Chemical industry hazard and operability analysis software (HAZOP)

Application of HAZOP+ Software in Safety Analysis at Dushanzi Petrochemical Company Wang Zhaohui, HSE Management Department, Project Command, CNPC Xin* Dushanzi Petrochemical Company, HAZOP Team Abstract: This article focuses on the application of Isograph’s hazop+ analysis software in the 10 million tons per year oil refining and 1.2 million tons per year ethylene production project at CNPC Xin* Dushanzi Petrochemical Company. Hazop+ boasts advantages such as standardized process analysis, customizable databases, and support for Chinese localization, and it played a significant role in the safety analysis project at Dushanzi Petrochemical. I. Introduction to the project background: The shortage of crude oil resources in our country is becoming increasingly severe, and there are many uncertainties and risks associated with the channels for importing crude oil. To diversify its imports of crude oil, our country **has begun importing crude oil from Kazakhstan; the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline project has been completed, and the crude oil is now reaching China. To process the pipeline crude oil imported from Kazakhstan, China National Petroleum Corporation has decided that its Xin* Dushanzi Petrochemical Branch will build an integrated refining and chemical complex with a capacity of 10 million tons per year for refining and 1.2 million tons per year for ethylene production. The project mainly consists of three major units. The refining section includes seven new process units, such as a 1,000×104 t/a atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit, a 120×104 t/a delayed coking unit, a 200×104 t/a wax oil hydrocracking unit, and a 300×104 t/a straight-run diesel hydrorefining unit; three existing units that will be upgraded, namely a 50×104 t/a catalytic reforming unit, a 38×104 t/a aromatic extraction unit, and a 40×104 t/a catalytic gasoline hydroisomerization unit; and ten existing units that will be reused, including an 80×104 t/a catalytic cracking unit. All facilities in the chemical sector are newly constructed. The production capacity of the ethylene plant is 100×104 tons per year, that of the hexene-1 plant is 2×104 tons per year, that of the butadiene plant is 13×104 tons per year, and that of the MTBE/butene-1 plant is 12×104 tons per year. The production capacity for high-density polyethylene is 30×104 tons per year, for full-density polyethylene it is 60×104 tons per year, and for polypropylene it is 55×104 tons per year ； The capacity for styrene is 32×104 tons per year, that for polystyrene is 13×104 tons per year, the capacity for styrene-butadiene rubber is 10×104 tons per year, and the capacity for SBS is 8×104 tons per year. The new utility facilities include: a power station, 5 410t/h circulating fluidized bed boilers, 3 100MW double-extraction heat supply steam turbine units, a thermal power plant with 3 125MW generator sets, 3 110kV substations, as well as supporting facilities such as air separation plants and sewage treatment plants. II. HAZOP Method: To ensure the smooth progress and safe operation of the project, the leadership of the project construction command decided to conduct Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP) on the design of each unit in the project. With the assistance of the project management consultant company AMEC, a HAZOP study team was established under the HSE management department of the project command center. The primary purpose of this team is, first, to carry out HAZOP studies on the design of various facilities in the project ； Secondly, it is necessary to train a group of professionals in HAZOP analysis to support the future development of the Dushanzi Petrochemical Branch as well as the safe operation of its existing facilities. Hazop, known as Hazard and Operability Analysis, is a risk assessment method developed by the British company Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in 1974 for chemical processing plants. ICI developed the HAZOP analysis method based on the principles of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and applied it to continuous chemical processes. The following is the process of the HAZOP analysis method: III. Selection of HAZOP analysis software. To conduct HAZOP studies on the design of a plant project, a set of computer software systems is required as a powerful tool to facilitate the work and ensure its smooth progress. To this end, the HAZOP consultants from project management consultancy AMEC, as well as the head of the HAZOP team, carefully selected and evaluated the software to be used by this team in the future, and established three fundamental principles for choosing this software: first, the software must possess all the functions required for HAZOP analysis ； II. Since this software is used by Chinese people, it must be a Chinese-language software or have a Chinese version. III. The software must come with good and reliable after-sales service. We first analyzed the HAZOP software used by various HAZOP teams on the Sinopec-BP joint venture project. The team leaders of these HAZOP teams came from different ** and regions, and they used various different software; the most commonly used was PHA software developed by a company in the United States. However, none of these software versions were available in Chinese, and no software company in China had developed software for HAZOP analysis and research. Subsequently, through extensive research, we decided to choose the Hazop+ analysis software from Isograph in the UK, distributed by Beijing Century Coordinate Company. The Hazop+ software has the following advantages: 1. It adheres to the internationally recognized Hazop standard analysis process. 2. It provides a Chinese localization interface that meets localization requirements and can generate localized reports in Word format. 3. It supports database functions, allowing for the setting of guidance words and process parameters based on different processes. 4. It provides a risk matrix function that enables quantitative analysis in addition to traditional qualitative HAZOP analysis. 5. The software is easy to operate and user-friendly. IV. Application of Hazop+ software: At the beginning of October 2005, Dushanzi Petrochemical Company officially purchased the official version of Hazop+ software along with its Chinese interface from Beijing Century Coordinate Company, thus becoming the first company in China to use this software. With the help of this software, the HAZOP team from the HSE Management Department of the project command, together with foreign HAZOP experts, carried out HAZOP studies and analyses at institutions such as Luoyang Petrochemical Design Institute, Qingdao Huadong Exploration and Design Institute, Dushanzi Petrochemical Design Institute, and Beijing Sinopec Engineering Design Institute. To date, HAZOP analyses have been completed for seven process units and renovation projects, including the atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit, delayed coking unit, wax oil hydrocracking unit, straight-run diesel hydrorefining unit, as well as the aromatic extraction unit ； HAZOP studies for wastewater treatment plants and power station components in utility projects are currently being carried out, while HAZOP studies for chemical projects are underway in Beijing and Shanghai. V. Conclusion: Given the increasingly severe safety situation in the petrochemical industry in recent years, **more and more attention is being paid to safety analysis in this sector. HAZOP analysis is highly significant and applicable to all stages of petrochemical safety assessment. Isograph’s Hazop+ software boasts excellent analysis capabilities, and Beijing Century Coordinate Company can provide strong pre-sales and after-sales technical support, playing an important role in the safety analysis project at Dushanzi Petrochemical.

