Process safety assists in improving the operational, economic, and environmental performance of processing facilities. This study addresses the critical process safety challenges at the process design and operation stage through an effective risk minimization strategy. The process risk index (PRI), a heuristic-based approach, is used to map risk and explore the effect of process deviations on process safety. The PRI method is explained using the blue hydrogen process - steam methane reforming (SMR) process. A risk map of the entire facility uses traffic-light colors as risk indicators is developed. The synergistic effects and parameters are analyzed using process simulation tools and converted into risk values. The risk map identifies the reforming, the water-gas shift, and the separator units as the highest risk units for given deviations in the operational parameters. We have benchmarked the PRI with the fire and explosion damage index (FEDI) and observed that the PRI is more sensitive to finding process deviations and hazards. This method can detect root causes of process safety issues at a unit-specific level better than the FEDI. Additionally, the PRI provides updated risk maps once risk minimization strategies are implemented. The PRI serves as a tool for process safety analysis of hazardous operations such as hydrogen production processes with better sensitivity and flexibility in scaling.

过程安全有助于提高加工设施的运营、经济和环境绩效。本研究通过有效的风险最小化策略解决了工艺设计和操作阶段的关键工艺安全挑战。过程风险指数 (PRI) 是一种基于启发式的方法，用于绘制风险图并探索过程偏差对过程安全的影响。PRI 方法使用蓝色氢气工艺 - 蒸汽甲烷重整 (SMR) 工艺进行解释。整个设施的风险地图使用交通灯颜色作为风险指标。这使用过程模拟工具分析协同效应和参数并将其转换为风险值。对于给定的操作参数偏差，风险图将重整、水煤气变换和分离器单元识别为风险最高的单元。我们用火灾和爆炸损坏指数 (FEDI) 对 PRI 进行了基准测试，并观察到 ​​PRI 对发现过程偏差和危险更加敏感。这种方法可以比 FEDI 更好地检测特定单元级别的过程安全问题的根本原因。此外，一旦实施风险最小化策略，PRI 会提供更新的风险图。PRI 可作为危险操作过程安全分析的工具，例如氢气生产过程，具有更好的灵敏度和缩放灵活性。