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Safety, Resilience and Sustainability of Industrial Processes and Chemical Plants

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A topical collection in Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This collection belongs to the section "Sustainable Chemical Engineering and Technology".

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Dr. Bruno Fabiano

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DICCA-Civil, Chemical and Environmental Department, Polytechnic School, Genoa University, Genoa, Italy
Interests: environmental protection and engineering; human factor; inherent safety; nanomaterials, occupational accidents; safety and loss prevention in the process industries

Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

In these last years, the industrial world has on the one hand experienced radical technological advances in connection with communication and fast-developing societal developments requiring further research and applications for sustainability and process safety improvement. On the other hand, especially in Europe, facilities date back to several decades and due to economic crises, aging has become a major concern in the process industry, due to the high cost of investing in new equipment and consequences associated with failure. Many challenges still need to be addressed in order to make further progress in the safety and sustainability of plants and processes towards Safety 4.0, including the development and employment of user-friendly and effective risk assessment models, development of the resilience engineering approach, harmonized education of process safety, and using economic theories and dynamic models in safety and sustainability decision making. Big data, expert elicitation, Bayesian statistics and networks, and knowledge of human error provide the challenge of improving the management of risk and sustainability by the better determination of the effect of risk reducing measures, of their cost/benefit and budget allocation, but also, in an operational sense, the possibility of continuous risk level monitoring. Notwithstanding noteworthy advancements, inherent safety and resilience are still common sense rather than common practice, so that risk mitigation techniques and modelling remain up-to-date research topics in the field of process sustainability and safety.

In light of the above, Sustainability is publishing a Special Issue on “Safety, resilience and sustainability of industrial processes and chemical plants”. Theoretical, experimental research, numerical analysis, and management or engineering applications related to both occupational and process safety items in industrial plants are welcome.

We are pleased to receive all submissions to this Special Issue including research papers, case studies and comprehensive reviews related but not limited to the following topics:

accidental and environmental risk mitigation
consequence modelling;
designing for safety and sustainability
hazards from novel or emerging technologies
human and organizational factors
integration of safety and sustainability
loss prevention and safety in SMEs
management of plant aging
new approaches towards “Safety 4.0”
occupational and process safety
preventive and mitigation measures
resilient process
risk and hazard analysis
safety and sustainability indicators
simulation and modelling
sustainability and safety economics

Dr. Bruno Fabiano
Collection Editor

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Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

modelling
process and personnel safety
preventive and protective measures
risk assessment
sustainability

Published Papers (11 papers)

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2023

Jump to: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019

16 pages, 973 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Human Factors Analysis by Classifying Chemical Accidents into Operations

by Esra Yalcin, Gokcen Alev Ciftcioglu and Burcin Hulya Guzel

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8129; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108129 - 17 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2221

Abstract

In the chemical industry, organizational and operational human factors significantly contribute to accidents. Chemical accidents occur in various operations of the industry due to a range of factors. Understanding the relationship between these factors and the accidents that happen is crucial in preventing similar accidents from happening repeatedly and promoting sustainability. Therefore, this study was divided into five operations: maintenance repair, process, loading unloading, storage, and shutdown startup of the chemical industry, to provide a more concrete, intuitive explanation of the interplay between causes and illustrate the routes to failure. The data were collected from 251 accident reports from various online data. The study was analyzed using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) method as a conceptual framework. Each level’s frequency variables were obtained to define nominal and ordinal data. The chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used in the difference analysis of data in the model. The results show that the high-frequency accidents caused under the HFACS framework were organizational processes in the process (63.73%), in the storage (70.58%), and in the shutdown startup (91.66%), and skill-based errors in the maintenance repair (81.81%) and in the loading unloading (66.03%). Furthermore, resource management, technological environment, and personal readiness were significantly correlated with the operations. Human factors have differences in different operations in the chemical industry. Full article

