HAZard & OPerability (HAZOP)
HAZard OPerability study is a team based activity conducted in line with a procedure for the systematic and critical examination of a system or a facility to identify potential hazards that can impact the personnel, property, equipment, offsites and even the operability and maintainability of the facility. It enables to identify corrective actions in the form of additional controls and recommendations to be put in place to either eliminate or mitigate hazards.
Why HAZOP
HAZOP has been developed to provide a formal, structured, systematic, team based, method for identifying the causes and analysing effects of deviations from the design intent or from safe plant operations associated with an existing or new system, facility or equipment and to identify the necessary control measures to safely manage any undesired consequential effects. Specifically the safety aspects are identified, to determine if adequate design measures have be taken to prevent major accidents.
Significance of HAZOP Study
A HAZOP is a living document for a facility. As changes are made to a facility or its procedures the HAZOP will be updated to represent the current facility. A core HAZOP is undertaken to verify the design and should be carried out during the Detailed Design phase of a project. Revalidation HAZOPs should be undertaken routinely, with a maximum periodicity of 5 years, to ensure that the critical mitigation measures applied at the previous review still apply and that no new hazard and operability issues have been introduced during the intervening period. It is always to be remembered that a HAZOP should be considered a design verification rather than an opportunity for ‘re-design’.
HAZOP Methodology
Inputs Required by HAZOP team
The following documents are required by the HAZOP team
- PFD’s
- P&IDs for Process & Utilities
- HSE Risk Matrix and Response Chart
- Heat and Mass balances
- Plot Plans / General Equipment Arrangements & Elevation Drawings
- Material Specifications and Selection Charts
- Cause and Effect Diagrams
- Process Design Basis
- Process Operation & Control Philosophy
- Operations and Maintenance Manual
A brainstorming session will be held onsite with the multidisciplinary team along with the HAZOP Chairman and Scribe. The session will be discussed for each node, deviation, safeguards available and mitigation measures & recommendations will be recorded with the help of software PHA Pro.
iFluids Engineering have done numerous projects on HAZOP Study in India, Qatar, Oman, Tunisia and various other countries.
Take a look at our case studies some of projects done by iFluids on HAZOP Study in India and other countries by clicking the below link
To take a look on all the HAZOP Study projects that we have done, visit below link and search the table with HAZOP