Chemical Engineering August 2015 - 60

one had to be installed.
the extra-heavy oil deasphalting unit
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(Project 13) was designed during the
basic engineering phase as a mostly
hand-operated facility, with minimum
supervisory controls. as a result of a
HazoP during the ePC, the risk was
not tolerable to the owner, and the
whole unit had to be automated.
the demineralized water plant
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industries as opposed to focusing
on just one niche.
(Project 14) was delivered by the vendor
as a package unit, and no PHas
were conducted by the vendor. When
received, the plant had many safety
and operability issues and a number
of important modifications had to
be made, including: additional lines,
block and control valves, relief valves
and associated lines, among others.
aside from the costs associated with
the changes, the project was delayed
by six months.
the hydrogen compression unit
(Project 15) basic engineering design
did not address all of the safety considerations
associated with hydrogen
handling. some of the modifications
recommended by the HazoP/
loPa studies during the ePC phase
included changing the compressor
specification, and increasing the sIl
of the sIs from sIl-1 to sIl-3.
Final remarks
Hazards are present in the CPI;
some are avoidable, while others
cannot be separated from the plant,
as they are tied to the very nature
of the chemicals or the unit operations,
or both. However, a proper
design team, one that is trained to
identify hazards, and address them
using the best engineering practices
in safe-design from early on in the
project lifecycle, along with properly
timed and executed PHas, can
be very valuable in avoiding costly
changes during the ePC phase, or
even worse: potential damages to
persons and the environment. n
Edited by Gerald Ondrey
References
Find this and other related
reference material at
store.chemengonline.com
58
1. Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), " Guidelines
for Investigating Chemical Process Incidents, " 2nd edition,
CCPS, AIChE, New York, N.Y., 2003.
2. CCPS, " Guidelines for Engineering Design for Process
Safety, " 2nd ed., CCPS, AIChE, New York, N.Y., 2012.
3. AACE International Recommended Practice No. 18R97,
Cost Estimate Classification System - As Applied
in Engineering, Procurement, and Construction for the
Process Industries.
4. American Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended
Practice (RP) 752, Management of Hazards Associated
with Location of Process Plant Permanent Buildings,
3rd ed., 2009.
5. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), " Risk Management
Program Guidance For Offsite Consequence
Analysis, " March, 2009.
6. EPA, Chemical Emergency Prevention & Planning Newsletter,
Process Hazard Analysis, July - August, 2008.
7. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
29 CFR 1910.119. Process Safety Management of
Highly Hazardous Chemicals.
Authors
Sebastiano Giardinella is
the vice president and co-owner
of the Ecotek group of companies
(The City of Knowledge, Bldg.
239, 3rd floor, offices A and B,
Clayton, Panama City, Republic of
Panama; Phone: +507-2038490;
Email: sgiardinella@
ecotekgrp.com). He has experience
in corporate management,
project management, project engineering and process
engineering consulting in engineering projects for the
chemical petrochemical, petroleum-refining, oil-andgas
and electrical power-generation industries. He is a
certified project management professional (PMP), has
a M.Sc. in renewable energy development from HeriotWatt
University (Scotland, 2014), a master's degree in
project management from Universidad Latina de Panamá
(Panama, 2009), and a degree in chemical engineering
from Universidad Simón Bolívar (Venezuela,
2006). He is also professor of project management at
Universidad Latina de Panamá, and has written a number
of technical publications.
Mayra Marchetti is a senior
process engineer, currently working
as independent consultant (Coral
Springs, Fla.; Email: mmarchetti@
ecotekgrp.com), with more than ten
years of experience in the oil-andgas,
petrochemical, petroleum-refining
and pharmaceutical industries,
and has participated in the
development of conceptual, basic
and detail engineering projects. She specializes in process
simulation, plant debottlenecking and optimization,
and relief systems design. She has a master's degree in
engineering management from Florida International University
(Florida, 2008), and a degree in chemical engineering
from Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina,
1996). She has published articles and delivered worldwide
seminars focused in the use of simulation tools for
the process industry.
Alberto Baumeister is the
CEO and co-owner of the Ecotek
group of companies (same address
as above; Email: abaumeister@
ecotekgrp.com). He has experience
in corporate management, project
management, and senior process
consulting in engineering projects
for the chemical, petrochemical,
petroleum-refining, oil-and-gas,
electrical power-generation and agro-industrial industries.
He has a specialization in environmental engineering
(gas effluents treatment) from the Universidad Miguel
de Cervantes (Spain, 2013), a master's diploma in water
treatment management from Universidad de León (Spain,
2011), a specialization in management for engineers at
Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (Venezuela,
1990), and a degree in chemical engineering
from Universidad Metropolitana (Venezuela, 1987). He
was professor of the Chemical Engineering School at
Universidad Metropolitana between 1995 and 2007, and
has written a number of technical publications.
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