COMMITTEE ON GAS PROCESS SAFETY SECOND DRAFT MEETING MINUTES

TO: COMMITTEE ON GAS PROCESS SAFETY FROM: Janna Shapiro, Staff Liaison DATE: February 24, 2016 SUBJ: Minutes of NFPA 56 Second Draft Meeting, February 3, 2016,

Web/Teleconference I. Attendance:

Technical Committee Franklin Switzer, Chair, S-afe, Inc. Hocine Ait Mohamed, Saudi Aramco Denise Beach, FM Global Michael Bethany, Eclipse/CEC Combustion Safety, Inc. Paul Cabot, American Gas Association Bastiaan Cornelissen, Spectrum Forensics, LLC Larry Danner, GE Power & Water Dan Dorran, Atlas Copco Rental Rob Early, Praxair, Inc. Robert Naper, Energy Experts International, Rep. ANSI Gas Piping Technology Committee John Puskar, PuskarCo Alan Rice, American International Group, Inc. (AIG) Jerrold Sameth, Compressed Gas Association, Inc. Bruce Swiecicki, National Propane Gas Association Peter Willse, Global Asset Protection Services Pat Convery, Cornerstone Energy Services Richard Craig, Compressed Gas Association Scott Neil, DCP Midsteam LLC Sam Pagadala, American International Group, Inc. (AIG) Ali Reza, Exponent, Inc. NFPA Staff Janna Shapiro Guy Colonna

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II. Minutes of Meeting

1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 10:06 AM on Wednesday, February 3, 2016 by Technical Committee Chair Franklin Switzer.

2. Introductions. Attendees introduced themselves. The Committee roster was corrected as

needed. 3. Minutes. The Committee approved the minutes from the May 12-13, 2015 First Draft

Meeting without revision. 4. Staff Liaison Report. Staff Liaison Janna Shapiro reviewed the Fall 2016 Revision Cycle and

Technical Committee Membership. A presentation was given to review the document revision process.

5. Public Comments. The committee reviewed and acted on all 6 Public Comments on NFPA

56. 6. Old Business.

a. Discussion on De Minimus Quantities. The task group discussed the concerns presented by Mike Bethany, and agreed to examine this topic further by looking at the requirements in Chapter 8 and possibly Chapter 7 for the next cycle of NFPA 56. See the summary [Attachment A] provided by Mike Bethany for details.

b. Discussion on Onshore Gathering Lines. Scott Neil gave a presentation [Attachment B] to explain natural gas midstream operations and the regulations that cover different aspects of these operations. After a discussion on the application of NFPA 56 to wellhead piping, the committee agreed to form a task group to draft a new committee scope to include wellhead piping, which will then be reviewed by the full committee to determine whether to pursue changing the committee scope. This task group includes: John Puskar (task group chair), Scott Neil, Christopher Buehler, Paul Cabot, Michael Bethany, Larry Danner, Hocine Mohammed, and Denise Beach.

c. Other Task Group Work.

Emergency Plan Task Group. The task group reviewed their objectives and agreed to continue their work for the next cycle of NFPA 56. Denise Beach noted that FM Global has data sheets for emergency response that she will provide to the group.

Related Documents Task Group. The task group plans to review the documents that are possibly related to or impacted by NFPA 56 to determine if and how to add references to NFPA 56 in these documents. See the spreadsheet [Attachment C] for the most recent updates to this information.

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References Task Group. The task group is reviewing the current edition of each reference listed in Chapter 2 of NFPA 56 to verify the continued applicability and appropriateness of these references.

Isolation Task Group. No work was done by this task group between the First and Second Draft meetings.

d. Review of Committee Inputs. The Committee Inputs developed at the First Draft stage were reviewed to determine if any action was necessary at the Second Draft stage. Extracted text in Annex A was updated based on Committee Input No. 23. No other actions were taken.

7. Other Business.

a. Classification of Committee Members. Franklin discussed the classification of committee members, particularly Manufacturers, within the context of NFPA 56. Franklin asked committee members to review their classification and to contact him if they feel they are incorrectly categorized.

b. New Task Group – Training. A task group was formed to review the requirements for training in Chapter 5 and to revisit the proposals in Public Comments 15 and 16. This task group includes Bob Naper (task group chair) and Jerry Sameth.