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2022

Jump to: 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019

14 pages, 3486 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Advanced System for the Visualisation and Prediction of Equipment Ageing

by Giuseppa Ancione, Rebecca Saitta, Paolo Bragatto, Giacomo Fiumara and Maria Francesca Milazzo

Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 6156; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106156 - 19 May 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1281

Abstract

The control of major hazards involving dangerous substances in the chemical and process industry requires verifying equipment ageing according to the current legislation. This means to monitor its real conditions regarding degradation mechanisms and forecast their evolution over time. A system, named Virtual Sensor, supports this activity that is usually conducted during on-field inspections (safety walks). It is designed to collect ageing-related information, process data through some models, and produce prognostic estimates regarding the corrosion rate, the probability of the critical pit, the corrosion evolution on the equipment surface, and the residual lifetime, visualising the results in Augmented Reality (AR). An atmospheric storage tank of diesel oil was chosen as the case study; its 3D model was realised, and a miniature model was reproduced in the laboratory. Through the Virtual Sensor, data of past inspections were acquired. The application successfully managed and elaborated these data, showing the outputs in AR during a safety walk. Full article

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2021

Jump to: 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019

20 pages, 2197 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Process Safety Management Quality in Industrial Corporation for Sustainable Development

by Adam S. Markowski, Andrzej Krasławski, Tomaso Vairo and Bruno Fabiano

Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9001; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169001 - 11 Aug 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2883

Abstract

In recent years, also in connection with Covid-19 pandemics and enforced restrictions, there has been the formation of large industrial corporations gathering separate companies with similar, sometimes complementary production profiles. This evolving trend has brought usually positive economic effects; however, it has also created some integration problems that include the process safety management. The Texas City BP accident in 2005 and its tremendous human and economic losses underlined the obstacles in defining a well-structured corporation process safety management. The main causes of the above-mentioned accident were connected to an inadequate safety culture at the managerial level. Strong leadership and high standards of corporate governance are required to inspire correct safety behavior in the staff. The so-called soft skills become even more important in the Industry 4.0 arena, where the foundation of the whole system is based on an intelligent use and interpretation of data. The importance of this aspect is confirmed by several post-accidental analyses of past events. Although some research on this topic has been already done, it is worth it to dedicate some effort to identifying specific factors which influence the corporate process safety management quality, and, once identified, to assess them. This paper applies the concept of “lessons learnt” for the identification of organizational and managerial aspects worth consideration in process safety management. Based on accident and literature reviews and expert opinions, the aim is to identify the major contributing factors among leadership and safety culture, risk awareness, knowledge and competence, communication, and information and decision-making processes. To self-assess the level of commitment of the top leaders in process safety management, a checklist approach is proposed, combined with a quantitative, weighted evaluation based on the Relative Efficiency Indicator (REI). Positive value of REI may ensure the effectiveness of process safety management in major hazard industries and their appropriate adaptation to the corporation community. The proposed method, which is validated in an actual case study, underlines the importance of an appropriate education, and of a more careful selection of HSE managers. Full article

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21 pages, 1902 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Near Miss Archive: A Challenge to Share Knowledge among Inspectors and Improve Seveso Inspections

by Silvia Maria Ansaldi, Patrizia Agnello, Annalisa Pirone and Maria Rosaria Vallerotonda

Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8456; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158456 - 28 Jul 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2093

Abstract

In European Seveso Legislation for the control of the hazard of major accidents (Directive 2015/12/UE), the Safety Management System SMS is an essential obligation for managers and the authorities are required to periodically verify its adequateness through periodical inspections at Seveso sites. One of the pillars of the SMS is the collection and analysis of documents on accidents, near misses, and possible anomalies, in order to identify weaknesses and implement continuous improvement. In Italy, for a few years, the documents, gathered from all Italian Seveso sites by the inspectors, have been archived and used for research purposes. The archive currently contains some 4000 reports, collected in 5 years by some 100 inspectors throughout Italy. This paper discusses in detail the challenges faced to extract the knowledge hidden in the documents and make it usable through the design of a robust model. For this aim, machine learning techniques have been used for preprocessing of the reports for extracting the concepts and their relations, organized into an entity-relation model. The effectiveness of this methodology and its potentiality are pointed out by investigating a few hot topics, exploiting the information contained in the repository. Full article

