P&IDs and Emergencies (Part 4)

Preparation is critical for emergency readiness. At a chemical facility, an accurate P&ID is an indispensable tool to aid hazmat responders in making decisions during a crisis. With this in mind, P&IDs must be readily available to responders at all times. Often, chemical leaks can be stopped by closing a downstream isolation valve. The P&ID is an ideal resource to locate such a valve prior to hazmat team entry. The duration of many emergencies has been extended due to a lack of responder resources. Experience has shown that hazmat teams are reluctant to enter a chemical atmosphere until they have confidence that they can achieve their objectives.

To help illustrate how important P&IDs can be to hazmat responders, consider the following scenario:

An ammonia leak occurs from a refrigeration system. The source of the leak is a 1” high pressure liquid pipe that feeds Room 2. The high pressure receiver has multiple isolation and service valves as depicted below.

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It is unlikely that the emergency responders will have the necessary refrigeration knowledge to identify the correct isolation valve while in the field. However, if the P&ID is available to the incident commander and hazmat team prior to entry, they will likely be able to identify that Valve AV-002 is the isolation valve that must be closed to stop the supply of ammonia to Room 2.

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This is Part 4 of a series on P&IDs. You can access previous blogs in this series below:

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