Document rRMMLJmnpD4KxvLN5ZgZVN1a

FILE NAME Oil Industry and American Petroleum Institute API DATE 1955 May DOC API162 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Trade Journal Article - Industrial Hygiene in the Petroleum Industry for U. S. Companies Pass $ Billion Mark : Annual Investments Industrial Hygiene in Petroleum Industry Can You TAX Petroleum Out of Market Atomic Energy vs Oil ANY YOU - MEASURE MEASURE IT 2... TRETOLITE PERFORMANCE IS CONSISTENTLY SUPERIOR ETOLITE RFORMANCE ALWAYS AILABLE IN OBLEMS NCERNING corrosion - corrosion TRETOLITE SERVICE IS THE KEY TO SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE i TRETOLITE COMPANY A DIVISION OF PETROLITE CORPORATION Febvdctoea 369 Marshall Avenue St. Louis 19 Missouri 5515 Telegraph Road Los Angeles 22 California - ~ THE Petroleum Engineer - vie, 955 Exploration MAY 1955 P etrochemicals Processing Oil and Gas Pipelining e VOLUME XXVI e NUMBER 5 General U. Companies Pass 5 Billion Mark .... for Annual Capital Expenditures Ernestine Adams 63 Industrial Hygiene in the Petroleum Industry 2 C. Pabst Atomic Energy Versus Oil Walter G. Whitman cece .E 9 Can You TAX Petroleum Out of the 13 Exploration .. .. Drilling . . Producing Future Possibilities in the Appalachian Basin 32 Earl H. Linn Photocopying Replaces Drafting37 B. Osborne Prescott Bottom Hole Heaters .B 41 K. G. Parrent Plastic Pipe Proving Itself .B 46 Development of Natural Gas Fields of Eastern Kentucky ............ccccscsseesees .B 47 Coleman D. Hunter Diatomaceous Earth Filtration of Water for Surface Injection .B57 A. F. Alciatore M. B. Harris W. E. Wallin Waterflooding Activities in the KMA 64 R. Dobyns C. T. Burchett Jr. D. McBride R. R. Darner Hydraulic Tongs .... cece 75 75 75 Jerry Stumm Nesson Anticline Winter Drilling Operations77 B. J. Sinex Hydrafrac Success 0.0... Jack Menneer cecccerceestcterreseesetes 81 Your Lease Can Be a Producer's Pride Through Properly Scheduled Maintenance 90 F. W. Robson Shell Exploration in Venezuela toseeece cee ... 93 Pressure Build Curves Show Place 103 J. Randolph Buck Surfactants Influence on Flood Recovery 114 Charles P. Milner Harry H. Power DRILLING FUNDAMENTALS Communications .....-....csssersecseeeees sotesetesreesoesecenss 100 W. R. Harrington . Refining .. .. Petrochemicals .. Gas Processing Program of API Midyear Meeting Division of Refining 6 Refining Fundamentals 64614660046649ECREASE644044 64614660046649ECREASE644044 64614660046649ECREASE644044 11 V. A. Kalichevsky Hydrocarbon Analysis Made More Accurate Speedy Walter J. Podbielniak S. T. Preston How Radio Helps Refinery Operation -26 Paul A. Greenmeyer Atomic Energy Will Not Oust Plastics in Perspective 37 George Barsky Multiple Viscosity Motor Oils Analyze4d 5 Eugene B. Brien Compact Design For New Oil Extracto4r 9 Collin M. Doyle Edward Rauch Highest NGAA Award Goes to Pioneer Designing Engineer Petrochemicals Unlimited from Ethane ......,...cssccssssccctesosesvecssessenacere C52 Propane Butanes oc 53 .C 53 Peter W. Sherwood Refining and Petrochemical Directory of Engineering Firms ........... Direct Oxidation of Ethylenes to Ethylene , Ralph Landeau 65 71 Technical Forum Purification of - 4 4 Butadiene 44 Gasoline Surveys ......... 48 75 Oil . Gas . Products Pipelining Advances in Channel Microwave ZO Communications E. P. Elmore Jr. ...........csccssese sostecsnceseeDe New Depreciation Methods for Equipment Investments ..... wees Perry Schwartz River Crossings in New Dress 31 38 Radar J. R. Sellers S. J. Brady Profiling ............ seca teenegnseceacente rconsacosesesenscagesoreee eG? W. Eddy Communications System Designed for Automation Sv Orlofsky Reclaim That Glycol Dee O. Howe Instrumentation Makes Austin Feld Dehydration Plant's Functions Snife Efficient Viscosity and Fluid Friction Calculation Fundamentals Carl W. Boegehold Shortcuts for Field Calculations ... 68 W. J. Bercher The Maintenance Supervisor . 75 R. Bessler Transco to Install First Centrifugal Station Dean Hale New Bridge Design for Tough Dean Hale ..D 8 0 Locate Right the Modern Way seseeD-B2 H. Mitchell Bosun's Chair Makes Bridge Maintenance Easier Task C. Thompson In the Good Olde Days When Pipeliners Fought Fire with Cannon Fire 88 Letters ccs seer A2 Drilling News Course of ^ t and Comment 3-3 From Blue Sky to Blue Chips Exploration Activities 122 What's Doing Advertisers Index 6 In Drilling .B 126 Highlights 10 Running Tour With Men Petroleum Profile ........ 14 in the Industry A. W. Peake Refining News Meetings .A.21 and Comment .C.J .C.J Refining and Pe trochemical Personals .C.76 Pipe Line News and Comment .D.3 .D.3 Pipe Pipe Pipe Pipe Line Developments Line Personals Line Contractors..D Line Projects 102 Women at .... 14 Work Maryann Dungan Carmen Walker = Books Laugh 26 oe With BarneE.18y GeneralGeneral Personals 16 Oll and Gas Deaths 17 Trade News .E.19 .E.19 = The Petroleum Engineer's Con tinuous Tables 19 Installment No. 210 Trade Personals .E.34 .E.34 New Equipment ......... 