HAZOP study for risk assessment and safety improvement strategies of CO2 separation process

Various technologies to cope with the energy and environmental issues related to the chemical and electric power industry are in development and demonstration stage. Especially, the absorption process of carbon dioxide (CO₂) using amine solution is a key technology of the CO₂ capture and storage (CCS). In this study, we identify the major risk factors and suggest strategies for safety improvement by analyzing and assessing commercial the amine-based CO₂ separation process. HAZOP method was used to assess the risk for the process. We provide facilities and operational strategies to mitigate or eliminate major risk factors by assessing the relative ranks of identified risk factors using a risk matrix.