Line 06 · Process Safety Studies
We identify the hazards in your process, evaluate the consequences, and hand you a technical road map with the mitigation measures, their scope, and what they cost. Led by certified professionals, without a global firm's rates.
Not just the finding
A study that stops at the list of findings changes nothing on the plant floor.
The problem
The hazards were already there: a dust nobody classified as combustible, a discharge temperature that crept up over the years, a conveying run that was extended without being reassessed. What was missing was not the information, but someone to sit down and put it in order before the scenario played out.
What we do
Every study closes with the mitigation alternatives evaluated, their indicative schematics, and an estimate of what it costs to implement them.
HAZOP and What-If on the whole process, or on the one system that worries you. Structured sessions with your operations and maintenance team, because the people who run the plant are the ones who know the real deviations.
Evaluation of deflagration scenarios in pneumatic conveying, milling, drying, and transfer points. Area classification and verification against the NFPA criteria that apply to your material.
Isolation, explosion venting, and suppression, evaluated against each other for your case. With indicative schematics and an estimated budget, so the decision does not rest on the quote from the first vendor through the door.
The study does not end with the report. We support device selection, the review of vendor quotes, and technical consulting during installation, so that what gets installed is what was recommended.
How we work
This is how a typical study is structured. Timing depends on the scope and on your team's availability for the sessions.
We introduce the team, explain the methodology, request the input information, and set the schedule.
We define the standards and guidelines that apply to your material and your process. Not every NFPA standard applies to every case.
A plant visit to verify the actual routing, the geometry, and current operating conditions.
HAZOP or What-If sessions with your team, recording scenarios, causes, and consequences.
We evaluate alternatives, draw indicative schematics, and estimate the budget for the items required.
Technical report and close-out meeting. And after that, support through procurement and installation.
The less you have, the more field survey work has to come first — and we tell you that before we quote, not after.
References
Which ones apply depends on your material and your process. Defining that is the second step of the study, and we do it with you.
Fundamentals of combustible dust. The starting point when the material can form an explosive atmosphere.
Prevention of fires and explosions in wood processing and woodworking facilities.
Explosion protection by deflagration venting.
Explosion prevention systems: inerting, isolation, and suppression.
Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures, the methodological reference for HAZOP and What-If.
Fitness-for-service, when the risk is in the integrity of the equipment rather than in the process.
The studies are run by certified professionals who work with us. PRONTA brings the process, mechanical, and control engineering needed to make the recommendations implementable — which is where many studies fall short.
One case
A highly critical flake conveying system: a blower of up to 75 HP, a discharge temperature of 135 °C, and a 335-meter carbon steel line, in an area classified as having combustible dust present. The inherent risk scenario called for detailed technical validation.
We defined the NFPA criteria that applied to the material, made a field visit to verify the actual routing, ran a What-If analysis of the complete system, evaluated mitigation alternatives—isolation, venting, and suppression—and produced indicative schematics and a budget estimate for the items required.
The plant came away with a technical road map for reworking the run between feed and discharge, and with support to select the devices and review the vendor quotes.
335 m
Of conveying line evaluated
135 °C
Discharge temperature
75 HP
System blower
NFPA
Process safety criteria applied
Contact
If there is one system that worries you, start there instead of with the whole plant. A tightly scoped study delivers value quickly, and it usually reveals whether the scope needs to grow.