Implementation of energy isolation in chemical enterprises

Implementation of energy isolation in chemical enterprises
In the daily production and operation of chemical enterprises, accidents often occur due to the disorderly release of dangerous energy (such as chemical energy, electric energy, heat energy, etc.). Effective isolation and control of hazardous energy plays a positive role in ensuring the safety of operators and the integrity of equipment and facilities. The group standard of Implementation Guide for Energy Isolation in Chemical Enterprises, compiled by China Chemical Safety Association, was released and implemented on January 21, 2022, providing a powerful tool for chemical enterprises to effectively control the “tiger” of dangerous energy.

This standard is applicable to the installation, transformation, repair, inspection, test, cleaning, disassembly, maintenance and maintenance of all kinds of operations on the production and process equipment and facilities of chemical enterprises, and gives the energy isolation measures and management methods involved in the related operations, with the following significant characteristics:

First, it indicates the direction and method of energy identification. Chemical production process may produce dangerous energy system mainly includes pressure, mechanical, electrical and other systems. Accurate identification, isolation and control of dangerous energy in the system is the basic premise to ensure the safety of all kinds of operation activities.

The second is to define the energy isolation and control mode. The operability of energy isolation must be considered in production practice, including various isolation methods such as discharging valve, adding blind plate, removing pipeline, cutting off power supply and space isolation.

Third, it provides protection measures after energy isolation. If the material cutting, emptying, cleaning, replacement and other measures are qualified, use safety locks to set the valve, electrical switch, energy storage accessories and so on in a safe position, through Lockout tagout to ensure that it is not arbitrary action, always in a controlled state, to ensure that the energy isolation barrier is not damaged by accident.

The fourth is to emphasize the confirmation of energy isolation effect. “Lockout” and “tagout” are only external forms of protection isolation from being destroyed. It is also necessary to accurately check whether the energy isolation is thorough by means of power switch and valve state test, so as to fundamentally ensure the safety and reliability of the operation.

The Implementation Guide for Energy Isolation in Chemical Enterprises provides a systematic method for effective isolation and control of dangerous energy. The reasonable application of this standard in daily production and operation activities of enterprises will keep the “tiger” of dangerous energy firmly in the cage and steadily improve the safety performance of enterprises.