Portable Asphalt Plant Process Hazard Analysis

JBW understood that the client intended to develop their operating and maintenance processes at their Portable Asphalt Processing Plant to enhance employee safety. JBW was tasked with identifying the risks within the plant and providing written solutions for those risks. Additionally, JBW would create standard operating and maintenance procedures that meet industry standards. The Portable Asphalt Plant consisted of twelve primary pieces of equipment, including the Cold Aggregate Feed, Scale Conveyor/Screen, Generator Trailer, Control Building and Switch Gear, Burner and Asphalt Mixing Drum, RAP Feeder/Screen/Impact Crusher, Asphalt Storage Silo/Slat Conveyor, Baghouse, Burner Oil Tank, two AC Oil Tanks with associated equipment, and a Warm Mix Trailer.

The project began with JBW reviewing equipment documentation, discussing with operator and maintenance personnel, and observing the operation on site. Using this information, JBW generated a Process and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) to conduct a PHA. The PHA systematically reviewed the process to identify existing hazards and risks, documenting how they were mitigated and providing recommendations for appropriate hazard and risk mitigation based on OSHA 1910 and NFPA 70E requirements.

Upon completing the PHA, JBW created standard operating procedures, Lock-out Tag-out (LOTO) procedures, and a maintenance list with input from the client. The published documents included written instructions and annotated photos collected on site during setup and operation.

The scope of services included site visits and coordination meetings, conducting the PHA, and writing an O&M manual. The deliverables consisted of a PHA report with P&ID documents, a process narrative for each piece of equipment, study findings, and remediation recommendations. The O&M manuals included detailed procedures for mobilization, plant setup, startup, midstream stops and starts, shutdown, teardown, LOTO procedures for each piece of equipment, and a maintenance equipment service interval list.