B..

Plant & Facility layout

The site shall be laid out in accordance with the international codes and standards, including the
following general principles and considerations:-
I. Safety within the plant

 Spacing of individual equipment items and plant areas shall meet loss control requirements and
prevent escalation of fire or explosion (Adequate separation between flammable hydrocarbons and
ignition sources).
 Adequate separation between equipment and services handling potentially flammable and / or toxic
materials and the plant boundary or public areas.
 Adequate separation between hydrocarbon handling areas and emergency services, main safety
equipment, escape routes, and areas considered non-hazardous. Sufficient means of escape to
enable efficient evacuation from all areas to designated assembly points, under a hazard condition.
“No Go Zones” should be minimized, i.e. minimizing equipment on raised platforms, inside buildings,
and in congested areas.
 Consideration shall be given to environmental conditions including prevailing wind strength and
direction and site topography which influence the dispersion of gas clouds, smoke, fire, heat and
influence the location of exhausts and air intakes.
 Flares and vents are located so as to cause minimum interference or hazard to plant and personnel.
Radiation, dispersion and noise limits shall be taken into consideration in locating the flare / vent.
 Means of accessing an incident from a safe direction for recovery of injured personnel.
 Adequate maintenance and access to all areas for fire-fighting and associated vehicles.
 Control facilities and related buildings shall be preferentially located so that they are largely
unaffected by incident heat radiation or explosion overpressure resulting from credible accidents.
Where this cannot be achieved, for example, due to layout restrictions, construction of buildings shall
be sufficient to withstand the effects of accidental loads. If construction requirements are excessively
onerous, risk assessment techniques may be applied to establish appropriate protection
requirements.
 Special requirements (e.g. local codes) for permitted storage volumes and separation distances.
 Minimization of instrument tubing lengths as far as possible. Instrument tubing shall be installed and
supported on trays as far as possible.
 Cable routes shall take into account possible fire risks.

II. Items considered during Site layout

 All sites shall be generally within a perimeter fence.

 Specifications for site area and building that should be located inside or outside the fence.
 The entrance to site to be through a security checkpoint.
 Overhead electrical power transmission lines don’t cross-over the plant site.
 Flammable material storage shall be located appropriately away from process units.
 Utility services should be grouped together in a non-hazardous area.
 Firewater pumps shall be located appropriately away from the process storage and loading areas.
 The location, spacing, orientation, height and separation distances of flares shall be determined by a
full risk assessment and calculation of the factors involved.
 Control buildings and other occupied site buildings shall be designed and located such that the risk to
occupants shall be precluded or minimized.
 Plant offices, workshops and laboratories should be located separately in a safe and non-hazardous
area.
 Roads should be provided around site perimeter fence to permit access and exit in all weather
conditions.

III. Items considered during Plant layout

 All equipments and items of the plant are accessible for vehicles and pedestrian through road
network.
 Emergency evacuation exits should be located taking into account the locations of potential release
and the prevailing wind direction.
 Process units shall not be enclosed in a building.
 Plant area should be completely paved for good housekeeping and for better plant operations.
 The plot shall be graded so that any flammable liquid spill does not flow under or collect under
process equipment and shall not migrate to another process /utility area under gravity action.
 Drains shall be provided at the periphery of each unit to collect any spillage.
 Identify and specify the hazardous areas in the plant.
 Fire fighting water drainage to be considered.

IV. Maintenance access

 Equipment shall be located with adequate access for mobile handling equipment during maintenance.
 If elevated equipment requires crane handling, sufficient area to manipulate a boom, a manual
operated travelling crane, or a monorail and trolley shall be provided.
 Equipment layout shall avoid the need to lift heavy pieces of frequently maintained equipment during
unit operation over in-service process lines or equipment or provide passive protection (such as
concrete containment).
 Consideration shall be given to compressor inlet strainer removal in a simple and effective way.

V. Future Equipment

 Space for probable future equipment shall be designated and located adjacent to related equipment.
 Sewers and other underground piping and electrical runs shall be routed clear of known future
equipment foundations.

