59th Annual Loss Prevention Symposium (LPS)
The Loss Prevention Symposium (LPS) is one of several parallel symposia that comprise the Global Congress on Process Safety (GCPS). The purpose of the LPS conference is to present technological advances in process safety, explosion prevention, fire protection, and lessons learned from incident investigations. LPS focuses on process safety technology – new developments, cutting-edge solutions, and innovative/novel approaches to hazard identification and risk assessment/management.
Conference registration will be open soon!
Encouraged Topics for this conference include, but not limited to:
- To Breathe or Not to Breathe? Assessing & Managing Toxic Risks
- Battery Safety in the Chemical Industry
- Runaway Reactions: Catch Me If You Can
- The Usual Suspects: Fires, Explosions, and Chemical Reactivity
- Traditional Energy Infrastructure Safety
- Process Safety in Upstream
- Alternative Energy Infrastructure Safety: New Kids on the Block
- Energy Safety (e.g., LNG, Ammonia, Hydrogen)
- The Technology of Process Safety
- Emergency Planning and Response: Should I Stay or Should I Go
- Garbage In, Garbage Out: Impact of Technical Quality Failures on Process Safety
- Transportation Safety and Risk Analysis
- Modeling for Risk Quantification
- Cybersecurity
- Combustible Dusts: Avoiding Disasters
- Facility Siting, Consequence Analysis, and Risk Assessment
- Case Histories
LPS Chair & Vice Chair:
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Katie Mulligan and Jessica Morris, LPS_chair@aiche.org
Session Topic Descriptions:
To Breathe or Not to Breathe? Assessing & Managing Toxic Risks
The Loss Prevention Symposium is seeking abstract submissions for our upcoming session on toxic risk management. This session will delve into the latest advances and developments in risk assessment, mitigation, and emergency response planning for toxic materials. We encourage abstracts that cover case studies on real or potential toxic hazards, their toxicological assessments, and impact on human and environmental health. Share your research findings, innovative ideas, and best practices with colleagues and peers about risk associated with toxic materials, threshold values, dose versus concentration, and the use of probits to assess toxicity. We welcome submissions from industry, academia, or government agencies. The abstracts should clearly convey the problem or situation, emphasize best practices, and suggest future research directions. Join us for this important discussion on advancing process safety.
Battery Safety in the Chemical Industry
Rechargeable batteries have become an essential - and growing - power source in industry. Rechargeable batteries, including lithium and nickel chemistries, are used to energize tools, equipment, and communication devices. Larger format batteries are used for vehicle power, and battery energy storage systems (BESS) offer large format power storage. Each of these chemistries and scale of operation poses new hazards related to battery failures, electrical supply and charging hazards, and reliable power supply on demand. This session seeks papers related to identifying and managing the risks of batteries, such as:
• Modes of battery system failure
• Hazards of battery failure (e.g. thermal runaway, toxic gases, fires, and explosion)
• Consequences of battery failure within chemical manufacturing facilities and recycling facilities
• Hazard identification and risk assessment techniques used to assess battery systems
• Engineering design to mitigate risk
• Emergency planning and response
• Previous incidents and lessons learned
Runaway Reactions: Catch Me If You Can
Investigating thermal hazards is critical for safe process design and operation.
Runaway reactions are a major source of industrial accidents which can occur in a wide array of manufacturing sectors, including chemicals, petrochemical, food and agricultural, plastics, and rubber manufacturing.
This session invites papers that explore runaway reactions, including:
(1) mechanisms behind runaway reactions, exploring factors such as heat generation, non-condensable gas generation, reactant concentration, and reaction kinetics
(2) computational methods, including dynamic simulation and kinetic modeling, to enhance safety in chemical processes where runaway reaction scenarios exist
(3) various techniques for assessing and quantifying thermal risks, including adiabatic calorimetry, differential scanning
(4) preventive measures, mitigations, and emergency response strategies
The Usual Suspects: Fires, Explosions, and Chemical Reactivity
Preventing and mitigating fires, explosions, and chemical reactivity hazards has long been a crucial focus for the loss prevention community. This session aims to address the challenges and latest advancements in managing risks associated with these hazards. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
• Prevention and protection measures
• Hazard assessment and risk management
• Understanding the underlying potential hazardous event causes and mechanisms
• Best practices for designing and operating equipment
• Case studies and lessons learned from incidents
We invite submissions from researchers, practitioners, and industry experts to share their knowledge and experience in these areas. Presentations can be focused on theoretical or applied research, innovative technologies, case studies, or practical solutions to prevent or mitigate these hazards.
