Category Archives: Good Engineering Practices

What the Ammonia refrigeration industry can learn from West, TX

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Brian Chapin

Last night I attended the CSB Public Meeting in Waco, TX concerning the 2013 West, TX Ammonia Nitrate explosion. The purpose of the meeting was to release their report on the incident. The explosion resulted in 15 fatalities and 260 … Continue reading →

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Shock to the system

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Brian Chapin

The CSB just released a video on the August 23, 2010 Alabama ammonia release. While not perfect, it is a worthwhile video to watch as it might just make you question how you should deal with the type of power-failure issues … Continue reading →

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Relief Systems – Understanding Design and Design Basis

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Brian Chapin

In compliance audits all over the country, we’re finding that the requirements for documenting the relief systems are not being met in many PSM programs. How bad is the situation? About 1/3rd of the relief documentation we see shows that … Continue reading →

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What’s the deal with Valve torque?

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Brian Chapin

A common question I get is whether or not flanged and bonneted valves need to be torqued when they are installed. Unfortunately, many of these questions are due to OSHA citations – Ideally you want to answer this question BEFORE the … Continue reading →

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IIAR 2 and IIAR 4 up for public review

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Brian Chapin

IIAR Standard 2 (Safety Standard for Equipment, Design, and Installation of Closed-Circuit Ammonia Mechanical Refrigeration Systems) and IIAR Standard 4 (Installation of Closed-Circuit Ammonia Mechanical Refrigeration Systems) are available for public review on the IIAR website. While being an IIAR member … Continue reading →

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CSB Releases Safety Video on 2009 Fatal Blast at NDK Crystal – Animation Depicts Stress Corrosion Cracking; Vessels Were Not Inspected or Tested

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Brian Chapin

Today the CSB issued a report on a 2009 vessel failure that it blamed on Stress Corrosion Cracking. There are some interesting lessons to be learned about incident investigation in this report since the mechanism that led to the vessel’s … Continue reading →

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Do your Emergency Shut-down and Ventilation switches comply with IIAR2-2008b/IIAR5-2013, Appendix B?

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Brian Chapin

IIAR5 was released just recently and a surprising number of people think that it introduces new requirements for emergency switches. The requirements themselves don’t differ from IIAR2-2008b – they are just laid out a little clearer in IIAR5, Appendix B: … Continue reading →

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OSHA to revise Palmer guidance on Hydrostatic Trapping

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Brian Chapin

OSHA and the IIAR have not seen eye to eye on the issue of Hydrostatic trapping since 2006 when OSHA issued the Palmer interpretation letter which said the following: If a liquid expansion hazard exists and the only safeguard to protect … Continue reading →

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Five Year Independent Full Inspection

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Brian Chapin

IIAR Bulletin 110, Section 6.4.4 calls for something called an “Independent Full Inspection”: At least every five years, the annual inspection of the vessels and heat exchangers shall be carried out by a competent person independent of immediate commercial and … Continue reading →

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Maximum Intended Inventory (1910.119(d)(2)(i)(C))

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Brian Chapin

Lately we’ve been seeing quite a few misunderstandings of the inventory calculations required by a PSM program so I thought I would try and explain it as simply as I can. Both the EPA’s RMP and OSHA’s PSM require you … Continue reading →

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