DATE

June 2016

Risk review of all facilities for a major South American refinery

Identification of main hazard scenarios, review of adequacy and strengthening of risk control measures

Challenge

An Oil & Gas major was concerned about the adequacy of the existing risk controls at their main refinery in South America, in the event of a major release of flammable or toxic material. Some of the process units were designed and built over 30 years ago.

Other consultants are less expensive, but they cannot compete with the quality provided by ADL. Quality is worth money

Approach

We identified the major potential releases of hazardous materials through detailed walkovers, review of data and drawings, and facilitation of workshops with operations, process and emergency response personnel. We also reviewed and mapped the fire & gas system, including gas and flame detectors as well as active and passive fire protection. For each release scenario we mapped the relevant consequences (e.g. thermal radiation for fire and overpressure for explosion) and determined the affected equipment and areas occupied by personnel (e.g. control rooms; offices; etc.). Consequence footprints were mapped on plants’ layouts and presented to site personnel during dedicated workshops, to stimulate practical discussion on preventative and protection risk controls and their appropriateness

Value

A list of improvement actions was generated for each plant, ranked by risk and cost benefit analysis. These  included, for example, segregation of large inventories of flammable materials, relocation of occupied  portable buildings, installation or relocation of hydrants and monitors, provision of deluge systems and water curtains. The results of our work was also used by the refinery to revise the content of their internal and external emergency plan.

 

Risk review of all facilities for a major South American refinery

Identification of main hazard scenarios, review of adequacy and strengthening of risk control measures

DATE

June 2016

Challenge

An Oil & Gas major was concerned about the adequacy of the existing risk controls at their main refinery in South America, in the event of a major release of flammable or toxic material. Some of the process units were designed and built over 30 years ago.

Other consultants are less expensive, but they cannot compete with the quality provided by ADL. Quality is worth money

Approach

We identified the major potential releases of hazardous materials through detailed walkovers, review of data and drawings, and facilitation of workshops with operations, process and emergency response personnel. We also reviewed and mapped the fire & gas system, including gas and flame detectors as well as active and passive fire protection. For each release scenario we mapped the relevant consequences (e.g. thermal radiation for fire and overpressure for explosion) and determined the affected equipment and areas occupied by personnel (e.g. control rooms; offices; etc.). Consequence footprints were mapped on plants’ layouts and presented to site personnel during dedicated workshops, to stimulate practical discussion on preventative and protection risk controls and their appropriateness

Value

A list of improvement actions was generated for each plant, ranked by risk and cost benefit analysis. These  included, for example, segregation of large inventories of flammable materials, relocation of occupied  portable buildings, installation or relocation of hydrants and monitors, provision of deluge systems and water curtains. The results of our work was also used by the refinery to revise the content of their internal and external emergency plan.