PLANT SAFETY

GENERAL
The GI/LPG plant is handling heavy hydrocarbon gases and gas condensate
liquids which can cause fire hazards, when leaked to the atmosphere. The gases,
being heavier than air, are not dispersed easily in the atmosphere, instead they
form the so called "vapour cloud" which floats near the ground level; increasing the
danger of being ignited.
Mother hazard in the LPG plant is the extreme low temperature, caused by
flashing of condensates during depressurization or draining. During the above
operation, the equipment normally operating at higher temperature is suddenly
subjected to a very low temperature which can cause mechanical failure and/or
blockages of valves and piping etc. due to freezing.
All these hazards are well known in the LPG plant and can be avoided by proper
design and following correct safety procedures during operation and maintenance of
the plant.
Stringent safety measures have been applied in the design of the Zeit flay
GI/LPG plant and safe operating procedures are detailed in the respective plant
sections of this manual. The overall safety measures adopted in the design and
operation of the plant are described in section 5.0 of this manual. With proper care
during operation and maintenance, the GI/LPG plant can be operated continuously
without any safety hazard.
Particular care must be taken during draining and venting of equipment, LPG
loading and venting of loading arms and while taking samples in the plants. The risks
of leakage and freezing are very much enhanced during the above operations and
proper procedures must be followed. These are highlighted in the following sections.
Draining And Venting
Draining of equipment should always be carried out, first, under pressure by
operating the manual bypass of the level control valve and routing the liquid to the
normal process destination. While draining under pressure, the liquid level in the
vessel must be monitored very closely by checking the level gauge so that all the
liquid in the vessel is not drained out completely. A liquid seal is to be maintained to
prevent gas blow-by.
If the temporary upset condition, e.g. level control valve malfunctioning or
sudden influx of excess liquid with the feed stream, could be resolved while draining
the vessel under pressure, the vessel can be put back to normal operation. If not,
and the plant section has to be shut down for major inspection, the affected section
must be first positively isolated from other operating units and after pressure draining
of all the equipment, the system should be depressurized.
Then most of the residual liquids left in the system after pressure draining, will
be flashed-off to1 the flare during depressurization. Any heavier liquid still left
unvapourised would be drained to the appropriate buried drain system by swinging

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open the blind on the drain connection. After the vessel Ms been drained completely,
the system should be, purged with nitrogen thoroughly before opening for inspection.
If the operator has to enter a vessel or column for inspection, make sure the vessel is
purged with air and all the nitrogen is vented off to atmosphere before entering the
vessel.
Caution
Do not re-start and pressurize any system or individual equipment soon after
depressurization when the temperature in the system can remain very low. If the
system is not to be purged for maintenance inspection and is to be re-started after
the depressurization allow sufficient time for the system temperature to rise by
picking-up ambient heat before re-starting and pressurizing.
Check Of Lube And Seal Oil System
Check regularly, at least every other day initially and once in a week thereafter,
the flash point and viscosity of the compressors lube and sea oils. Accidents are
known to have occurred in the past by the leaked process gas (light hydrocarbons)
being dissolved in the oil and then flashing off in the heated reservoir tank open to
atmosphere.
As more and, more light hydrocarbon gases get dissolved in the oil, both the
flash point and the viscosity of the oil will decrease. As soon as this decrease is
noticed, purge out by draining some portion of the oil from the reservoir tank and
replace with fresh supply of oil. If the two properties have gone down dangerously
low, replace the whole of the oil system with a fresh stock. Follow the checking and
draining of oil system as recommended by the respective compressor vendor.
Sampling
During the sampling operation in a gas and LPG plant there is always some risk
of leakage and/or freezing. Take special precautions to avoid this happening. Check
regularly that all sampling connections remain closed until needed to use.
There are two types of sampling points provided in the plant, refer to attached
drawing 26-BL-40
Type - 1 is mainly for liquid samples and also for high pressure gas where there
is danger of very low temperature drop due to Joule-Thompson Effect.
Type-2 is for all other gas samples at moderate operating pressure where
temperature drop is not significant.
Before taking a sample, always purge the sample bottle with nitrogen in the
laboratory and make sure that the sample bottle is under positive nitrogen pressure
(about 0.3 bar g), when being connected to the sampling point.
Before connecting the bottle, check that all the valves in the sample connections
are closed. Open the nozzle clamps and connect the bottle. Open the upstream l"
ball valve at the inlet connection, crack open only slightly the downstream 1/4" needle
valve at the inlet. Similarly crack open slightly the needle valve at the outlet and then
open the 1" bail valve at the outlet to flare. Make sure 1" outlet ball valve to the
process return line in Type 1 arrangement remains closed.

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 Keep both the inlet and outlet needle valve only crack-open for few minutes and
then open fully the inlet valve for a short period and then close it. Open the outlet
needle valve fully to flare to purge out the sample bottle. Repeat this operation at
least two times.
Close the outlet needle valve, and for the Type-l connection close the 1" ball
valve to flare and open I" ball valve to process return line. Open the inlet valve and
then crack-open the outlet valve for a short period and then close it, keeping the inlet
valve open. Check the sample bottle pressure and process aide pressure at the
sample inlet connection is equalized. Close the inlet valve and outlet needle valves.
Then close all the ball valves and disconnect the sample bottles and re-install the
caps on the hose clamps. Make sure everything is properly and securely closed.
Caution
During sampling, if any section of piping or any valve get iced-up by freezing of
ambient moisture immediately close the sample inlet valve. Open fully the outlet
valve to flare and allow the system to thaw completely before re-starting again.
Slowly purge the bottle controlling the outlet needle valve opening. Never
disconnect a sample bottle if the line or valves are iced-up. A connection or a valve
might appear to be closed whereas in reality it might be just blocked with ice and will
start leaking when ice has melted down.

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APPENDIX
Chemical Safety Sheets
Safety Sheets for the following chemicals are attached in this Appendix. These
chemical should be handled as per the instructions given in these safety sheets.
1. Tr-Ethylene Glycol 99.9 Wt% TEG
2. Dow Corning DB-31 `Anti-Foam Emulsion
Used as anti-foam agent in the Glycol Dehydration Plant
3. Hydrazine Hydrate
Used as anti-corrosion agent in the Glycol Dehydration Plant.
4. Tri-Ethanolamine
Used as anti-corrosion agent in the Glycol Dehydration Plant.
5. Tetrahydrothiophene
Odourising chemical for LPG product.

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