43 New Literature ............ 47 800 The Petroleum Engineer published monthly August through June monthly in July by The Petroleum Engineer Publishing Company Davis Building Dallas 2 Texas Subscription rate to the Petroleum Industry United States and Foreign 5.00 per year 8.00 for two years 1.00 for single copy Entered as second mail matter May 1 1932 at the post office in Dallas Texas under the act of March 3 1879 a Tool of the industrial hygienist The midget impinger an instrument which draws a measured volume of air through a trap containing a liquid collecting medium Here the midget impinger is being used to sample atmospheric concentration of toxic dust INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE in the Petroleum Industry A. C. Pabst industrial hygienist Vacuum Oil Company Inc. is called in at the blueprint stage where basic hygiene measures can be incorporated into plants processing units and . other installations helping to save time money and problems for management A. C. Pabst THE petroleum industry has made re- markable and enviable progress not only in developing new and better products but equally in anticipating market demands in terms of both quality and quantity It has an extraordinary record for providing the customer with what he wants where and when he wants it New processing methods have been necessary of course to achieve these results Many of these processing methods represent highly complex chemical operations that present problems and situations new to the industry With foresight and planning the petroleum industry is solving these problems and in fact anticipating situations so that they do not become problems To accomplish this comparatively new sciences like health engineering are studied with the same zeal as other types of research Practically unknown 20 years ago today's occupational health includes the fields of industrial hygiene and industrial medicine Because industrial hygiene is one of the newest phases many people do not know the meaning of the term or the functions of the industrial hygienist Nevertheless the safeguarding of industrial health already is on a business basis with labor and management recognizing its importance Government too takes an active interest and 19 states have health department rules on industrial hygiene Today there are only about 800 industrial hygienists in the United States and a large number of this group are not in industry but are working for the federal government or state departments People hearing the word hygiene usually recall they had a hygiene course in high school which dealt with per- . cleaning sonal habits such as bathing Fi the fingernails teeth etc. and in- mediately jump to the conclusion that in hygienist an industrial in industry must fj be interested in keeping employees clean In my first visit to many of our 2 36 refineries it seemed that I was always taken first to the locker rooms and toilets to inspect shower and lavatory = hygien- facilities Of course industrial ok ists are interested the employee's cleanliness as it is necessary to protect his health but their primary interest is not in sanitary facilities They are more interested in keeping an employee's lungs skin and other organs free from exposure to hazardous gases liquids. dusts and other harmful substances The petroleum industry is becoming increasingly involved in the handling of all kinds of chemicals having various degrees of physiological effects on man a These chemicals might be described by Seen: a eure quoting from a publication issued by eae duPont's Haskell Laboratory of Toxi- cology we It Takes All Sorts Chemicals like people can be mild fractious and often exas- perating Like people chemicals are of many types and dispositions Most are uncomplaining abiding citizens who present no special | problems Some are unstable and unpredictable Some are and- .... 4 out neurotics requiring a sharp "- and observant discipline Others harmless by themselves may be influenced by bad company Still a others are troublemakers in soli- a tary but docile and helpful in SE tandem Some are just plain bad actors ELC THE PETROLEUM ENGINEER May 1955 e n Many of the compounds with which the petroleum industry is concerned are new or are being studied more The midget impinger is to be used for air sampling in a refinery work area fully The industry's concept of in- dustrial hygiene compares favorably however with similar activities in chemical and other industries which "+ have worked many years on these prob- lems The advent of catalytic cracking re- ~ sulted in the production and handling of aromatic hydrocarbons with health problems similar to those long associated with the coal industry The use of new chemical catalysts inhibi- f tors and other chemical compounds .. creates health problems that the chem- ical industries have faced