The chemical process industry represents a significant contribution to the world economy. Companies engaged in this industry produce a wide variety of products, including antibiotics, cement, gasoline, paper, explosives, plastics, fertilizer, food products, glass, soap, ceramics, and petrochemicals. Many of these processing facilities handle hazardous materials and manage large amounts of energy. Although the industry has one of the best safety records of all manufacturing sectors, the fact remains that when something goes wrong at a processing facility, it can have catastrophic consequences.
Chemical process accidents are often the result of an unexpected interaction between automated process equipment and operators. In the drive to improve safety and reliability, chemical process facilities tend to rely heavily on automation, using sophisticated instrumentation, computers, and programmable logic controllers to run their plants. In an effort to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution, various pieces of equipment are interconnected in ways that complicate their operation. Equipment failures or operator errors can lead to sudden and unexpected changes in the plant operation. If these disruptions to normal process operation exceed the capabilities of the operators or the capacity of the safety systems, a severe accident can occur, potentially resulting in a devastating fire, explosion, or toxic release.
With over 40 years of experience in accident investigation and failure analysis, Exponent is a leader in the investigation and prevention of chemical process accidents. Our project experience ranges from the analysis of small equipment failures to investigation of the catastrophic loss of an entire production facility. In addition, our expertise as process engineers has enabled us to assist clients understand the limits and capabilities of their process plants. This experience provides a valuable knowledge base of lessons learned for assisting clients in evaluating the safety of their facilities.
Our services span the life cycle of a chemical process facility, from process design, construction, operation, and maintenance to facility decommissioning:
- Accident and incident investigation
- Design review and feasibility studies
- Risk assessment
- Safety analysis
- Process hazard analysis: PHA, FMEA, fault tree analysis, HAZOP
- Probabilistic risk analysis
- Site security and vulnerability analysis
- Process plant performance
- Process economics
- Process data analysis, fault detection, and fault diagnosis
- Process dynamics and control system analysis
- Mechanical integrity of pressure vessels
- Mechanical integrity of atmospheric storage tanks
- Piping network analysis
- Heat exchanger design analysis and energy integration
- Hot work safety analysis