CHEM ENG 7038 - Process Plant Safety & Risk Assessment

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2014

This course fully examines the diverse regulatory, design and operational issues related to process plant safety and will develop the arsenal of proven tools and techniques for implementing safety and risk management in various segments of the CPI. 'Risk' means different things to different people although there is common ground based on the notion of uncertainty. If we knew what would happen next then there would be no 'risk'. Demonstrating that risk has been properly managed has given rise to a number of risk management paradigms. These will be considered in a process engineering context.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code CHEM ENG 7038
    Course Process Plant Safety & Risk Assessment
    Coordinating Unit School of Chemical Eng and Advanced Materials(Ina)
    Term Semester 2
    Level Postgraduate Coursework
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 4 hours per week
    Assessment tutorials, project, final examination
    Course Staff

    No information currently available.

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    At the commpletion of this course students should be able to:
    1 Understand the typical sources of risk in a process plant by hazard identification and examination of case studies;
    2 Develop skills in the assessment of the severity of the consequences of incidents;
    3 Understand how to undertake a Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP);
    4 Understand the legal framework controlling process plant safety in industrialised countries;
    5 Understand how the root cause of incidents can be investigated and analysed and the various human and technical aspects of such causes; and
    University Graduate Attributes

    No information currently available.

  • Learning Resources
    Recommended Resources
    Textbooks

    Tweeddale, Mark, Managing risk and reliability of process plants, Gulf Professional Publishing, 2003

    Kletz, Trevor, What went wrong, Case histories of process plant disasters, 2nd Ed, Gulf Professional Publishing, 1998

    Kletz, Trevor, Still going wrong, Case histories of process plant disasters and how they could have been avoided,  Gulf Professional Publishing, 2003

    Crowl, Daniel A. and Louvar, Joseph F., Chemical process safety, Fundamentals with applications, 2nd Ed, Prentice Hall, 2002

    Ammerman, Max, The Root Cause Analysis Handbook: A Simplified Approach to Identifying, Correcting, and Reporting Workplace Errors,

    Crawley, Frank., Preston, Malcolm., and Tyler, Brian., HAZOP Guide to Best Practice, 2nd Edition, IChemE, 2008

    Hopkins, Andrew, Lessons from Longford: The Esso Gas Plant Explosion, Published North Ryde, N.S.W. CCH Australia, 2000
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    As a graduate-level engineering course, the subject material is delivered in a manner which relies heavily on student-centred learning. Each student is encouraged to engage with the material as an individual with a focus on their own particular needs and interests
    Workload

    No information currently available.

    Learning Activities Summary
    This course deals with the study of risk identification and management for the purpose of process plant integrity management. Process integrity management (or as often referred to Process Safety Management) is important because accidents in process plants can cause significant casualties and serious financial losses with the potential impact on the community over a wide radius from the plant itself. This course focuses on high consequence and low probability events.

    It seeks to examine:

    a)     Case studies of major accident events;

    b)     Quantitative and qualitative methods for identifying and managing the risk (likelihood of potential hazards and consequences) of major accident events;

    c)      Methods of reducing and controlling risk to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP), in particular through the adoption of the HAZOP process.

    d)    Techniques for analysing and investigating incidents to identify their root cause.

  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary

    No information currently available.

    Assessment Detail

    No information currently available.

    Submission

    No information currently available.

    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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