Traditional Energy Infrastructure Safety
Liquid fuels, gaseous fuels, liquefied gaseous fuels, and electricity have historically served as the primary energy sources for society. This session aims to present new developments in safety technology or understanding of the hazards posed by the traditional energy infrastructure.
Topics may include technical aspects of infrastructure safety such as trucking and rail transportation; fueling, loading, and unloading stations; transmission and distribution pipelines; and electrical power generation and distribution.
This session aims to present new developments in safety technology or understanding of the hazards posed by onshore and offshore upstream developments. Topics may include technical aspects of offshore infrastructure safety such as ship bunkering and collision hazards, helicopter transportation to offshore facilities, escape, egress and evacuation (EER), dropped objects, essential equipment survivability, remote facilities, marine stability, blowout prevention, and simultaneous operations (such as with drilling or construction during operations).
Alternative Energy Infrastructure Safety: New Kids on the Block
The world is marching towards a lower carbon energy future with a wide range of potential solutions that include:
• Replacement fuels (Biofuels and other Renewable fuels)
• Lower carbon utilities (solar, wind)
• Geothermal
• Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)
Each potential solution often requires a combination of existing and novel concepts to support the new energy infrastructure.
As the world moves towards a lower carbon future, it is critical that risks of potential solutions and required infrastructure are identified, evaluated, and properly managed. We are looking for papers that discuss the advancement of research and methods to address the process safety challenges associated with the rapidly advancing energy transition.
Energy Safety (e.g., LNG, Ammonia, Hydrogen)
As the global energy landscape shifts towards more sustainable solutions, ensuring energy safety is paramount. This session focuses on advancing the engineering and technologies associated with low-carbon and no-carbon energy sources. We seek significant contributions that delve into the safety aspects of hydrogen, LNG, ammonia, and other emerging energy carriers. Papers addressing large-scale field testing, innovative safety measures, consequence modeling, and mitigation strategies in the production, storage, transportation, and utilization of these energy forms are particularly welcome. We hope this session will showcase the most recent research results in energy safety, contributing to a safer and more sustainable energy future.
The Technology of Process Safety
The complexity of modern industrial processes - and the potential hazards associated with them - necessitate robust process safety tools and safeguards to maintain safe operation and prevent adverse outcomes. This session aims to explore innovations, advancements, and learnings related to engineered process safety technologies. Topics may relate to the development and application of new technologies to the process industry as well as the implementation of engineered safeguards that are appropriately designed, installed, operated, and maintained to prevent/mitigate events.
We invite speakers to share original contributions, case studies, best practices, and lessons learned on topics related to the technology of process safety, including:
• New Innovations: Applications cutting-edge technologies such as AI, machine learning, and robotics in predicting and preventing safety incidents, optimizing safety protocols, and enhancing decision-making processes.
• Engineered Safety Systems:
o Mechanical Pressure Relief Systems: Innovations in design, testing, and implementation of pressure relief systems to prevent overpressure scenarios.
o Instrumented Protection Systems: Development, application, and key learnings related to Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS), Basic Process Control Systems (BPCS), and other instrumented safeguards.
o Automated Detection and Response Systems: Advances in automation technologies for real-time detection and response to safety incidents, including release detection and emergency shutdown systems.
o Passive Mitigation Technologies: Design and implementation of passive safety measures such as blast walls, fire protection, and drainage/containment systems that do not require active intervention to function.
Emergency Planning and Response: Should I Stay or Should I Go
Emergencies can include everything from process safety events (such as fire, explosions, toxic releases etc.), extreme weather events (such as floods, earthquakes), and third-party events (such as sabotage, neighboring facility impacts). Most Emergency Response Plans are based upon a “credible” scenario, but as some of these “incredible” events occur, they become “credible”. Are your plans updated? Emergency response planning starts well before an emergency occurs as some plans may involve prediction, consequence modeling, and mitigation of consequences through inherently safer design considerations, layers of protection, internal and external communications, mustering, evacuation routes, and provisions as well as ways stakeholder engagement in response planning. Topics of interest may include any of those mentioned here.
Garbage In, Garbage Out: Impact of Technical Quality Failures on Process Safety
Risk analysis and hazard assessment in Chemical Process Industries (CPIs) necessitates an increasingly quantitative approach given tighter product margins, sustainability focus, advent of alternative technologies, novel energy sources and enhanced regulatory requirements. However, the enormous diversity of hardware and process technologies in CPIs as well as the need to protect IP and gain a competitive advantage has prevented development of standards for hazard quantification in process engineering.
