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Pressure relief systems: The sensible approach to verification and documentation
Author(s) -
Ahmad Aman A.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
process safety progress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.378
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1547-5913
pISSN - 1066-8527
DOI - 10.1002/prs.680160105
Subject(s) - documentation , process (computing) , risk analysis (engineering) , reliability (semiconductor) , order (exchange) , service (business) , computer science , reliability engineering , process management , engineering , operations management , business , power (physics) , physics , finance , quantum mechanics , marketing , programming language , operating system
As process safety and risk management stewards, one of the first things we should be concerned about is the reliability of our pressure relief system. The importance of pressure relief systems to the CPI and HPI is paramount. Yet this issue has frequently not received the recognition it deserves, even though it is mandated by OSHA 1910.119. Although relief systems presently in service at process facilities may have been adequate for the original plant design, it is likely that the same systems are now being exposed to higher capacities and different relief scenarios. Therefore, verification of the adequacy of these systems should have been done concurrently with operational changes. Many in industry have only recently recognized this, and are striving to incorporate such procedures in their engineering standards. Others are still uncertain how to proceed, and two obvious questions that come to mind are (1) what is the most logical way for us to verify the adequacy of an existing system?, and (2) how to we document this information systematically, in order to avoid replicating our efforts every time we make a process modification?