Process Safety Management Implementation in a Supercritical Fluid Extraction Pilot Plant: A Hazard and Operability Study

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has emerged as a versatile and environmentally friendly technique for isolation of value-added compounds. This growing prominence has led to an advance in industrial applications and a corresponding increase in research efforts focused on optimizing SFE by controlling pressure, temperature, and solvent flow rate. However, operating an SFE pilot plant requires a rigorous approach to safety due to the high pressures and potential for hazardous fluids. This paper emphasizes the importance of implementing Process Safety Management (PSM) in an SFE pilot unit and demonstrates its application through a Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) study. The pilot plant under evaluation utilizes a positive displacement pump for the primary solvent and a syringe pump for the co-solvent employed. The extraction vessel may operate at pressures ranging from 80 – 300 bar and, after decompression, a glass separation vessel is used to gather the product. The plant’s instrumentation includes a mass flow meter, micrometric valves, a high-accuracy digital transducer system to monitor pressure within the extractor, a heating jacket and PT-100 sensors connected to automatic control to maintain temperature in the extraction vessel. Through a HAZOP study, potential hazards were systematically identified, as well as the impacts of the extraction variables, their consequences on personnel and environment evaluated, and effective mitigation strategies established.