8. Next Meeting. The first draft meeting for the F2019 cycle must be between January and

June 2018. The committee agreed to wait until closer to this time to determine the meeting dates and location.

9. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 2:38 PM on Wednesday, February 3, 2016.

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Attachment A: De Minimus Quantities

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Shapiro, Janna

From: Bethany, Mike Sent: Wednesday, February 3, 2016 4:48 PMSubject: NFPA 56 TC - De Minimis Quantities Task Group - Meeting Notes & Future Steps

All,  To recap from our call today – I stated that we hadn’t made much progress regarding de minimis quantities (DMQ) for NFPA 56. My original status update email to the committee, and list of concerns was included in the agenda from the meeting, so I won’t rehash those issues here. You can find it in the pdf Jenna Shapiro sent out with the meeting notice. I don’t know if we directly answered the question whether or not DMQ should be in NFPA 56 at all, but for now let’s say yes. We discussed how the current edition of the code would address (for example) a ¾” sensing line to a pressure regulator, assuming the sensing line is capable of being positively isolated from the main gas header via a valve or valves. Would the current edition of the code require this sensing line to be purged with an inert gas before it could be opened/removed?  The group discussion that took place seemed to agree that a chart or table of de minimis quantities for each gas the code covers was not practical or helpful due to the amount of different gases the code covers. Instead, it was proposed that we would add some text to Chapter 8 (purge out of service) and possibly Chapter 7 (purging into service) that would create a path that would allow a facility to avoid conducting a purge out of or into service provided they performed a PHA, incorporating and addressing some of the items from Chapter 4.4.  The challenge to the task group is to write code language that would provide this path for the end user.   Several considerations/items to address: 

1) Is there anyone on the task group who would like to not participate anymore? I can remove you from the email list if that is desired, let me know. 

2) Is there anyone that has recently joined the TC that would like to join the task group, or someone that we should ask to join? 

3) We discussed whether or not there would be stops or some other means put into the text that would prevent the end user from performing PHA’s to avoid having to do any purging at all? The discussion response was that if someone wants to find a way to avoid purging they are going to do that anyways, so we have to assume the end user is acting in good faith in trying to apply NFPA 56. 

4) Does a PHA or any other exemption from purging out of service or into service automatically exempt the complementary action? What I mean is if a PHA exempts them from having to purge out of service before performing work, does that automatically exempt them from having to purge back into service and vice‐versa. Or should these two processes be approached independently? 

5) In rereading the code, I noticed something. I would like to ask the group to tell me if I am reading this wrong. I was trying to figure out how we would word the “PHA exemption” statements, so I decided to contrast the “PHA exemption” statement with the statements where NFPA 56 explicitly tells the end user of the code when they MUST/SHALL purge out of service. The only problem is I couldn’t find one. In chapter 8 the code says: 

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Section 8.2 says that if you purge out of service, you have to displace the residual flammable gas with an inert gas. It doesn’t provide a YES/NO decision point whether or not purging is required. I don’t know if that was the original intent of this statement or if the wording just made it come out that way. If that IS the original intent, then we aren’t really telling people they have to purge out of service, we are just providing a list of requirements and items to address IF THEY DECIDE to purge out of service. If that was the original intent of that statement, I think our de minimis quantities issue is solved – because we don’t tell them when to purge, just how to do it.  

 I do not feel that leaving the decision whether or not to purge (in all cases) up to the end user of the code was the original intent of this document. That can be seen in Chapter 7 – purging INTO service: 

 

 The code gives the user a decision point – does the gas piping system contain air? If YES – purge with an inert, if NO – do what you want. It is my understanding that we would need to provide a PHA exemption here as well to allow companies to recharge lines containing air with natural gas without purging first – provided the PHA says they can. Is that a similar feeling shared by the task group? Should we require an inert buffer between the flammable gas and any air that may be in the piping regardless of the PHA? One other thing I just thought of – does the phrase “containing air” mean 100% air in the piping like in new construction or does it apply to ANY AIR in the line? If you drop a valve out and bolt in a new one you can assume some air got in the line. According to the AGA manual as long as the piping is at least 89% Nitrogen (even though it may be different right at the valve location) combustion is not theoretically possible. How explicit do we want to be? 

