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BROAD AREAS
Transport Phenomena, Safety and Hazard Analysis in Chemical Process
Industry, Inherently Safer Designs, Hazardous Substance (HS) Management,
HS Transport Risk Assessment.
SPECIFIC PROJECTS
Some of the problems we are currently looking at are:
1. Heat Transfer in Hydrocarbon Tank Farm Fires
Hydrocarbons, specially fuels (gasoline, diesel, LPG, furnace oils, etc.) are stored in above – ground tanks or Horton spheres. The total energy thus stored at any one tank farm is enormous indeed. Should one tank catch fire, the nearby tanks are cooled by water sprays to prevent them from burning. Huge quantity of water is used. This water has to be treated before being discharged or reused. To optimise the cost of fire fighting we are looking at all aspects of heat transfer from a burning tank to a nearby tank, heat transfer within the 2nd tank and heat removal from it by water spray. Boundary layer flow and its detachment from the surface also come in. The work may eventually lead to modifications in tank design, water spray system, inter - tank spacing and the like.
2. Disaster Management Plan for Bhopal
Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984, wherein over 2000 had died and over 200,000
incapacitated for life, has made the world aware of the tremendous hazard
potential of the CPI. We have been asked by the Government of India to
do a Hazard Analysis of the whole district of Bhopal taking into account
the Major Hazard Industries there and to suggest an Off - site Disaster
Management Plan for the District Authorities to implement
3. Containing risks due to leaks of Hazardous Gases
Chlorine is used in numerous processes. Due to its highly toxic nature
(it is one of the war gases) there is a move to ban its use. Complete ban
is decades away, if at all. We are working on an uncommon methodology utilising
its chemical properties to minimise risks beyond factory boundary due to
a major release. The methodology is proposed to be tested in controlled
experiments. After chlorine, we will look at another hazardous bulk chemical:
ammonia.
4. Estimation of Flammable Gas Mass
Release of flammable gases unnerves nearly residents and the city administration because of the serious damage possibilities due to highly probable fire and explosion (F & E). F & E is caused by the gas within the lower and upper flammable limits. It is important to have an accurate estimate of the amount of gas within the two limits to determine the potential for damage and to plan mitigating steps. We are working at an analytical / numerical solution of the problem.
Since the situation will change with time, the dynamics of the problem will be kept in mind. This will replace the current gross yield factors, varying from 0.03 to 0.19 used for different flammable gases.
5. Software for Hazard Analysis in CPI
Another project from the Government of India is to prepare software for hazard analysis in CPI and to make them available to the CPI in India at a small cost. Several have been prepared for HAZOP, Dow Fire & Explosion Index, Dow Chemical Exposure Index, Pool Fire and Fire Ball. Others are under preparation. These are helping industry analyze for hazards, thus achieving the aim of the project to make the CPI safer.
6. Integrated Risk Management
So far the regulatory bodies as well as the companies have looked at environment pollution (chronic hazard) and process safety (acute hazard) as separate activities. In fact, these are quite related [1]. We further believe that the integrated risk management will also impact upon the ‘quality’ of the product. Here, ‘quality’ is being looked at in a wider context. It refers not only to the product a company produces but also to its image in the public about its environment protection and process safety record. Hence, companies will need to have a ‘SHEQ’ (Safety, Health, Environment, Quality) department. We are putting together a concept paper on it as well as on the procedure about starting a SHEQ department.
7. Risk Analysis of Hazardous Substance Transport
For transport of hazardous substances (HS) in the city of Kanpur, India, we have carried out a survey of the types and quantities of HS transported and the routes taken. A risk assessment has shown a high probability of a large number of fatalities should a tanker catch fire / explode. In order not to alarm the public we are discussing it in confidence with the city authorities and suggesting ways to improve and regulate the HS transportation. The findings will be published later.
8. Application of Inherently Safer Design (ISD) Concepts
We have been holding meetings with a nearby large fertilizer company
and an LPG plant to discuss how ISD can reduce their risks. Any investment
will be looked at in light of pay - back period, reduction in insurance
premium, reduction in cost of emergency preparedness and reduced liability.
Technological problems encountered will be taken up as R & D projects,
both fundamental and applied type, and the results will be ploughed back
into the industry. In time, it is expected to produce a good synergy between
academics and industry for a ‘win - win’ situation.
RECENT CONTRIBUTIONS
Our recent work has produced a New Hazardous Waste Index which, for the first time, enables a person to get an idea of the vital hazardous characteristics (flammability, reactivity, corrosivity, toxicity) of a waste mixture at one glance and thus can help in deciding a protocol to manage/ treat/ transport that waste. (J. Hazardous Materials, A67, 1-7 (1999). Companion paper: Chem. Bus., 11(3), 39-42, (1997)).
Dow Fire & Explosion Index (F&EI) is used to calculate the fire and explosion intensity of a process unit to help in taking steps to reduce the intensity if found to be unacceptable. This Dow Index, developed in the US, has been used in the developing countries too. However, serious fires and explosions have continued to dog the industry in these countries. Our work has laid bare the ground realities in these countries and has suggested significant alterations in the values of penalty factors used. This produces more meaningful numbers for the F&EI index. The work has been appreciated by many consultants and process engineers and is now starting to be used. It will help make CPI safer in developing countries. Hopefully, the next edition of the Dow Index will incorporate it. (J. Loss Prevention in Process Industries, 10(1), 7-15 (1997)).
A companion paper under preparation suggests a relook at the procedure currently followed in calculating the Dow Index in general. It will help remove an anomaly which makes the current analysis undesirably conservative.
Inherently Safer Approach to all aspects of Chemical Engineering, viz: research, process development, plant design and layout, plant operation and maintenance has been accepted as the most important concept that will impact the chemical process industry in a big way. In order to increase awareness about the approach, we have designed a one - semester course on it, the first such anywhere (Green Chemistry, Royal Society of Chemistry, 1 (5), G 144 – 147 (1999), J. Loss Prevention in the Process Industry 1 (1), 63-66 (2000). Further efforts in this direction are continuing.
FIGURES OF OUTPUT FROM SOFTWARE DEVELOPED