Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 94

History of the HPI
tional research focused on the conductivity
of polyacetylene. In 1977, additional
experiments showed that doping polyacetylene
with iodine increased its conductivity
by seven orders of magnitude;
similar results occurred using chlorine
and bromine, as well. The trio published
their findings in the article " Synthesis
of electrically conducting organic polymers:
Halogen derivatives of polyacetylene,
(CH)x
, " 201
followed by two separate
deeper dive articles into the technical research
and conclusions of their work.
The efforts of MacDiarmid, Shirakawa
and Heeger were instrumental in
creating a new field of plastic electronics
research, which gained prominence in
the 1980s and led to numerous products
and applications. These included antistatic
substances for photographic film,
shields for computer screens and smart
windows that absorb sunlight, light-emitting
diodes (LEDs), solar cells, displays
in mobile phones and small television
screens, batteries, specialty coatings, and
many other applications.198,202
For their
contributions in the field of conducting
polymers, MacDiarmid, Shirakawa and
Heeger were awarded the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry in 2000.
From tragedy to a safer industry.
Notable industrial accidents occurred in
the mid-1970s through the 1980s that
led to stark changes in the way industry
views safety. These included the Bhopal
and Seveso disasters and the Phillips 66
Houston Chemical Complex explosion.
In July 1976, a chemical leak at a small
chemical plant north of Milan, Italy exposed
the surrounding region to high
levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.
The leak severely affected humans,
wildlife and the environment. It was later
determined that the plant had very rudimentary
safety systems, it had not considered
environmental protection during
construction/operation and had no warning
system or health-protection protocols
for the surrounding communities.203
The Seveso disaster led to the adoption
of the Seveso Directive in 1983. The
directive (82/501/EC) aims to control
major accident hazards involving dangerous
substances, especially chemicals, and
contributes to the technological disaster
risk reduction effort.204
The directive was
superseded by Seveso 2 (1996)-also
referred to as Control of Major Accident
94 SEPTEMBER 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
Hazards (COMAH)-and Seveso 3
(2012). These amendments were the results
of other industrial accidents that severely
affected surrounding populations
and the environment. The major takeaways
from the Seveso Directives were
the obligations placed on plant operators,
which included mandatory safety reports,
the establishment of a detailed safety
management system and emergency action
plans, and the deployment of major
accident prevention policy, among others.205
Today,
the Seveso Directive applies
to more than 12,000 industrial establishments
in the EU and is widely considered
a benchmark for industrial accident policy
for nations around the world.204
Two other major industrial accidents
in the 1980s changed the way the industry
views process safety management: the
Bhopal disaster and the Phillips 66 chemical
plant explosion. The Bhopal disaster
occurred in the late evening/early morning
of December 2-3, 1984 in Bhopal, India.
Shortly after midnight on December
3, up to 40 t of toxic methyl isocyanate
leaked from the plant's storage tank and
drifted downwind into the surrounding
community.206
The highly toxic material
claimed the lives of thousands of people
and resulted in more than 550,000 injuries.
The Bhopal tragedy led to new safety
and environmental measures and government
regulations in India. This included
the Environmental Protection Act of
1986, which created the Ministry of Environment
and Forests-the ministry was
responsible for enforcing environmental
laws and policies. It also led to the Factories
Act of 1987; the Hazardous Wastes
(Management and Handling) Rules;
and the Manufacture, Storage and Import
of Hazardous Chemical rules, both
enacted in 1989, among other rules and
regulations.207
The Bhopal disaster also
influenced the Seveso 2 amendment in
Europe and raised awareness from governing
bodies around the world that enhanced
safety management systems were
needed in industry.
In the mid- to late-1980s, several governmental
safety organizations proceeded
with advancing new safety management
system regulations. For example, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) in the U.S developed the process
safety management system regulation in
the late 1980s. The regulation-still in use
today-focuses on the handling, manufacturing,
storage and onsite movement of
highly hazardous chemicals.208
However, new regulations in process
safety management in the U.S. were still a
work in progress when an explosion happened
at the Phillips 66 high-density polyethylene
plant in Houston, Texas (U.S.).
The series of explosions-caused by the
release of flammable process gases that
contacted an ignition source-on October
23, 1989, claimed the lives of nearly
two dozen and resulted in hundreds of injuries.209
The
tragedy increased the focus
on better process safety systems in dangerous
work environments, especially in
the refining and petrochemical industries.
According to literature, several insights
prevailed in the aftermath of the accident,
including a better adherence to safe work
practices and a better overall process safety
and risk management program, the creation
and adoption of new standards and
regulations, the detrimental effects that
can occur when safeguards are removed
or disabled, and the need for operational
discipline in plant operations.210
Unfortunately, the three industrial accidents
mentioned here were not the last
to occur within the processing industries.
However, these major industrial tragedies
led to an increased focus on process safety
management at both refineries and chemical
plants. They have left a lasting impression
and have been responsible for new
directives, standards and safety guidelines
throughout the processing industries in
an effort to keep plant personnel and surrounding
communities safe.
Heavy oil upgrading. In 1984, the Association
for the Valorization of Heavy Oils
(ASVAHL) was assembled in France. The
ASVAHL Analytical Group was comprised
of the Institut Français du Pétrole
[French Institute of Petroleum (IFP),
which would later take the name IFP Energies
nouvelles], Elf Aquitaine (a French
petroleum and natural resources group
that was acquired by Total Fina in 2000
and is now Total Energies)211
and Total
(now Total Energies).
The group's primary function was to
research and develop new heavy-oil upgrading
technologies. According to literature,
the group's main objectives included
developing straightforward methods for
the conversion of heavy products and
a better knowledge of the structure of
heavy products.212
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