WWW.BAKERRISK.COM

BAKER ENGINEERING AND RISK CONSULTANTS, INC. LOCATIONS

SAN ANTONIO | HOUSTON | LOS ANGELES | CHICAGO

TORONTO, CANADA | CHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM

Head Office

3330 Oakwell Court, Suite 100

San Antonio, TX 78218-3024

Tel: (210) 824-5960

The ammonia and fertilizer industry is subject to significant hazards from toxic releases, fires, and explosions. As a result, consequence based studies or Facility Siting Studies (FSSs) have proven to be insufficient decision making tools. Risk based studies or Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRAs) provide a more realistic and manageable approach to managing process hazards in the fertilizer industry.

With more than 20 years of experience in engineering consulting services for the industry, Baker Engineering and Risk Consultants, Inc. (BakerRisk) is in a unique position to provide guidance and support in both leading edge risk assessment and risk mitigation. BakerRisk has a portfolio of more than 200 projects in engineering and consulting services analyzing the manufacture and handling of ammonia, nitric acid, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, di- and mono-ammonium phosphates, and potash. Examples of BakerRisk projects for these industries include:

Audit and Protocol Development• Development of programs for Process

Safety Management (PSM) including corporate policies, and guidance documents for programs such as mechanical integrity, management of change (MOC), and operating procedures

• Process safety audits and gap analysis• Training programs for PSM compliance,

US OSHA regulatory inspections, and OSHA National Emphasis Program (NEP) audits, including technical and legal support

Hazard Identification• Chemical process and hazard reviews in

nitrate chemistry and neutralizer hazard mitigation

• Dust and explosion hazard reviews• Fire protection analysis of AN warehousing

operations including compartmentalization, mitigation, ventilation, sensitizing agents, etc.

Consequence & Risk Assessment Studies• Quantitative risk assessments

• Ammonia pipelines• Ammonia storage terminals• Liquid and dry fertilizer storage facilities• Fertilizer production and blending facilities

• Consequence and risk studies for potential hazards to offsite populations

Safety Instrumented Systems• Safety Integrity Level (SIL) and Safety

Instrumented Systems (SIS) work for ammonia, urea, nitric acid, and ammonium nitrate process units

• Specific guidance policies for significant hazards, including SIUSIS

• Mechanical integrity guidance for ammonium nitrate, urea, reforming, ammonia process units, and reformers.

Testing• Leak tightness testing for shelter-

in-place/safe haven assessment and improvement

• Ammonium nitrate detonation testing• Ammonia vapor cloud explosion (VCE)

testing

Best Practices• Failure mode and hazard analysis

reviews for process units and loading/handling areas

• Development of guidelines for designated safe havens and shelter-in- place procedures

• Mechanical integrity and reliability reviews for hazardous process units

• Materials compatibility assessments related to high temperature hydrogen attack (e.g., HTHA focused HAZOP), AN sensitization, etc.

AMMONIA-BASED INDUSTRIES

WWW.BAKERRISK.COM

BAKER ENGINEERING AND RISK CONSULTANTS, INC. LOCATIONS

SAN ANTONIO | HOUSTON | LOS ANGELES | CHICAGO

TORONTO, CANADA | CHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM

Head Office

3330 Oakwell Court, Suite 100

San Antonio, TX 78218-3024

Tel: (210) 824-5960

ABOUT BAKERRISKBaker Engineering and Risk Consultants, Inc. is one of the world’s leading explosion analysis, structural design, and risk engineering companies. BakerRisk provides comprehensive consulting, engineering, laboratory and range testing services to government agencies and private companies who are involved with dangerous, highly hazardous, reactive, or explosive materials.

• Blast Effects & Explosion Testing• Dynamic Structural Analysis and

Design• Risk Engineering• Process Safety• Incident Investigations• Reactive Chemicals Testing &

Management Systems• Materials Engineering and Failure

Analysis

February 2015

Risk Reduction Evaluation and Support• Analysis and mitigation of process

hazards, including Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA)

• Recommendations for explosion hazards mitigation, plant building locations and design, building upgrades, and blast hardened building design

• Deluge system designs for ammonia release mitigation

• Refined analysis based on human factors and safety systems in ammonia loading

Post-Incident Investigations• Multiple incident investigations for major

fertilizer producers, including cause analysis, site management, response to regulatory agencies, testing, mechanical failure analysis, and litigation support

• Metallurgical failure analysis of process equipment

• Estimation of deflagration to detonation transition

• Estimation of fuel mass based upon blast effects

Hazards tend to be significant in the fertilizer industry and it may prove difficult to design from a purely consequence based approach.

High risk sources can be identified for further investigation or analyzed for potential mitigation effectiveness.

Risk Studies can be used to establish safety criteria and prioritize hazard mitigation.

Structural upgrades can be made to improve blast, fire, or toxic response in the event of loss of containment.

NH3 LoadingNH3 PumpH2 CompressorAN ReactorOther

BakerRisk has the experience to assist you in each step of the risk management process including the ability to perform ammonia-air VCE tests at our Box Canyon Test Facility.

BakerRisk Test Site (Box Canyon)