 I know after a 5‐hour conference call most people are in no mood to discuss this, but when you get a chance please summarize your thoughts and share them with the group. We will try to address the items through email at first, and then maybe a brief conference call as necessary. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you all.   Sincerely,  

MikeBethany,P.E.CECCombustionSafetyCEC is now part of Honeywell Honeywell | Automation and Control Solutions 

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Attachment B: Gathering Line Presentation

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NATURAL GAS MIDSTREAM

OPERATIONS

Scott Neil, PE

Vice President Engineering - Operations

Oil & Gas Wells

Compression

Natural Gas Processing

Plant

City GateGas and Hazardous Liquid

PipelinesCommercial

Residential

Storage Field

From Wellhead To Burner Tip

Fractionation Facility

Chemical and Refinery Facilities

IndustrialIndustrial

Pipelines and Compressor Stations

Oil & Gas Wells - Piping not regulated

Compression

Natural Gas Processing

Plant regulated by PSM

City GateGas and Hazardous Liquid

Pipelines Regulated by DOT Commercial

Residential

Storage Field Regulated by the State

Regulated Facilities From Wellhead To

Burner Tip

Fractionation Facility Regulated

by PSM

Chemical and Refinery Facilities Regulated by

PSM

Industrial

* Under review for inclusion by DOT

Non-Regulated Pipelines and

Compressor Stations *

Gas Gathering Pipelines and Compressor stations, Regulated by

DOT if in Jurisdictional area

Regulated FacilitiesGas Gathering PL and Compression – only in jurisdictional

areas – being reviewed by DOT to include all.

Gas Processing Plants – OSHA PSM 1910.119

Residue and NGL PL – regulated by DOT

NGL Fractionation Facilities – OSHA PSM 1910.119

Gas/NGL Storage Facilities – State

Natural Gas Midstream Activities

E & P

Gathering

Processing

NGLS Residue Gas

Fractionation

Transportation

Storage

Marketing

Transportation

Storage

Marketing

Chemicals, Fuels &Blend Stocks

Utilities, Industrial & Residential

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Tank Battery \ Measurement Station

*Orifice

Meter Tube

Producer’s Valve

VRU

Heater TreaterTank Battery

Totalflow RecorderRadioSolar Panel

Gathering System MapYellow Highligthed pipe is Regulated

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Typical Gas Compression Station Typical Gas Processing Plant

Gas Processing – Basic Flow

Gas Scrubbing

And FiltrationRemoving Liquids

And Particulates

Gas Treating

Removing H2S

and CO2

Gas Drying

Removing H2O Vapor

Gas Processing – Basic FlowCooling Gas

Gas CoolingHeat Exchangers

90° F 30° F

Gas ChillerRefrigeration

30° F -30° F

Gas CoolingTurbo Expander

-30° F -130° F

This cooling process condenses the gas components into a liquid

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Gas Processing – Basic FlowFractionating NGLs (Separating)

DeMethanizerSeparating Methane

DeEthanizerSeparating Ethane

DePropanizerSeparating Propane

Ethane to pipeline Propane to StorageMethane to pipeline

Typical Plant Control Room Residue Delivery \ Custody Transfer

NGL Measurement and Delivery

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Attachment C: Related Documents Spreadsheet

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NFPA 56 Task Force Report of Possible Documents Related to

or Impacted by NFPA 56Document Number, Name Next Cycle Chair Status Update from Dan

NFPA 30, Flammables and combustibles liquids code

A2017 Jack Woycheese

This seems to be an appropriate action. We have just completed our current cycle so by cc I am requesting Bob Benedetti to place this action on the agenda for our next cycle. We will ask each TC to have a task group review NFPA 56 relative to their chapters and offer recommendations. Thanks for suggesting it.

NFPA 58, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code A2016 Dick Hoffmann The topic has been added to the agenda for discussion. Not added in First Draft. Open for public comments until May 15, 2015.

NFPA 37, Standard for the Installation and Use of Stationary Combustion

Engines and Gas Turbines Clifford Roberts

Reference has been added to Annex A of NFPA 37. Not added to 2015 edition.

NFPA 2, Hydrogen Technologies Code Martin Gresho Added to 2015 edition.NFPA 51, Standard for the Design and Installation of Oxygen-Fuel Gas Systems

for Welding, Cutting, and Allied Processes A2017 Rob EarlyNFPA 51 will discuss similar approach as NFPA 55.

