P 128 Outside office Activity in 2016

P 128

PESO Conference & Exhibition-2016

In Feb.'16, that time CCE Dr.Kamal thought of conducting  an international conference on
Excellence in Hydrocarbon  Safety.. As such an assembly was carried out 10 years back under
Sh.Anbunathan at Kochi,Dr.Kamal envisaged to conduct this event at Jaipur, as that city faced
a major accident of tank terminal in 2010 . He wanted that incident to be thoroughly discussed and
analyzed by industry members participation. Moreover, since he hail from Jaipur, he thought he can have local support &co-operation in conducting such a large program.

As efficient subordinate, Dr.Kamal  identified Sh.D K Gupta , Dy.CCE to be the chief coordinator to conduct the entire program. DKG being social in nature and resourceful in Society, issued a notification to all oil processing industries of India asking  the respective management to nominate their key stake holders both from refinery operations/maintenance/ safety and marketing set-ups.

As DKG knew the pulse of the situation, he chose S/Sh Sanjay  & Rajiv Chohan as functional co-ordinators  and Dr Dixit of PESO  department for reviewing and short listing technical articles authored by various industry experts. The beauty was, to start with , it was estimated that a max. of 400 people will only attend this 2 day conference at Jaipur on 21/22 nd July'16. Actually there were about 800 people turned up. Rather, at one stage, the organizing team was afraid how we are going to manage the show!

To start with, both Dr  Kamal &DKG conducted periodic meeting at all PSU companies HQ and
RCP(Reliance). We were afraid whether sufficient fund will accumulate to conduct this mega program at Jaipur ; but since the attendance number has far exceeded the original thinking, the organizers could arrange a gala dinner with grand dance/music program on first day evening.
To honor and respect the retired CCEs , they were given special invitation to attend this program
and each one of them were rewarded. Only Dr H Mukherjee could not attend as he was abroad.


The total conference was a huge success. Almost all companies chairman/MDs/Directors were present. Each one of them shared their career experience in oil industry operations and challenges faced. All the oil companies and some system manufacturers put their stall in the exhibition to display their products/development/achievement etc. Souvenir was published covering all the technical paper presented during these two days.

Both the days there were technical papers presented not only by personnel from India but also
by international experts on the subject of safety. People shared their experience and there were threadbare discussions on Root cause Analysis and Near Miss Incidents . Experts from oil industries , Inspection agencies&Hazop Analysis specialists particiapted in Round table Conference  and many
points- food for thought emerged for  Corporate Social Responsibility on Safety.

Rather time  was short for the Closing ceremony. All the members who contributed both in terms of Technical and Organisation administration  were presented with momentoes
As majority present were so impressed and found such gathering is useful for knowledge sharing,
a short debate cropped up- what should be the frequency for conducting such mega event? Finally it was arrived that the interval should be around 3 years
                                                                                                                Contd.........
Key Aspect :-  Delegation, Faith, Human relations

P 127 Cross Sensitivity of CO sensors

P 127

Cross-Sensitivity of CO sensors

Though all the vendors have declared that there is a technical issue of cross sensitivity problem in electro-chemical sensor type,neither the supplier nor the purchaser team were aware of the involved issue while committing the order for both fixed as well as portables.

In field, while unloading the Propylene/Ethylene into Process chiller compressors in PX IV plant, safety team as a precaution  hand carried a set of 4X portable gas detectors. To everybody's shock, the detectors picked up the hydrocarbon vapor presence in atmosphere as if CO is present in high value and raised alarm. Panic situation set in and they contacted me at RCP stating the detectors are defective and take up the issue with M/S MSA. Personally I had my doubt, whether the coke getting loaded in the hopper in  Gasification complex would have really generated CO vapors in atmosphere! At the same time, considering the inter-distance of approx 700 Mts, whether such a possibility of CO travelling came in question.
So on SOS basis, I took up the issue with Mr Gustavo to study the issue. He reverted that the issue has arisen due to the functional characteristics of electro chemical sensor only  and the detectors are not defective. Having heard that from him, I went into looking for the same issue in Honeywell supplied fixed CO detector in PX plant area. To my shock, those sensors also revealed the same characteristics. Since those fixed devices were handled by Core instrumentation group, I shared the issue with Dr. B R Mehta. That made both of us to take up with both the parties-Honeywell and MSA and made them to study/help Reliance in finding a workable resolution.

Technical Point:  As we have Coke gasification complex and Syn.gas travelling all across refineries/C2 complex, tracking sensitive colorless/odourless toxic CO  that too in PPM is a must. That strenuous condition ruled out usage of Infrared type sensor type for CO presence sensing in atmosphere.As it is IR sensor can sense only in % value that too with sensitivity of 10000 ppm only; whereas OSHA's recommendation is only max 50 PPM sensitivity for human being.
To validate our doubt, we referred the matter to M/S Shell Global Solutions and queried them. They responded that they do not have electro chemical type sensors at all for CO sensing! Moreover, no where else in the world, there is a combination of refinery with a petro-chemical plant and coke gasification complex all integrated in one facility! So Reliance is unique and complicated. So we took up with both the vendors to undertake a fundamental research to  arrest/restrict of this hydrocarbon vapors getting converted into CO and misrepresent/create nuisance value alarm in a petrochemical complex. The research is still on when I retired from service.We have to  wait&watch.It appears that direction-ally the progress is positive. Otherwise we may end up with wolf story!

Key Aspect :- Incident analysis,  Lack of experience, Technical issue

P 126 J3 Gas Detector Portables

P 126


J3 Gas Detector Portables

Mr Gustavo took that assignment personally and studied. As MSA did not have internal capability to develop such Apps, he contacted some specialist group at Houston and reverted on last day. That party gave the feedback that such a specific request has already come from one customer in Abu Dhabi and it may take several months to develop the same in MSA products. So he suggested that Reliance may undertake that research as pilot project for trial objective and gave the contact particulars of the said party.

On return to India, I had a big shock! The core CHSEE group raised a spoke - how the project HSE group can go ahead sourcing the gas detectors certified suitable for Zone1 only instead of Zone0?
They were not ready to agree with the fact that in refinery, most of the areas fall under Zone 2 only and only few places come under Zone1. Zone 0 come in picture only inside the cone roof tanks and under ground pits. They were influenced by M/S Honeywell representative canversing. Fortunately
both S/Sh B Narayan  & Deepak Datta , the authorities in project, being chemical engineer by qualification and had field experience, understood the situation .They supported my decision to go with Zone1 certified devices and cleared to procurement to issue SCN for dispatch.

