TUV Rheinland Greater China Launches Seminar On Refinery And Petrochemical Plant Safety Integrity

Hong Kong /PRNewswire/ - At the request of the refining and petrochemical industries, TUV Rheinland's Greater China Industrial Services team recently organized a one-stop service seminar on the safety of refinery and petrochemical plants in Taipei, Shanghai and Kaohsiung. Entitled "Refinery and petrochemical plant safety integrity solutions", the seminar gave participants the opportunity to discuss a diverse range of topics and share their professional experience.

Due to an overwhelming response, the seminar was held in a Taipei, Shanghai, Kaohsiung early this year. In attendance were more than 160 customers and managers from large refining and petrochemical enterprises such as SINOPEC, the Bayer Group, Lanxess Chemical, Evonik Industries, the Teck Guan Group, Wanhua Chemical, the NEWSOLAR Technology Group, the CHEMTEX Group, Taiwan CPC Corporation, the Formosa Plastics Group, the Taiwan Chang Chun Group, the LCY Petrochemical Group and China Steel Company. There were also many representatives of oil and gas industrial equipment product suppliers and engineering companies such as ABB, Emerson, IBM, SCOTT Safety and Huawei Technologies. A number of authorities on work safety and representatives of special equipment inspection organisations, equipment safety research and testing institutes also attended.

The seminar focused on the midstream and downstream parts of the oil and gas industries, which include highly hazardous processing plants. The topics covered the correct and effective practical implementation of process safety management and mechanical integrity management systems. Mr. Thomas Fuhrmann, TUV Rheinland's Director of Industrial Services, Greater China, emphasised during his speech that "safety" is a priority concern and core objective of refining and petrochemical plants. Occupational labourers, process technology, production equipment, the operational environment and the raw materials of production are all public risk control issues and the concern of safety management.

Also under discussion were the development of API in-service authorised inspections and equipment inspection technology, and methods for the control and management of equipment corrosion and damage mechanisms. TUV Rheinland experts further explained the classification of hazard areas in potentially explosive atmospheres, explosion-proof equipment selection and maintenance techniques. They also covered lifecycle management systems for safety instrumented systems and the safety integrity levels of specific assessment and control practices.

The experts further introduced occupational safety and health management systems (such as CNS 15506 TOSHMS) for planning, reviewing and improving management cycle mechanisms to control and reduce hazardous risks in refineries and petrochemical plants. As compliance with European REACH chemical safety regulations continues to be a challenge for most chemical plants, they also discussed the REACH policy on raw product registration, evaluation, authorisation and licensing restrictions.

Participants at the seminar had the opportunity to visit the TUV Rheinland Shanghai metal analysis laboratory to observe its world-class testing instruments and professional operations. There, they learned about analysis techniques for metal damage, failure diagnosis and material-testing equipment. A roundtable discussion to cater to specific inquiries and projects was also held, focusing on safety integrity solutions for refineries and petrochemical plants.