#

Axiom, the multi-award-winning asset integrity solution provider, is delighted to announce the appointment of Lyeanda Robinson as Principal Process Safety Consultant, based at the Axiom Saltend office.

Lyeanda, a chartered chemical engineer and TUV functional safety engineer, brings an extensive skill-set to the Axiom Process Safety Engineering and Consultancy Team.  Having working previously as Process Safety Manager at Mitsubishi Chemical in Hull, Technical Manager at Nippon Gohsei and Senior Process Engineer at Croda.  Lyeanda’s skills include COMAH safety report development including establishing process safety and functional safety management systems, management and leadership of process hazard assessment and risk analysis, including HAZID, HAZOP and LOPA.

Axiom’s Process Safety Team continues to expand with the capability to deliver a complete suite of services, including support with license to operate, hazard analysis and risk assessment, providing solutions across the full asset life cycle.  Lyeanda will work as part of the Axiom Process Safety Engineering and Consultancy Team, which is seamlessly integrated with Axiom’s in-house inspection & NDT, materials and mechanical specialists to deliver support across a diverse range of industrial and energy sectors.

Lyeanda said, “I am excited to be joining the Axiom team as Principal Process Safety Consultant at this exciting time for the business. The addition of Process Safety Engineering and Consultancy, to reinforce Axiom’s existing asset integrity and mechanical engineering offerings, is a fantastic opportunity for me to share my experience and work with the wider industry to improve process safety. Process safety is essential to all high hazard businesses to ensure everyone returns safely to their loved ones at the end of a working day.  I am passionate about delivering process safety in a pragmatic and efficient way to ensure business success.”

Amanda Garvey Kovac, Process Safety Group Manager, added, “This appointment is another significant step forward in Axiom’s portfolio of capabilities to achieve asset integrity excellence. Lyeanda brings additional skills to the team that will complement the current capabilities and strengthen the support delivered to our clients particularly in the areas of process hazard analysis and risk analysis, functional safety and COMAH safety report development.

Expansion of the Process Safety team is a clear demonstration of Axiom’s commitment to long-term business growth strategy to act as trusted partners providing technically excellent asset integrity consultancy services throughout their clients’ entire asset life cycle.

The UK Government have set an ambitious target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Several financial packages have been announced including the £240 million to support the production of “clean” hydrogen.

The North West region of England is at the forefront of the drive towards net zero and decarbonisation due to the presence of several petrochemical clusters. Several projects are ongoing in the region as part of this development including the HyNet North West project to produce hydrogen from methane with Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) in the depleted gas reservoir rocks beneath Liverpool Bay. This scheme is intended to supply hydrogen fuel for industrial use, domestic heating, flexible power generation and transportation.

“Clean” hydrogen cannot be achieved overnight due to the lack of infrastructure and the technology needed for large scale electrolysis of water. The UK does not currently have the capacity to generate the electricity required for large-scale hydrogen production by electrolysis.

A staged approach is therefore required to phase-out the use of fossil fuel while allowing the advancement in technology for large scale production of hydrogen by electrolysis. Blue hydrogen is the bridge between the current status quo and the “clean” hydrogen future.

Hydrogen production

Large scale hydrogen production requires the development of the facilities for its manufacture, safe handling, storage, and distribution. Before hydrogen can become the fuel choice for domestic and industrial use, several factors require consideration including the human factor design associated with the use of hydrogen.

Hydrogen is a highly flammable and explosive gas with several hazardous properties associated with its use that require critical scrutiny. These include its wide flammability range, tendency to leakage and low ignition energy. The properties of hydrogen should be considered in the re-purposing and modification of existing equipment (e.g., burners, and combustion chambers) and pipeline in the chemical industry for hydrogen fuel usage.

