(215c) Possible Aversion of Unsafe Situations by Semi-Automatic Operation

The Chemical Safety Board (or “CSB”) provides videos describing accidents that have occurred at refineries and chemical plants.  A recent review of those videos revealed that approximately half of the accidents could possibly have been averted via semi-automatic control software in the control rooms.  FRI’s experimental distillation unit in Stillwater, OK, was recently augmented with Yokogawa’s Modular Procedural Automation Technology, which provides FRI’s technicians with start-up, transition and shutdown assistance.  It is expected that the software will reduce the potential for unsafe events such as those that were described in the CSB videos.