(120b) The Importance of Utilizing Process Hazard Analysis to Manage Risk in Pilot Scale Designs

The experiences facilitating Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) methodologies for innovative pilot scale designs evaluated in this paper indicate that while Process Safety Management (PSM)-regulated sites undergo regular hazard evaluation, it can be advantageous and sometimes critical to adapt the hazard analysis tools to pilot scale designs due to the unique challenges associated with innovative pilot plant designs. While the PHA is most associated with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Process Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals and Blasting Substances Regulations - 29 CFR 1910.110 PSM qualified programs, this systematic approach to risk assessment can be an essential tool to designing successful non-PSM processes. Due to their small scale, pilot plants may not fall under PSM regulatory requirements; however, depending on the type of design, they may still encounter significant safety, operability, reliability, maintenance, and environmental release risks.

Considering lessons learned, this paper investigates the importance of applying PHA methodologies to engineering cutting-edge plant scale designs of the future facilitated by Barr Engineering Co (Barr). Barr applied and facilitated the preliminary Hazard and Operability Study (pre-HAZOP), What-if, and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) methodologies to innovative and sustainable pilot plant design projects, such as hydrogen storage, tailings water treatment, and battery recycling processes, to manage the safety, budget, scale, and timeline of first-of-a-kind pilot scale design. Pilot scale designs often begin with unknowns, and design teams are only sometimes experienced in the process or industrial application.

By facilitating process risk assessments, the project team initiated a multi-discipline hazard review, contributed critical considerations for site-specific safety management, and gathered crucial design input from key stakeholders and equipment vendors for a recommendation. These projects typically have large teams of stakeholders, including host sites, vendors, intellectual property providers, engineers, general contractors, and other contributors who can weigh in on risks and are invested in the design’s success. By implementing the appropriate PHA methodology to pilot plant designs, critical hazards were identified, and the project team was able to recognize the prevalence of specific risks associated with material handling, manual modes of operation, start-up and shut-down procedures, and environmental factors early in the project phase.

PSM practices can be perceived as inapplicable, optional, and overly expensive to pilot plant design clients. Designers need to understand how to provide and communicate the value of applying PHA methodologies to pilot plant designs, especially when design engineers perceive unique safety challenges. This paper explores fresh ways to view the PHA using agile tools and processes to refine and simplify PHA practices and consider small-scale, unique designs that can provide meaningful hazard identification and risk management for immediate pilot plant design and operations and to accommodate future growth.