Combustible Dust Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify dust explosion and reactivity hazards

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Gas and Vapor

Laboratory testing to quantify explosion hazards for vapor and gas mixtures

UN-DOT
Classification of hazardous materials subject to shipping and storage regulations
Hydrogen
Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen
Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Thermal Stability

Safe storage or processing requires an understanding of the possible hazards associated with sensitivity to variations in temperature

Adiabatic Calorimetry
Data demonstrate the consequences of process upsets, such as failed equipment or improper procedures, and guide mitigation strategies including Emergency Relief System (ERS) design
Reaction Calorimetry
Data yield heat and gas removal requirements to control the desired process chemistry
Battery Safety

Testing to support safe design of batteries and electrical power backup facilities particularly to satisfy UL9540a ed.4

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Cable Testing
Evaluate electrical cables to demonstrate reliability and identify defects or degradation
Equipment Qualification (EQ)
Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions
Water Hammer
Analysis and testing to identify and prevent unwanted hydraulic pressure transients in process piping
Acoustic Vibration
Identify and eliminate potential sources of unwanted vibration in piping and structural systems
Gas & Air Intrusion
Analysis and testing to identify and prevent intrusion of gas or air in piping systems
ISO/IEC 17025:2017

Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in the field of Testing

ISO 9001:2015
Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO 9001:2015
Dust Hazards Analysis
Evaluate your process to identify combustible dust hazards and perform dust explosion testing
On-Site Risk Management
On-site safety studies can help identify explosibility and chemical reaction hazards so that appropriate testing, simulations, or calculations are identified to support safe scale up
DIERS Methodology
Design emergency pressure relief systems to mitigate the consequences of unwanted chemical reactivity and account for two-phase flow using the right tools and methods
Deflagrations (Dust/Vapor/Gas)

Properly size pressure relief vents to protect your processes from dust, vapor, and gas explosions

Effluent Handling

Pressure relief sizing is just the first step and it is critical to safely handle the effluent discharge from an overpressure event

FATE™ & Facility Modeling

FATE (Facility Flow, Aerosol, Thermal, and Explosion) is a flexible, fast-running code developed and maintained by Fauske and Associates under an ASME NQA-1 compliant QA program.

Mechanical, Piping, and Electrical
Engineering and testing to support safe plant operations and develop solutions to problems in heat transfer, fluid, flow, and electric power systems
Hydrogen Safety
Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen
Thermal Hydraulics
Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions
Nuclear Safety
Our Nuclear Services Group is recognized for comprehensive evaluations to help commercial nuclear power plants operate efficiently and stay compliant
Radioactive Waste
Safety analysis to underpin decomissioning process at facilities which have produced or used radioactive nuclear materials
Adiabatic Safety Calorimeters (ARSST and VSP2)

Low thermal inertial adiabatic calorimeters specially designed to provide directly scalable data that are critical to safe process design

Other Lab Equipment and Parts for the DSC/ARC/ARSST/VSP2 Calorimeters

Products and equipment for the process safety or process development laboratory

FERST

Software for emergency relief system design to ensure safe processing of reactive chemicals, including consideration of two-phase flow and runaway chemical reactions

FATE

Facility modeling software mechanistically tracks transport of heat, gasses, vapors, and aerosols for safety analysis of multi-room facilities

Blog

Our highly experienced team keeps you up-to-date on the latest process safety developments.

Process Safety Newsletter

Stay informed with our quarterly Process Safety Newsletters sharing topical articles and practical advice.

Resources

With over 40 years of industry expertise, we have a wealth of process safety knowledge to share.

Recent Posts

Guide to Process Scale Up - Process Safety Explained

Posted by Fauske & Associates on 04.04.19

Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis

From time to time, plants and facilities in every industry of manufacturing or production will need some sort of testing and engineering consulting services to identify hazards related to the handling or storage of flammable and combustible liquids and gases, combustible dust and reactive chemicals.  

When a process is new, moved to a larger scale, or has never been studied, a reaction calorimetry study should be completed on the desired chemistry to understand how it should be properly handled. The Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) identifies potential hazards associated with a material. If there are any questions about material behavior, then testing is needed.

