(42c) Overlooked Considerations during Safety Reviews of Lab Scale Systems and Pilot Plants

Safety reviews are necessary to ensure the design, fabrication, testing, and installation of process plants complies with safety, operability, health, and environmental requirements and standards. Safety reviews are conducted for plants of different scales (lab, pilot, demonstration, and production scales) throughout the life of the project. Compared to demonstration and production plants, lab scale systems and pilot plants are relatively small in size, with much lower volumetric throughput, making it difficult to consistently apply commercial health and safety standards. Furthermore, a few areas are commonly overlooked during safety reviews of lab scale systems and pilot plants, which can potentially lead to increased risk, or a process hazard. This article highlights these areas, where additional attention applied during the health and safety review process will pay dividends for these small scale plants.