The Durban branch of the SAIMC held their monthly technology meeting on 5 July at the Premier Splendid Hotel, as always. Liza Smit, a process engineer from Proconis, talked us through risk-based fire and gas detection mapping. Gas detection started with canaries in cages, but has evolved to use complex technology instead. In 2015 a UK HSE study of data showed that with eight years of offshore data, only 60% of known releases have been detected. The lack of reliable detection has pushed the industry to move to more sophisticated methodologies for detector placement.
In the last decade, several international and local standards were issued in support of the implementation of risk-based fire and gas detection, and software was developed to the extent where today mapping has become easy to do. Proconics has completed several risk-based studies and the purpose of the presentation was to explain the methodology and share the results of real projects.
Liza is a process engineer with a Master’s in Engineering Management and 20 years’ experience in chemical and process engineering. She started her career in the oil and gas/petrochemical sector and gained experience in various fields of the manufacturing value chain. She subsequently worked across multiple sectors, including the fertiliser, nuclear, thermal power, and mining industries, both locally and abroad. Over the last decade, Liza served as a subject matter expert in process safety, conducting quantitative risk assessments (QRA)s, risk reviews (HAZOPs/HAZIDS etc.) and specialist studies such as fire and gas mapping, also publishing papers in reputable scientific journals. She is a leader in her field and works closely with cutting-edge software developers for explosion and fire modelling. She gave an interesting and informative presentation, answering questions from the attentive audience clearly and professionally.
The Durban branch would like to thank Proconics for their kind sponsorship.
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