The issue did not stop there! As I was expecting, JMD had a huge top-up requirement and they furnished the second intent in Nov.'16 for procurement activity. By that time, I handed over the project HSE Department to Dr.Atul Ku Srivastava, who was asked to report to Sh Gordan Goyal, Process chief in projects. Somehow things went out of control. From my side, I was suggesting that since these requirements are top-up quantity, procurement should go ahead on nomination basis and discuss the rates with the original supplier and commit. Also, my recommendation to go with the same party arose from the angle of universal bump testing module. Otherwise, it call for two or three different version of bump test modules and combining them for network communication is a challenge! As a control system engineer by qualification and experience I could visualize that aspect .But each individual had different objective; especially CHSEE group wanted to show their technical superiority! Even the expatriate experts from Shell,BP &Lendoll Basel reviewed my version and endorsed but it was over-ruled.

Here, I have to bring out some technical aspects !! Though M/S Honeywell was the only party who canversed for Zone0 selection and had PESO approval, really speaking they also did not have ATEX approval forZone0 for  IR type sensors, which was part of their offer. When I took up the matter with PESO authorities, they were surprised to note that fact and withdrawn the approval then. But M/S Honeywell were going around that IOC has approved their products for Zone 0 and only that should be practised in Indian industry. Unfortunately Reliance CHSEE group did not want to go through these analysis and dictated that Reliance also should opt for Zone0 selection only for the entire top-up requirement. Even at that stage, I was the only one ,who tried to project that no party can furnish all the types with Zone0 certification and we may land up with the issue of communication links with two different manufacturers. People with vested interest took stand  and over-ruled my recommendation. Due to misunderstanding and misinterpreting my version of recommendation, people concerned went to the extent of suspecting my integrity even after loyally serving the company for 30 years. I have been asked to keep away from that sourcing activity.. With pain I had to watch this mess from distance! As forecasted and expected, the mess is still there  and no one has ventured to link the communication between several version of bump system. The end user has lost interest and living with the unfinished version! By that time,I am retired from Reliance service in March'18, but there is no end solution in place.
                                                                                                     Contd......
Key Aspect:-  Incident analysis,  Technical issue, Transfer

P 125 J3 Detector Portables

P 125

J3 Detector Portables

As mentioned, with my presence at Pittsburgh, Reliance could receive all documents as required through system and the vendor was happy with the receipt of Code1 approvals. But there was a catch in clearing the goods !

As mentioned earlier, since the whole trip to Pittsburgh was considered unofficial, I did not sign witnessing the inspection  tests but conveyed that RCP will clear and issue SCN through system.
On third and fouth day, I spent my time on discussions with respect to overall system configuration for bump testing through Galaxy, data collection for last 6 months, data gathering process and how to extract through server etc. Also analyzed and debated the frequency necessity of bump testing of each type-both personal and multi-gas/twin gas type. Based on that , the discussion paid attention to the inventory requirement of each type of gas canister .  As we had the initial distribution plan of 44 buildings and corresponding device type for bump testing, MSA engg. team worked out the canister sourcing plan. While looking at that issue, they clearly presented the canister manufacturer recommendation for the shelf life for each gas type canister. Then we worked out the first inventory requirement of canister MTO, considering the shipment logistics from Texas to Pittsburgh to Jamnagar through sea route. and informed RCP to issue the confimed PO for the same.

 In the whole bargain, the negative factor was -the shelf life of some of the gases were as low as 9 months and longest was 24 months and from Reliance side, the plant commissioning were phased out and some delay in mechanical completion/ready for commissioning of some plants. The net result was, some of the gas canisters were required to be replaced even before pre-commissioning. There came a catch! Whether these replacement have to go under project budget or revenue cost. Sh.BN being the Head of Procurement Group took the call and settled.

During the technical session, I had some dreams to look for! As I was convinced with the product robustness, I raised some product improvement features and had special session with the product design team. They are:

1. Can MSA incorprate GPS enablement with elevation in 3D data for coordinates in each 4X device?
The idea was to map , whereall that particular device has moved with 'X' personnel at what time near to which equipment etc.
2. Since Reliance has sourced 4X personal protection device based on position hirarchy attached to each building and employees are likely to be transferred inter departments, I looked for incorporation of picking up the employee identification like his employment no. as per his identification badge during his bump testing at the start of his shift.

Both these requirement had a back ground objective. 1) With the mapping of gas concentration picked by that device at particulr time, operations/maintenance can plan their healthy house- keeping by taking nessary course corrective maintenance of the equipment  in that spot.  That is, the device becomes a handy tool to spot in advance the defects/probable leaks in plant area. 2) If the person's identification is incorporated, the Health team can co-relate an individual's inhalation of /hydrocarbon toxic gases over a fixed period and recommend necessary course measures for his health care.
When I placed these request on table, MSA top management was completely perplexed! They immediately asked Mr Gustavo to study and come out on fourth day for meaningful forward path.
Rest is History!!                                                                                                          Contd.......

Key Aspect:- Accountable,  Conviction, Communicate, Incident analysis, Initiative, Planning,
Responsible, Technical issue

P 124 J3 Detectors Inspection clearance

P 124


J3 Detectors Inspection Clearance

As my USA trip cropped up all of a sudden, everyone including the vendor offices at India,Dubai and USA were perplexed! Moreover, vendor was afraid that though the materials might be manufactured at the factory but they cannot seek clearance for shipment/air lifting in the absence of all vendor drawing approval in place( upload in system with Code1 clearance).It was clear to everybody that I was the only one who had complete clarity on the issue. Reliance procurement did not have any clue on that account and my deputy in project could not understand to pick up the gravity of  situation.
That was the time ,MSA Director Mr.Stuart came out with a bright idea and requested my service  help to get over the problem. He requested me whether I can spare a few days during my leave at USA ,to visit their factory at Pittsburg , review and approve the deliverables and participate in final on-line inspection of the portables as well as galaxy devices. He also felt that I can use that time for arriving at the full configuration of total system by discussing with their system leads and factory/system. personnel. As I did not have any fixed agenda at USA(during that vacation) I agreed for his request.
I was clear that I shall not treat that visit as official  and carry out the task only on technical basis, in the interest of successfully expediting the project deliverables. So looking at the calender and personal convinience, I indicated that I can spend my time from 7th Dec. to 12th Dec. max at Pittsburgh. MSA management felt relieved and organized my local travel and stay etc. at Pittsburgh.
It was four day trip and MSA topmost management was all praise for that help.

It so happened that ,that was the time the factory took the multi-gas portables assembly  and 4X meant for SEZ-gasification and PXIV  in-line inspection. Their inspection process was a revelation to me as everything was automated and run through conveyors for board checking, sensor fixing, each sensor undergoing for its respective gas sensitivity test for its range etc.

