Statistical analysis of process safety accidents in oil refining and petrochemical industry
| Autor: | Chu, Bei-Bei, 朱蓓蓓 |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 102 Crude oil refining processes or refineries are classified as high risk operations because of their potential for major accidents such as fire and explosions. Hence incident investigation has been an integral part of process safety management regulations. It is a regulatory requirement for petrochemical and refining companies to conduct thorough accident investigation after an unfortunate event to identify the root causes and to take corrective actions to prevent the same and similar accidents from happening again. However, recent accidents occurred in Taiwan involving the petrochemical and refining processes revealed the unfortunate fact that the lessons learned mentality or practices is nonexistent. This is primarily due to the fact that Occupational Safety and Health Act of the Ministry of Labor do not specifically differentiate occupational injuries from chemical process or manufacturing process related accidents. Secondly, the mandatory requirement on major accident reporting or the monthly occupational injury report requires no information on the root causes or main contributors of incidents or accidents. This study is aimed to design an accident database suitable for the refining industry. This is accomplished by referencing major accident databases of the United States, Japan, the European Union and 20 process-related accident reports compiled by a domestic petroleum company. Information gathered from these accidents is further classified into 60 major causal factors and minor causal factors. These factors are further analyzed by using British Petroleum’s Comprehensive List of Causes and classified as direct causes, indirect causes and root causes. The Four Quadrant Analysis technique is utilized to identify the major causal factor contributor of the 20 accidents is equipment related such as design, maintenance management such as preventive maintenance, inspection and testing, and operation. The findings are similar to those of the European Union Major Accident Reporting System. The frequency analysis reveals the fact that most of the accidents occurred during lunch break, or shift change. The modes of operations involved in these accidents were pumping, normal operations. Piping and pressurizing systems were the most common equipment encountered in the accidents. And the most frequently occurred accident was fire. It is hoped that the major causal factors and minor causal factors contributing to the accidents of the domestic petroleum company can alleviate the consequences of limited compilation, analysis, dissemination and utilization of accident information within and between companies. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
| Externí odkaz: |
|