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17 pages, 2497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Resilience Dynamic Assessment Based on Precursor Events: Application to Ship LNG Bunkering Operations

by Tomaso Vairo, Paola Gualeni, Andrea P. Reverberi and Bruno Fabiano

Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6836; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126836 - 17 Jun 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2447

Abstract

The focus of the present paper is the development of a resilience framework suitable to be applied in assessing the safety of ship LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) bunkering process. Ship propulsion considering LNG as a possible fuel (with dual fuel marine engines installed on board) has favored important discussions about the LNG supply chain and delivery on board to the ship power plant. Within this context, a resilience methodological approach is outlined, including a case study application, to demonstrate its actual effectiveness. With specific reference to the operative steps for LNG bunkering operations in the maritime field, a dynamic model based on Bayesian inference and MCMC simulations can be built, involving the probability of operational perturbations, together with their updates based on the hard (failures) and soft (process variables deviations) evidence emerging during LNG bunkering operations. The approach developed in this work, based on advanced Markov Models and variational fitting algorithms, has proven to be a useful and flexible tool to study, analyze and verify how much the perturbations of systems and subsystems can be absorbed without leading to failure. Full article

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21 pages, 3068 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Human Factors Modelling Approach: Application to a Safety Device Supporting Crane Operations in Major Hazard Industries

by Maria Francesca Milazzo, Giuseppa Ancione and Giancarlo Consolo

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2304; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042304 - 20 Feb 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2454

Abstract

The European Directive on Safety and Health at Work and the following normatives have the scope to provide high levels of health and safety at work, based on some general principles managing activities and including the risk assessment to continuously improve processes and workplaces. However, the working area changes and brings new risks and challenges for workers. Several of them are associated with new technologies, which determine complex human–machine interactions, leading to an increased mental and emotional strain. To reduce these emerging risks, their understanding and assessment are important. Although great efforts have already been made, there is still a lack of conceptual frameworks for analytically assessing human–machine interaction. This paper proposes a systematic approach that, beyond including the classification in domains to explain the complexity of the human–machine interaction, accounts for the information processing of the human brain. Its validation is shown in a major accident hazard industry where a smart safety device supporting crane related operations is used. The investigation is based on the construction of a questionnaire for the collection of answers about the feeling of crane operators when using the device and the evaluation of the Cronbach’s alpha to measure of the reliability of the assessment. Full article

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21 pages, 1753 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Trends and Opportunities of Tertiary Education in Safety Engineering Moving towards Safety 4.0

by Vendula Laciok, Katerina Sikorova, Bruno Fabiano and Ales Bernatik

Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 524; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020524 - 07 Jan 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3523

Abstract

Industry and related work and workplaces are constantly changing as a result of the implementation of new technologies, substances and work processes, changes in the composition of the workforce and the labor market, and new forms of employment and work organization. The implementation of new technologies represents certain ambivalence. Next to the positive impact on workers’ health, new risks and challenges can arise in the area of process and occupational safety and health of people at work. On these bases, it follows the need for predicting and handling the new risks, in order to ensure safe and healthy workplaces in the future. The aim of most forecasting studies is not only to identify new emerging risks, but also to foresee changes that could affect occupational safety and health. However, a number of questions still require proper investigation, i.e., “What impact do new emerging risks have on tertiary education in the area of Safety engineering? Has tertiary education already reacted to progress in science and research and does it have these innovations in its syllabus? How are tertiary graduates prepared for the real world of new technologies?” This paper represents a first attempt in the literature to provide answers to the raised questions, by a survey approach involving academics, Health Safety and Environment (HSE) industrial experts and university students in the Czech Republic. Even if statistical evaluation is limited to a single Country and to a small sample size, the obtained results allow suggesting practical recommendations that can contribute to ensuring new challenges in the area of education by addressing relevant culture issues needed to support new workplace realities according to the newly defined Safety 4.0. Full article

