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Integrated framework for abnormal event management and process hazards analysis
Author(s) -
Dash Sourabh,
Venkatasubramanian Venkat
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690490112
Subject(s) - operability , process (computing) , risk analysis (engineering) , event (particle physics) , computer science , identification (biology) , representation (politics) , hazard and operability study , process plant , reliability engineering , process management , engineering , business , software engineering , physics , botany , quantum mechanics , politics , political science , law , biology , operating system
Process hazards analysis (PHA) and abnormal event management (AEM) are important to plant safety in chemical process industries. PHA deals with the off‐line identification, assessment and mitigation of hazards, while AEM addresses process plant malfunctions on‐line. Their inherent objectives, however, are similar, such as identifying, avoiding and mitigating hazards, and planning for emergencies. While PHA reasons from causes to consequences, AEM identifies the causes from observed symptoms or faults. The PHA results contain valuable cause and consequence information, safeguards, and other operability issues. AEM can benefit from utilizing this existing knowledge about the plant. However, in current industrial practice, PHA results are not used by operators for AEM purposes. An integrated framework combining both these tasks in a synergistic manner effectively manages and displays information searched from a possibly large number of PHA results, during on‐line operation, by using a hierarchical representation of the plant. An automated methodology is developed for this representation based on topology and functional classification of equipment. The application of the integrated framework to an industrial case study is described.