An incident associated with the industrial use of hydrogen can result in major consequences such as injuries, fatalities, damage to property and delays to production. Operators of chemical plants must ensure that their employees and members of the public are adequately protected during an incident. A negative public perception of hydrogen fuel could hinder general belief to support the drive towards net zero using “clean” hydrogen. Therefore, there is a significant benefit in ensuring the safe use of hydrogen fuel by applying risk reduction measures to prevent, control and reduce the consequence of an incident.

Assessment of risk

A HAZID assessment is a useful tool that can be applied early in the design to identify potential hazards and threats in a process including potential for human error. Human errors are generally as a result of a mistake, lapse, slip or violation that can result in the failure to carry out a required duty which could subsequently lead to an accident.

Human factors can be significant and must be considered in the design of equipment handling hydrogen. As an example, hydrogen gas is odourless and hydrogen flame is almost invisible during daytime. To minimise potential for human error in detecting a leak or fire, preference must be given to automatic instrumented systems rather than relying on human intervention particularly for critical events or situations. If designed correctly, it ensures that protective measures are integrated to prevent foreseeable major accidents and helps to ensure that risks are reduced to ALARP.

Performing a consequence analysis of the worst-case hydrogen release can help understand the range of possible outcomes, ensuring that adequate safeguards are in place to reduce the severity of an incident. It also helps the emergency services to develop and put in place adequate recovery plan following an incident.

Axiom can support you by undertaking safety studies (HAZID, HAZOP), consequence modelling and human factors review for new technologies and feasibility studies. In collaboration with you, we can also deliver support as your technical partner throughout the project life cycle, providing safety assurance that your hydrogen project will be expertly managed to ensure that any residual risks are no greater than for conventional fossil fuels currently used today.

Axiom, the multi-award-winning asset integrity solution provider, is delighted to announce the appointment of Oyinda Gunn as Principal Process Safety Engineer.

Working previously in this role at Whessoe engineering and as Process Safety Engineer at Technip in France and Nigeria, Oyinda brings an extensive skill-set to the Axiom Process Safety Engineering team. These include process safety engineering design experience in consequence modelling using DNV Phast, conducting safety reviews (HAZID, HAZOP) and performing safety studies such as fire risk assessment, qualitative and quantitative risk assessment and cryogenic spill assessment, for both onshore and offshore facilities within the Oil, Gas and Energy sectors in particular areas of crude oil, LNG, ammonia and hydrogen.

Axiom’s Process Safety team continues to expand with the capability to deliver a complete suite of services from support with license to operate, risk assessment, implementation of solutions through to assurance across the full asset life cycle. Oyinda will work as part of the Axiom process safety engineering and process safety consultancy team seamlessly integrated with Axiom’s in-house Inspection & NDT, Materials and Mechanical specialists to deliver support across a diverse range of industrial and energy sectors.

Oyinda said, “I am delighted to be joining the Axiom team as Principal Process Safety Engineer. This is an exciting time for Axiom with future growth plans and the addition of Process Safety Engineering to reinforce Axiom’s offerings. With the continued drive towards Net Zero high on the industrial agenda, I am confident that our clients will benefit from the expertise of our team to achieve their goals in Process Safety.”

Amanda Garvey Kovac, Process Safety Group Manager, added, “This appointment is another significant step forward in Axiom’s portfolio of capabilities to achieve asset integrity excellence. Oyinda brings additional skills to the team that will complement the current capabilities and strengthen the support delivered to our clients in the area of Process Safety in Energy transition and Hydrogen conversion.”

Expansion of the Process Safety team is a clear demonstration of Axiom’s commitment to long-term business growth strategy to act as trusted partners providing technically excellent asset integrity consultancy services throughout their clients’ entire asset life cycle.

Axiom, the multi-award winning asset integrity management solution provider, is delighted to announce the appointment of Amanda Garvey Kovac as Process Safety Group Manager.

Amanda will lead the Process Safety Engineering and Process Safety Consultancy team in the business with responsibility for delivering these services to our clients across a diverse range of industrial and energy sectors.

