Molar ratio variation on high pressure methanol production: Quantitative safety analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/mjcet.v6i2.21812Keywords:
Quantitative Safety Analysis, Methanol Production, Molar Ratio Variation, ALOHA, MARPLOTAbstract
The objective of this research was to conduct a quantitative safety analysis as well as estimate the possible risk of deaths due to methanol reactors at the Labuan process facility in Malaysia. The gathered outcomes included scenarios that occurred, such as toxicity, thermal radiation, and overpressure. The percentage of mortality was determined when a chemical mixture was discharged from nine plants in varying ratios of 1:3, 1:7, and 1:10, and at different operating pressures of 76, 184, and 331 bar, resulting in the occurrence of various events. ASPEN Hysys software was used to compute the mass and volume fraction of a chemical mixture. ALOHA and MARPLOT were also used to gather data on toxicity, thermal radiation, overpressure, and impacted zones. The quantity of chemicals emitted was calculated for three distinct leakage sizes (10 mm, 75 mm, and 160 mm). The findings showed that the plant with 331 bars at a ratio of 1:3 had the highest fatality rate of 16.07 %, which was caused by methanol leakage at night for a leakage size of 160 mm. This work has the potential to lower the number of deaths caused by methanol plants.
References
Ahmad, M. A., Rashid, Z. A., Alzahrani, A. A., & El-Harbawi, M. (2022). Safety assessment: predicting fatality rates in methanol plant incidents. Heliyon, 8(11), e11610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11610
Ahmad, M. A., A. Rashid, Z., El-Harbawi, M., & Al-Awadi, A. S. (2021a). High-pressure methanol synthesis case study: safety and environmental impact assessment using consequence analysis. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 19, 8555–8572. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03724-1
Ahmad, M. A., Wan Badli Shah, W. N. A. N., & Abdul Rashid, Z. (2021b). Consequence assessment using threat zone analysis on sulphuric acid production plant. Malaysian Journal of Chemical Engineering and Technology (MJCET), 4(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.24191/mjcet.v4i1.12971
Aziz, M. (2018). All is well at Labuan Methanol, Maybank Investment Bank Research. https://www.bursamarketplace.com/mkt/tools/research/ch=research&pg=research&ac=564513&bb=576472
Baron, N., & Buchwald, C. R. (2017). Suppression of overpressure during a vapor cloud explosion—A new approach. Process Safety Progress, 36(1), 54–61. https://doi.org/10.1002/prs.11807
Becattini, V., Gabrielli, P., & Mazzotti, M. (2021). Role of carbon capture, storage, and utilization to enable a net-zero-CO2-emissions aviation sector. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 60(18), 6848-6862. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.0c05392
Crowl, D. A., & Louvar, J. F. Toxic release and dispersion model. Chemical process safety: fundamentals with applications. Pg 171-194. Pearson Education (2001).
Di Domenico, J., Vaz Jr, C. A., & de Souza Jr, M. B. (2014). Quantitative risk assessment integrated with process
simulator for a new technology of methanol production plant using recycled CO2. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 274, 164–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.02.045
Gabrielli, P., Gazzani, M., & Mazzotti, M. (2020). The Role of carbon capture and utilization, carbon capture and storage, and biomass to enable a net-zero-CO2 emissions chemical industry. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 59(15), 7033–7045. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.9b06579
Gaikwad, R., Bansode, A., & Urakawa, A. (2016). High-pressure advantages in stoichiometric hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methanol. Journal of Catalysis, 343, 127–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2016.02.005
Gupta, J. P., & Edwards, D. W. (2002). Inherently safer design—present and future. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 80(3), 115–125. https://doi.org/10.1205/095758202317576210
Heikkilä, A. (1999). Inherent safety in process plant design, Technical research center of Finland, [Doctoral Dissertation, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland].
Ho, H.-J., Iizuka, A., & Shibata, E. (2019). Carbon capture and utilization technology without carbon dioxide purification and pressurization: A review on its necessity and available technologies. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 58(21), 8941–8954. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.9b01213
Jiang, X., Nie, X., Guo, X., Song, C., & Chen, J. G. (2020). Recent advances in carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol via heterogeneous catalysis. Chemical Reviews, 120(15), 7984–8034. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00723
Leonzio, G., Foscolo, P. U., Zondervan, E., & Bogle, I. D. L. (2020). Scenario analysis of carbon capture, utilization (particularly producing methane and methanol), and storage (CCUS) systems. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 59(15), 6961–6976. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.9b05428
Ortiz-Espinoza, A. P., Jiménez-Gutiérrez, A., & El-Halwagi, M. M. (2017). Including inherent safety in the design of chemical processes. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 56(49), 14507–14517. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.7b02164
Oran, E. S., Chamberlain, G., & Pekalski, A. (2020). Mechanisms and occurrence of detonations in vapor cloud explosions. Progress in energy and combustion science, 77, 100804
Pérez-Fortes, M., Schöneberger, J. C., Boulamanti, A., & Tzimas, E. (2016). Methanol synthesis using captured CO2 as raw material: Techno-economic and environmental assessment. Applied Energy, 161, 718–732. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.07.067
Rashid, Z. A., Subri, M. A., Ahmad, M. A., Fuad, M. F. I. A., & Japperi, N. S. (2021). Severity effect of methanol toxicity from high pressure reactor. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 18(2), 203–215.
Towler, G., & Sinnott, R. (2021). Chemical engineering design: principles, practice and economics of plant and process design. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Van-Dal, É. S., & Bouallou, C. (2013). Design and simulation of a methanol production plant from CO2 hydrogenation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 57, 38–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.06.008
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
