CODE 117873 ACADEMIC YEAR 2026/2027 CREDITS 5 cfu anno 2 INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DI PROCESSO 11919 (LM-22 R) - GENOVA SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR ING-IND/25 TEACHING LOCATION GENOVA SEMESTER 2° Semester AIMS AND CONTENT LEARNING OUTCOMES The course provides comprehensive training on theoretical foundation and technical skills for the assessment, analysis, and control of risk associated with industrial process plants and systems. To develop the student's theoretical and modeling abilities for modern and correct plant design, emphasis is placed on both conceptual and numerical approaches for hazard identification related to materials, new energy carriers, and processes. It covers critical issues in the operation of process equipment, as well as modeling tools to identify, quantify, and mitigate risk scenarios, aiming to develop and manage sustainable, safe and resilient industrial processes. Additionally, the course provides the practical basis for advanced approaches such as digitalization, machine learning techniques, and AI for 'Safety 5.0' and for the dynamic analysis of safety and resilience. AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES The course provides comprehensive training on theoretical foundation and technical skills for the assessment, analysis, and control of risk associated with industrial process plants and systems. The goal is to provide the students with the adequate competences on methods and computational tools for the evaluation, the analysis and the control of the risk associated to equipment and systems for mobility, and the enforcement of process resilience. These competences, typical of safety and reliability analysts and managers, are necessary in modern engineering for the design and operation of safe and reliable systems PREREQUISITES To fruitfully attend the classes and to fully understand the course contents, it's necessary to have a robust knowledge of the fundamentals of analysis, thermodynamics (specifically of the mass and energy balances - even in presence of phase transitions and chemical reactions - and of the vapor-liquid equilibria), of the transport phenomena (specifically of the local balances of mass, energy, momentum), of Boolean algebra and of calculus of probabilities. A prerequisite is the successful completion of the exam "Affidabilità, economia e sicurezza" (LM1). TEACHING METHODS In-class lessons. Tutorials and numerical case-studies solved and critically discussed during the lessons. Self-directed teamwork focused on acquiring transversal knowledge, to be assessed at the examination. The teacher will NOT make available the video recordings of the lessons. Students are warmly recommended to directly follow all the lessons at the best in person. Lessons are delivered in Italian: to fruitfully attend classes, a good comprehension of Italian language is necessary (B2 level). DSA students Students who already have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Professor Federico Scarpa (federico.scarpa@unige.it ), the Polytechnic School's disability liaison. SYLLABUS/CONTENT 1. Introduction Technological risk and Major Accident Hazard (MAH) establishments. Evolution of EU regulations in the process safety sector through the Seveso Directives. Transposition of Seveso Directives into Italian legislation. Risk acceptability criteria and land-use compatibility. 2. Hazards and Reference Scenarios Material hazards regarding gases, vapors, and dusts. Evolutionary scenarios of hazardous events. Identification and characterization of fire risks. Fundamentals of combustion theory. Characterization of explosion risks. Identification and assessment of instability and reactivity risks. Reacting systems and runaway reactions in chemical reactors. Identification and quantification of accident sequences. Detailed analysis of major chemical industry accidents as reference case studies. Voluntary assignment of a case study to be completed by the end of the course. 3. Magnitude Assessment Criteria and mathematical models for estimating physical consequences. Source models for hazardous releases. Fundamentals of meteorology applied to safety. Atmospheric dispersion of neutral and dense gases and vapors. Cold jets evolution. Types of fires (flash fire, pool fire, jet fire, fireball, ventilation-controlled fire). Explosion scenarios (VCE - Vapor Cloud Explosion, physical explosion, runaway, cold and hot BLEVE). 4. Vulnerability Fundamentals of vulnerability analysis for process accidents.Assessment approaches using threshold levels and probit models. Active and passive protection systems.Principles of inherent safety. Resilience approaches in processes and plants. 5. Energy Transition and Climate Change. Emerging risks: definitions and examples. Risks associated with NaTech (Natural Hazards Triggering Technological Accidents) events in process plants. Safety issues related to new energy carriers (hydrogen, ammonia, etc.). Electrification in the process industry. The case of LNG regasification terminals. 6. Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) Risk assessment in multimodal transport of dangerous goods. Assessment criteria and methodologies. 7. Safety 5.0 and digitalization. Big data and the application of machine learning techniques. Uncertainty management in risk assessment. Resilience assessment approaches and tools for dynamic risk analysis. RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY The reference teaching textsbooks are: D.A.Crowl, J.F.Louvar, Chemical process safety: fundamentals with applications, III ed., Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA, 2011. G. Nota. “Advances in Risk Management” Sciyo ed.(only Chapter 4 : “Trends, problems and outlook in process industry risk assessment and aspects of personal and process safety" by B. Fabiano and H. J. Pasman. Free download: http://www.intechopen.com/books/advances-in-risk-management. Lecture slides and reference scientific papers are promptly delivered in electronic format online. Supporting material for tutorials is provided during the lessons and together with lesson and tutorial attendance is adequate for passing the final examination Additional reference text available for consultation at the university library, or on the web: G.G. Brown. “Unit Operations” Hoepli ed., Milano. TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD BRUNO FABIANO Ricevimento: Upon appointment to be fixed in advance by e-mail, at the teacher office: DICCA - Chemical Engineering Section, Polytechnic School, first floor via Opera Pia 15 - Genoa. LESSONS LESSONS START According to the official calendar of lessons of Genoa University, available at the following link: https://corsi.unige.it/corsi/11919/studenti-orario Class schedule The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy EXAMS EXAM DESCRIPTION The oral final exam is set to evaluate student’s knowledge level, design and application abilities, as well as effective technical communication skills. It includes as first question a critical discussion on the optional team case-study performed and completed during the lesson period (for students performing the case-study). During the exam it is requested to discuss topics and to numerically solve a practical design problem, e.g. inherent safer process design, scenario evolution assessment and effect evaluation. The exam consists in an oral proof, generally of nearly 45 – 60 minutes, where the student can be required to sketch out numerical exercises related to the course contents, requiring neither the use of a PC, nor to retrieve data about the chemical, physical and hazardous properties of the substances. Students should refer, as an example, to the exercises explained by the teacher during the lessons. During the "Winter session" 3 examination dates are fixed (January, February and lessons break), 2 examination dates are fixed during the "Summer session" (June and July) and 2 in the "Autumn session" (September and lessons break). All exam dates are fixed strictly following the official scheduling of the Polytechnic School. DSA students Students with a certified learning disability (DSA), a disability, or other special educational needs are invited to contact the instructor at the beginning of the lessons to discuss teaching and examination arrangements that, while respecting the learning objectives of the course, take individual learning needs into account and provide appropriate accommodations. Please also note that requests for exam accommodations or exemptions must be submitted using the form available at this link https://modulionline.unige.it/richiesta-adattamenti#no-back , to the teaching professor, the SCUOLA contact person (federico.scarpa@unige.it), and the relevant office (inclusione.studenti@info.unige.it) at least seven working days before the examination, in accordance with the guidelines available at this link https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa/richiesta-servizi ASSESSMENT METHODS The aim is to provide knowledge and solving capabilities on safety and loss prevention issues in the process industry, with emphasis on reliability, environmental and personnel/process risk and including economic implications. The effectiveness assessment during the course development is performed by monitoring capabilities in numerical applications, lessons learned from incidents and optional team case-studies. Higher grades at the final exam will be awarded to students who demonstrate an organic understanding of the subject coupled with a clear presentation of all the course contents, as well as a high ability for critical application and the ability to face more complex problems related to safety aspects and economic evaluation thanks to the expertise acquired during the whole duration of the studies.