As I specifically requested for visiting the sensor manufacturing and test lab (which is restricted place even for their own employees), with a special non-disclosure agreement signed, top management escorted me for visiting it and deliberate with their system chief. As I am basically an Automation engineer  by qualification, we could exchange effectively about sensitivity, area classification etc.

With the factory team , I could go deeply about their inspection process/ procedure, certification, record tracability and test records storage etc.  All these took two days of my time.

Meanwhile, on reachning their factory on first day itself, I gave my complete document listing for review to their  product lead specialist Mr Gustavo.So he put the respective team members on the job to accumulate all of them and fixed the meeting/discussions on fourth day morning. As I was directly dealing with the factory members themselves, they could understand the specifics with full clarity and organized to produce all of them. As most of the deliverables  are UL/FM approved and the factory has got ISO approval, my task became easy in reviewing and understanding. On my review, I asked them to upload in Reliance system and was in constant touch with my assistant Mr Sandesh Tikhe at RCP. I was continuously giving him step by step instructions to clear every deliverable.

The funniest thing was ,I had to work 16 hours a day to cover up time difference between India and USA  during my annual vacation holidays!
                                                                                                                   Contd....
Key Aspects :-   Accountable, Attitude, Communicate, Planning, Recognition, Responsible, 

P 123 J3 Portable gas Detector system

P 123

J3 Portable gas detector system

As said, none had any clear picture of how to proceed forward! The crux of the issue was , that people could not distinguish the difference between sourcing only portables, what they used to do in original refineries  with that of having a  system where  regular bump test can be executed and data gathering for the last six months of each portable device  is feasible and one can ensure to transfer them to central server for data history and track. People concerned could not appreciate its value  but I alone had different ideas.

So, with a statistical data analysis of number of personnel associated with each PIB/Control room, we arrived at the requirement of 4X portables(Personnel protection) with quadgas  for each building.and with operation/s inputs, arrived at the requirement of all other multi gas detectors meant for area check and  work permit clearance etc.. When it came for 4X , with the vendor input data of 30-40 secs for each portable bump test time taken and no. of 4X bump modules, we  calculated the number of Galaxy module requirement, taking max. of 10 portables to be bump tested in each galaxy at every shift beginning. That means approx. 3 -4  min.time slot to take for 10 personnel to have their respective bump tested device in possession to move into field at their shift beginning. Once we could arrive at the Galaxy requirement and portables both personnel (4X) and other multi gas portables requirement  for each building , we could freeze the corresponding gas canister type(quadgas and other specific gas for respective building) requirement and portable  power chargers easily.

With that, the project could give the PR to procurement to commit the order. As usual, there was confusion for the codification of each item in SAP database. Added to the mess, since these were all new in nature and SAP codification responsibility was with COE-HSE group for these safety devices, we were forced to exert more efforts to sort out. But ultimately we could complete this task by mid-November 2015.

Thereafter the vendor indicated that the production will take place in first week of December and he would like to complete the order before that year X-Mas holidays (before 22nd Dec.2015) and clear for shipment. When the project and procurement lead took up the matter for factory inspection schedule and identify the team for deployment, two issues arose.

1. Somehow the local rep. of the vendor did not have any idea about the vendor data submission/approval process and he was furnishing only standard sales catalogue for review/approval.  It forced me to take up the matter directly with their Dubai office and HQ factory since the  person concerned was not technically qualified and could not understand the matter.

2. Sh.B Narayan  felt there was no necessity for any factory acceptance at all since we have placed the order on one of the world's reputed firm and their internal quality assurance must be excellent.
Over&above, considering  internal personality differences and potential capability issues, he concluded that nobody need to make the travel to USA.

So it became a No-GO situation! At that time only, RPMG management issued a circular that all employees have to necessarily take that year PL before 31st Dec. failing which they will forego their earned PL for that year. As I was also one in that listing, it forced me to avail my leave. As I did not have any plan at all, it was utter confusion then.  All of sudden I decided that I will go to USA alone and spend some time with my two sons at New Jersey; as my aged in-laws are permanently staying with us, my wife could not accompany me. As I could get very cheap to&fro ticket through my travel agent, I planned to leave immediately by Nov. end itself.
                                                                                                               Contd.....
Key Aspects :-  Incident analysis,  Lack of experience, Responsible, Technical issue

P 122 J3 Sourcing Gas Detector portables

P  122

J3 Sourcing Gas Detector Portables

After freezing the various combination of multi gas type and quadgas type, the issue cropped up that from which factory of M/S MSA they have to be sourced by Reliance. None in the entire set-up, be it MSA management, or Reliance end user or procurement group looked into the aspect of  Country of origin, not having the actual manufacturing facility for these devices at their German establishment, issue of multiple transfers for these sensitive equipment and corresponding gas canisters etc.
The vendor be it their India office or Dubai/Germany office could not even understand the implied
constraints and were going with Reliance's procurement dictates! Reliance procurement team had only the sole objective of European Credit facility  ignoring the country of Origin issue and multiple transits.  As usual I became a bad boy while putting my condition that these have to be sourced only from their original manufacturing establishment, here it is Pittsburgh,USA. Finally, on my sole insistence on technical grounds, they were forced to look into sourcing them directly from their factory at USA,their HQ. But on prestige, they retained to go with Euro order instead of US $.Since that did not affect the technical aspects, I allowed it to go.

How we arrived at the initial qty. requirement ?
After successfully scuttling all the controversies, I shifted the scene to Jamnagar to associate the field team- ultimate stake holder/s to identify and arrive at the quantity requirement of various types. As help I had the services of Ms Leena Thomas and Sandesh Tikhe. Though both of them did not have
any back ground knowledge on the specifics, they applied themselves to extract the input from respective plant/PIB in-charge  to identify the quantum requirement of quadgas personal safety device. When I created such an atmosphere of interest to participants, they did their homework as far as opertional team members and volunteered to present/justify their requirements. There were meaningful hot discussions where to keep the bump test modules  and how many such modules required etc. So with meaningful deliberations, we arrived at identifying locations not only in PIBs but also in control rooms and some common places. There the arugument arose, when a person report for duty from home, how safe he can be until he reach his point of reporting for duty to pick up his safety device. Discussions on those three days at Jamnagar made everyone aware and conscious about the impact by the treacherous toxic gases in the field.

During that stage, they came out with 850 numbers of quadgas detectors and about 250 numbers of all other combinations having 5 gases /2 gases sensor.  For gases like Cl2,Ammonia, we opted for 2 gas combination.

