Hydrocarbon Processing - July 2022 - 44

History of the HPI
experiments showed that doping polyacetylene
with iodine increased its conductivity
by seven orders of magnitude;
similar results occurred using chlorine
and bromine, as well. The trio published
their findings in the article " Synthesis
of electrically conducting organic polymers:
Halogen derivatives of polyacetylene,
(CH)x
, " 201
followed by two separate
deeper dive articles into the technical research
and conclusions of their work.
The efforts of MacDiarmid, Shirakawa
and Heeger were instrumental in
creating a new field of plastic electronics
research, which gained prominence in
the 1980s and led to numerous products
and applications. These included antistatic
substances for photographic film,
shields for computer screens and smart
windows that absorb sunlight, light-emitting
diodes (LEDs), solar cells, displays
in mobile phones and small television
screens, batteries, specialty coatings, and
many other applications.198,202
For their
contributions in the field of conducting
polymers, MacDiarmid, Shirakawa and
Heeger were awarded the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry in 2000.
From tragedy to a safer industry.
Notable industrial accidents occurred in
the mid-1970s through the 1980s that
led to stark changes in the way industry
views safety. These included the Bhopal
and Seveso disasters and the Phillips 66
Houston Chemical Complex explosion.
In July 1976, a chemical leak at a small
chemical plant north of Milan, Italy exposed
the surrounding region to high
levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.
The leak severely affected humans,
wildlife and the environment. It was later
determined that the plant had very rudimentary
safety systems, it had not considered
environmental protection during
construction/operation and had no warning
system or health-protection protocols
for the surrounding communities.203
The Seveso disaster led to the adoption
of the Seveso Directive in 1983. The
directive (82/501/EC) aims to control
major accident hazards involving dangerous
substances, especially chemicals, and
contributes to the technological disaster
risk reduction effort.204
The directive was
superseded by Seveso 2 (1996)-also
referred to as Control of Major Accident
Hazards (COMAH)-and Seveso 3
(2012). These amendments were the re44
JULY 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
sults of other industrial accidents that severely
affected surrounding populations
and the environment. The major takeaways
from the Seveso Directives were
the obligations placed on plant operators,
which included mandatory safety reports,
the establishment of a detailed safety
management system and emergency action
plans, and the deployment of major
accident prevention policy, among others.205
Today,
the Seveso Directive applies
to more then 12,000 industrial establishments
in the EU and is widely considered
a benchmark for industrial accident policy
for nations around the world.204
Two other major industrial accidents
in the 1980s changed the way the industry
views process safety management:
the Bhopal disaster and the Phillips 66
chemical plant explosion. The Bhopal
disaster occurred in the late evening/
early morning of December 2-3, 1984 in
Bhopal, India. Shortly after midnight on
December 3, up to 40 t of toxic methyl
isocyanate leaked from the plant's storage
tank and drifted downwind into the
surrounding community.206
and onsite movement of highly hazardous
chemicals.208
However, new regulations in process
safety management in the U.S. were still a
work in progress when an explosion happened
at the Phillips 66 high-density polyethylene
plant in Houston, Texas (U.S.).
The series of explosions-caused by the
release of flammable process gases that
contacted an ignition source-on October
23, 1989, claimed the lives of nearly
two dozen and resulted in hundreds of injuries.209
The
tragedy increased the focus
The highly
toxic material claimed the lives of thousands
of people and resulted in more
than 550,000 injuries.
The Bhopal tragedy led to new safety
and environmental measures and government
regulations in India. This included
the Environmental Protection Act of
1986, which created the Ministry of Environment
and Forests-the ministry was
responsible for enforcing environmental
laws and policies. It also led to the Factories
Act of 1987; the Hazardous Wastes
(Management and Handling) Rules;
and the Manufacture, Storage and Import
of Hazardous Chemical rules, both
enacted in 1989, among other rules and
regulations.207
The Bhopal disaster also
influenced the Seveso 2 amendment in
Europe and raised awareness from governing
bodies around the world that enhanced
safety management systems were
needed in industry.
In the mid- to late-1980s, several governmental
safety organizations proceeded
with advancing new safety management
system regulations. For example,
the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) in the U.S developed
the process safety management
system regulation in the late 1980s. The
regulation-still in use today-focuses
on the handling, manufacturing, storage
on better process safety systems in dangerous
work environments, especially in
the refining and petrochemical industries.
According to literature, several insights
prevailed in the aftermath of the accident,
including a better adherence to safe work
practices and a better overall process safety
and risk management program, the creation
and adoption of new standards and
regulations, the detrimental effects that
can occur when safeguards are removed
or disabled, and the need for operational
discipline in plant operations.210
Unfortunately, the three industrial accidents
mentioned here were not the last
to occur within the processing industries.
However, these major industrial tragedies
led to an increased focus on process
safety management at both refineries and
chemical plants. They have left a lasting
impression and have been responsible
for new directives, standards and safety
guidelines throughout the processing industries
in an effort to keep plant personnel
and surrounding communities safe.
Heavy oil upgrading. In 1984, the Association
for the Valorization of Heavy
Oils (ASVAHL) was assembled in
France. The ASVAHL Analytical Group
was comprised of the Institut Français du
Pétrole [French Institute of Petroleum
(IFP), which would later take the name
IFP Energies nouvelles], Elf Aquitaine (a
French petroleum and natural resources
group that was acquired by Total Fina in
2000 and is now Total Energies)211
and
Total (now Total Energies).
The group's primary function was
to research and develop new heavy-oil
upgrading technologies. According to
literature, the group's main objectives included
developing straightforward methods
for the conversion of heavy products
and a better knowledge of the structure
of heavy products.212
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