Integrated hazard identification (IHI): a quick accident analysis and quantification method for practitioners

There are many techniques for hazard identification and are divided into short cut, standard and advanced techniques. Among these, HAZOP and What-If techniques are mostly engaged by practitioners in the chemical process industry. Both of these have certain advantages and limitations, i.e., HAZOP is structured, and what-if covers broad range of scenarios. There is no hazard identification method, which can cover broad range of scenarios and is structured in nature. For this purpose, a new technique namely integrated hazard identification (IHI) is proposed in this article that integrates HAZOP and What-If. The methodology is demonstrated via hazard identification study of urea synthesis section. Risk ranking is used to sort out the worst-case scenario. This worst-case scenario is further studied in detail for quantification that is performed using the ALOHA software. This quantification has assisted to detect ammonia concentrations in nearby control room and surroundings for worst-case scenario. It is revealed that if ammonia pump is not stopped within 10 minutes, concentration inside and outside the control room may reach to 384 ppm and 2630 ppm, compared to 1100 ppm (AEGL-3). Thus the proposed method would be easy, time saving and covers more details and would be handy for practicing engineers working in different chemical process industries.