The funniest thing was , nobody could arrive at the final number of Galaxy bump modules and corresponding gas canister combination.to be placed in any of the PIBs or control rooms. Even the vendor reps. did not have an iota of the picture, since their company did not have any experience in
handling such a big project order. So, when I assumed that responsibility to work out the same with my team members, people in RCP felt that I am exceeding my limits of authority and helping the vendor out of the way. During that stage of my career, several camps got formed in RCP  to disgrace me. Without analyzing, some people raised the bogey  that I have gone ahead in accepting Zone'1' certified devices and it should have been only zone'0' approved! All of them were carried away by M/S Honeywell/s claim of Zone '0' certification requirement. It forced me to go deep in reviewing the requirements and also look at all Honeywell Test certificates for those family of detectors. Honeywell was claiming that they are the only party in India who has got Zone'0' approval from PESO department. Funnily I noticed then, that even they do not have Zone'0' ATEX certification for the detectors with IR sensor! and they have misrepresented the case to statutory authorities and got certification.. As I have to save my repute and being the person who was a party in drafting the Statutory Rules for the country, I took up the matter with that time CCE and got their certification reversed then. That made many people unhappy in the house.
Even at that stage, we could not freeze the order since galaxy bump modules and gas canister quantity were not frozen.  Then came the twist!
                                                                                                                               Contd......
KeyAspects :-  Accountable, Communicate, Conviction, Critical challenge, Human relations,
Incident analysis, Initiative, Leadership, Reputation, Technical issue, Team building

P 121 Gas Detector Portables

P 121

Gas Detector Portables

Post retirement from an active career life of 49 years in industry, this is the first time I am attempting
to continue my blog writing. Let me see how my fond experience memory sustain !

Coming to the quantity estimate of detector sourcing, though I was recommending to opt for 4000 nos. of Quadgas personnel safety portables, JMD Process and Safety  management had different view
to approach the issue. 1) They openly expressed that they have a budget issue ;2) They were fearing that if a safety portable is linked to an individual, the safety management cannot track whether that individual has carried out the bump check at regular intervals (similar to ensure our smart phone battery power check);3) whether that individual has kept it safely and carry everytime when he goes in the field etc. So they suggested , why not we go with the shift hirarchy and have one common device for each position in a shift + take inputs from maintenance for their estimate of manpower in field- both departmental and permanent contract employess + some common stock in pool for the commissioning state of expatriates, senior management at site, HO personnel coming to site + some vendors specialist coming to field services/inspection etc. As their logic was convincing, though I had different line of thinking (which I shall  cover later), I readily agreed with them.

On day 1 of the kick-off meeting with the identified vendor,I ensured that alomost all plant operational team members, Process system leads &maintenance leads of all disciplines and safety team personnel  along with my team from RCP to be present .

Before going into that aspect, let me bring out, why and what made me to choose that party MSA over their fiercest competitors M/S Honeywell and Dragor?
When it came to Honeywell, though they had some superlative devices in multi-gas category that too with Zone '0' approval, they did  not have uniformity of device models  and corresponding check/calibration  standards ! In the case of quad gas, they did not have the requisite combination of
%LEL with Methane as reference gas, CO in ppm,H2S in ppm and O2 % -in their portable combination as single device.
In case of Dragor, though they had this combination of portable,  they did not have any standard bump module rig and standardized calibration set-up!

Honeywell were convassing to opt for dual gas type portables instead of quadgas combination.
More than these, MSA scored over others in their special feature of silent no distarbance alarm factor.
As usual ,when I gave this TBE recommending to go for a single vendor selection to procurement for
commercial negotiation, there was hue and cry. But Jamnagar safety group and operations were very happy ,since I looked into their ultimate objective and safety conscience. Here I have to bring out one important aspect. At this time of issuing the TBE, none had any idea about the total requirement of multi-gas portable  and their corresponding bump test modules, gas cylinder/canister requirement and battery chargers etc. As the whole effort was evolving, one calling for some basic engineering with vendor participation to arrive at the combination by respective area operations team, corresponding bump test module- gas type and rechargeable qty. etc. we proposed to procurement to freeze the unit price at the time of issuing Letter of Intent  and keep the order development under HOLD until the completion of basic engineering.
As the subject is new and both Reliance and MSA India team did not have prior knowledge on these aspects, there was a big hue and cry! Procurement group was refusing to issue the LOI in the absence of PR (Purchase requisition )in SAP system. Typical of AR, I have to brief Sh B Narayan and seek his help. He being a chemical engineer and had functioned as project manager, could appreciate the facts immediately and ordered the concerned to go ahead committing the LOI on the identified party.
At that stage, came another hurdle!

Key Aspects :- Conviction, Critical challenge, Faith,  Incidence analysis, lack of experience,
Technical issue, Team building

P 120 J3 Gas Detectors-Portable

P  120


J3 Gas Detectors Portable

When we started looking for sourcing these portables in 2015, many of us were not conscious enough about the knocking effect of toxic gases.As most of the team members were from oil refinery back ground, they were giving importance  only for flammability of hydrocarbon release, be it in liquid state or gaseous vapor. So they were going with area classification criteria for device selection and qty. requirement depending on likely peak manpower present in a zone that too for % LEL consideration as basis.

Here I have played some important role in highlighting the nausea factors of toxic vapors of H2S and CO as well as carcigenic nature of Benzene and Toluene. Dr JV Kelkar, with his rich knowledge and experience in handling ethylene cracker and we both  having worked together in implementaing naphtha cracker at IPCL Baroda, brought out the importance of having multi point GC for Benzene in both ROGC and PX IV. Since that being afixed installation, we asked the Instrumentation group to carry out that. At that state, I took the call by summoning plant wise/ area wise Operation& Process system personnel and deliberated to understand the possibility/probability of presence of gas release in earmarked zones covered by respective PIB building.

Why PIB Wise?
As I was told that every field engineer in operations will report for duty only in their earmarked PIB & then only move into the field, we decided to opt for PIB wise type selection for  muliti gas type portable catering to that earmarked zone  and quantitiwise personal safety portable based on number of people estimated.
The multi gas portables are essential for specific pre-check in field for the absence of identified (listed) gas presence in that area before releasing a work permit to any maintenance team-both cold and hot works of all mainteance discipline, be it handled by company employess or contracting agency.
When it come to personal portables, we followed OSHA guideline of opting Quadgas detector - % LEL (Methane as basis), CO,H2S & %O2 for all areas .Since presence of hydrocarbon is there everywhere in JMD Complex, we chose % LEL sensor methane basis, even to take care of C2/C3 vapor presence in air. As we have introduced coke gasification in J3, the importance of monitoring CO and H2S  presence in any area ,that too in ppm increased. Syn.gas contain CO and H2  when it is purified , but in Gasifier area there are possibility of H2S presence also.

