, that makes the largest contribution to the country’s budget, creates a huge number of jobs and fully meets the domestic needs for oil and its products. In Russia, transportation of crude oil from fields to consumers (primarily refineries) is carried out by 5 modes of transport. Pipeline transport has received the greatest distribution. It provides transportation for 83% of crude oil and 30% of oil products. The most important element of the pipeline system is tank parks, which are used to collect and store oil at the junctions of technological pipeline sections and transshipment to other modes of transport. They are especially dangerous industrial objects. Therefore, they are subject to extremely stringent design and construction requirements. The most important stage in the construction of a tank park is the site selection, which is carried out on the basis of economic criteria and engineering requirements. In order to reduce the number of options for its location, where the survey party will travel, it is proposed to conduct a preliminary selection of the most promising territories by solving the task of multi-criteria optimization. The presence of a huge number of criteria leads to the need to use heuristic methods, among which swarm optimization algorithms based on modeling the collective behavior of various living organisms are widely used. To solve this problem, it is proposed to use bacterial optimization algorithms that allow taking into account both favorable and negative factors. Fuzzy logic elements can be added to the classical algorithm (it is proposed to set the initial positions of bacteria using fuzzy-logical inference systems, where the available statistics and expert assessments will be input parameters). In general, the proposed approach can be used to select sites for the construction of various hazardous industrial facilities, for which a large number of parameters must be taken into account.

The calculation of loads on buildings and structures caused by outdoor explosions of the fuel-air mixture

Introduction. An important engineering task, to be solved in the process of designing buildings and structures for hazardous industrial facilities, is to determine values of loads caused by outdoor explosions of the fuel-air mixture. Nowadays software packages, that use the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach, are widely applied in the design practice to assess various effects on building structures. In this regard, it is necessary to develop a load calculation method, that employs numerical simulation, and verify it in comparison with the experimental data.Goals and objectives. The purpose of this work is to use the method of computational fluid dynamics to analyze external sympathetic detonation loads on various types of buildings and structures.The body of the article. The article addresses the “compressed balloon” method used to analyze loads, caused by outdoor explosions of gas. Dependencies, proposed in the article, are needed to set the input data and make numerical calculations using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. The numerical modeling of various experiments in the ANSYS Fluent software package was conducted. The authors compared the results of numerical modeling and standard engineering methods with various experiments to assess the accuracy of the “compressed balloon” method used to analyze an outdoor detonation explosion.Conclusions. The authors have proven the qualitative and quantitative convergence of the numerical model of blast wave propagation and the experimental data. This calculation method allows to accurately apply the pressure profile to any surface of a building or structure in the course of an outdoor detonation explosion and estimate the bearing capacity of building structures. The proposed method can be used in the design of buildings or structures that feature various configurations.

Prior and Posterior Assessments of Failure Scenario Probabilities and Environmental Risks at Hazardous Industrial Facilities

The paper presents an approach for obtaining prior and posterior assessments of probabilities of various failure scenarios and risks at hazardous industrial facilities. The approach is based on the toolkit of Bayesian nets and allows accounting for new information that is obtained at the stage of the facility operation from monitoring systems and technical inspections. The presented approach can be used for developing risk-based inspection planning and risk-based management programs for hazardous industrial facilities.

Rapid assessment of the resistance of materials of gas pipelines to brittle fracture

The paper explores the problems of maintaining the reliability of steel structures used in hazardous industrial facilities. It aims to introduce a new parameter for the rapid assessment of structural changes in the material of critical structures. It developed a method for rapid assessment of structural changes in the material of critical structures using a non-destructive method based on parameters that are sensitive to degradative changes in structure. It establishes a correlation between speed of sound and toughness for given states of the pipe metal, based on which the method was developed. It substantiates the applicability of these parameters to assess the degree of degradation. A method is proposed for estimating the residual service life of metal in a trunk gas pipeline by changing the speed of sound.

ПРИКЛАДНАЯ ЦИФРОВАЯ ПЛАТФОРМА ДЛЯ ОЦЕНКИ ДИНАМИКИ КАЧЕСТВА ОПАСНЫХ ПРОИЗВОДСТВЕННЫХ ОБЪЕКТОВ НА МЕТАЛЛУРГИЧЕСКОМ ПРЕДПРИЯТИИ: СТРУКТУРА И АЛГОРИТМЫ

