Sutton Technical Books publishes a series of concise, practical primers covering key topics in the process and energy industries. These primers are written for professionals: engineers, operators, regulators, and technical managers — those who work in chemical plants, refineries, offshore platforms, pipelines, and storage terminals.Each primer provides a focused overview of a specific topic in…
This Primer, DOT-117 Tank Car Insulation, is priced at $25 (U.S.) It can be purchased here.Summary of DOT-117 Tank Car InsulationThis primer provides a clear, technically grounded overview of tank car insulation systems and the DOT-117/TC-117 standard that governs the transport of Class 3 flammable liquids in North America.The primer explains how modern tank cars are constructed,…
September 2022OSHA has opened the Process Safety standard for comment and revision. One of the items on their list is to do with storage tanks. Item II.1 reads,Clarifying the exemption for atmospheric storage tanks Some thoughts as to what direction this statement may take are provided in the post Update to OSHA's PSM Regulation. Part 4: Atmospheric Storage Tanks.**************************…
For further information on this topic, please refer to our ebook Contractors.Contractors play a vital and increasingly important role in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of process and energy facilities, as can be seen from the chart shown below. It can be seen that, over the last twenty years or so, the number of contractor work hours has increased by about a fact…
After a piece of equipment or piping that operates under pressure has been opened and then reassembled (buttoned up) it must be pressure tested before being put back into service.There are two types of pressure test. The first is a tightness or leak test, performed after the equipment has been opened but not modified in any way. Typically this type of test is conducted after the item was opened…
Process lines, piping and valves frequently become plugged. If line pluggage is a recurring problem it is best to try and identify ways in which the problem can be prevented from occurring. If that solution is not possible then valves, drains, tees and connections should be designed so that it is possible to remove the pluggage safely and with minimum time and expense. Prevention of…
NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) is found in many naturally-occurring materials, including some oil and gas deposits. Sources of NORM include:Uranium;Thorium; Radium; andLead-210When NORM is transported to the surface in production streams it can precipitate and accumulate inside tubing strings, surface equipment and piping as sulfate and carbonate deposits. NORM can also…
This Safety Moment is one in a series to do with the process safety profession. Other publications in the series are Safety Moment #54: The Process Safety Professional, Safety Moment #105: Process Safety Wisdom and Chapter 20 of the book Process Risk and Reliability Management. Further guidance is also provided in the ebook 52 Process Safety Moments which contains …
The material in this Safety Moment has been moved to The Principles of Process Safety Management.
A Confined Space is a space which is large enough for a worker to enter but has limited openings for entry and exit and is not intended for continuous employee occupancy. Entry is considered to have occurred as soon as any part of the entrant's body breaks the plane of an opening into the space. Therefore it is not permissible, for example, to take a quick breath and to put one's head into a…
Reproduced with permissionFurther thoughts on this topic are provided at the post The One-Legged Stool.*******************************Early in the 20th century a factory in the town of Pitsea in England manufactured the explosives using nitro-glycerine. Making nitro-glycerine was very dangerous. Concentrated acids were mixed with glycerine in huge vats. If too much glycerine was added too…
The purpose of a Prestartup / Operational Readiness Review (PSR) is to ensure that initial start-ups, or start-ups following major project work, proceed safely and smoothly. In particular, the PSR will check to make sure that all project activities are complete and that the system is ready for safe operation. It is a tool that the operations and maintenance departments use to make ensure…
Hydrogen Sulfide Hydrogen Sulfide is a highly toxic chemical compound that is found in a wide variety of oil processing operations. High concentrations of H2S may be present in crude oil, molten sulfur, tank and pit-bottom sludge and produced water, all of which may release H2S when agitated, heated, or depressurized. Typical operational activities where personnel may be exposed to H2S…
The contents of this Safety Moment have moved to Blinds and Piping.
Siting / LayoutThe words ‘siting’ and ‘layout’ are often used interchangeably, but, strictly speaking, they have different meanings. Siting is concerned with the location of a facility. For example, if a company is planning on building a new chemical plant its management may consider the relative merits of sites in Texas, Mexico or China. Layout, on the other hand, is to do with the locations of…