Additionally, there can be Ammonia, HCN, Cl2,SO2 etc. in gasification complex and all these were covered under multi gas detector portables.

How we arrived at the total quantity requirement for quadgas portable in each PIB area?

To start with I was planning to source 100% qty. based on estimated total manpower attached to respective PIB + some spare inventory. Based on that time estimate, it was coming to 4000 numbers exclusively for catering to manpower attached to all PIBs.  Over& above that, there are personnel attached to various control rooms, plant managers, top management in operation, maintenance personnel,  contract personnel presence on permanent basis, people regularly visiting from HO and visitors  etc.Had we struck with that , it would have come to 7000 or so.
My objective was  ,to start with, it would be a possession by each individual for his personal safety similar to his employment identity badge.

Key Aspects :-   Accountable. Attitude, Codes&standard,  Incident analysis, Lack of experience,
Leadership, Technical issue

P 119 Gas Detectors-Portable

P  119


Gas Detectors Portable Contd.

Let us analyze what is the fundamental difference between Zone'0' and Zone'1' conditions .
As per API/IEC/IS ,
Zone'0'-Hazardous Area   that part of the plant hazardous area in which a flammable atmosphere is present continuously  or for long period or frequently.
In refinery/ petrochemical complex, that sort of condition prevail only in underground open pits or inside atmospheric tanks or columns/vessels/drums. Yes, all electrical &instrumentation device fixed in those areas have to necessarily meet that zone classification strictly. But when it comes to portable devices to be possessed by each individual , does it call for Zone'0' rating? The answer is big NO for the following reasons:
1) No one is supposed to go to those areas when hydrocarbon inventory is present in that zone area.
2) Assuming somebody has tresspassed into that area without knowledge, the device will go into alarm mode  and he has to escape.
3) The fundamental issue of change of zone status will never be noticed and demarkation limit will not be known to anybody.

Zone'1'- Hazardous Area  that part of hazardous area in which a flammable atmosphere is likely to occur  in normal operation occassionally.
These condition can occur near any equipment/device having several flange joints or valves, where gasket failure or gland packing release develop . That time, it is essential for operations/ maintenance to visit that spot to undertake emergency actions to prevent any unsafe condition in operations/atmosphere. Here only there is an absolute need for a person to possess a bump tested gas detector portable for his/her personal safety. If he carries a zone'1' certified device, the moment he approaches that sensitive area, if there is any flammable gas or toxic gas release present beyond the set alarm limit, the device will go into alarm mode and caution that person. That means that he comes to be cautioned for the change of zone - from normal zone'2' to zone'1' and he can think of emergency steps of operation/escape/evacuation etc.

Under normal operations of a hydrocarbon processing operations only Zone'2' condition will be prevalent. Zone'2' Hazardous Area   that part of hazardous area in which a flammable atmosphere is not likely to occur in normal operations and if at all arise, it will persist for a short period only.
That is the condition that normally prevail in the complex where steady state operations take place with good house keeping and having high Reliability Assurance program.

But somehow the CHSEE group could not appreciate the importance of this zone transition indication requirement essentiality between Zone'1' to Zone'0'  and through S&OR management insisted to opt for Zone'0' approval only! All these happened since the interested vendors wanted to push their bid. and our team  could not understand the essential safety requirement. Because such a mandate has come from the top,  we had to abide that for the top-up requirement; but that has created  another dispute.

Before going into that aspect, let us look ,how we arrived at the various grouping in each plant area
and how we arrived at the quantity requirement  for each plant area and where the bump module for each group have to be located with what gas canister and how many?
For that , one should understand the function of bump module, its configuration  and how it functions
& its essentiality for signalling the device status and data gathering etc.
                                                                                                                     Contd......

Key Aspects :- Incident analysis, Technical issue

P 118 Gas Detectors- portable

P 118

Gas Detector Portables

In J3, as  Reliance has gone in implementing mega petrochemicals  producing C2/C3 basic production from the refineries' off-gas  and their corresponding down stream products of MEG, LDPE, LLDPE and IIR/HIIR in petrochemical group and Coke gasification to generate Syn. gas for usage in power plants and heater burners as fuel, we identified the possibility of several gases- hazardous in terms of flammability or toxic in nature  release in the plant atmosphere.
With the services of core process team we drew the complete listing of them.  When it came to fixed
metering arrangement concerned , the core instrumentation team took care with the services of rspective DEC but the responsibility to identify and source the requirement for portables fell on RPMG LP team.

I took the call and gathered the total type listing from the core process team  that too plantwise/area wise. The various gases/vapors are :

Ammonia
Benzene
Butadiene
Butane
Mercapton
CO2
Cl2
HCN
CO
SO2
Cycloxexane
Toluene
EO
Ethane
Ethanol
Ethylene
Propylene
Ethylene Glycol
Gasolene
Glycol
Heptane
Xexene
Hydrogen
H2S
Peroxide
Isobutane
Jet fuel
Diesel
Kerosene
 Naphta
Methane
Methanol
Pentane
Octane
Hcl
LPG family
Xylenes
Phenol
Nitrogen......

It took considerable time for me to group them for area specific requirement  and arrive at the type of device to be chosen for area monitoring as well as to be issued to each individual for his/ her personal safety. While carrying out this exercise, I became knowledgeable that each competing vendor has got different special features to offer. It became a challenge to me  to select which of the special features to be given special merit while freezing the specification and develop the TBE to be issued to procurement.  I did not want to go with multi vendor selection option for the specific reason of accumulating the data in single server for plant performance analysis  during steady state operating conditions. As an experienced petrochemical instrumentation engineer with 47 years project exposure in refinery projects, I decided that we can go with Zone '1' approved devices , though a particular vendor claimed that he has got zone'0' approval for some of their devices but not all. Even for that vendor, when I went deep in analyzing his claim  by reviewing their ATEX certificates, I noticed the folly and warned that vendor for their  false statement and forced to withdarw the claim then.
There came a controversy! The core CHSEE  did not believe my contention and raised technical objection of opting Zone'1' instead of zone'0'. Fortunately BNarayan and DDutta being chemical engineers by qualification, understood the situation and cleared my stand  and backed me.
                                                                                                              Contd....
Key Aspects :- Accountable, Critical challenge, Incident analysis, Responsible, Technical issue

P 117 BA Stn .Implementation

P  117

BA Stn. Implementation

Having conceived the breathing air requirement and number required  & location identified in gazification complex/s, a fresh point arose! Somebody in the group questioned, what will you do
if the utility air compressor  supply air quality deteriorate and toxic rich  supply air is present in the distribution header?  That too somebody is utilizing the BA take off provision in field at that time  for his operation/maintenance task in the field. That was a valid question  and a practical one. So the team  carried out a logistic movement study calculation.  As it is we have planned to make provisions of emergency situation air bottles  with harness assembly  placed at strategic points at ground elevation. When we did a calculation on the basis of normal human being air consumption, a 2 kgs filled air bottle can help a person for 14.5 minutes time breathing  to escape from that unsafe area.
Taking that as back up, we decided to put 2 kgs air bottle as emergency back up in all BA take-off points which are at elevation more than 15 M from ground level.

