CONFIDENTIAL EH/APR 2008/CHE560/672/681

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FINAL EXAMINATION

COURSE : SAFETY AND LOSS PREVENTION

COURSE CODE : CHE560/672/681
EXAMINATION : APRIL 2008
TIME : 3 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

1. This question paper consists of five (5) questions.

2. Answer ALL questions in the Answer Booklet. Start each answer on a new page.

3. Do not bring any material into the examination room unless permission is given by the
invigilator.

4. Please check to make sure that this examination pack consists of:

i) the Question Paper

ii) a one - page Appendix 1
iii) an Answer Booklet - provided by the Faculty

DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO

This examination paper consists of 4 printed pages
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CONFIDENTIAL 2 EH/APR 2008/CHE560/672/681

QUESTION 1

a) Hazards need to be seen in order to eliminate or control them. Therefore hazards

identification is the first step in safety and health management at the workplace.

i) Describe in details the objectives and purpose of hazards identification.

(6 marks)
ii) When is hazard identification carried out?
(3 marks)

iii) Give three examples of techniques used in identifying hazards.

(3 marks)

b) Safety in the chemical manufacturing industry is crucial to avoid unnecessary death and
investment loss. There are four main strategies in ensuring safety: inherently safe plant,
process or equipment design, controls, interlocks and emergency shutdown systems;
and procedural systems. Describe in details any two (2) of these strategies.
(8 marks)

QUESTION 2

a) The immediate causes of accidents represent the initiators of accidents and are
associated with the common factors that introduce hazards at the workplace.

i) List all the common factors and

(4 marks)

ii) Describe in details the immediate causes of accidents.

(6 marks)

b) Most successful chemical companies have effective health, safety and environment
(HSE) management system in place. Explain the elements that are being adopted in this
management system to ensure its effectiveness. Use an appropriate diagram to support
your answer.
(10 marks)

QUESTION 3

In a fossil fuel power plant the chemical energy stored in fossil fuels such as coal, fuel oil,
natural gas or oil shale is converted successively into thermal energy, mechanical energy
and, finally, electrical energy for continuous use and distribution across a wide geographic
area. Almost all large fossil fuel power plants are steam-electric power plants, except for gas
turbines and utility-sized generators that may run on natural gas or diesel.

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CONFIDENTIAL 3 EH/APR 2008/CHE560/672/681

Tenaga Utama Power Plant uses natural gas to generate and supply electricity to Tanjung
Piai industrial area. The plant is built adjacent to gas transport pipelines. As an engineer and
a member of the Safety and Health Committee, you are involved in developing the company
emergency and response plan (ERP). This ERP is designed and written to assist the Power
Plant's management team, employees and outside responding agencies through emergency
response actions at the Power Plant.

a) List four (4) types of emergencies that can be experienced by this power plant and give
two (2) examples for each type of emergency.
(4 marks)

b) A written plan is to be developed with plant personnel and outside agencies after
identifying potential emergencies. List of six (6) items to be considered in an emergency
response plan.
(6 marks)

c) Describe the evacuation procedures for either explosion or fire incidents.

(10 marks)

QUESTION 4

People who are working in the hazardous chemical process industry will have a higher risk
of exposure to toxic chemicals compared to those working in non-chemical industry.

a) List the route of entry of toxic chemicals into the human body and methods for control.
Explain how a human body eliminates these toxicants.
(6 marks)

b) One of the most important references used to ensure safe use and handling of chemicals
is Chemical Safety Data Sheets (CSDS).

i) Where can we obtain CSDS?

(2 marks)
ii) What information does a CSDS provide?
(2 marks)

c) A mixture of equimolar benzene and toluene is used in a chemical plant. The

temperature is 25°C, and the pressure is 1 atm. Determine the mixture threshold limit
value (TLV) and the TLV for individual species in the mixture. What control measures
would you recommend if the actual concentrations exceeds these levels?

Additional information:

Benzene: Molecular weight (MW) 78.11, TLV 10ppm

Toluene: Molecular weight (MW) 92.13, TLV 50 ppm

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CONFIDENTIAL 4 EH/APR 2008/CHE560/672/681

Saturation vapor pressure: In (P ) = A - B/(C+T),

Where Psat is the saturation vapor pressure in mm Hg, T is the temperature in K, and A,
B, and C are the constants, given by the following

Benzene: A = 15.9008, B = 2788.51, C =-52.36

Toluene: A =16.0137, B = 3096.52, C =-53.67

(10 marks)

QUESTION 5

Ahmad and Tan work as engineers in a facility storing flammables. The management is
planning to increase the storage capacity with an additional 1000 tonnes of hydrocarbons.
Both men have been given the responsibility to determine the size of the storage tanks and
they realize that fireballs are the likely scenarios for the facility. Due to land area constraints
they have to choose between 500 tonnes or 200 tonnes tanks. Using information in
Appendix 1:

a) Compare the size of a 500 tonnes and a 200 tonnes fireball.

(8 marks)

b) Determine the distance to 100%, 50% and 1 % death due to these fireballs.
(8 marks)

c) Which size of tank would they recommend to the management?

(4 marks)

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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CONFIDENTIAL APPENDIX 1 EH/APR 2008/CHE560/672/681

Probit for death due to thermal radiation is given by:

Probit Y = -14.9 + 2.56 In [(teqe4/3)/(104)]

Where:

t e =time in second
qe = influx heat transfer in W/m2

Table A1 Transformation of Probit to Percentages Death

% 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 - 2.67 2.95 3.12 3.25 3.36 3.45 3.52 3.59 3.66
10 3.72 3.77 3.82 3.87 3.92 3.96 4.01 4.05 4.08 4.12
20 4.16 4.19 4.23 4.26 4.29 4.33 4.36 4.39 4.42 4.45
30 4.48 4.50 4.53 4.56 4.59 4.61 4.64 4.67 4.69 4.72
40 4.75 4.77 4.80 4.82 4.85 4.87 4.90 4.92 4.95 4.97
50 5.00 5.03 5.05 5.08 5.10 5.13 5.15 5.18 5.20 5.23
60 5.25 5.28 5.31 5.33 5.36 5.39 5.41 5.44 5.47 5.50
70 5.52 5.55 5.58 5.61 5.64 5.67 5.71 5.74 5.77 5.81
80 5.84 5.88 5.92 5.95 5.99 6.04 6.08 6.13 6.18 6.23
90 6.28 6.34 6.41 6.48 6.55 6.64 6.75 6.88 7.05 7.33

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