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Unit
HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT

UNDERSTANDING OIL AND GAS BUSINESS

 CONTENTS
 Introduction to HSE
 Hazards and their Types
 Causes of Accidents
 Safety Mgmt Tools in Plant Life Cycle
 Safety Facilities in Process Plant
 HAZID (HAZard IDentification)
 Environmental Aspects
 Sources of Pollution:
- Waste from Oil Production
- Waste during Transportation
- Waste Water Treatment 2
 INTRODUCTION
TO HSE
 Hydrocarbons and Petroleum Products pose
hazard to the environment if not handled in a safe
manner.
– Accident may have disastrous effects on people
– Discharge of pollutants can destroy ecosystem
– High flammability can cause explosion

 That is why a lot of importance is given today on

learning and implementing HSE Methods based on
norms and practices followed at every stage of
Plant Life Cycle.
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 HAZARDS: These are defined as the potential to
cause harm, including ill health and injury ,damage to
property ,products or environment, production losses
or increased liabilities.
Fire & Explosion Sources of ignition

Electric Equipments
Chemical Hazards
Lightning
Lightning
Skin Contact
Static
StaticElectricity
Electricity
Hazards
Inhalation Hot
HotSurface
SurfaceIgnition
Ignition

Swallowing of liquid Hammering

Hammering

Unsafe operations

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 HAZARDS
- CAUSES -
 THREATS
– Possible causes that could potentially release the hazard
and produce an incident.

 INCIDENTS
– Unplanned event or chain of events, which have caused or
could have caused injury, illness and or damage.

 CAUSES - (3 Categories)
– Fire and Explosion
– Chemical Hazard
– Unsafe Operations
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 Fire & Explosion
 Flash Point: The lowest temperature at which the liquid
gives off sufficient vapor to form a flammable gas mixture
near the surface of liquid.

 By nature petroleum products are flammable to a greater or

lesser degree, depending on its composition.

 Fire Triangle: For fire to take place ,the simultaneous

presence of all the three items is necessary:
Flammable Material
Air or Oxygen
Source of Ignition

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 Fire & Explosion
contd…
 Prevention

– Obviously the methods of prevention of fire and

explosion hazard is elimination of one or two of the
items in the fire triangle or preventing all the three
being present together.

– For example, if a source of ignition can be excluded

or oxygen levels surrounding can be kept below
certain limits, a fire or explosion cannot occur.

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 Chemical Hazards
contd…
 Major Chemical Hazards:
– Skin contact
– Inhalation
– Accidental swallowing

 Hydrogen sulfide and Sulfur dioxide are most

common in refining industry.

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 Causes of Accidents
Defects in design
Equipment & Piping

Manufacturing
Construction Defects
Fabrication

Installation

Material Of Equipment

Faulty Operations

Lack Of Monitoring
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 Faulty Operation and
Maintenance
 Erroneous operation and maintenance may lead
to accident:

– Failure to interchange operating & standby

equipment as and when required
– Lack of attention to the special instrument like
vibration monitor, corrosion monitors, etc.

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 Human Error
 Opening or closing wrong valves without fully
understanding operating instructions

 Operator taking wrong reading of parameter

indicators and taking wrong actions

 Adjusting the set point of a control to a wrong

value

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 Other Causes
 Natural Calamities
– Earthquakes, etc.
– Need for Emergency Response Plans

 Lack of Monitoring

 Lack of Training
– Drills

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 Safety Mgmt Tools in
Plant Life Cycle
 Provisions can be made to reduce the risks
associated with a process, system or facility to
a level as low as reasonably practical .

 This can be achieved by:

– Removal of hazards in design phase
– Reducing the probability of hazardous events
occurring
– Minimizing the risk of escalation should a hazardous
event occur

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 Safety Mgmt Tools in Plant Life Cycle
Control system
Concept Development
Shut down System

Safety Valve

Firefighting

Plant Process Plant Life Cycle Site Selection

Population

Qualified Contractor Wild Life

Construction Environment

Adequate Training Resources

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 Concept Development
 It is during this phase that most of the major
hazards and effects will be identified and an
initial assessment of their importance will take
place.

 There is considerable scope for removing

hazards here.

 An example can be Site Selection

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 HSE Aspect of
Site Selection
 The importance and vulnerability of various
components in the existing environment should
be assessed.

– Potential consequences of accidents

– Safety of wildlife and natural habitats
– Safety of people living in vicinity
– Resources susceptible to damage

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 Safety Facilities in Process Plant
 Process Control System: Maintains the process within defined
operating limits of flow, temp., level & pressure

 Process Shutdown System: Designed to shutdown of selected

equipment & control devises on the platform that will stop production
totally but will not blow down the hydrocarbon contents of the
equipments.

 Emergency Shutdown System: Designed to shutdown of all process

facilities & utilities accompanied by blow down of hydrocarbon contents
of in all process units

 Pressure Safety Valve: Mounted on equipment, which relieve over

pressure , letting the released process fluid to go to the flare.

 Temporary Shutdown: Will cause production to stop ,but will the

system in such a state as to facilitate a prompt re-start.

 Fire Detectors: are installed which not only detect but also trigger
alarm system or shutdown system as per design specifications 17
 Construction Safety
A typical construction project can expose the
construction workforce to level of risk higher than that
of the personnel involved in the subsequent, longer
operational phase.

 Typical constraints:
– Low priority on construction planning
– Use of inappropriately qualified contractors
– Inadequate training
– Short-cuts in order to meet schedules
– Hazardous nature of construction sites
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 HAZID
- HAZard IDentification -
A technique for early identification
of potential hazards and threats.

