Quest Consultants' personnel have conducted safety inspections and audits for a wide variety of industrial clients.

Examples of a few of these projects are presented below. This list is not complete, but is intended to illustrate the types of safety inspections and audits in which Quest personnel have been involved.

LNG Peakshaving Plant; United States

Quest conducted a pre-startup safety audit of this new LNG facility. The audit included a physical inspection of all process areas (gas cleanup, compression, refrigeration, liquefaction, storage, vaporization, and truck loading) and a review of operating, maintenance, and emergency response procedures. Deviations from code requirements and good engineering practices were noted.

Oil and Gas Production Facilities; United States

More than fifty oil and gas production facilities were inspected. These facilities included onshore gas and oil wells, gas plants, compressor stations on gas gathering systems, and offshore production platforms. In conjunction with the client, a list of minimum standards for each type of facility was prepared. Major items included hazard detection systems, emergency shutdown systems, vent and flare systems, lighting procedures for fired heaters, and hazardous area classification.

Petrochemical Facility; Canada

Quest personnel performed a thorough safety audit of this ethylene production facility to determine if the process equipment, the overall safety program, plant procedures, and plant layout were in accordance with code requirements and normal industry practices. This involved a field inspection of all operating and fire protection equipment, interviews with plant personnel, and review of numerous plant manuals.

Natural Gas Liquefaction Plant; Indonesia

Quest personnel have conducted several safety audits at this large LNG production facility, including pre-startup safety audits of five liquefaction trains. P&IDs were reviewed and compared to code requirements and standard industry practices. All process equipment was inspected to ensure that all components called for in the P&IDs were installed. Fire detection and protection systems were also inspected. Punch lists and equipment data sheets were used extensively during the field inspections to ensure that all critical components (e.g., pressure relief valves, blind flanges, flare system block valves, etc.) were visually checked. Specific deficiencies and general problem areas were noted and presented to management. Additional safety audits have been conducted for this plant; some on existing facilities, and one on a major plant modification that included new LPG fractionation, refrigeration, storage, and marine loading facilities.

Gas Plants; United States

Quest personnel conducted preliminary hazards analyses of several gas plants for a major oil and gas production company. The analyses included field inspections of all plant equipment and fire protection systems, interviews with plant personnel, and review of P&IDs and PFDs. Deviations from code requirements and standard industry practices were noted and included in the reports which were submitted to the plant managers. The plants typically contained the following areas: gas cleanup, dehydration, compression, refrigeration, NGL fractionation, LPG storage, LPG truck loading racks, and LACT units.

Offshore Platforms; United States

Preliminary hazards analyses were conducted for several offshore drilling and production platforms in the gulf region. These analyses included field inspections of the wellheads, process equipment, fire protection systems, and personnel escape equipment. Special emphasis was placed on emergency shutdown systems, water spray systems, and emergency response procedures. Platform personnel were interviewed to ascertain their particular safety concerns.

Offshore Platforms and Onshore Receiving Facility; Malaysia

A detailed safety audit was performed on six offshore production platforms (including manned and unmanned facilities), the onshore receiving facility (three-phase separation), and interconnecting pipelines. The level of maintenance and maintenance procedures were of particular importance to the client. Field inspections, interviews, and document reviews were conducted by the audit team.

Hydrogen Peroxide Production Facility; United States

A detailed safety audit was performed to determine the adequacy of plant hazard protection equipment. P&IDs, operating procedures, emergency procedures, and fire water system drawings were reviewed to check for safety problems. Informal discussions were held with plant personnel and management in order to determine if safety issues were treated as high priority items.

Industrial Complex; Malaysia

A safety audit was conducted for an industrial complex consisting of a methanol plant, electric power generating station, iron ore processing facility, and the natural gas pipeline junction that feeds the other three facilities. All fire and safety equipment was examined to determine if installed systems were adequate for their intended use. Compatibility of hoses, hydrants, etc., among the facilities was also checked. Process P&IDs, operating procedures, and emergency procedures were reviewed with regard to safety-related areas. Interviews were held with management and production personnel to identify specific safety concerns.

Refinery Off-Gas Cleanup and Recovery Plant; United States

This unique plant receives off-gases from nearby refineries, removes and recovers certain impurities, and returns clean gases to the refineries. Quest performed a safety inspection of all operating process units in this facility.

Natural Gas Processing Plant and LPG Terminal; Malaysia

A detailed safety audit was conducted for two interrelated facilities. One facility receives natural gas by pipeline from offshore production platforms, removes carbon dioxide and water from the gas, and removes propane and butane (by cryogenic extraction and fractionation) to produce pipeline-quality natural gas. The propane and butane are pipelined to the other facility where they are refrigerated, stored, and then loaded into ocean-going tank ships. The safety audit included field inspections of all process and fire protection equipment in all parts of both plants and the interconnecting pipelines. Process P&IDs and PFDs were reviewed. Operating, maintenance, and emergency response procedures and the entire training program were also reviewed. The philosophy and effectiveness of the emergency shutdown systems were examined in detail. Interviews were held with technicians, operators, line management, and upper management personnel. Quest prepared a list of the deviations noted during the audit, and made recommendations for improving the overall safety of both facilities and for improving the layout and design of future plant expansions.

For more information about our Safety Inspections and Audit Services, please contact us at info@questconsult.com.