Safety management and operation of pressure vessels

Safety management and operation of pressure vessels

With the accelerated pace of China’s industrialization, pressure vessels are increasingly used in many production fields, and have become important production equipment in petroleum, chemical, metallurgy and other fields. The pressure vessel has strict operation standards when it is used, otherwise it will lead to explosion and other accidents, causing huge economic and social losses. Analyze the safety management and operation strategy of pressure vessels in the production field to guide the safe and efficient production of industry and avoid pressure vessel accidents caused by improper operation and use.

0. Introduction

In recent years, with the expansion of industrial production scale, the number of pressure vessels in the production field has increased by 20% every year, and the application range is becoming wider and wider. In the long-term development process, the structure of pressure vessels has become increasingly complex and diverse, and there are extremely high operating standards and requirements in the operation process. Therefore, safety management has become a key link in the operation and use of pressure vessels. Because the gas or liquid contained in the pressure vessel is flammable, explosive and other characteristics, improper operation will cause very serious accidents, so it is necessary to strengthen its safe operation management and improve its utilization value.

1. The importance of pressure vessel safety management

There are many processes in industrial production, and the pressure vessels used in different production fields also have certain differences. There are more and more types of pressure vessels on the market, and the materials, structural forms and operating conditions have their own particularity. Therefore, the safe use and management of pressure vessels not only need to follow the uniform norms and standards, but also need to combine the types of pressure vessels and select effective pressure vessel management methods. The safety management of pressure vessels is very important. The production process of some enterprises is relatively special. In the whole production process, due to the relatively small number of pressure vessels used, enterprises lack the safety management of pressure vessels, and do not have the corresponding safety management personnel. They often face many potential safety hazards during their use. As it is a sealed container with a certain pressure, once there is a potential safety hazard in the process of use, it will cause more serious fire and explosion accidents if it is not handled in time, which will make the enterprise face huge economic and social losses, and is not conducive to the realization of the enterprise’s goal of safety production standardization [1]. In addition, pressure vessels have very strict operating environment restrictions. There are many kinds of working media, which may cause poisoning after leakage. In addition, the complex conditions of the entire production environment (the existence of oxides, inflammables, vacuum, heating and other processes) will interfere with the safe use of pressure vessels. When the pressure vessels are damaged and broken, the internal media will expand instantaneously, releasing huge energy in an instant A very large shock wave is formed, causing serious accidents. Therefore, the safety management and operation of pressure vessels is very important, which can help enterprises achieve the goal of safe production and create greater economic benefits.

2. Cause analysis of pressure vessel safety accidents

2.1 Operation error

Some safety accidents of pressure vessels are caused by operation errors, for example, the relevant personnel did not strictly comply with the requirements of the operation sequence during the operation of pressure vessels, and the process sequence was wrong; When using the pressure vessel, the relevant valve was opened incorrectly; The feeding speed is not strictly controlled during the feeding process, and the feeding speed is too fast or uneven.

2.2 Illegal operation

During the use of pressure vessels, operators’ illegal operations will also cause safety accidents. The specific performance of the increased safety risk of the use of pressure vessels caused by illegal operations is that the operators were not provided with safety training and job specifications in the early stage, and the operators did not master all the key points of operation; During use, combustible gas is directly used for pressure test and leakage test; After entering the pressure vessel, the air forms explosive compounds; The pressure vessel has abnormal operation of overpressure and overtemperature during use [2].

2.3 Inadequate maintenance and repair

Since pressure vessels may face equipment consumption and damage during long-term use, routine maintenance and repair can help relevant personnel to identify potential hazards of pressure vessels in a timely manner to a certain extent. In fact, many manufacturers have not done a good job in the maintenance and repair of pressure vessels during the use of pressure vessels. For example, the failure of instruments and meters has not been repaired and handled in time, and the deviation of indication data; Lack of maintenance and treatment of safety devices, safety action error or failure.

3. Safety management and operation of pressure vessels

3.1 Design, selection and procurement of pressure vessels

In order to realize the safety management of pressure vessels, relevant enterprises need to do a good job in the design, selection and procurement of pressure vessels based on their actual conditions. There are many types of pressure vessels, and all kinds of pressure vessels have special use conditions. Only by combining their own process flow and requirements to design and select pressure vessels can pressure vessels be consistent with the actual requirements, and the safety accidents caused by improper selection of pressure vessels can be avoided to the maximum extent [3]. In the design and selection of pressure vessels, enterprises need to cooperate with qualified and experienced pressure vessel design and manufacturers to ensure that the overall design and manufacture of pressure vessels can meet the actual needs and meet the low-carbon environmental protection.

