Safety and Environmental Management

Question: Write an essay on "Safety and Environmental Management". Answer: Abstract In this assignment, I am going to address the working of a process engineer in establishing bio-waste to bio-oil. A bio-oil production company is going to set up a plant in Brisbane port the working process will be a collection of bio-waste and later on conversion of the wastes into the oil. The biodiesel plant will utilize a new sodium hydroxide catalyzed process to convert 200000 tons/year of waste biomass into bio oil. This will require different processes and that will be a collection of biomass from the stockpile and later on the biomass is treated with water and sodium hydroxide. The bio-oil will be later delivered into the refinery. The whole process consists, storing of biomass, treatment with water and chemicals and at last transportation of the bio-oil. In this assignment, I will address different environmental hazards which are related to these processes. I will do risk assessment and related hazard with the projects and I will also define the risk mitigation techniques which will be required in any case of accident. A review of the project site was conducted and possible ecological impact of project behavior were recognized, assessed, and provided. Introduction Biofuel is the type of fuel which is produced through the contemporary biological process. The American society for testing and material consider the biofuel as a mono-alkyl ester of long chain fatty acid resulting from a renewable lipid such as animal fat and the vegetable oil. It is used either as a pure from or be a mixed with petroleum based diesel. In Biomass, there could be several environmental risks as burning biomass release Co2 which is one of the major causes of Global warming and pollution. Biomass can be achieved by different means such as Burning woods, burning municipal solid wastes or wood wastes. Biofuels might be considered as a carbon-neutral because the plants that are used to make bio-fuels in which sugarcane and corn will be used for the making of ethanol, we can also say that the production of the CO2 can be offset because the Sugarcane and bio plants will observe the CO2. The conversion of biomass to bio-oils involves the pyrolysis of biomass at about 500C (Ackerson, 2012). This requires a huge use of heat. One source of heat is hot sand. Another is waste heat from a different reaction, such as coal gasification to generate gas Components of safety and environments legislation and regulation under which this facility will be work, Administration rules and regulations should have a strong authority on the feas ibility and have a timeline for a bio-energy plant. Policy mechanisms that affect bio-energy projects may take the form of rules, targets, mandates, and standards. Different states have their own policies which are directly related to the production of the bio-energy from wastes. Legislation: As per the policy by the Queensland state, some of the low-risk wastes are termed as eligible waste fuels. They can be used as a fuel due to their origin and low level of contaminants and consistency over time. Every company must have to submit applications before use of eligible waste fuels. Article 8 In-situ conservation Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate: (a) Establish a system of protected areas or areas where special measures need to be taken to conserve biological diversity; (c) Regulate or manage biological resources important for the conservation of biological diversity whether within or outside protected areas with a view to ensuring their conservation and sustainable use; (d) Promote the protection of ecosystems, natural habitats and the maintenance of viable populations of species in natural surroundings; (e) Promote environmentally sound and sustainable development in areas adjacent to protected areas with a view to furthering protection of these areas; (k) Develop or maintain necessary legislation and/or other regulatory provisions for the protection of threatened species and populations; (McGrath, 2011) As per the New South Wales state law of renewable energy production rules and regulation act; Some Acts Work Health and Safety Act 2011 It is the main piece of legislation covering Occupational Health and Safety in Australia. This act manage all aspect of plant life, from representation and participation, common risk and work place management, hazardous work, plant and its structure, construction work, hazardous chemicals and major hazard facilities. This act makes it compulsory for all the safety personal protective tools to be provided by employer if they are needed (Division 5). Also this act inhibits the accumulation of flammable and combustible substances and only allows the lowest practicable quantity to be kept at workplace (Division 9). Electrical Safety Act 2002 The purpose of this act is to remove the risks to individual, families and the society of death, injury and damage that can be cause by electricity. This act is vital to biofuel plant as pumps, heater, mixer and reactor would all require an extensive amount of electricity to run. In the formation of the bio-oils, there occurs burning of ethanol which creates emission; these emissions and fog are harmful to the ozone layer of the atmosphere. This must be addressed purposefully so that these can be Hazard from Operation and Handling: Pollutions which could occur due to the-the production and transportation of bio-oil should be controlled for the safety and security of the human lives and environments. Storage of the fuel should be in the proper way so that any kind of leakage must be avoided because any kind of leakage will pollute the environment. Transportation: Tanker should be made of double and thicker hull, which can withstand the pressure and prevent leakage of oil. If oil is being transported by the road than labeling is always required and its also required for the bio-oil railway and waterway transport. UN number 3265 stands for the corrosive liquid, organic, acidic. The labeling will indicate the hazardous nature of