VI. Access ways & in-plant roads.

  Movement of maintenance vehicles and for firefighting from the roads around the plot to be
considered.
 Vehicle access ways shall be as straight as practicable and free of obstructions from any overhead
structures.
 Process pipe ways or site-run piping and cable trays to not obstruct the access ways.
 Clearance height of pipe way that crosses over the access ways to not cause any obstruction or
hindrance to large vehicles and cranes.

VII. Constructability

 Where practicable, Pre-Assembled Modules should be used to reduce on-site construction.

 Avoidance of hot-work on or near operating plant, in so far as is possible.
 Early identification of heavy / large loads
 Location of equipment to facilitate the construction plan.
 Provision of adequate access for construction equipment.
 Identification of lay down areas.

VIII. Layout of equipment and plant buildings

a. Equipment layout
 Provide a safe operating facility that shall be economically designed and easy to operate and maintain.
 Provision of appropriate space for future needs and expansion of plant.
 Consider the effect of noise in the immediate vicinity of the equipment and on the general plant
areas.
 When stacking equipment, the layout shall facilitate the maintenance of individual items including
removal and inspection.
b. Buildings Layout: Office, Control and Other Buildings
 Adequate space for monitoring and control on twenty four (24) hours basis throughout the year to be
provided.
 Blast construction shall be adopted.
 Office, maintenance and control buildings shall be designed and located at minimized risk area and to
allow unobstructed pedestrian emergency escape.
 Orientation and layout should be considered in view of prevailing wind direction as a result of major
toxic release.
 No building under any circumstances shall be built over any existing underground services.
 Other plant buildings such as compressor house, pump house and chemical storage building should be
made of structural steel with sheet claddings.
c. Fire water tanks and pumps
 Located away from areas of blast explosion, and fire risk.
 Located closely to vehicular gate inside the High Security fence and near to Control Room.
 Not to be on the prevailing wind direction as well as on lower elevation with respect to process area.
d. Process vessels
 Adequate spacing between process vessel and various equipments to be provided.
 Vertical vessels shall be placed on a common centerline parallel to the main pipe way.
 Horizontal vessels shall be located to minimize piping runs and shall be lined up with the dished head
on a common locating line on the pipe way side of the unit.
e. Shell and tube Exchangers
 Adequate arrangement and spacing between the exchanger, various equipments and pipe ways to be
provided to enable a safe tube bundle removal and cleaning and maintenance operation.
f. Gas compressor
 Shall be oriented with due consideration to the location of air inlets, exhaust ducts, and piping. The
effects of noise and draught should be considered.
 Adequate spacing between gas compressor and various equipments to be provided.
g. Process Pumps
 Adequate spacing between process pumps and various equipments, and proper accessibility for
operation, maintenance and lifting to be provided.
 Pumps handling flammable liquids shall not be located under overhead equipment.
 Adequate space for lifting and handling facilities shall be provided.
h. Air-Cooled Exchangers
 Located to provide safe and practical access for operation and maintenance.
 Location shall consider;
 The effect of air movement on increased fire spread,
 hot air emitted shall not cause harm to personnel,
 Location of fired heaters to minimize the possibility of circulation of heater exhaust through the
exchanger.
i. Fired Heaters
 Adequate spacing and location to be provided and consider;
 access for firefighting from all sides of a heater,
 minimize the risk of gas releases from plant drifting into the heater,
 Safe removal of tube bundle,
 Blast doors to be oriented away from plant and operating areas
j. Storage tanks
 Adequate layout, interspacing, and diking of storage tanks to be provided.
k. Pressure relief devices
 All flammable and toxic vapours/liquid released should be appropriately discharged to the flare
header/safe drain system.
l. Flare Stack
 Located either on side wind location or upwind location from the process facilities and remote from
process facilities, storage areas, utility areas, and office.
 Located as close as practicable to the process units served but with adequate spacing based on risk
assessment and calculations for heat radiation.
 Stick with state regulations regarding height of installations close to airways.