Operator error
9%Maintenance failure
43% Poor design or layoutof equipment
28%Incomplete knowledge
about chemicals
15%
Incomplete knowledge about
chemical processes
5%Figure 1.27: Distribution of major causes of heavy losses in the chemical industry (Doyle (1969)).
In Figure 1.28 the major causes of fires and explosions are shown. From the figure it is seen
that equipment failures, inadequate material evaluation together with operational failures and
chemical process problems are the major causes of fires and explosions.
Plant site problems
Material movement problems4%
5%
Ineffective loss prevention program
8%
Chemical process problems
11%Operational failures
18%
Inadequate material evaluation
21%Equipment failures
31%layout and spacingInadequate plant
2%Figure 1.28: Distribution of major causes of fires and explosions in the chemical industry (Spigelman
(1969)).
Finally in Figure 1.29 the most frequently occurring equipment failures in refineries are given.
In the figure it is seen that pumps and compressors together with utilities contribute with more
than half of the reported failures.
Other
Exchangers 4%
7%
Towers and reactors
9%Furnaces
14%
Utilities
22%Pumps and compressors
33%
Piping
11%Figure 1.29: Distribution of equipment failures in the refinery industry (CEP (1970)).