CHAPTER EIGHT

8.0 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY

8.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The utmost idea about this design project is to develop a processing scheme that will produce in

the most economical manner, the desired product in a safe fashion and within the confines of an

environmentally friendly mode. The fulfillment of the following requirements will serve as the

standard of safety:

I. The process must operate safely at design conditions.

II. Suitable provisions must be made to cope with unsafe deviations from design conditions.

III. Safe start-up and shut-down procedures must be established and complied with.

All manufacturing processes are to some extent hazardous, but in chemical processes there are

additional, special hazards associated with the chemicals used and the process conditions. The

designer must be aware of these hazards and ensure through the application of sound engineering

practice, that risks are reduced to acceptable levels. Hazards from combustion and runaway

reactions play a leading role in many chemical process accidents. In addition, much of the damage

and loss of life in chemical plant accidents resulted from the sudden release of material at high

pressure, which may or may not result from fire. Accidents generally occur as a result of equipment

failure or mal-operation (human error) or combination of both (Abubakar, 2007).

8.2 HAZARDS AND OPERABILITY STUDIES

A hazard and operability study is a procedure for the systematic, critical examination of the

operability of a process. It indicates potential hazards that may arise as result of deviations from

the intended design conditions (Haliru, 2010). An operability study just like environmental

auditing as example, is carried out by a team of experienced personnel, who have complementary

skills and knowledge, led by a team leader who is experienced in the technique. The team should
examine the product; vessel by vessel and line by line using the plant guide lines to help generate

the way deviations from the intended operating conditions can cause hazardous situations (Haliru,

2010).

8.2.1 Environmental Auditing

An environmental audit is a systematic examination of how a business operation affects the

environment. It will include all emissions to air, land, and water; and cover the legal constraints,

the effect on community, the landscape, and the ecology. Products will be considered, as well as

processes. When applied at the design stage of a new development it is more correctly called an

environmental impact assessment, EIA (Klaus and Han, 2003).

The aims of the audit or assessment are:

To identify environmental problems associated with manufacturing process and the use of

the products, before they become liabilities.

To develop standards for good working practices.

To provide a basis for company policy.

To ensure compliance with environmental legislation.

To satisfy requirements of insurers.

To be seen to be concerned with environmental questions: important for public relations.

To minimize the production of waste: an economic factor.

8.3 THE HAZARDS OF STEARIC ACID PLANT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

There are stearic acid side effects that are considered as mild and can be easily controlled or

managed. These side effects include the following:

Skin Irritations: Irritations of the skin may be accompanied by severe itching and often time

redness and swelling. There are also rash-like symptoms that may occur like small red spots.

Sensitivity of the Skin: One of the milder side effects of stearic acid is making the skin

sensitive to substances and direct exposure to the sun.

Damage of the Skin: In certain occasions, hive-like spots may occur in the skin which will

often turn into blisters that can damage the skin. There are also times wherein the skin will

turn scaly.

Stearic acid has been considered as a low-hazard ingredient. But there have been many cases that

reported several harmful effects of this fatty acid. These harmful side effects include the following:

Toxicity: Commonly used sources of stearic acid which are palm and cottonseed oil often

contain altered products after being hydrogenated. These products are often toxic to the body.

On the other hand, palm and cottonseed oil contain pesticides that can be very harmful to the

body.

Absorption Problem: One of the cons of consuming products that have stearic acid is its

way in making the digestive system have difficulties in absorbing essential nutrients that is

needed by the body to function optimally.

Overdose: The problem with stearic acids usually occurs when large amounts are consumed.

Overdose of the fatty acid can lead to serious and unusual health effects.
 Immune Responses: Normal functioning of T-cells in the body will be greatly affected when

a patient consumes large amounts of stearic acid. These T-cells are needed for immune

responses and if these are damaged, the immune system will be weakened.

Hazards and Dangers of Stearic Acid

Inhalation of fumes that contain Stearic acids can cause severe respiratory problems which

can lead to asphyxia.

Stearic acid can also cause problems in the intestines which lead to gastroenteritis.

Long exposure of large amounts of stearic acid had been studied to cause cancer.

8.4 WASTE WATER TREATMENT

This is carried out by using both physically and chemical treatments. The physical treatment

involves the removal of large floating or suspended particles from the waste water. This is achieved

by gravity settling. This is further processed by filtration to clarify the effluents. The next stage is

the chemical treatment. It involves the neutralization of acids and alkali, conversion of ions to

poorly soluble compounds, co-precipitation of inorganic substances, oxidation, Electrolysis,

catalytic oxidation, etc. these methods are mainly used to deactivate and remove the impurities of

inorganic compounds.

