Risk Assessment in Chemical and Biochemical Industry

• Define hazard, risk, risk assessment and management in relation with chemical and biochemical process industries
• Identify the main steps involved in risk assessment of chemical and biochemical processes
• Identify key legal frameworks in USA and Europe relating to process safety as well as key relevant international standards.
• Describe how different groups perceive risk related to chemical and biochemical facilities
• Create a plant layout which respects safety distances as defined by either company standards or insurance company guidelines. Evaluate the results based upon Dow Fire & Explosion Index (Dow F&EI)
• Perform release calculations based on Dow Chemical Exposure Index (Dow CEI).
• Use HAZOP for hazard identification and risk assessment in a chemical or biochemical facility
• Perform quantitative risk assessment of chemical and biochemical plants for simple scenarios using event tree analysis and fault tree analysis
• Write sections of a safety report as required by key legal frameworks involved in Europe
• Identify key elements of a safety management system and how this can be integrated with other company management systems
• Perform consequence analysis including source modeling, dispersion modeling, fire and explosion modelling and effects modeling

The course consists of 3 parts. Part one is concerned with the topic of land use planning including criteria for selection of a site for a new facility, evaluation of potential impact of incidents at the facility on neighbors and methods for the design of the facility layout to reduce the risk of undesired incidents.
At the end of part one you will be able to select a site for a new facility using a number of qualitative criteria, and to develop a layout from a process description, as well as estimate impact on neighbors.

Part two is concerned with tools for hazard identification and risk assessment, such as HAZID, HAZOP, ETA, FTA, QRA and consequence analysis including source modeling, dispersion modeling, fire and explosion effect modeling. The use of these methods and tools are trained individually and in groups as appropriate.
At the end of part two you will be able to participate in brainstorming meetings about hazards, construct simple event and fault trees, and quantify these, as well as perform a simple QRA and consequence analysis.

Part three is concerned with the systems and training needed to be prepared for handling undesired incidents such that the consequences for the facility and surroundings are minimized. This will include discussion of management of safety critical operations.
At the end of this part you will be able to specify elements for a Safety Management System, as well as plan and participate in a small table top emergency exercise.

28120/28020/28121

Lectures are given one afternoon a week. Each lecture typically consists of two parts: (a) About 2 hours of theory and exercise of the methods, and (b) 2 hours of group work where the methods are applied and evaluated within the project assignment.

The course deals with fundamental concepts and methods for risk assessment and process safety in chemical. and biochemical process industry. These methods help identify and quantify risks involved in process operations such that one can take appropriate measures to mitigate/reduce the risks to practically acceptable level. The ultimate aim is safe operation and management of chemical and biochemical plants