NFPA 51 A, Standard for Acetylene Cylinder Charging Plants A2016 Rob Early NFPA 51A will discuss similar approach as NFPA 55. Not added in First Draft. Open for public comments until May 15, 2015.

NFPA 52, Vehicular Gaseous Fuel Systems Code

F2015 Nancy Pehrson

Our Technical Committee is in the process of reorganizing and restructuring NFPA 52 Vehicular Gaseous Fuel Systems Code. This effort also involves gap identification, development of additional

requirements and proposing additional language where appropriate during the Public Input phase. The

Committee can include the review of NFPA 56, Standard for Fire and Explosion Prevention During Cleaning and Purging of Flammable Gas Piping Systems as part of our current efforts. We will

certainly share with you the results of the review. The Task Group to be assigned the review of NFPA 56 may be contacting you in the next two months to take advantage of your offer of assistance. We

appreciate the opportunity to use the expertise your Committee has in determining how best to reference, extract or modify applicable sections of NFPA 56 into our code.

Not added in First Draft.

NFPA 53, Recommended Practice on Materials, Equipment, and Systems Used

in Oxygen-Enriched Atmospheres

F2015 Albert de Richemond

The NFPA 53 committee will discuss your request that the next meeting, which will be on September 19th. However, please note that cleaning piping for oxygen service may be more rigorous than

cleaning for flammable gas service. By definition flammable gas pipe has just that and should exclude air or oxygen. With oxygen piping, all flammable materials, in some cases, oil from fingerprints, must be removed to prevent fires and explosions.

Not added in First Draft.

NFPA 54, National fuel gas code A2014 Thomas Crane Added to Annex A. Not added to 2015 edition.NFPA 55, Compressed Gases and Cryogenic Fluids Code A2015 Rob Early

NFPA 55, TIA 13-2 addresses cleaning of piping systems. NFPA 55 currently in Public Comment stage.

Not added in First Draft or Second Draft.

NFPA 67, Guideline on Explosion Protection for Gaseous Mixtures in Pipe

Systems F2015 Larry Floyd

Reference to NFPA 56 added to First Draft. There were no public comments received, but the committee will conduct a Second Draft meeting. Staff should follow up.

Added to First Draft

NFPA 1, National Fire Code

A2017 Jeffrey Collins

I have received your request to look into the possibility of including NFPA 56, Standard for Fire and Explosion Prevention During Cleaning and Purging of Flammable Gas Piping Systems, as a reference document into the Fire Code, NFPA i. However, we administratively cannot include it into the currently

cycle for the 2015 edition. I will file the request and consider it for future editions of the fire code by

referring it to our Hazmat task group.

NFPA 82, Standard on Incinerators and Waste and Linen Handling and

Equipment F2018 Brian Polk

Thank you for the request. I will start reviewing 56 and will ask that our committee do the same. We will be losing our NFPA engineer at the end of the month so this may delay the process.

NFPA 85, Boiler and Combustion Systems Hazards Code F2014 Michael PolagyeAdded to chapter 4 and related annex A material. Added in 2015 edition

NFPA 86, Standard for Ovens and Furnaces Richard Gallagher Annex A material added describing NFPA 56. Added to Annex in 2015 edition

NFPA 87, Recommended Practice for Fluid Heaters Algirdas Underys NFPA 87 now includes 7.2.12 and its annex.

NFPA 90 A, Standard for the Installation of Air-Conditioning and Ventilating

Systems A2017 Ralph GerdesNFPA 90A had no public comments, and so was issued as a consent document without a second draft meeting. NFPA 56 will be discussed in the next revision cycle.

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NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code

Jim Lathrop

Having discussed this with Jonathan we feel that NFPA 56 has no relevance to chapter 5 of 99. It’s

specifically for the purging of piping for flammable gas piping. We are specific to nonflammable gases and also have our own purging procedure which address much different risks than what they are looking at in their purging procedures. (i.e. patient safety/gas purity opposed to fire and explosion risks). Therefore, unless NFPA 56 is planning a change of scope there should not be any problems.