8.5 SAFETY

Safety could be defined as appositive organized program, based on the knowledge of the reaction

between man and his working environment, to protect the equipment operator and the environment

(Perry, 1997). Safety can also be defined as the reaction between man and his working
environment, which aids business enterprise by minimizing human, economic and social, loses

caused by injuries, health impairments, fires, explosions and other occupational accidents. The full

cost of accidents is never completely covered by insurance, and never absorbed directly into

operating expenses, for that reason, and many others, in addition to save guard the health and

welfare of the employees in a chemical process plant and the general public at large, chemical

safety can be an economic aid to the chemical industry.

Most chemical manufacturing processes are to greater or lesser extent, inherently unsafe, and

dangerous situation can develop if the process conditions deviate from the design values. To

prevent a dangerous situation developing and to minimize the consequences of any accident

occurring, the hazards confronting this process has to be evaluated. The likely associated hazards

are grouped as follows;

1. Hazards created by toxic or highly corrosive materials.

2. Fire hazards, either inherent in the process or from external sources.

3. Hazards resulting from abnormally high or low temperatures

4. Sources of excessive over pressure; explosion hazards.

5. Noise. (Haliru, 2010).

8.5.1 Basic Preventive and Protective Measures

The fundamental safety and fire protective measures that should be included in this plant are listed

below:
i. Adequate and secure water supply for fire fighting.

ii. Segregation of reactive materials.

iii. Earthing of electrical equipments.

iv. Safe location of auxiliary electrical equipments, transformers and switch gears.

v. Provision of back-up utilities, supply and services.

vi. Insulation of hot surfaces.

vii. Adequate separation of hazardous equipments.

viii. Protection of pipe racks and cable trays from fire.

ix. Protection of fixed equipments against accidental explosion and fire.

x. All plant personnel entering the process plant area will be required to wear the following

personal protective equipments: safety helmet, pair of safety boots, heat resistance hand gloves,

safety goggles, ear plugs for noise protection (Haliru, 2010).

8.6 HAZARDS AND OPERABILITY STUDY (HAZOP)

A hazard and operability study is a procedure for the systematic, critical examination of the

operability of a process. It indicates potential hazards that may arise as result of deviations from

the intended design conditions (Bello et al, 2007).

An operability study should be carried out by a team of experienced personnel, who have

complementary skills and knowledge; led by a team leader who is experienced in the technique.

The team should examine the product vessel by vessel and line by line using the plant guide lines

to help generate the way deviations from the intended operating conditions can cause hazardous

situations (Bello et al, 2007).

Thus since the reactor in the heart of the plant we carry out a HAZOP study on it.

8.6.1 Toxicity

Toxicology is the science dealing with the effects, conditions, and detection of toxic substances or

poisons. Six primary factors affect human response to toxic substances or poisons. These are

detailed below:

1. The chemical itself: Some chemicals produce immediate and dramatic biological effects,

whereas others produce no observable effects or produce delayed effects.

2. The type of contact: Certain chemicals appear harmless after one type of contact (e.g., skin) but

may have serious effects when contacted in another way e.g., lungs.

3. The amount (dose) of a chemical: The dose of a chemical exposure depends upon how much of

the substance is physically contacted.

4. Individual sensitivity: Humans vary in their response to chemical substance exposure. Some

types of responses that different persons may experience at a certain dose are serious illness, mild
symptoms, or no noticeable effect. Different responses may also occur in the same person at

different exposures.

5. Interaction with other chemicals: Toxic chemicals in combination can produce different

biological responses than the responses observed when exposure is to one chemical alone.

6. Duration of exposure: Some chemicals produce symptoms only after one exposure (acute), some

only after exposure over a long period of time (chronic), and some may produce effects from both

kinds of exposure (Haliru, 2010).

8.3 QUALITATIVE RISK ANALYIS

An HAZOP study will only identify potential hazards, but gives no guidance on the likely hood of

an incident occurring, or the loss suffered. Risk analysis is concerned with predicting the likelihood

of an incident occurring. Incidents usually occur through coincident failure of two or more items,

failure of equipment, control system and instrument and mis-operation. The sequence of events

that leads to a hazard is normally shown on a fault tree (logic tree), such as that in figure 8.2