 Applied at the very outset of a new venture or project

 Likely to be the first formal HSE related study for any

new project

 Early assessment of HSE hazards leads to safer and

more cost-effective design options
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 HAZID
contd…
 HAZID study addresses the layout and
operation of the entire system

 It uses a guideword driven methodology based

on a comprehensive list of typical hazards, their
consequences, and control measures

 The subject of review is divided into areas of

similar nature such as: Location, Function (e.g.
Process Area, Utilities)

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 HAZID
- Benefits -
 Full recognition of the importance and
interdependence of all HSE aspects at the
outset of the development

 Identification of specific hazards and threats

within a project life-cycle phase or during
operation

 Identification of all the intended continuous

emissions from the facility
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 HAZID
- Types -
 There are two types of HAZID techniques:

– Conceptual
– Detailed

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 Conceptual HAZID
 The optimum (early) timing of a conceptual HAZID
study inevitably means that the formal documentation
available to the team will be minimal and at
conceptual or policy level.

 Some of the key documents:

– Project Initiation Notes
– Feasibility Studies
– Project Development Plans
– Description of Operational Environment
– Key Legislative and Philosophy Documents
– Environmental Regulations

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 Detailed HAZID
 The detailed study is conducted later in the
engineering design process, once design options have
been identified but before any final decision.
 A significant number of additional documents and
drawings include:
– Process Flow Schemes (PFS) – with possibly Process
Engineering Flow Schemes (PEFS) at block diagram level
– Plot Plan and Layout
– Process Descriptions
– Safety and Operating Philosophies
– Environmental Assessment
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 Hazard Identification at Design Stage
System Description

Hazard Identification

Scenario Identification

Accident Probability Accident Consequences

Risk Determination

Risk & N
Hazard Modify Design
acceptable
?
Y
Accept System 25
 Safety Audit
 It is the act of verifying the existence and
implementation of elements of safety and
health system and for verifying the system’s
ability to achieve defined safety objectives.

– It checks design, maintenance of premises,

equipment
– It monitors performance of the system
– It performs quality and environment management
– It is periodic in nature

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 Safety Audit
- Objectives -
 Design deficiencies
 Weaknesses which might have cropped up
during modifications/additions
 Fire Protection arrangements and Safety
Systems
 Operating/maintenance procedures
 Training methods, adequacy and
implementation
 Preparedness for handling emergencies
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 Emergency Response Plan
 Every major hydrocarbon facility must have an
Emergency Response Plan
 Elements of an Emergency Response Plan:

– Pre emergency planning and coordination with outside

parties
– Emergency Command System
– Personnel roles
– Emergency Recognition and Prevention
– Safe distances identification
– Site security and control
– Emergency Medical Treatment and First Aid
– List of emergency equipments and their location
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 Environmental Aspects
 Pollution
– The gaseous emissions, aqueous an gaseous
effluents and discharges of hazardous waste
materials from operating units are the major
sources of pollution.

 The effluents are emitted in three ways:

– During the processing of oil & gas
– When we consume them as fuel
– When we consume the end products
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 Sources of Pollution
Produced water
Sludge.
Emissions-HC,H2S Gaseous emissions
Flare Power Plant Flare-CO,CO2,NOX.
Particulate
Fertilizer Plant
Liquid waste (sour water)
Oilfield Spent caustic
Processing Chemicals
Petrochemicals Catalysts, Metals
Oil & Gas Well HCN
Suspended solids
Transportation
Solid waste-
Sludge from tank.
Drilling waste Refinery
Sludge from waste treatment
Water & oil Chemicals.
Based chemicals Waste water Carbon
Drilling mud Suspended matter.
Oil spills Leakages.
Oil spills.
Emissions.
Flare
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 Waste from Oil Production
 Produced water accounts for about 98% of the total waste
in the oil field.
 Produced water must be treated before releasing into the
environment
 Other waste in oilfield is mainly drilling waste.
 The drilling waste is mainly mud with oil and chemicals
used during drilling.
 The major contaminants in the produced water are:
Dissolved solids (salt & heavy metals)
Suspended & dissolved organic matter
(hydrocarbons)
Hydrogen sulfide/Carbon dioxide.
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 Pollutants During Transportation
 Oil spills from large tankers carrying crude oil occurs when
ship leaks due to crashing in a reef or rock.
 Leakage can occur during loading/unloading and normal
movement of the ship.
 Causes enormous damage to eco-system and marine life

Pollutants From Refining

 Refinery waste include free & emulsified oil from
leaks,spills,waste caustic, caustic and acid sludge, tank
bottom sludge, waste catalyst.
 Crude storage tanks also are a large contributor to refinery
waste. It includes oily water, organic sulfur compounds,
suspended matter ,asphalted compounds etc.
Pollutants From Petrochemicals
 Petrochemical plant waste are more complex due to wide
range of raw materials, intermediate chemicals & products
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 Waste Water Treatment

Filter
Treated Water

Aeration Cell

Sludge Drying

Flotation Cell Disposal

Oil
Oily waste water
Skimming

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 Environmental Aspects
contd…
 The Hydrocarbon Industry is thus a major
source of pollution in the world.

 The three parties involved – the industry, the

government and the consumers have to partner
together to control the effects.

 Stringent product specifications, improved

technology and reduced wasteful consumption
of energy are some of the means to reduce
pollution.
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