NFPA 101, Life Safety Code William KoffelNFPA 110, Standard for Emergency and Standby Power Systems David Stymiest NFPA 110 covers performance requirements; not installation and maintenance. Therefore, there is no

relevant area for referencing NFPA 56.NFPA 122, Standard for Fire Prevention and Control in Metal/NonMetal Mining

and Metal Mineral Processing FacilitiesMatthew Bujewski

The TC reviewed; no issues related to NFPA 56 scope.

NFPA 241, Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition

OperationsF2017 Clarence Eggen

According to SL Cote, It is on the agenda for discussion in the next revision cycle (F2017).

NFPA 301, Code for Safety to Life From Fire on Merchant Vessels NFPA 301 does not address gaseous fuel systems. NFPA 52 addresses marine fuel systems using LNG and CNG.

NFPA 306, Standard for the Control of Gas Hazards in Vessels

A2018 James Thornton

As NFPA 306 has just closed its revision cycle, we cannot take specific action on this issue until the standard is reopened for revision. However, since the subject of NFPA 56 is important to address

since LNG/CNG fuel systems are becoming more prevalent in new construction of merchant vessels of all types, the Committee will take this under advisement.

NFPA 312, Standard for Fire Protection of Vessels During ConstructionJoe Cox

NFPA 312 is limited to the vessel platform only and does not contain any requirements for any activity off of the vessel in the shipyard. So like NFPA 301, Chapter 14 of NFPA 52 is the better fit.

NFPA 318, Standard for the Protection of Semiconductor Fabrication Facilities

A2017 Vincent DeGiorgioThank you for contacting the NFPA 318 committee. We will review your request and get back to you shortly.

NFPA 400, Hazardous Materials Code

Robert James

As you may have noted on your review of 400, the concept behind the document is to address hazardous materials for the storage, use and handling. But, one key component of the document is that we are limited in scope to very specific materials and as you indicated your scope of NFPA 56 include flam gasses and flam liquids. NFPA 400 does not have the scope for these materials and only reference NFPA 30 for Liquids and NFPA 55 for gasses. The NFPA 55 committee requested the annex section for a reprint of their document due to many hazardous materials at appear in a gas form but they still retain the scope of their document. My suggestion might be to contact these documents with

specific placement into 30 and 55. Regarding 400, if you see specific areas that the committee might reference out of the current sections that we reference from 30 or 55 please feel free to submit them for consideration.

NFPA 407, Standard for Aircraft Fuel ServicingA2016 Fred Cnota

The 407 committee will be having a teleconference call next month on 407 issues. At that time, I will

address the committee about referencing NFPA 56 and incorporating it into our document.

NFPA 410, Standard on Aircraft Maintenance F2014 David Burkhart There doesn't appear to be any connection, but chair will review more carefully and respond.NFPA 423, Standard for Construction and Protection of Aircraft Test Facilities A2015 James Doctorman

It is on agenda for discussion at their meeting in July 2014.

NFPA 820, Standard for Fire Protection in Wastewater Treatment and Collection

Facilities

Glen McGinley

The Technical Committee on Wastewater Treatment Plants (WAA-AAA) will be holding a first draft meeting for the 2016 edition of NFPA 820 on September 10, 11 and 12, 2013 in Columbus, OH. Your request to consider NFPA 56 for incorporation by reference into the next edition of NFPA 820 will be placed on the committee agenda for consideration as a committee proposal. The committee will also consider the suggestion to extract language that may specifically be applicable to the operation and maintenance of gas processing equipment used in wastewater treatment facilities. Please be advised that the scope of NFPA 820 does not apply to the collection, treatment, or disposal of industrial wastes or manufactured by-products that are treated on-site and are not discharged to a publicly or privately operated municipal facility. We appreciate the work of the Technical Committee on Gas Process Safety (GPS) to address the fire and explosion hazards related to procedures that require the release of flammable gases and we look forward to working with the GPS committee.

NFPA 850, Recommended Practice for Fire Protection for Electric Generating

Plants and High Voltage Direct Current Converter StationsWilliam Snell

NFPA 56 has been added to chapter 7 and related annex A material.

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NFPA 853, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Fuel Cell Power SystemsF2019 William Snell

NFPA 853 did not receive any public comments, and was issued as a consent document without a second draft meeting. NFPA 56 will be considered in the next revision cycle.

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