The purpose of the study is to justify the use of an applied digital platform in the examination of elements of hazardous industrial facilities (HIF) at a metallurgical enterprise. The introduction of an applied digital platform corresponds to the priority areas of scientific and technological development in the Russian Federation: “Transition to advanced digital, intelligent production technologies, robotic systems, new materials and design methods, development of systems for processing large amounts of data, machine learning and artificial intelligence” and increasing competitiveness expertise of hazardous industrial facilities. In the course of the study, the structure of the applied digital platform (ADP) has been developed, which takes into account obtaining information about the state of the HIF elements, using unmanned aerial vehicles that move along a model trajectory and applying a set of algorithms for the implementation of software modules. Software modules perform the functions of analyzing the current state of HIF elements, studying the dynamics of destruction and building a digital shadow of HIF elements. The studies have been carried out since 09.01.2021 to the present at PJSC “Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works”. In the course of the study, the structure of the ADP, a set of software modules for assessing the state and dynamics related to the quality of hazardous industrial facilities using an applied digital platform, algorithms for analyzing the current and future state of the quality of hazardous industrial facilities were developed; 10 modules were implemented at three technological levels. When using the digital shadow of the hazardous facility, it is possible to characterize a hazardous industrial facility only in the conditions of obtaining information on its state, thus a promising direction of further research is the development of a digital twin of the facility. The synthesis of digital twins will allow accumulating retrospective information on the change in the state of HIF.

Снижение рисков при тушении пожаров в суровых климатических условиях

The sustainability of the development of the northern territories of Russia from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean, where the bulk of the country natural resources is concentrated in the twenty-first century, is determined by the integrated approach to planning and managing the risks of using machines, structures and equipment, critical and hazardous industrial facilities and technological support and support at the stages of their operation. Climatic factors have a noticeable effect on increasing the risks of abnormal situations occurrence in emergency situations, for example, on the efficiency of fire departments activity in the winter period of the year and at extinguishing fires in harsh climatic conditions, when water may freeze inside the hoses and in the working chamber of the feed pump. Due to a malfunction in the fire equipment, the scale of the territory covered by the flames can significantly increase, and the extinguishing process will become more complicated. Operability of the hose lines in low temperature conditions is calculated using Methodological Recommendations for ensuring the operability of pump and hose systems of fire trucks when extinguishing fires in the conditions of extremely low temperatures, determining the maximum length of the hose line before icing begins. It is shown in the paper that the maximum length of the hose line, that is, the distance from the pump to the beginning of icing, should be calculated using the heat balance equation, which is based on two equations of the first law of thermodynamics — for flow and heat transfer. At the same time, it is required to combine thermal and hydraulic calculations. The methods are presented in the article for predicting the operability of pumps and hose lines in the conditions of extremely low ambient temperatures, used in fire truck systems for extinguishing fires, including at the energy facilities. It is shown that there are errors and shortcomings in the Methodological Recommendations for ensuring the operability of pump and hose systems of the fire trucks when extinguishing fires in the conditions of extremely low ambient temperatures, including at the energy facilities. It is also shown that the maximum length of the hole line, that is, the distance from the pump to the beginning of icing, should be calculated using the heat balance equation, which is based on two equations of the first law of thermodynamics — for flow and heat transfer.

Environmental Health Inequalities Among Municipalities Affected by Contaminated Sites in Italy

Background: Scientific evidence shows that hazardous industrial facilities are disproportionately distributed among socially deprived communities; however, environmental distributive justice resear...

Influence of deformation degree of austenitic steels welded joints on structural state and internal stresses felds in weld line zone

Nowadays initial assessment of welding quality is performed by testing equipment with increased loads (high pressure) at technical devices of hazardous production facilities. Test requirements are regulated by standardized documents of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Oversight of Russia (Rostekhnadzor). Recently, along with traditional tests, a “stress test” was used – the essence of which is to load pipeline section to the yield point, followed by leak test. However, in scientifc publications there is practically no information about physical processes occurring in the base metal and in welded joints during such tests. In addition, effect of preload (deformation) on the parameters of substructure and internal stresses feld in welded joints of austenitic steels and, consequently, on the further trouble­free operation of the tested equipment was not evaluated. The paper analyzes changes in structural state and values of internal stresses in the samples of austenitic steel under the action of high loads. It substantiates the use of modulated current welding with automatic control of heat input process in molten weld pool. The admissible limits values of plastic deformation are argued when testing technical devices with high pressure for this type of steel. In order to reduce the risk of damage to austenitic steels welded joints of technical devices of hazardous industrial facilities, performed by pulsed welding with small­drop transfer, and to exclude formation of microdefects in them, high pressure tests (stress test) can be performed under loads that create deformations in metal, not exceeding 5 %. For joints welded by manual arc welding, deformations should be less than 5 %. Welded joints made by pulsed welding with large­drop transfer (with and without defects) are not recommended to be tested with high pressure.

