Improving the Depth and Accuracy of HAZOP Analysis for Safer Process Development in Chemical Industries

Abstract

HAZOP analysis has become a versatile tool for industrial risk assessment and optimization in the past decades. It facilitates systematical design review with wide applications spanning across entire project lifecycle, from initial design to operation and decommission stages. Traditional qualitative HAZOP process that largely depends on historical experience and brainstorming can lead to inaccurate hazard identification and severe accident consequences. This study aims at improving the depth and accuracy of HAZOP analysis by delivering a comprehensive exploration of the critical factors and advanced quantitative approach. The impact factors were illustrated from prerequisite and assurance aspects. Prerequisite factors serve as the fundamentals of HAZOP which involve design technical details, HAZOP team management, execution strategy and HSE culture, while assurance factors denote the systematical PSI data and quantitative analytical frameworks. A classical chemical case study via semi-quantitative method was exemplified. Countermeasures and international leading practices were introduced with a summary chart at the end. Special attention should be paid to the effectiveness of safety guards and coming up HAZOP recommendations. Motivating future works can be explored such as HAZOP efficiency optimization, finer study targeting different project types, and broader industry applications. By incorporating the critical factors with integrated quantitative approach, the influence of enterprise HAZOP analysis will be more profound with enhanced accident prevention and risk awareness in the overall industrial environment.