EGB363 Assessment task description – Assessment #2
Written Report
Due date: Monday 30th May 2016 10 am
Unit learning outcomes addressed:
• Perform Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment
• Plan for safe shutting down/starting up of a factory for planned/unplanned maintenance
• Design of safety systems
• Understand an Environmental Management System
• Perform Environmental Impact Assessments
• Quantitatively predict the effect of a process on the environment.
Overview
This task is an individual exercise which evaluates your understanding of the process of identification, assessment and control of safety and environmental hazards.
You are a process engineer with a company proposing to construct a new greenfield bio-oil production facility using waste biomass. This new biodiesel plant is to be constructed in the industrial site at the Brisbane Port. The biodiesel plant will utilise a new sodium hydroxide catalysed process to convert 200000 tonnes/year of waste biomass into bio-oil.
Waste biomass will arrive at the site in 20 tonne trucks and be unloaded into a 50000 tonne biomass stockpile. From this stockpile, the biomass will be shredded, mixed with water and sodium hydroxide, and pumped directly into a feeding vessel. Sodium hydroxide will be delivered in a 20,000 L chemical tanker and loaded into a 40,000 L onsite sodium hydroxide storage tank. Bio-oil product will be packaged and shipped directly to a refinery in Gladstone in 1000 L IBC containers.
To assist you in this work, you have been provided with a preliminary process schematic including a mass and energy balance of the process which is attached.
What you will do
You are required to undertake a preliminary hazard assessment of the proposed facility. This assessment requires you to:
1. Identify the key components of safety and environmental legislation and regulations under which the facility will likely be captured.
2. Develop preliminary process information to inform the safety and environmental hazard assessment. This may include:
a. A brief process description;
b. Description of key unit operations;
c. Process & instrumentation diagram developed from the process flow diagram supplied; and
d. Description of process materials including raw materials, process additives, products and waste streams.
3. Undertake an initial safety hazard assessment of the proposed facility including:
a. Identification of key hazards;
b. HAZOP;
c. Chemical storage requirements; and
d. Assessment of raw material, chemicals and product transportation issues.
4. Undertake an initial environmental hazard assessment of the proposed facility including:
a. Assessment of potential impacts of the facility on water, land and air systems;
b. Assessment of process waste streams; and
c. Mitigation options for the issues that have been identified including consideration of process alternatives.
5. In half an A4 page, discuss how this process compares to the safety and environmental issues presented in the Gas plant workshop in week 8.
What you will submit
You will submit a written report detailing all aspects of the hazard assessment as detailed above. Your report should be written in an appropriate engineering format for an audience that would include senior managers of your company.
As an indication, the main body of the report should be approximately 3000 words not counting tables, figures, drawings, references, etc. The report should include:
• Title page
• Table of contents
• Table of figures / tables
• Executive summary
• Main body of the report
• Conclusions
• References
• Appendices if required
Formatting
• 12 point font with a standard font e.g. Times New Roman, Ariel, Calibri
• Use headings where necessary to break the report into meaningful sections
• Every page should be numbered; every figure and table should be numbered and captioned
• Use a standard referencing system for in-text references and bibliography
Refer to the CRA sheet for a more detailed description of marking profile. This assessment is worth
40% of the total mark for this subject.