(44c) Practical Strategies to Prepare and Lead HAZOP Analysis of Complex Chemical and Petrochemical Processes

Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) analysis was developed by the Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in the sixties as a systematized methodology to identify hazards in chemical processes at the design stage. The origin and the development of main concepts handled by HAZOP such as deviation and guide word may be come from the use of What-if? Analysis and Safety Audits in chemical processes. Since then many, HAZOP analysis have been performed around the world in different types of chemical and petrochemical processes without any substantial modification respect to the original methodology or with some basic modifications to attend specific issues such as determination of Safety Integrity Level (SIL), environmental impact assessment among others.

The development of new chemical and petrochemical processes as well as the commercial incorporation of non-conventional unit operations in these processes has created new hazard conditions that make in some cases difficult to prepare and lead HAZOP using conventional guidelines. In this paper it is reviewed several cases of HAZOP analysis applied in complex chemical and petrochemical processes in order to obtain a set of different practical strategies and guidelines to make easier and efficient the preparation and leading of HAZOP in such processes