for years To illustrate this trend we need only look 1. A knowledge of the toxicology of chemicals and materials whose duties involved the compound- ing of litharge or lead oxide in a doc- at the modern gasolines fuel oils and 2. A review of all chemicals or ma- tor solution man proceeded to motor oils Years ago motor oils were terials used or produced how empty the bags of litharge into an out- practically 100 per cent petroleum in nature with little if any additives today they contain up to 15 to 20 per handled and the tabulation of toxic or potentially hazardous substances door mixing tank and because of the dust and mists generated he correctly wore a respirator Of course his hands cent of chemicals additives and in- Y hibitors This trend doubtless will con- : tinue because there is no question that 3. The measurement of worker exposure to toxic substances 4. The recommendation and instal- were covered with lead oxide and to my amazement the first thing he did when he came down from the catwalk additives contribute much to improve lation of adequate control meas- was to take from his lunch box an performance characteristics With ures and the evaluation of the orange which he started to peel and eat every change in formulation any busi- effectiveness of such corrective probably one of the most effective ways ke ON ness makes careful studies regarding steps where indicated to get lead poisoning captor SP the health and safety of personnel and When petroleum products get to the re WENO customers Problems that may arise Toxicology of Chemicals consumers ingestion is more frequent ernie ery are solved many of them by industrial In regard to Item 1 the toxicology but nearly always its occurence is a oa se AS RS hygiene of chemicals it is difficult to give an result of carelessness or mishandling eG Hygiene is defined as that branch of adequate definition of a toxic material Small children whose parents care- uate < medical science that relates to preser- because practically anything can be lessly leave products within easy reach Lat * vation of health and therefore indus- safe or harmful depending upon how it may have unhappy experiences We .. trial hygiene may be defined as the is used or where it is used For example have had hurry calls from doctors in- ea science of prevention and control of occupational illness It resolves itself into air and water are not regarded as harmful but both are quite deadly volving children drinking kerosine or such products as penetrating oil and e BY the problem of looking for any factors under certain conditions if in- fly sprays Sometimes adults are even ee . or conditions in work places that could jected into the blood stream and water worse There are cases of freeze E cause or contribute to illness or serious if introduced into the lungs In the poisoning drinking of brake fluid and Ee discomfort of employees and of de- same manner the use of carbon tetra- one I recall of a radiator flush that Pe vising the methods and means of elimi . nating or controlling such conditions chloride in a process having proper ventilation would not be hazardous contains muriatic acid and chlorinated hydrocarbons This occurred despite mtn _ The typical industrial hygienist : usually started out as a chemist or while the use of carbon tetrachloride for mopping floors would be quite dan- the fact that the product was fully labeled including poison warning with Mt - chemical engineer who became in- gerous In other words a toxic ma- skull and cross bones oprne terested in and studied toxicological effects of chemicals on man Conse- terial may be hazardous Or non- hazardous depending on the conditions It should be emphasized that hardly a substance exists that is not capable of quently he has a good background of chemistry and engineering combined of its use In regard to toxicology there are producing adverse effects on the human body if taken in sufficient quantity or E: with some medical knowledge sort three ways in which a harmful sub- + of third doctor third engineer MB and third chemist His objectives are the protection and improvement of stance can cause adverse effects upon man . 1. It can be ingested or swallowed TABLE 1. Average effect of alcohol level in blood the health and safety of workers in the industrial environment from all manner 2. It can come into direct contact with the skin or parts of the Ounces of whiskey consumed in 1 hr % alcohol or leas in blood Behavior harmful exposures related to occu- pation In the petroleum industry in- ustrial hygienists usually function as rm important part of the medical de- partment and in close collaboration ith the safety department for the pro- ection of employees Basically the practice of industrial giene in the petroleum industry is the body 3. It can be inhaled as a gas vapor mist or dust Ingestion Fortunately petroleum materials are not commonly or intentionally taken