In the absence of standardized process engineering and hazard assessment methods, bespoke approaches relying on data, custom models, and ‘engineering judgment’ are generally utilized. This leaves open the possibility of technical errors, even though the approach taken is quantitative; that is, engineers must ensure that the numbers used and generated are correct. In this session, we are calling for submissions involving real world situations wherein gaps in technical quality have or could have led to process safety incidents in CPIs.
Examples of such gaps include:
• inadequate quantitative analysis/modeling,
• incorrect data,
• bad assumptions,
• mis-matched technical skillsets
• mis-interpreting measured data
A successful submission should highlight key lessons learned and opportunity for the wider industry to incorporate or be aware of these pitfalls. Application areas include manufacturing, transport, power generation and storage, and resource extraction and span both production/field and research.
Transportation Safety and Risk Analysis
Safe transportation of chemicals and energetic materials is regulated via local, federal, and international laws, rules, and treaties. These are the basic expectations, but the regulations are being challenged by the development of new energy and chemical markets. Large array battery power for locomotives, hydrogen fuel cell air transportation, liquid carbon dioxide pipelines, and hybrid hydrogen-natural gas distribution are examples of growing areas of industry. Companies face challenges in understanding, evaluating, and managing the hazards and risks of these endeavors as they are scaled up to commercial size.
The phases of transportation include loading/unloading, charging/discharging, holding, and, of course, transit itself. Modes of transportation include rail, truck, air, marine, and pipeline. Chemicals and energetic materials may include energy carriers such as hydrogen and batteries, bulk chemicals such as ammonia and carbon dioxide, and fuels such as LNG and radioactive materials.
This session seeks papers describing best practices for modeling, facility siting, consequence analysis and technical considerations for transportation safety of hazardous materials. Papers discussing risk assessment approaches, technical evaluations and mitigation strategies are encouraged.
Modeling for Risk Quantification
The objective of this session is to raise awareness of opportunities to improve hazard identification, consequence prediction, and risk mitigation through the application of existing and emerging modeling techniques. This session will serve as a venue for process safety engineers and modelers to discuss available tools, their capabilities, and application examples as well as to identify problems that would benefit from new model development and application. Submissions are welcome in areas including but not limited to steady-state and dynamic process modeling, kinetics and reactor modeling, dispersion analysis, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element analysis (FEA), and data analytics.
Cybersecurity threats to process control networks are an increasing concern for the oil and gas and chemical process industry, and it is vitally important to address this growing threat in order to protect the technology critical to safe operations of facilities. Of special interest are threats to automated safeguards for high risk scenarios.
This session will feature technical papers covering cybersecurity threat assessments to digital and automated controls, current and future industry standards, ongoing research, industrial case studies, and approaches to building cyber-resiliency into processing operations.
Combustible Dusts: Avoiding Disasters
The analysis, prevention, protection, and mitigation of fires, flash fires, and explosions remains critical to the loss prevention community and combustible dust safety continues to be an area of interest and development for loss prevention professionals. This session explores fires, flash fires, and explosions caused by combustible dust, which manifests as a hazard across diverse industrial sectors.
This technical session invites papers on these process hazards as they relate to the chemical industry, with a specific focus on new data, novel or cutting-edge approaches related to hazards identification and/or characterization, updated regulatory matters, hazards assessment, and the development of safe designs and/or operational practices to manage the hazards.
Prospective authors: Consider if your paper is best aligned to the LPS “Combustible Dusts: Avoiding Disasters” session or the CCPS “Effective Management Systems Approaches to Combustible Dust Hazards” session, and submit your abstract accordingly.
Facility Siting, Consequence Analysis, and Risk Assessment
Consequence modeling, quantitative risk assessment techniques, and facility siting analyses are vital tools utilized by process safety professionals for understanding and managing risk. These methodologies find applications in various areas such as capital projects, on-shore and off-shore facilities, pipelines, transportation, and emergency response.
This session aims to explore recent advances and innovative approaches in facility siting, consequence analysis, and quantitative risk analysis. Additionally, we are interested in the integration and practical application of these tools and techniques at the corporate level to manage risks across the enterprise. We welcome papers that discuss best practices, share case studies, highlight valuable lessons learned in the field, and in general contribute to the overall understanding of effective risk management.
Prospective authors: Consider if your paper is best aligned to the LPS “Facility Siting, Consequence Analysis, and Risk Management” session or the PPSS “Facility Siting Studies: Recommendations After a Study” session, and submit your abstract accordingly.
GCPS Joint Session: Case Histories
Reviews of process safety incidents provide valuable learning opportunities. This session invites papers to help understand the causes and lessons learned from incidents in the industry with an emphasis on events that have helped define and develop the process safety field over the years.
