Safety FIRST

Embedding Hazop safety data from process plants into their control and monitoring systems will improve both operator understanding of deviations and management of crises.

Proponent of this idea, the Finnish research group VTT Manufacturing Technology, based in Tampere, has been working on the approach in various forms for the past nine years. Senior researcher Perttu Heino outlined the potential benefits of the approach at last month's Cogsys Club meeting at Culham Laboratory, Oxfordshire, in a presentation entitled Analysis of Process Disturbances using a Hazop-based Plant Safety Model.

The underlying concept of using Hazop data was born in 1988, the consequence of a Scandinavian research regime established by the Nordic Industrial Fund, which was investigating knowledge-based safety management.

`Together with some other Scandinavians,' Heino explained, `we proposed a program whereby one part would support a safety study and another part would present the information to the process operating staff. We consider the information derived from a Hazop study in conjunction with comments from the local operators.'

Causes and effects

`Considering a number of points around a plant we list what can cause a given deviation from a norm and its possible causes and consequences. Here, we particularly want to employ the results of the Hazop studies,' he added.

VTThad previously applied this approach to real situations during an industrial research project in 1992. The Hazop data technique was tried out on two plants in Finland; at the Neste Oil Refinery in Porvoo, and at Kemira Chemicals in Kokkola.

Heino's hope now is to start another project that would encompass companies who supply process control and monitoring systems.

`Instead of developing a standalone system to go in the corner of a control room, we want to integrate our system into the control systems, or into a tool like the Cogsys system for process optimisation. We have been able to develop a quick prototype of the aim using the Cogsys tools. This helped us to elucidate that the aim could be implemented in such an environment. We have been trying to get EU funding to develop the project and I would hope too that some companies would be interested,' he said.

There are in Finland a number of manufacturing companies interested in the integration of Hazop data. Heino believes a joint development would need to be done in a triangular collaboration, with VTT and a systems integrator providing the other two points.

`I'm not aware that any company already uses its Hazop data for process safety standards or for process optimisation, although they may use them for training purposes,' he said. `It is apparent to us that many plant operators believe that their present systems are not sufficient at the moment.'

So how is the VTT approach any different from ordinary control systems?

`The primary purpose of the information presented by control systems is to optimise plant operations with economic considerations in mind,' said Heino, `but in Hazop studies the analyst tries to imagine the worst possible situations and their causes and consequences. I don't think process and control systems provide detailed information about accidents or indicate when the operator is close to danger.'

Apart from giving the operator more detailed information, another benefit of the Hazop data approach is that the information is already in existence - so companies will not have to carry out expensive new studies.

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