energize oil & gas – issue 01-2013 - GL Group

integrity process safety
Design Check Avoids Costs
GL Noble Denton is ideally positioned to provide independent process safety
design verification to both operators and designers of oil and gas facilities
Given the nature of the risks involved in the
oil and gas industry, ensuring the safety and
integrity of operating assets is paramount. For
most companies, process safety means making sure the
facilities are well designed, safely operated, and properly
inspected and maintained. The consequences of errors or
omissions in the process and safety design for new and
existing assets can be potentially disastrous.
Essential Verification
In the case of new process designs, it is often not possible
for the client organisation to verify the work of the designer
in sufficient detail to demonstrate that the design is correct
and has the required integrity. Equally, it is often difficult
for designers to mobilise independent resources to assure
themselves that their design is
abstract
without errors that may lead to
Complex asset designs harbour process safety issues. In these
significant risk potential
situations, an independent thirdparty
verification of the process
Design verification can reveal hidden
hazards early, avoiding costly
repairs at a later time
and safety aspects of the design
is beneficial to provide assurance
that both the overall approach and the detailed calculations
performed will result in a safe process plant.
Although for existing operational facilities the possible
outcomes from errors or omissions in the process design are
similar, the challenges to verify process safety are different.
The process plant may be old and key design documents
no longer relevant as the facility may have
been subject to a number of phases of
redevelopment or major modification.
In these instances, it is essential that the
overall approach to process safety is consistent
and the detailed calculations underpinning
the design are still relevant.
For maximum return from the independent
verification of process safety in
design, it would typically be conducted at the
following stages of a project or asset lifecycle:
Towards the end of the FEED and detailed design
stages of a new project, to ensure that the design
has adequately addressed process safety
and is acceptable to take forward.
After piecemeal or major plant modifications
to an existing asset when
the original process safety view of
the facility may have been compromised
by subsequent changes.
After acquiring new assets when the
detailed approach to process safety
needs to be verified.
Suitable Facility
The service provided by GL Noble
Denton is aimed specifically at the oil
and gas industry, including LNG liq-
34 energıze