Confined Space Entry Hazardous Substances In Refineries Hazards of Air and Oxygen Hazards of Electricity and Static Electricity Hazards of Nitrogen and Catalyst Handling Hazards of Steam Hazards of Trapped Pressure and Vacuum Hazards of Water Hotel Fire Safety Liquid Hydrocarbon Tank Fires Safe Handling of Light Ends Safe Furnace and Boiler Firing Safe Tank Farms and (Un)loading Operations Safe Ups and Downs for Process Units Control of Work

1. By:
Gerard B. Hawkins
Managing Director, CEO

2.  Confined Space Entry
 Hazardous Substances In Refineries
 Hazards of Air and Oxygen
 Hazards of Electricity and Static Electricity
 Hazards of Nitrogen and Catalyst Handling
 Hazards of Steam
 Hazards of Trapped Pressure and Vacuum
 Hazards of Water
 Hotel Fire Safety
 Liquid Hydrocarbon Tank Fires
 Safe Handling of Light Ends
 Safe Furnace and Boiler Firing
 Safe Tank Farms and (Un)loading Operations
 Safe Ups and Downs for Process Units
 Control of Work

3.  Construction
◦ Crane lifts
◦ Trenches, overhead work, pits, scaffold
 Steam blowing
◦ Roped off discharge
◦ Safety Officer?
◦ Noisy
 Hydraulic testing
◦ Pneumatic for water sensitive areas
◦ Warnings
◦ Done after hours?

4.  Gas leaks
◦ Invisible H2 flames
◦ Personal gas monitors
 Site maintenance
◦ Energy isolation methods (electrical, pressure)
◦ Locked! “LOTO”
 Working at height
◦ Tie off policy

5. CONFINED SPACE ENTRY
◦ Highly hazardous activity- multiple deaths.
 Controlled by permit to work system
◦ Only valid for a certain time period
◦ Energy isolation
◦ Gas sampling (must be suitable for inert atmospheres?)
◦ Buddy system (count in, count out)
◦ Tied off
◦ Rescue equipment, BA sets nearby
 Myths: “I promise you it’s ok”
◦ “No gases/N2 on site yet”
◦ “We were in there yesterday”
◦ “The valves are shut” X even if locked.

6. 1. Column lift
2. Welding methanol column
3. Instrument maintenance
4. Chimney plume and CO leak
5. Grating and guard rails
6. Scaffold condemned
7. Steam valve removal
8. Utility boiler explosion
9. Hydrogen leak
10. Pneumatic testing

7. Safety Officers
nearby- no action
Debris on temporary
scaffold platform
Sideways crushing
incidents-
If it moves, let it go.

8. Steam leak from
t-t weld line
Welded onto live
column base,
under column
skirt (confined
space, fire?)
Venting steam,
but if column
dumped-
methanol!
First welder in
hospital, but
Second finished
job!

9. Instrument fitter
opened live level
bridal to
atmosphere.
Venting H2,
propylene and
alcohol.
5 bar, 100°C
Sent operator into
plume to close
isolation valve,
wearing cotton
overall (+ BA set).
Used fire hose to
‘fog’ area
LI

10. LPOxo plant Ammonia plant
Weather pattern
Heavies
CO
“Sit in conference room with the A/C on!”

11. Gratings and railings move during
construction activities-
there one minute, gone the next!!
Hold on to them!

13. Undid steam
valve flanges with
temperature and
pressure in line:
Too impatient to wait for line to cool
Spoke to operators: still opened line
but were cautious. Got away with it.

14. S.E. Asia

16. On 9 Dec at about 2:30am, three personnel were trying
to re-start the boiler when an explosion occurred inside
the furnace of the boiler.
The three personnel were badly injured with more than
50% 2nd degree burns on their bodies.
Two of them subsequently passed away later in the
hospital:
• Deceased 1 - Technician/ Male / 23 yrs old
• Deceased 2 - Technician/ Female / 21 yrs old

19. Status of valves after accident

20. Gulf Coast Refinery 12:10:00 PM
During inspection of K-XYZ H2 make up compressor
it was discovered that a bolt resting on the 4th stage
suction piping had worn a hole in the pipe and
caused the release of make up hydrogen. The
compressor was taken off line.

21. High pressure hydrogen,
160# pipe rating
Pressure gauge
Plate hid contact during
normal inspection

23. Incident happened in a South American
Plant during a pneumatic test of the
tank associated piping.
A blind was NOT installed to isolate the
piping – only block valves were closed.

28. • Putting hand over pipe to see if flow had started
• Welding near syngas leak
• Operating machinery without guards
• Arc eye