Process Safety Beacon: Thermal Expansion
This blog discusses the Process Safety Beacon: Thermal Expansion runs hot and cold!, which describes an incident in which a section of liquid-filled piping ruptured after being isolated between two closed valves. As ambient temperature rose, the trapped liquid expanded, dramatically increasing pressure until the line failed. The release injured 31 people, including one fatality.
In the post we consider some of the process safety lessons to be learned from this incident. Each of the 20 CCPS process safety elements is discussed. Asset Integrity/Reliability, Hazard Identification and Risk Management, and Operating Procedures are particularly important.
The blog is available here.
As a reminder, the 20 process safety from the CCPS are:
- Process Safety Culture
- Compliance
- Competence
- Workforce Involvement
- Stakeholder Outreach
- Knowledge Management
- Hazard Identification and Risk Management
- Operating Procedures
- Safe Work Practices
- Asset Integrity / Reliability
- Contractor Management
- Training / Performance
- Management of Change
- Operational Readiness
- Conduct of Operations
- Emergency Management
- Incident Investigation
- Measurement and Metrics
- Auditing
- Management Review