Safeguarding Personnel and Critical Infrastructure at a U.S. Gulf Coast Petrochemical Facility
Project Timeline: August 2022 to April 2023
Overview
In May 2021, a major petrochemical company announced plans to add a new production unit at one of its manufacturing facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast. To meet industry standards and compliance regulations, the facility required a protective building to safeguard its people and critical equipment.
Challenges
While the facility’s industrial setting, operational process areas and hurricane-prone location posed familiar potential hazards, a variety of facility-specific factors expanded the spectrum of threats:
- Operators as First Responders
Operators within the facility are the first line of response to any incidents. This means that in the event of an emergency, such as a fire, operators equip themselves with personal protective equipment (PPE) and quickly address the situation. - Critical Equipment Shutdown Protocol
Operators would be situated within the protective building. If something goes wrong, they must shut down equipment before evacuating. This requires a supplied breathing air system to ensure operator safety during critical response procedures. - High Blast Hazards and Proximity to Refinery
The facility itself faces very high blast hazards, but also faces toxic threats due to its close proximity to a neighboring facility. The potential for major fire hazards associated with these various operations heightens the need for enhanced safety measures. Operators must remain in close proximity to respond quickly in emergencies while ensuring the safe shutdown of systems before evacuation. - Safe Haven Requirement
Due to the full exposure opportunity to multiple potential hazards and the need for personnel to be close enough to respond quickly, corporate criteria required a specific level of protection: a multi-hazard resistant Safe Haven. This requirement narrowed the permissible options to either a FORTRESS protective building or a built-in-place concrete structure—which would take three to five years to construct.
Additional Considerations
Project Deadline
The facility’s new production unit was targeted for startup in 18 months. An operational protective building would need to meet the same schedule.
Reinforced Concrete Requirement
As a participating company in BakerRisk’s Explosion Research Cooperative, the facility’s owner had witnessed testing on metal buildings and knew firsthand the safety shortcomings of such structures. As a result, they developed a standard that prohibits metal buildings within a certain distance of the processing unit when used as permanent occupancy buildings. Based on the protective building’s siting distance for this specific project, their standard mandated a reinforced concrete structure.