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2020

Jump to: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019

21 pages, 3358 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Resilience of Process Plant: What, Why, and How Resilience Can Improve Safety and Sustainability

by Hans Pasman, Kedar Kottawar and Prerna Jain

Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 6152; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156152 - 30 Jul 2020

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3847

Abstract

Resilience is the ability to restore performance after sustaining serious damage by a usually unexpected threat. This paper analyzes resilience of process plants as there are oil and gas refining, chemical manufacturing, power-producing plants, and many more. Over the years, plant safety has shifted from retrospective to proactive measures. Safety is important from many points of view, such as protection of workforce and nearby population, but certainly too from an economical and sustainability aspect. Pro-action requires predictive insight of what in the process can go wrong because of internal or external disruptive disturbance. Over the years, to that end, much effort was spent developing risk assessment methods and management. However, risk assessment has proven to be fallible because of various uncertainties and not the least by overlooked or unknown threats. To protect against those upsetting threats, measures can be taken up to a certain limit. These start in designing error-tolerant equipment able to be receptive to early warning signals during operations, responding to those with ‘plasticity’ of mind (that is, an organization and its leadership especially able to think ‘outside-the box’ for coping with unexpected situations), and finally, to deploy effective emergency response and able to recover from damage quickly. The paper presents a summary/review of nearly a decade of research work at the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center at the Texas A&M University to develop the concept and the techniques to realize a resilient plant, so far with a focus on chemical plant. It is, however, still a ‘work-in-progress’; potential is large. Besides the conceptual details, cases are presented that show how human and technical factors, combined in a socio-technical system, can lead to a broader plant safety insight enabling more effective risk control and increased resilience. These cases have up to now only considered warning signals and possible management action, while still limited to internal threats. Hence, aspects of equipment design and recovery should be further considered, also in the light of the dynamics of present-day business environment. Full article

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2019

Jump to: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020

13 pages, 1924 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Case Studies for Dangerous Dust Explosions in South Korea during Recent Years

by Seonggyu Pak, Seongho Jung, Changhyun Roh and Chankyu Kang

Sustainability 2019, 11(18), 4888; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184888 - 06 Sep 2019

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5831

Abstract

Despite recent extensive research and technical development to prevent and mitigate dust explosions, processes that produce and handle combustible materials in the form of powders and dusts, either as a main product or as an undesired by-product, have become a constant dust explosion threat as they become more sophisticated and complicated. This study analyzed the characteristics of 53 dust explosions that occurred in South Korea over the last 30 years, and investigated the differences of dust explosions that happened in various countries, such as Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. In addition, case studies showed the severity of dust explosions occurring in South Korea. Through the special focus on the three most recent years of dust explosions, the causes and processes of the accidents were identified. Analyses of dust explosions in South Korea show that they were mainly caused by organic matter and metal, and, unfortunately, dust explosions occurred repeatedly during grinding, mixing, and injection of powder materials into facilities. No reported accidents occurred during the production processes of wood or paper during the last three years. Taking these characteristics into account, effective ways to prevent or mitigate dust explosions at workplaces where many dust explosions occurred were suggested. Full article

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15 pages, 1750 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Alternative Evaluation and Indicating Methodology for Sustainable Fire Safety in the Process Industry

by Dorota Brzezińska, Paul Bryant and Adam S. Markowski

Sustainability 2019, 11(17), 4693; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11174693 - 28 Aug 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3316

