Thread Content
On October 24, the Emergency Management Department of Shandong Province issued a notice to solicit public comments on revisions to the \"Implementation Measures for the Safety and Reliability Assessment of Chemical Processes Used for the First Time in Shandong Province (Trial) (Draft for Comment)\\" (hereinafter referred to as the \"Measures\"). The Measures consist of 9 articles, covering the scope of evaluation, situations for evaluation, content of evaluation, evaluation procedures, evaluation conclusions, and requirements for experts participating in the evaluation. The Measures stipulate that for new, renovated, or expanded chemical hazard production projects in Shandong Province, as well as chemical construction projects that require a license for the safe use of chemical hazards in accordance with the law, and those involving nitration, peroxidation, diazotization, fluorination, or chlorination processes, any project that plans to employ a chemical process being used for the first time in China must have its safety and reliability assessed by the Shandong Provincial Emergency Management Department. It is reported that Shandong Province has further specified that processes involving chemical reactions are those in which such processes are used for the first time in China, and these processes fall into six categories: the first category involves products that are produced for the first time in China ； Second, the process technology proposed to be used is a laboratory technology that is being scaled up for pilot testing or put into industrial use for the first time in China ； Third, the product is manufactured by other chemical companies in China, but the process route, raw material route, or operational control methods are used for the first time in China ； Fourth is the introduction of mature foreign production processes that are used for the first time in China ； Fifth, there are other chemical enterprises in the country that use the same production process to manufacture identical products, but their production capacity and key production equipment (excluding an increase in the number of units) have undergone significant changes ； Sixth, accidents in production caused by process technical issues in other chemical enterprises that use the same process routes and raw material sources. Together with this notice, the \"Key Points for Reference on Safety and Reliability Analysis during the R&D Process of Chemical Processes Used for the First Time in Shandong Province\" are also issued. During the pilot stage, emphasis should be placed on comparing different process routes, selecting chemical processes with a higher level of intrinsical safety, clarifying the reaction principles, and determining operational conditions scientifically. Attention must also be paid to the safety risks associated with side reactions in the process as well as the material handling steps after the reaction (such as distillation, drying, and filtration). Potential risks of thermal runaway need to be assessed, and any abnormal situations identified, so as to provide a basis for optimization and decision-making in subsequent stages. During the pilot scale stage, emphasis is placed on the changes resulting from scaling up the process parameters from laboratory scale, to verify equipment selection and process stability, assess process operation risks, and propose suggestions for automatic control solutions and engineering control measures. When the scale of the industrial testing facility is comparable to that of the pilot plant, industrial testing and pilot testing can be carried out together. During the industrialization testing phase, the focus is on verifying the safety, stability, and reliability of the entire production system, including processes, equipment, and automated control systems, under long-term operating conditions. During the industrial production phase, emphasis is placed on the compliance of process technologies and the feasibility of scale-up. Special attention is given to high-risk aspects such as reactions with a process hazard level of 3 or higher, highly exothermic reactions, unstable materials, high temperatures and pressures, flammable and explosive substances, highly toxic chemicals, and toxic gases. It is also determined whether the current technical level allows for the safe scale-up of processes and equipment to the desired scale.