The content of the article is good, but it is of an informational nature. How is HAZOP analysis being used in various projects nowadays? There are still few in-depth introductions; I hope specific examples can be provided.

Many domestic certification bodies are highly irresponsible; in order to secure business, they are lenient toward companies. This applies to things such as instrument calibration, management system certification and audits, various skill qualification exams, and driver’s licenses, among others. The passing rates for these tests are very high, and this is a key factor that contributes to safety hazards.

It’s terrifying if companies that operate under the guise of certain institutions take on security assessment projects; in order to cut costs, these organizations do not have sufficient qualified staff. If an assessment of a major project is carried out using unscientific and inadequate methods, the consequences can be disastrous.

In fact, safety assessment is very important. Although our country has paid attention to safety in recent years, the level of emphasis is not sufficient!

The SDG-HAZOP auxiliary analysis software developed by Beijing University of Chemical Technology requires a decryption key. It cannot be provided; you can contact the department or laboratory responsible for safety at Beijing University of Chemical Technology. There’s also one developed in Taiwan called something like Xiao Gong An; you can look into it, but I’m not very sure.

:lol :lol The article provides good information, but it’s only for informational purposes!! Software always costs money! !

There is a version developed by Isograph; you just need to register at the company, and they will send you a trial disc. Someone sent me one; I don’t need to do the safety assessment anymore, and I’ve lost the CD as well. If it’s registered under the company’s name, there might be sales staff who will come for a face-to-face discussion. Give it a try

I’m also very curious; I wonder if software is absolutely necessary for conducting HAZOP

I would also like to understand the HAZOP analysis process – is it necessary to use software to carry it out? If anyone knowledgeable is here, please give some advice.