Having decided that way, we went in to analyse the changeover switch provision in the harness assembly.The two vendors who competed technically had that issue addressed already and they were the people who insisted that the supply air pressure should be at least 6 kg/cm2 g pressure. So that solved our worry.

With all these home work , my team could arrive at the total MTO for the components that form the BA station assembly. Through system they could raise the MR, to enable the procurement to commit the supply order on the recommended bidder. The recommendation was on M/S MSA and the party wanted to take the order to be executed from their Germany office, who source the  air filter assembly &regulator package from M/S Parkar, world famous reputed source. But in the process there was a catch! Until that moment, all concerned were focused  on component selection only but not as Breathing Air Assembly!

For procurement sake, the engineering team was forced to look into component wise and generate their SAP code but nobody have looked the requirement of finished/tested assembly package ! Unfortunately even the two bidders who were technically acceptable, did not think of the task of design/fabrication of container indigenously  and assembling the sourced components and test. In Reliance, people concerned could not distinguish the scope and responsibility difference between component supply and field assembly / testing!

Added to misery, MSA was banking upon their local distributor only to undertake that task as they do not have their own resources to undertake that assignment in India. But RPMG management was hell bent to give the order only direct to MSA. Here I was forced to play the balancing game in handling the situation  and made sure that the MSA Indian distributor carry out the design from fundamentals
and I personally reviewed the assembly drawing features , especially with respect to interface issue with the main header piping , relative location of hose drum assembly with filter/regulator etc. That party got the containers fabricated at a shop in Ankleshwar , got them inspected by TPI and carried out the field assembly and testing at JMD. In the bargain I became a bad boy  in the eyes of RPMG management! Moreover, when it came to ordering, procurement made the blunder of including field erection  of assembled containers in various positions even at high elevations under the scope of MSA. Strictly speaking, it should have gone under the scope of pipe erection contractor in respective area. So I have to interfere on that account; but the construction management group have understood rightly and included that in piping contractor scope and got executed.
                                                                                                                              Contd.....
Key Aspects :- Incident analysis, Leadership, Proactive approach, Responsible, Technical issue

P 116 J3 PPE Implementation

P  116


J3 PPE Implementation

That Hazop point issue has got nothing to do with implementation of PPE-Breathing Air but became a fundamental process issue! That was a vent stack of 110 M tall which may emit vapors containing 600 ppm of CO, 2000 ppm of CO2 when there is process upset in Methanation in AGR.  To start with, the operations team got frightened with, that this much CO2 content in air which will form ice in cold box and ASU operations cannot sustain at all.When Reliance took up the matter with M/S Linde questioning why they have not tabled this point  during plot plan review of AGR and ASU, both being executed from the same office at Munich, that party coolly responded that these are two independent contract from Reliance and they are not responsible for this mess. When Reliance carried out consequential analysis post noting this, it showed that CO of 600ppm may be prevalent up to 500 M radii from that stack whereas the gap between AGR and ASU is only 81M in field.

Immediately EJames  deployed one of his able process analyst to study how to get over this challenging situation. After carrying out CFD, she came out with decreasing temperature profile with raise in elevation and ensure to eliminate the impact of CO2 in atmosphere. This output was reviewed by M/S Linde and they concurred in principle. Then the plant process team and projects took up with Linde Baroda and incorporated  steam ring arrangement at the bottom of that stack.

There were many bottlenecks in arriving at the source point for pure air, where&how to make provisions for  air quality analysis during BA distribution, how any field personnel will access this provision during field operations/ maintenance&wear the harness assembly, emergency switch over
provision to a bottled pure air when air quality deteriorate etc.

When it came to utility compressor air quality, one group of operations and safety queried, whether we are right in opting to utilize process air which may contain some moisture even after trap, instead to look for dry instrument air having Du Point of -40 Deg. That led us to take up with the world best refinery building agency M/S Bechtel as well carry out study of basic stoichiometry for air. We got convinced that we are in order  with respect to selection  &continued to choose plant air only for this service.

Having got over the breathing  air source in principle, from the respective refinery utility air compressor system for respective refineries and their corresponding gasification complex, we decided to utilize C2 area utility compressor for that complex exclusively.  To assure the continuous monitoring of breathing air feed from utility air compressor system in respective area, we introduced
a three element(sensors) in-line analyzer module  with a cut-off valve for monitoring CO/H2S/%O2 in the air distribution header. This was supplied by M/S MSA under brand name ULTIMA.
But unfortunately I came to understand now that the concerned OSBL DEC has not completed its engineering yet , but respective user plants are up&running for the last one year or so!

For arriving at the quantity of BA take-offs, in 2015 I conducted field meetings  with respective end stake holder in operations of each plant  and went through their layout and plant 3D model. In the initial exercise it came out to +410 in DTA and +450 in SEZ . Here I have to highlight one specific issue ! When I completed this task, Mr Pandian of AGR was still not happy and looked for more.
When I discussed with him one to one, he brought out one major technical deviation taken by equipment and column supplier while sizing the man hole cover ! It seems they have opted for 18" hole size when international approved standard call for 24" hole size; With 18" hole, a human being cannot enter any column  with SCABA set with cylinder at his back &harness assembly ! So he was looking for relief through these BA Stn take-off points. We shall come to know of its effective use only after full commissioning of gasification complex/s.
                                                                                                      Contd.......
Key Aspects:-  Incident analysis, Technical issue,Attitude

P 115 J3 PPE Sourcing

P  115

J3 PPE Sourcing

Having seen the basic engineering of requirement identification, let us see how we went through the exercise of each area specific requirement, common inter-changeable devices across the JMD complex, procurement strategy coordination etc.

Let us see , how and why  each item of that much quantity became essential  and how we went about sourcing them. For that it is better that we analyse item wise.