internally and therefore trouble from this is rather rare in a refinery although it % i 2-3 56 8 10 16 24 0.01 0.02 0.05 01 0.16 0.2 0.3 0.4-0.5 Normal a, Feeling of warmth pleasant social behavior Judgment blunted Hoastful impulsive Officially still anber gait Fumbling staggering gait clumsiness clumsiness slurred speech Officially drunk : Responses and motor coordination sffected Helpless nausea Stupor Coma as in any other industry and it me a be boiled down to four general Occasionally does occur unknowingly I recall watching a worker who had been complaining of stomach trouble 30 0.6-0.7 0.6-0.7 l'aralysis of the respir- atory center Pfizer Spectrum JAMA March 27 1954 re BETROLEUM ENGINEER May 1955 Problem for the industrial hygienist Instructing employees in the proper handling of toxic materials This posed shot represents an actual instance where a worker handling lead oxide neglected to wash his hands before eating If his careless habit had not been corrected he would have had a real health problem It should be a part of any occupational health program to educate employees in the correct handling of materials and to warn of the hazards of excessive exposure Here a kettle is being charged with a chemical which generates toxic dust Note use of respirator . gloves ventilating equipment and coverall e under wrong circumstances Even common table salt is toxic if taken in suffi- cient amounts It is reported that many years ago the Chinese used table salt as a means of committing suicide Every chemical therefore has a non- toxic dose and at toxic dose This can be well illustrated by Table 1 on a widely used commodity Skin and Body Contact In the petroleum industry skin contact is not generally experienced to the extent that it is for example in the metalworking industries where a daily eight contact with cutting oils often takes place Cases of oil derma- titis are uncommon among our em- ployees but they are reported not infrequently among industrial users of petroleum products It is definitely established that skin is not an impermeable barrier to chem- ical substances In fact it is increasingly important as a route of absorption for many materials Regarding external or local skin effects chemicals may be classified either as primary ir- ritants or sensitizing agents A primary irritant is a chemical that ' . may cause dermatitis in individuals frequently after only one contact It may have a strong chemical action like acid alkalis amines etc. or it may have a weak chemical action and re- quire prolonged contact to cause dermatitis Most petroleum hydrocarbons are primary irritants but are usually weak irritants since prolonged or ex- tensive contact is generally required to cause skin irritation The petroleum industry now is handling large quan- tities of chemical additives and inhib- itors many of which are strong pri- mary irritants and are active chemical compounds It should be a part of any occupa- tional health program to educate em- ployees in the correct handling of such materials and to warn of the hazards of exposure Recommendations and in- structions also are given for protective equipment like respirators goggles gloves and aprons This applies to concentrated or undiluted inhibitors Finished petroleum products should and usually do contain such a small quantity of additives and in such dilution that there is scarcely more harm in the finished product than there would be from straight mineral oil itself Bizarre Bizarre and erroneous conclusions conclusions sometimes are drawn in industrial der- matitis cases as to their cause even by those who should know better I recall a case of a young man who worked in a gasoline station and developed a severe dermatitis He went to a physician who made patch tests on him and found he had a sensitivity to special gasoline but practically no reaction to regular gasoline Apparently the physician had heard special gasoline con- tains a lot of lead because the case was a diagnosed as resulting from an excess % of lead tetraethyl in the special gaso 3 line We thought this strange because # lead tetraethyl is not a primary skin imitant and never has been known to cause dermatitis although it is known | to be a poison and can be absorbed 4 through the skin ; A review of records of gasoline ship- .4 ments into the particular area showed the regular gasoline actually contained the same or sometimes more lead than the special gasoline clearly indicating that lead tetraethyl was not to blame 3h but that some other material was re- - sponsible possibly the coloring agent Inhalation chem- Of the three avenues by which icals can be taken into the bodyin halation probably has received the most study and investigation because it is the avenue of greatest importance in industrial operations From a vast amount of research has come publica tion of very useful data on safe human exposure levels known as Threshold 64 