Chapter 7. Leaks
A small leak will sink a great ship.—Thomas Fuller, 1732
Leaks of process materials are the process industries' biggest hazard. Most of the materials handled will not burn or explode unless mixed with air in certain proportions. To prevent fires and explosions, we must therefore keep the fuel in the plant and the air out of the plant. The latter is relatively easy because most plants operate at pressure. Nitrogen is widely used to keep air out of low-pressure equipment, such as storage tanks (Section 5.4), stacks (Section 6.1), centrifuges (Section 10.1), and equipment that is depressured for maintenance (Section 1.3).
The main problem in preventing fires and explosions is thus preventing the process material from leaking ...
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