SCABA set with accessories: As this item fall under fire emergency requirement, JMD fire department took the lead in arriving at the quantity requirement based on strategic deployment factors. As their home work was perfect, we did not face any trouble. The only point where we had discussions was about choice selection of newly introduced Data pad vs conventional modem operated laptop. We opted for latest technology and Mr Aravind Induchoodan of JMD Fire department managed then on. There were some minor coordination issue between the German based OEM who supplied the valve assembly with that of indigenous air cylinder supplier and pure air filling agency at Ghaziabad. JMD fire department took the lead in resolving the issue with all concerned agencies including the statutory authorities at Nagpur.

Next comes Breathing Air! This is a story by itself.  We had issues about the absolute necessity of BA take-off points in PX IV,C2 Complex as well as old refineries + where all and how many to be provided in gasification reactors and AGR in both DTA and SEZ gasification complex.
Both RTG and JMD CTS members questioned the need for provision  of Breathing Air take-off points in conventional hydrocarbon processing plants and petrochemicals. AR as fundamental infrastructural Project manager and control system engineer with safety as specialization, could explain and convince them about probable presence of H2S, Benzene, Toluene,Ammonia + CO due to the latest addition of Syn.gas distribution to all power plants and burners in furnaces in conventional refinery/s and petrochemicals. Once they got convinced they fully cooperated in identification exercise in their respective area.

But when it came to Gasification complex, we had different surprise. Firstly, before we came in picture- gasification operations and project team decided to take  breathing air tapping from mid stage of ASU air compressors at 4.5kg/cm2g pressure  but did not proceed with developing P&ID and further detailed engineering. During vendor technical discussions on BA system, the two leading vendors were threatening to walk out stating that their internal safety protocol and EGA codes do not permit them to accept this feed quality of air and its available pressure for BA objective. That was a revelation for me! They were suggesting to go for exclusive high pressure air compressor that too located in far off place from the gasification complex and pipe out the air @6kg/cm2g minimum.
The problem became acute for me since we did not have any free land space with absolutely clean air
anywhere in that area.

A flash came to my mind. As we are using the existing refinery fire water system extended for the respective gasification complex, why not we suggest taking air for this BA objective from respective refinery utility air compressors ? There we also have air pressure @ >7kg/cm2g. which meets the EGA code directive.  During this source identification exercise we also stumbled on another unsafe condition in respective gasification complex!  It seems that factor was noticed during Hazop study of AGR but missed out during overall coordination by principle DEC for gasification complex. I posed that to COE -HSE and  JMD Gasification operations team.
                                                                                                                                    Contd....
Key Aspects:-  Accountable,  Incident analysis, Lack of experience, Leadership, Multi discipline exposure, Recognition, Reputation, Technical issue,Codes&standard

P 114 J3 PPE requirement

P  114

J3  PPE Requirement

As JMD has grown into the world's largest Refinery/s and Petrochemical complex  that too with introduction of  Syn.gas generation in Gazification Complex/s, the sensitivity of flammable media and probability of presence of Toxic gas in atmosphere has enhanced considerably.

During implementation of these PPEs only, we came to know that the JMD is the most complicated
combination of process plants  in the world where we have both the C2/C3  production units and Coke gasification producing Syn. gas  co-exist in the same complex.  I shall touch that point when addressing the CO intrusion issue in electro-chemical sensor type.

Moreover, at the start of J3 project conceptualization stage, people concerned have not envisaged the treacherous toxic characteristic of CO & H2S. As most of them come from conventional hydrocarbon processing industry back ground, they could not appreciate these  and poo-pooed when I highlighted the issue. Since I have bitter knowledge of CO killing a person when exposed in coke oven plant- my first cousin was a fatal casualty in 1970 s while working at Bhilai steel plant, I could sense the seriousness and project to the team.  Mr.VVSR being one of the safety leaders in the company, he could catch the point immediately and ensured the safety message spread across the site. From JMD side I got full freedom to identify all the PPE requirements  and organize sourcing them.

 As these PPEs are mostly portables, a question arose who will identify the requirements, which DEC will generate the MTO & raise corresponding MR., who will carry out the vendor evaluation and issue TBE to procurement etc. arose. Sh.BNarayan, after studying the involved work  and assessing the commonality of requirements across all plant sites, asked me to take the lead , with back-up services of COE-HSE to go ahead. Since I was already carrying out an equivalent task for the JMD Fire fighting requirements, I was psychologically ready to take up the challenging task.

Then started the basic identification exercise of requirements suiting to each plant/complex sensitivity. One can call it as basic engineering to identify the type of portables requirement for each area based upon the area sensitivity, type of probable emergency and how to face/salvage the situation, emergency escape accessories etc.  We had several internal discussions with RTG/COE HSE and JMD  Safety,Operations/CTS teams. As the heat picked up, everyone concerned came out with their requirements based upon  their area sensitivity.

This team work resulted in identifying the various PPE requirement type for JMD but not the actual quantity! Typical of AR style, I convened the meetings of various probable international vendors and asked them to present their products in presence of our team both at RCP and Jamnagar. Four parties
came forward-viz:  Honeywell, MSA, Dragor and TYCO.

The identified PPE requirements were:-  SCABA eqpt. with mask, Breathing Air outlets with harness assembly, Inlet air quality monitors, Various Gas type Detector portables with different combination for area monitoring as well as for individuals & their corresponding bump test modules, various OSHA  certified gas canisters,Emergency Escape Hoods etc. When we started the task we did not realize that this exercise itself will be a full fledged project activity. Each bidder was good in their own way for certain items but most of them did not have an item suitable for commonality and inter-change between plants! One particular vendor was caught for misrepresenting his claim for Zone 0 approval  at that time. A few vendors had certain unique safety feature in their product range.
So developing a TBE for all items combined became a challenge! Fortunately, me being a control system engineer by qualification and back ground project experience I could take the call effectively.
                                                                                                                                  contd....
Key Aspects:- Accountable, Attitude, Critical challenge, Initiative, Lack of experience, Leadership,
Planning, Proactive approach,  Responsible, Surprise&shock, Technical issue, Team building

P 113 J3 Deluge arrangement-RO introduction

P  113

J3 Deluge Arrangement RO introduction

The necessity and introduction of restriction orifice in deluge discharge arrangement is chicken-egg story! I was surprised to understand that most of the DEC engineers- be it piping design specialist or process system engineers  are not able to distinguish the difference between a flow orifice with that of RO! Over&above, they were not able to comprehensively understand what is the difference between MVWS &  HVWS and which one to be utilized where and why. So it came as my responsibility to take classes to each of the consultants in their engineering office.

As the NFPA code recommend that the MVWS nozzle tip to be at a distance   of 600 mm from the target body surface of the equipment to be protected   and in throw pattern of water, there should be overlap of throw so that there is no intermediate dry spot, NFPA have come out with parallel rings to
cater to tall column spray protection.