Extensive testing experience allows one team to identify potentially hazardous conditions that may not be readily discernible.  Benefits of using one group include:

  • Understand and address hazards that pose the highest level of risk to your process facilityGuidetoProcessScaleUp2

  • Ensure compliance with relevant national, local and industry standards

  • Implement best engineering practices

  • Reduce overall level of risk

  • Increase productivity and employee morale

  • Make organization more competitive

  • Decrease insurance premiums



Safer Process Scale Up

A comprehensive engineering testing lab will offer services for safer scaling up of batch, semi-batch and continuous processes.  Consultation is available for process development groups involved throughout the development cycle.  Areas of expertise include the following topics: 

  • Onsite or desktop review
  • Determine critical process parameters to avoid or mitigate unwanted reactivity
  • Development of customized scale-up program designed for safer operation at various stages
  • Perform calorimetry testing to characterize desired and undesired reactions
  • Identify safe operating limits for temperature, pressure and other safety-critical parameters
  • Emergency relief design calculations for pilot plant, kilo lab and commercial scale equipment
  • Independent safety assessment,
Adiabatic Calorimetry & Relief System Design

Adiabatic calorimeter testing provides data for relief system design, safe scale up of chemical processes, and changes to process recipes.  Safe process design requires knowledge of chemical reaction rates, character and energy release - all of which can be obtained from a low phi-factor adiabatic calorimeter such as the VSP2™ (Vent Sizing Package 2) or ARSST™ (Advanced Reactive System Screening Tool).

The VSP2 ™  and the ARSST  - both developed by Fauske & Associates, LLC (FAI) as the principal research contractor for the Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems (DIERS) under AIChE - provide thermal data required for safe scaling up of chemical processes and changes to process recipes. A variety of process upset conditions can be tested to quantify hazards identified by a Process Hazards Analysis or HAZOP study. The low phi-factor (or thermal inertia) allows the heat and gas generation rates to be measured and directly applied to the process scale, which leads to appropriately designed emergency relief systems.

Reaction Calorimetry

One of the keys to safely scaling up a chemical process is managing the energy or heat flux that the intended chemical reaction produces, especially when that chemical transformation is exothermic in nature. When considering process scaling up whether the heat is removed via a jacket, a condenser, or a side loop heat exchanger in the plant reactor or partially allowed to heat up the mass, it is imperative to balance the cooling capacity at scale versus the projected heat flux rate and understand the total energy available due to the desired reaction should that cooling fail. The accepted technique for gathering this type of data in the industry is known as reaction calorimetry.

There have been many instruments developed over the years to accomplish this task and comprehensive labs such as FAI maintain a variety of devices so that we can design the most appropriate experiment to gather the vital heat rate and adiabatic potential data needed for safely scaling up. Couple this with vast experience in characterizing runaway reaction behavior using adiabatic and vent sizing calorimetry and we deliver a complete picture of a safe chemical process.

Thermal Stability

Thermal stability testing aims at collecting reaction rate data and applying that data to assess whether a specified quantity of material can be used in a way such that runaway reactions are avoided.  This is important when considering processing, long-term storage, or shipping of a material.

A variety of instruments and tools can be used to characterize the thermal stability of a material:

  • Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
  • Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
  • Accelerating Rate Calorimetry (ARC)
  • Thermal Activity Monitor (TAM)
  • AKTS-Thermokinetics Software
  • Advanced Reactive Systems Screening Tool (ARSST)
  • Vent Sizing Package 2 (VSP2)
  • C80 Calorimeter manufactured by Setaram

Accurate determination of safety parameters:

  • Onset Temperature
  • Kinetic Parameters
  • Time to Maximum Rate
  • Critical Temperature / Temperature of No Return
  • Self Accelerating Decomposition Temperature

Process Hazards Analysis (PHA)

A PHA is a systematic evaluation of the hazards involved in the process.  They are required for initiation of a process and at least once every five years after that.  It is important to address normal operating conditions as well as start-up, normal shut down and emergency shutdown procedures during the PHA.  The team should be multi-disciplinary, including operations, engineering and maintenance.  To properly conduct a Process Hazards Analysis, the process safety information (PSI) must be as complete as possible.  FAI provides services including auditing / review, revalidating and facilitating. 

FAI has performed PHAs for compliance to OSHA PSM requirements as well as combustible dust related for compliance per national National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) guidelines: NFPA 654, NFPA 664 and NFPA 484.  Using a variety of techniques including, hazard and operability (HAZOP) analysis, what-if, checklists, failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) as well as quantitative risk assessments such as layer of protection analysis (LOPA), FAI provides a full range of services. 

Process Safety Management (PSM) Program Development and Support

A one-stop engineering and lab firm can review or develop process safety programs to support chemical manufacturing facilities or development programs.  This can be performed for facilities including a kilo lab, pilot plant, medium scale and commercial scale plants.  Services include:

  • Auditing, reporting and presenting
  • Gap assessment to identify and prioritize needs
  • Process validation
  • Safe scale-up guidance
  • Development report documentation
  • Consulting on process safety issues for change control (management of change)

For more information on safe process scale up or process safety, please contact info@fauske.com or 630-323-8750

Guide to Process Scale Up

 

Process Safety Management (PSM) Overview

Topics: Process Safety

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