Equipment Filling and Mixing - Strategies & Effective Practices to Manage and Mitigate Hazards | AIChE

Equipment Filling and Mixing - Strategies & Effective Practices to Manage and Mitigate Hazards

Hazard Identification

  • Identify chemicals that are incompatible if mixed.
  • Identify places/opportunities when incompatible chemicals may be wrongly interacted and manage their confinements.
  • Avoid using the incompatible chemicals, if possible, in the process as part of Inherently Safer Design. Use alternate compatible chemicals.
  • Maintain chemicals and materials interaction matrix. 
 

Human Factors – Design of Chemical Transfer Equipment

  • Isolate physically or using distance to separate fill lines to lower risk of incorrect connections.
  • Use hose couplings and fill line connections with uniquely shaped and color-coded fittings for each chemical.
  • Identify each chemical by unique labelling and identification tag.
 

Automation and Remote Shutdown

  • Install or configure interlocks and mitigation measures to maintain safe operations during chemical unloading activities.
  • Install fume detection, extraction and destruction system in chemical warehouse for mitigating event.
 

Facility Siting and Design of Occupied Building

  • Evaluate building design and ventilation systems near chemical unloading stations and chemical storages to protect the occupants in the event of spill or chemical reaction.
 

Segregation of Storages

  • Separate locations for storing incompatible materials.
  • Dykes or bunds around liquid chemicals storages.
 

Segregation of Collection and Effluent Pits

  • Maintain separate collection pits for draining of chemicals that may interact and have hazardous consequences.
  • Examine the draining systems for avoiding possible mixing of incompatible chemicals.
 

Emergency Response

  • Access to availability of Emergency Response equipment.