Why 600 mm and a circular ring ?

When a hydrocarbon containing equipment catches fire, it is expected to release 3.4KW-Hr/M2 of heat and it has to be cooled by MVWS spray@10.2lpm/M2 of water spray to control the fire intensity. Through research and practical experience , the code have come out with the gap of the nozzle tip to be 600mm with a maximum of discharge pressure of 2.5Kg/Cm2g  as recommendation.
Now the question arise :- how to ensure the uniform gap of 600mm as well as limiting the discharge pressure within 2.5 kg/cm2g, when a deluge valve has inlet pressure of about 8 kg/cm2g? (its maximum can be as high as 10.5kg/cm2g being the fire water pump setting).

Here only, the circular ring importance arise; with that configuration only, one can ensure to have the uniform gap between the nozzle tip in a ring to that of vessel body. But invariably the piping engineer move for octogen/hexagon/pentagon shape ring arrangement  because of AutuCad software limitation. I as customer has to impose my authority and take the deviation to come out of AutoCad and ensure perfect ring arrangement. For this I took  hell of time convincing the DEC engineers but finally ensured that all of them fall in line.

Coming to limiting the discharge pressure to 2.5 kg/Cm2g at each of the ring at different elevations in a process column , only the restriction orifice introduction in that circular ring can serve our end objective. In some cases, that ring  piping diameter can be as low as 1" !
In general,for standardization of design , we state d/D to be equal to /more than 0.5. d being the bore diameter of restriction orifice. Here comes the catch ! The design engineers do not look into the aspect of foreign debris in fire water choking the RO boreholes and restricting the water throw during fire emergency. They argue that the strainers and Y caps are supposed to take care of the issue and there is no possibility of external debris choking the RO and the MVWS nozzles.
They overlook the special aspect that this deluge protection is life line saving grace in hydrocarbon industry.

Even within Reliance, the discipline engineers in design are not able to visualize its importance and they criticize me as if I am over-stretching its importance.

There is another issue: Choosing area protection with combination  of MVWS/HVWS @10.2lpm/M2 in compressor shelter as an alternative to   using only 20.4lpm/M2 MVWS strapped arrangement on compressor body. Considering operation & maintenance access provision,I have opted for the former in each of J3 compressor shelter.  Some people are not agreeing with me and still there are discussions going on.

Key Aspects :- Conviction, Critical challenge,Initiative,  Proactive approach, Responsible, Technical issue, Training

P 112 Deluge optimization in J3

P  112

Deluge Optimization in J3

When we initiated J3 project Loss Prevention engineering in 2011/12, nobody had an iota of the job quantum for the loss prevention piping , but had only the lesson learnt during the execution of J1&J2. Added to injury, the Chief Electricity Authority of India have introduced the mandatory requirement of spray water fire protection  for all transformers having rating of >10 MVA and 2000 lts. of oil tank in a transformer. This addition came in picture with the Act Amendment in Oct.2010.
But every DEC went ahead with engineering based on original Design basis what we developed in-house, based on NFPA and our back ground experience in the existing refineries.

When we took stock of total involved quantity of piping both above ground and under ground in C2 complex, it was coming to more than 400 Kms Run ! This does not include the requirement of transformer spray piping. When we took the account for transformers in 2014, the requirement was for 165 transformers coming in C2 complex,PX IV, DTA Refinery-new upcoming plants, DTA/SEZ Gasification complex.   At that moment,  the construction management started crying  looking at  the total quantum of fire water piping and reported to Apex management to explore the possibility of optimizing and reduce the quantum of scope as much as possible. Moreover, with the bitter experience of deluge valve downstream piping  corrosion (due to normally empty line with wet surface), we changed the piping specification to hot dip galvanization . All these things stirred the situation and there was utter chaos.

Moreover, none of the DEC engineering personnel could visualize and appreciate the necessity of splitting the Isometric drawings into workable spools with break flanges for undertaking the galvanization in outside shop at Rajkot /Ahmedabad. That time Sh.HRM called me and asked to have a re-look at all  the DEC  IFC deliverable and optimize as much as possible in all the project areas.
But the issue was, we have already sourced all the deluge valve requirement ( imported )and available in stores. Also at that stage,we did not realize the absolute requirement of deluge arrangement for electrical transformers across all  project areas. So this surprise assignment has even shaken me in the start.  I formed a working level task force drawn from RPMG/TechnoFire and JMD Fire team.
Fortunately,I had the services of M/S Dilip Koimattur,Aravind Induchoodan, Chattopadhyay & Ms Leena Thomas of my team.
Dilip &Leena being chemical engineers by qualification, they could discuss and analyze where they could cut down or where high sensitivity can cause trouble etc. Firstly, the task force deliberated and took the decision  to avoid the spray water pipe routing on cold insulated vessels , where ground level monitor/hydrant can be utilized to fight the fire emergency. Since we had the deluge valve supply executed already , the team went to each and every DEC office  to review the layout and 3D model to explore the possibility of combining the deluge supply for several equipment in one area retaining  the deluge valve of largest size in that area and eliminating other valves and make them as spare. Aravind,having the field experience in handling fire emergency situations, did the task of identifying the use of already engineered hydrant and ground monitor in that domain area. Wherever, they found gap, they introduced new hydrant or monitor as essential. In these ,I played more the role of project manager than Loss Prevention manager.
By carrying out this exercise, they have reduced the scope of field piping from 400 Kms to 280Kms
in whole C2 complex itself and got about 65 deluge valves 3"/4"as spare from  original  650 valves sourced from M/S Inbal,Israel. That I utilized for all the transformers in C2 complex and required to top-up the transformer requirement only in DTA/SEZ gasification complex, which was about 65 in number.  At that stage, since the Israel party wanted price escalation, I thought it fit to go with indigenous  sourcing from M/S HD Fire that too hydraulically balanced instead of pneumatic type.
As HD Fire MD himself is a technical expert in designing the system, he endorsed my decision and supplied the top-up requirement for transformers in Gasification complex.
Yes, there was problem in field execution since the concerned DEC engineer could not differentiate the piping arrangement between pneumatic type to hydraulically balanced type. With field engineering the situation was overcome.
Also by re-engineering all the isometrics with break flanges, we have eliminated the requirement of hot dip galvanizing in external shops.
Happy to note,all these fire water systems are completed and plants are commissioned without any hitch.

Key Aspects:- Communication, Critical challenge, Delegate, Incident analysis, Leadership,  Proactive approach, Responsible, Technical issue, Team building