the oil as well as the impact which could happen over the environment. In Australia the dangerous goods or chemical are classified according to the Australian Dangerous code (ADG Code).So first they check the tag of the good which are carried, second they check the shipping and transport documents of the chemicals, third they check the manufacture or supplier of the product, check whether the chemicals are list with the ADG code or the product are tested to the classification criteria of the ADG code or UN Manual of tests and criteria. This is the labeling of pyrolysis oil. The tanker which we will use for the transportation must be thick and made of AISI 316L steel which is a chemical proof steel and it will avoid any kind of reaction with the oil. Raw materials involved with the production of the bio-oils are the Biomass or wastes. This will be used as a raw material for the production of the bio-oil, in the plant; we will use Coal, chemicals which will be used during the conversion of the wastes such as wood parts into oil. This is considered as one of the cost-effective productions of the oil as the cost related with the production of the bio-oil is low as compared to the Crude oil. Storing of the oil and chemical should be in the proper way as these materials are considered as one of the materials which could cause environmental hazards. The fuel of biomass is mainly delivered by a lorry or truck which pass through the site of restricted area and tip into a below-ground hopper or into a mechanical conveyor. Sometimes it also arrives in bags. All this form of delivery associated the hazards like large , below ground level fuel storage have a risk of falling from a height, storing the fuel anywhere is not safe because it may cause fire and Pneumatic delivery also increases the risk of dust and explosion. Fuel storage and handling: Danger of biomass is associated with the storage and handling of biomass like fire, explosion, slips and fall and also the issue related to the control of substance which is hazards to health regulation. There would be two storage tanks which will be used for the storage of the coal and the biomass. The storage tanks will be made of carbon steel which will be beneficial to avoid any kind of leakage and reaction. Biomass slurry is being stored in the stirred tank which having a pressure of 0.6 bars with temp 70-degree Celsius. Boiler and combustion: Boiler also causes the hazard in the biomass like hazard from the west side are very similar to gas and oil boiler, the second is fireside risk it is much higher than the wet side. The combustion of biomass fuel involves gasification and production of potentially explosive gas with a mixture of large static fire bed. Piping and Instrument Diagram (PID) Key unit operation: Filtration The oil containing biodiesel attained from flash evaporation is pumped through a filtration process. The filtered biodiesel is then sent to biodiesel storage tank for storage, while the solid chunks that are stuck onto the filter are put through the waste. Processing: The processing of the bio wastes with the sodium hydroxide is done in this process which occurred after the filtration of the biomass. Reactor burning: In this process the filtered bio wastes were burned into the reactor at high pressure. This process is used for the manufacturing of the bio-oil from the bio-wastes. Hazop: HAZOP is a type of structure or a systematic examination of a planned or an existing process or an operation which is used to identify and evaluate the problem which represents risk to the equipment and provides efficient operation. It is mainly used to imagine or stimulate the participant to identify the potential hazard of biomass. This technique is mainly developed to analyze the chemical process system and mining process. So our company also use this technique to major the bio- oil production and the biomass. (CrawleyTyler ,2015) The Flow of the materials from the transportation to the reactor system involves different steps, HAZOP analysis is carried out in the production phase of the bio-oil. The flow of the Chemical in the piping system can be none, slow, fast and reverse. In the HAZOP analysis I have done the HAZOP analysis for the flow of sodium hydroxide in the pipeline of the plant. Flow Possible Cause Consequences Action Required No flow 1. Empty Tank 2. Failed control 1. Increased quantity of methanol (with catalyst) and oil in reactor, risk of small explosion 2. Not desired product being made 1.Fit sensors such as flow meter, pressure and temperature recorder all across the plant, especially at reactor where it is required the most slow 1.Partially open/closed valves 1. Build up of temperature and pressure may cause leakage in pipes 1. Have a spare tank/reactor where the useless product can be dumped and recycled back to system for later use. fast 1. Faulty flow meters 2. Valve stuck open 3. Loss methanol through broken pipes can lead to release of it to atmosphere 1. Monitor load on mixer and heater Reverse High pressure difference in the tank to reactor and pipes Too little methanol or oil enters the reactor, leading to excessive proportion of oil. Use non-return valve so there is no backflow HAZARD ANALYSIS: Preliminary hazard analysis is a broad technique which is mostly used by the companies and government to determine, apparent hazards , to know the severity of the possible accidents which could occur during or after the operation and last one is the determining the safeguards for the reducing the effects of the hazard. This is a three level process, from finding the nature of the hazard and related risk with the hazard, at last, we can know the safety measures which can be adopted to mitigate the risks associated with the hazards. Hazard Analysis flowchart Hazard analysis is the first step towards addressing the hazard associated with the Bio-oil production through bio- wastes. As we know this could be a great way of obtaining renewable energy but this also could be a threat to the environment and to the human lives. Bio-wastes are mostly consists of woods and other natural