Analysis of the stress-deformed state of a tube bundle at different values of partition thicknesses and their deviations from verticality

Shell and tube heat exchangers of hazardous industrial facilities are used to heat or cool working media and represent a rather complex individual design, which can consist of several structural elements, such as a body, bonnets, heat exchange tubes, tube sheets, partitions, etc. The failure of one element contributes to the failure of the entire heat exchanger. In the process of assembling or installing elements of the heat exchanger, the formation of various geometric deviations from design solutions is possible, which may be associated with violations of the technology of the assembly process, installation, etc. The presence of such deviations can negatively affect the reliable and trouble-free operation of the apparatus, serve as a scenario for the formation of places of increased stresses, leading to the initiation of defects in these zones and premature failure. One such deviation may be a change in thickness values and deviations from the vertical design of the transverse baffles of the tube bundle as supports for the heat exchange tubes. In the existing methods, the transverse partitions of the tube bundle do not pay attention and do not take into account their possible impact upon deflection on the stress-deformed state of the apparatus as a whole. In this work, the relationship of the effect of thicknesses, values and directions of deviation from the vertical location according to the design of transverse partitions of the pipe bundle on maximum equivalent stresses is investigated.

Features of Evaluation of Fire Resistance of Reinforced Concrete Ribbed Slab under Combined Effect "Explosion-Fire"

Calculations using the example of a reinforced concrete ribbed slab have shown that if, as a result of an explosion, due to cracks that have arisen, a part of the compressed concrete layer is turned off, then even while maintaining the bearing capacity of the slab, its fire resistance is significantly reduced. It is shown that on the basis of the proposed methodology for studying the behavior of bending elements under the combined effect of "explosion-fire", it is possible to take into account the necessary parameters of reinforced concrete ribbed slabs in the design and operation of structures of hazardous operations industrial facilities. Also, the proposed technique makes it possible to predict a relatively safe amount of explosive in the technological process of an hazardous operations industrial facility, without leading to catastrophic consequences.

THE SERIES OF MEASURES FOR IMPROVEMENT OF SAFETY IN OIL AND GAS FACILITIES PRODUCING, PROCESSING AND TRANSPORTING MATERIALS CONTAINING HYDROGEN SULFIDE PART 2. IMPROVING THE RELIABILITY OF HYDROGEN SULFIDE-CONTAINING OIL AND GAS FACILITIES DURING THEIR DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION AND REPAIR. METHODS AND MEANS OF PROTECTION OF EQUIPMENT AND PARTS IN ENVIRONMENTS CONTAINING HYDROGEN SULFIDE. TYPES OF CONTROL AND TESTING OF

The requirements of the Federal Laws for hazardous industrial oil and gas facilities, information about the construction control and its application, the structure of the chief engineer service and the structure of the corrosion protection service as part of it are described.The concepts of technical inspection and technical diagnosis, as well as the timing and features of its implementation are given. The features of non-destructive testing, technical diagnosis and repair of equipment operated in hydrogen sulfide-containing environments, including weld failure, defects of shell-and-tube heat exchangers are shown. Methods and means of protecting steel equipment from environments containing hydrogen sulfide are described including:corrosion inhibitors (general information, for hydrogen sulfide-containing media, for glycol-containing media, for amine-containing media);protective coatings (general requirements for coatings, polymeric, inorganic, metallic, recommendations for effective coatings);electrochemical protection (methods and limitations of application, peculiarities of destruction and protection of main gas pipelines);technological methods of protection (examples of common manufacturing mistakes).Methods and equipment to control corrosion in hydrogen sulfide-containing media are shown, including a description of new devices.Types of corrosion tests of samples of materials and methods of protection in environments containing hydrogen sulfide are described, including: laboratory, pilot, production and special tests.

Methods of improving the power supply reliability of industrial site

Ensuring reliability is one of the most important problems in the creation and operation of any technical system. It is especially relevant for complex systems such as power supply systems. A modern industrial site from the power supply point of view is a complex technical system of hazardous industrial facilities, the technological processes continuity and safety of which directly depends on the power supply reliability. Electricity receivers of the considered industrial site in terms of power supply reliability belong to the second category. The task of ensuring the power supply reliability includes a whole range of technical, economic and organizational measures aimed at reducing damage from disruption of the electricity consumers’ normal operation. In addition, in modern market conditions, the power supply reliability is inextricably linked with the economic performance and industrial enterprises energy security. The paper proposes to modernize the industrial site power supply circuit, using the existing standby diesel power plant, which would automatically provide the industrial site power supply in automatic mode in case of disappearance, decrease, increase in voltage level, phase failure, and the phase sequence violation of the three-phase supply voltage on the busbar sections TP-1, TP-2 site. It is obvious that with the existing power supply scheme of the industrial site, the manual switching sequence, control over the backup diesel power plant operation, the normal power supply scheme restoration, it takes an average of 2.5 hours, which is not desirable, especially in winter. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce at the industrial site production control devices for the reserve automatic transfer, which ensure the power supply restoration to the industrial site in automatic mode.