Laboratory and Pilot Plant Safety

High safety standards in laboratories and pilot plants are a prerequisite to the successful development of new process technologies. The amount of material handled in laboratory units and pilot plants is small relative to production plants. However, handling of new materials, and lack of prior knowledge about potential reactions and interactions with other materials impose unknown risks while operating research apparatus at the extremes of process conditions. Therefore, thorough analysis of potential hazards and risks, and ways of mitigating these risks through safe design of equipment together with adopting safe procedures for commissioning and operating research equipment are extremely important. This session will focus on best practices and cases studies encompassing safety challenges and risk-mitigating procedures relevant to laboratory and pilot scale plants.