materials, which is either burned down for the fuel or converted into liquid Bio-oil. Burning down wastes produce CO2, which is a great source of Greenhouse effects and Global warming. Also, production of Bio-oil and transportation should be well established so that no human live to get affected by this. (Frauke, 2010) Wood burn fog contains damaging pollutant like carbon monoxide and particulate substance. Burning wood in an open fireplace for heat is an unproductive way to produce heat and it can also create air pollution .Current wood burning stoves and fireplace inserts are designed to decrease the amount of particulates which are emitted by the appliance. The wood and charcoal are major food preparation and heating fuels in underdeveloped countries, and the wood may be harvested faster than trees can grow. Hazard from Operation and Handling Some of the incidents which can take place during transportation are trip, slip, and fall. Biomass industries are very horizontal for major accident like fire and explosion. The hazards event are caused by hazard related consequences during handling the operation. So the chemical which is used by the company should always be stored and transported in the safety process. The safety procedure to keep the chemical are: Where we store the chemical there should be good ventilation in that room. The floor should be solid and waterproof so it does not soak into the earth. Cloths and sponges should be present nearby to clean the spills. A water supply should be there to clean any chemical which is fallen down. Personal protective equipment such as gloves, because when we use the chemical we should wear the gloves for our own safety. When the chemical is transported from one place to another place then the chemical should be stored in a proper way and keep in a safety way. There should not be any leakage then it may cause fire and explosion. It will also pollute the air with a various chemical which is harmful to the environment. Safety measures should be taken and the transportation of the oil must be labeled as per the oil material and hazard which is associated with the bio-oil and chemicals. Identified Hazard The preliminary hazards identify the main hazards associated with the operation of the plant.Flow chart This flow chart shows how the pump work and provide the gas. If Pump fails then it will spoil the whole environment with the chemical gas like methanol , ethanol which is harmful for the health. It will spread dangerous diseases in the environment and make the environment polluted The Environmental impacts Assessment (EIA) Biomass facility operation includes the production of bio-fuels or power generation and needs some of the activities for maintenance. It also requires some device to control pollution and to reduce the emission from combustion and large cooling system. Potential impact from some other resources like: Water: Groundwater or surface water is expected to continue during the phase of operation of both biomass power plant and biofuel production and refinery facility. The amount of water which is needed depend on the type of facility. In the typical biomass power plant, the primary use of water supports the cooling system and used to condense spent steam for reuse. Cooling system requires large quantities of water to be withdrawn from and return to a surface body of water. Water is also used in the separation of the large bio-wastes and in some processes the biomass is filtered with the hot water. There is a huge use of water in the production of the water and the facility mostly left the water polluted. Most of the water which is used in biomass power plant is ultimately result in the generation of waste water. Blow down from both the steam cycle and the wet recirculation cooling system represents the largest wastewater stream because water in both the steam cycle and the cooling system undergoes some chemical treatment, and discharge contains chemical residuals. (Dinovo,1978) Land: The impact of land occurs during the time of construction and no other impact is expected to result from biomass facility operation in the land. One another use of the vast area of land is in the storing of the biomass wastes like wood pulp and different forest debris; will be stored in the open land for the further process. (Dinovo, 1978). Conclusion In converting biomass into biofuels there are many different processes associated with it. As we know bio-oil is made of forest dumps and municipal wastes by processing it with different chemicals. This process contains different steps which might impact then evironment and human life. Any company must take HAZOP approach to address these issues, this also includes the risk reorganization associated with the project and how it could be minimized. Transporting fuel is another crucial step in which different security measures should be taken so that any kind of leakage would not pollute the environment. We should also be aware of the equipment used in the processing plant so we can take necessary steps if any kind of accident happens. Transportation of the oil through road and rail means will need different rules; it includes labeling the tanker with the hazard nature of the fuel. Bio-oil is being increasingly used for the energy generation and transportation. This is even cheaper than the crude oil processing that is the reason its demand is increasing day by day. Processing of Waste leads to the formation of different substances which has their own impact on the environment. HAZOP assessment of the risk analysis of the impacts provides an insight into the impacts over the human life and to the society. Ultimately I can conclude that the Bio-oil is one of the best alternatives of the non-renewable source of energy, this also contains some harmful behavior which must be addressed. Processing wastes and filtration, as well as the purification, involves different raw materials and equipment so we must have the knowledge of the equipment and risks associated with it. Reference: Luque.RBalu.A.M, (2013). 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