Course unit details:
Process Safety

Course unit fact file
Unit code CHEN20152
Credit rating 10
Unit level Level 2
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

  • Why do we need to design for safety? (L1–L2)
  • Designing for Safety / Analysing Designs for Safety (L3-L4, L10)
  • Hazards – What are problems that design must control? (L6-L9)
  • Checking for major hazards (L7)
  • How safe is safe enough? Ethics and Probabilities (L11)
  • Process Hazard Analysis Methods (L5, L12-L15)
  • Running a plant safely (L16–L17)

Aims

The unit aims to provide an introduction to process plant safety:

Understanding of the major hazards of chemical processes.
Understanding of the legal requirements and engagement with the ethical implications of cost-benefit analysis.
Ability to identify where the hazards are present and propose suitable control measures.

 

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

1 Identify the hazards present in a process – including flammability, explosion, toxicity and human factors.

2 Describe the factors that aggravate and mitigate hazards and calculate hazards such as flammability limits, explosive properties.

3 Use the barrier model to design a layered approach to reducing or mitigating a hazard.

4 Design and justify a control strategy to operate a process safely, presenting it on a P&ID, and including BPCS, SIS and safety devices such as pressure relief valves and bursting discs.

5 Apply the main process hazard analysis tools (HAZID, HAZOP LOPA, Fault Tree, Hazardous Area Classification) to simple situations, using the HSE TOR model to identify if the hazards have been sufficiently controlled.

6 Develop and apply safety management tools (Permit to Work systems, Management of Change) to control the hazards in simple situations.

Assessment methods

Assessment taskWeighting
HAZOP continuous coursework50%
Final Exam50%

 

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 10
Tutorials 20
Independent study hours
Independent study 70

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Stuart Holmes Unit coordinator
Bernard Treves Brown Unit coordinator

Fees and funding

Fees

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2027 will be £10,050 per annum. Tuition fees for international students will be £39,700 per annum.

For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

At The University of Manchester we're committed to attracting and supporting the very best students. We have a focus on nurturing talent and ability and we want to make sure that you have the opportunity to study here, regardless of your financial circumstances.

For information about scholarships and bursaries please see our undergraduate fees pages and check the Department's funding pages .

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