(339g) Teaching Inherently Safer Design Concepts

Inherently safer design (ISD) is receiving increased attention from activists, legislators and regulators, who see the value of ISD techniques in reducing the potential impact of chemical plant accidents. The application of ISD methods in process design and analysis is usually not straightforward, and even experienced practitioners encounter difficulties in setting the right boundaries and basis for comparison in ISD studies.

While it is difficult to give undergraduate students more than a superficial awareness of ISD methods, it is important that they should be introduced to ISD concepts during their senior design classes. The paper will give a brief outline of ISD methodology and present some examples of design projects that highlight the need for ISD approaches.