Abstract

There is a mismatch between the desire to introduce greater levels of sustainability in engineering design and in the need to provide effective engineering solutions, particularly where issues of human safety and asset protection are involved. Sustainability engineering typically incorporates economic, environmental, and social factors, all of which are highly relevant and applicable to fire safety and the design of fire protection systems. The term fire strategy denotes a documented methodology to encapsulate a full range of such systems, within a single framework, for more complex risks such as those found in the process industry. The subject of fire safety is emotive and its application within building design may not change unless we refocus on a holistic and strategic approach, especially for complex building profiles. Fire is a recognized critical safety issue for most types of industrial plants. Due to the complexity of the processes, even a relatively small fire accident can lead to a chain of events that could be devastating, resulting in huge asset and continuity losses, damage to the local environment, and of course, the threat to life. More complex processes require a more flexible and relevant approach. The use of fire safety engineering and performance-based evaluation techniques, instead of prescriptive rules, continues to grow in prominence because of this. This is the case when specifying fire protection and safety for modern power generating plants. However, when it comes to critical infrastructure, such as is the case with power plants, it is sometimes not clear whether optimum fire safety engineering solutions have been applied. One of the ideas specifically developed for evaluating the most appropriate fire safety strategies and systems, especially for such infrastructure examples, is a method based upon the British Standard Specification PAS 911. This method is captured in a diagram and identifies eight main elements for fire safety and protection. The idea presented in this article is to allow assessment of a submitted actual fire strategy for a building or other form of infrastructure, against what has been predetermined as a standard baseline fire strategy for, in this case, a power plant building. The assessment makes use of a multi-level questionnaire, in this case specifically formulated for power plant fire safety needs. By comparing the actual fire strategy diagram against a baseline fire strategy, enforcement agencies, or other interested stakeholders, can recognize which fire safety factors play the most important part in the fire strategy, and determine whether proper levels of fire safety and protection have been applied. The fire strategy evaluation is realized by a team of engineers, which consists of independent fire strategist from a consultant office, internal fire and technical experts from the industrial plant, such as the person responsible for fire safety, person responsible for explosion safety, person responsible for housekeeping, and building manager. Additionally, there should be representatives of insurance companies and independent fire experts. Typically, the group consists of 7 to 12 people. Full article

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15 pages, 1059 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Maintenance Supplier Evaluation and Selection for Safe and Sustainable Production in the Chemical Industry: A Case Study

by Lizhong Tong, Zhongmin Pu and Jizheng Ma

Sustainability 2019, 11(6), 1533; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061533 - 13 Mar 2019

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4969

Abstract

Chemical industry plays a pivotal role in the economy in every country. As chemical hazardous materials are usually characterized as inflammable, explosive, toxic, corrosive, and carcinogenic, if accidents happen in chemical company it can lead to irreversible environmental and health damage to the public. The chemical industry attaches great importance to safe production, technical professionalism, and service standardization. Nowadays, under the trend of equipment maintenance service outsourcing in chemical companies, the selection of maintenance suppliers with safe and sustainable records come first and foremost in the supplier selection process. However, these concerns from the chemical industry are currently inadequately addressed by most general supplier selection models. Therefore, this paper proposes an applicable methodology for selecting and evaluating equipment maintenance suppliers in the chemical industry, compatible with a safe and sustainable production context. To achieve the goal of “safe operation and sustainable development in the future”, we established an evaluation criteria framework for equipment maintenance suppliers by combining the general supplier selection criteria and safe production characteristics together. Eight main criteria and 24 sub-criteria based on market acceptance, resource conditions, and safe production were included. Then a fuzzy TOPSIS model was presented to select the best equipment maintenance service supplier. Finally, by analyzing a case in W petrochemical company, the empirical results indicate that the proposed framework is of great practical value to select and evaluate equipment maintenance suppliers for safety and sustainable development in the chemical industry. Full article

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Safety, Resilience and Sustainability of Industrial Processes and Chemical Plants

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Topical Collection Information

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Published Papers (11 papers)

2023

Jump to: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019

2022

Jump to: 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019

2021

Jump to: 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019

2020

Jump to: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019

2019

Jump to: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020

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