Working previously as Process Safety Manager at INEOS Inovyn, in addition to managerial and engineering positions within SABIC, Ensus, Croda and GSK for more than 20 years, she brings extensive industry experience in Operations, Engineering and Process Safety within the Chemicals and Petrochemical industry.

Axiom’s move into Process Safety is part of its long-term business strategy to act as trusted partners providing technically excellent asset integrity consultancy services throughout their clients’ entire asset life cycle.

The new Process Safety team will deliver a complete suite of services from support with Licence to Operate, Risk Assessment, Implementation of solutions through to Assurance across the full asset life cycle. The team of experienced Process Safety Consultants, Process Safety Engineers and specialist Process Engineering capabilities will be seamlessly integrated with Axiom’s in-house Inspection & NDT, Materials and Mechanical specialists to achieve the desired Process Safety and Integrity requirements. Offering services including Pressure Relief Cycle, Axiom will deliver support from initial relief case identification to full system design.

Amanda said, “I am delighted to be joining the Axiom team as Process Safety Group Manager. This is an exciting time for Axiom with future growth plans into key UK industry regions. I believe that the key pillar for success is understanding the challenges faced by our clients, building strong, long-term relationships and our commitment to the delivery of a quality service. By focussing on these areas, I am confident that we can realise our ambitions going forward.”

Peter Hunt, Axiom Commercial Director, added, “This senior addition to the Axiom team along with the launch of these new services is a key part of the execution of our long-term strategic plan. The introduction of new Process Safety Engineering and Process Safety Consultancy services will enhance Axiom’s overall value proposition.”

Echoing these sentiments, Adam Potter, Axiom Managing Director, affirmed,” This new team will work closely with our existing Integrity, Materials and Mechanical specialists to support our clients in achieving the successful delivery of a Process Safety Management programme tailored to their integrity requirements.”

The business based in the North East with regional offices in the North West, Humber and Scotland is expected to grow strongly again this year fuelled by this further announcement of complementary offerings, to consolidate their position as the partner of choice to deliver support across the complete asset life cycle.

Axiom’s Mechanical Engineers specialise in the design and engineering assessment of process equipment. We work closely with our clients to improve their assets’ life and reliability, whilst ensuring industry best practices are followed.

We use ANSYS Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software, which provides a more in depth means of assessment compared with traditional formula-based approaches. FEA can be used to demonstrate an extended operational life of an asset, or substantiate the design of non-standard asset features which cannot easily be assessed by formula-based methods.

Why Finite Element Analysis?

FEA is used to inform the design of new equipment or the design of repairs and modifications, as well as to investigate the fitness for service (FFS) and remnant life of aging assets. It offers an in-depth analysis methodology, which can be used when alternative assessment methods cannot be applied or provide unfavourable results.

A range of failure and deterioration modes can be assessed in line with codal guidance, ranging from basic structural integrity assessments through to the study of more complex failure modes such as creep and fatigue. A range of analysis techniques can be applied depending on the problem in hand, including non-linear and thermo-mechanical.

As a matter of course, we consistently keep up-to date with the latest guidance and rules concerning the use of FEA in line with pressure system codes such as the ASME standards and British Standards and European codes.

Why Axiom?

Axiom Engineering Associates is an award-winning, multi-disciplined asset management solutions provider, operating in a diverse range of industry sectors in the UK and internationally. These include the chemical, oil & gas, pharmaceutical, bulk storage, energy, renewables and related industries. Our mission is to be trusted expert advisors providing technical excellence to our clients and partners. Our Materials, Mechanical and UKAS-accredited Inspection Services are uniquely positioned to support our clients to effectively manage their plant at every stage in their assets’ lifecycle.

Contact us now to find out how we can help you.

JAMES ROBSON Mechanical Operations Manager

T: +44 (0)1642 732745 Ext. 322
M: +44 (0) 7429 152 493
E: james.robson@ax-ea.co.uk