Considerations for Effectively Managing Emergency Relief Systems Design

摘要

Emergency relief systems (ERSs) that mitigate all credible scenarios are a fundamental objectiveof ERS design, and ensure a safe and profitable facility. ERSs are a key layer of protectionagainst loss of containment at a chemical process facility. Consequently, organizations areplacing renewed emphasis on their ERSs design and documentation to make sure their facilityand community are safe, and their organization remains profitable. The integrity of the ERS asa layer of protection, however, must continue after "completing" a project to update anddocument the facility wide ERS design basis. In order for the ERS to continue to serve as a keylayer of protection, an operating facility must manage the facility wide ERS design basisdocumentation, as well as integrate the ERS design basis into the overall process safetymanagement (PSM) system. An organization's management must realize the full "lifecycle"cost of integrating and maintaining the facility wide ERS design basis (a PSM requirement) toaddress the challenge adequately.This paper discusses key considerations for an organization to ensure their ERS not only protectstheir facility, but also serves as a critical input into their process hazard analysis (PHA) processand other provisions of PSM (management of change, and pre-startup safety reviews, forexample). Considerations include implementing and managing a facility wide ERS design basisdocumentation project (a "flare study"), maintaining the ERS design documentation after theproject, and effectively integrating the ERS design documentation into other elements of PSM.Abstract here. Say what the paper says, but say it very briefly.