3.2 Formulate safe and reliable operation procedures

In order to improve the safety management and operation level of pressure vessels during the use of pressure vessels, manufacturers need to formulate safer, reliable and feasible operating procedures in combination with the specific characteristics and operating standards of pressure vessels. Through the formulation of safe operating procedures, operators’ behaviors can be standardized and restricted to a certain extent, and pressure vessel failures caused by illegal operations and operating errors can be avoided. During the use of pressure vessels, safety accidents will be caused if relevant personnel only rely on operating experience. For example, in a case of hydrogenation reactor maintenance accident, the operator did not completely replace the hydrogen inside the equipment in strict accordance with the operating procedures, and directly welded the equipment nozzle without complete replacement, resulting in a flash explosion accident [4]. Therefore, when the pressure vessel operation specification is formulated, the scientific nature of the safety operation specification should be guaranteed in strict accordance with the actual production of the enterprise, the process conditions and technical parameters of the pressure vessel, so that the pressure vessel can be used in strict accordance with this operation specification in the process of use.

3.3 Improve the safety management system of pressure vessels

In the process of safety management and operation of pressure vessels, if we want to reduce the safety risks in the use of pressure vessels, we need to constantly improve the safety management system of pressure vessels, and fundamentally use this system to guide the actual safety management and operation, so that all departments and personnel of the enterprise can do their own work according to these systems. The safety management system shall include the following two aspects.

• (1) Technical archives management system. After the establishment of the enterprise pressure vessel technical archives management system, during the use of pressure vessels, it is necessary to strictly receive, register, sort out and keep the relevant documents and data of pressure vessels, and carry out targeted work according to the operation and use specifications of pressure vessels. The management of various technical archives of pressure vessels can provide an effective basis for the safety management and use of pressure vessels.
• (2) Monitoring mechanism. The safety management system should include a perfect supervision system. Through the establishment of a professional supervision organization, the organization is responsible for the supervision of the whole process of the use of pressure vessels. Through this whole-process and dynamic supervision, the safety risks in the use of pressure vessels can be identified in a timely manner, and the operation status and use of pressure vessels can be comprehensively grasped. Once problems are found in the supervision, effective measures should be taken immediately to deal with them. Of course, in the safety management system of pressure vessels, it is also necessary to implement a strict shift handover system, and make full preparations before shift handover to ensure the comprehensiveness of the handover work.

3.4 Implement regular inspection in strict accordance with regulations

As a special kind of equipment, regular verification can greatly improve the safety of pressure vessel. Therefore, relevant enterprises should carry out regular inspection of pressure vessels in strict accordance with relevant regulations in terms of safety management of pressure vessels. In daily work, professional management departments and personnel need to establish risk inspection accounts in combination with the regular inspection of pressure vessels. Due to different types of pressure, various pressure vessels should be classified and classified in safety management and operation work, and hierarchical management should be implemented [5]. In addition, relevant personnel also need to carry out detailed defect risk analysis in combination with the specific use requirements of pressure vessels, find the balance point that continuity and inspection are difficult to achieve under the actual working conditions, carry out targeted inspection to the maximum extent, and improve the safety of pressure vessels through the continuous penetration of safety inspection work. In the actual safety management of pressure vessels, it is also necessary to carry out strict hierarchical management, mainly aiming at various risks existing in the use of pressure vessels, and focusing on the management of high-risk contents. For pressure equipment with poor performance and long service life, a complete hidden danger account should be gradually established in daily work, and it is better to shorten the verification period of pressure vessels.

3.5 Strengthen the professional quality training of management and operation personnel

In the process of safety management and operation of pressure vessels, because some safety accidents are caused by improper operation, improving the professional quality of managers and operators can also help achieve the goal of safety management of pressure vessels. Because the installation, use and inspection of pressure vessels are highly professional, the professional quality of operators is very high. Only in this way can we use our professional quality to solve the corresponding problems in the installation, use and inspection of pressure vessels, and strictly follow the operating standards and requirements of each link [6]. In the process of pressure vessel safety management and operation, enterprises should take effective measures to improve the professional quality of management and operators, and improve the professional quality of management and operators through regular centralized training. For example, in the training of management personnel, the focus should be on strengthening the training of advanced management concepts and methods of management personnel, and also on the training of basic procedures for the operation and use of pressure vessels. Only when the management personnel fully understand all the use procedures of pressure vessels can the effectiveness of safety management be effectively guaranteed. In terms of training, diversified training methods should be adopted. Before the use of pressure vessel equipment, centralized training should be organized to make operators fully understand the use specifications, technical processes and standards of pressure vessels. After the training, comprehensive assessment should be carried out to check the training results. Only operators who have passed the assessment can take up their posts.

4. Conclusion

As a widely used equipment in the production field, pressure vessels have very strict requirements in the use process. In order to avoid many problems in the use of pressure vessels, enterprises need to actively manage and operate them in daily work to improve the use safety.
Author: Zhang Hongdong
Reference:

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