Limit Values or Maximum Allowable 4 Concentrations Thisis a list of several hundred commonly encountered ch^'m icals solvents dusts etc. the toxi- cology of which has been carefully studied by medical research and in- dustrial experience . by The listis compiled annually Governmental American Conference of the * : THE PETROLEUM ENGINEER May1955 Industrial Hygienists and is published by the American Medical Association in AMA Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Medicine In- " troductory paragraphs define the values as follows Values are given in the following tabulation for the maximum average atmospheric concentration of con- taminants to which workers may be . exposed for an eight working ~, day without injury to health These values are based on the best available information from indus- trial experience from experimental studies and when possible from a combination of the two They are not fixed values but are reviewed an- nually by the Committee on Threshold Limits for changes revisions or additions as further information becomes available Threshold Limits should be used as guides in the con- trol of health hazards and should not be regarded as fine lines between safe and dangerous concentrations They represent conditions only They represent conditions only within which it is felt that workers may be repeatedly exposed day after day without their health being adversely affected It is felt at the present time that workers should not be exposed to a working environment containing any of these substances in excess of the value indicated These values are not intended for use or for modification for use in the evaluation or control of com- munity air pollution or air pollution nuisances A few of the materials encountered in the petroleum industry and their Threshold Limits are listed below . Gases and Vapors Bubstance Lense Benesone benso eeeeeee Carbon dioxide . Parts per million 35 6000 tetrachloride Carbon monoxideterachloride 100 - Carbon tetrachloride 62050 sulfide Hydrogen sulfide 0. eee 20 Naphtha petroleum 800 Balfur dioxide viveeees 10 Toxie dusts fumes and mists Substance Iron oxide fume sect meenetcsoveerise Milligrams per eubic meter 18 0.15 Sulfuric acid 6.0.0... eee 1 Mineral dusts Substance Millions of particles per cubic foot Asbestos .... Asbestos nuisance no free ilica Duhsitgh above 50 ieee eee terres silica free Bi01 medium 5 to 50 low below 5 % B101 free .. free 810 6 50 60 Nineteen states observe Threshold Limit Values in their laws or regula- tions and more are sure to follow Industrial hygienists as part of their duties advise management of the existence of these requirements in order that precautionary measures may be taken to avoid excessive exposure of personnel 8 Industrial hygienists undertake meas- urement of air contaminants for com- pliance with states codes Even a com- gasoline mon material like has a maxi- is which mum safe level million is 500 parts per The following are just a few of the hazardous materials that are en- countered in petroleum refinery opera- tions terial by customers However this of quires extensive work knowledge product and toxicological information to determine what products must : labeled and how they should labeled Materials encountered in petroleum refinery operations FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE cresol FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE Chlorinated FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE Causti FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE attapulgus FEE FEE FEE Chrome FEE FEE FEE FEE sulfide FEE FEE FEE compounds FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE fumes FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE aromatic FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE } FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE FEE i Welding fumes 5] i. Product Labeling One very important function of the industrial hygienist in the petroleum industry concerns precautionary labeling of products This is receiving more emphasis as state after state passes labeling regulations One of the most re- cent is the State of New York where on February 26 1954 the Council on Pub- lic Health passed labeling regulations which became effective August 26 1954 as Chapter IX of the New York State Sanitary Code These labeling regulations have the force and effect of law and require precautionary labeling on any product that entails a haz- ard in a reasonably anticipated use A hazard is defined as the risk of injury or illness which may be encountered during or as a result of any reasonably anticipated type of handling or use of a substance or during its specified use if any by reason of toxicity of the substance through ingestion inhalation or absorption through the skin or due to its corrosiveness or irritating properties or be- cause of its flammability or explosive- ness Somewhat similar labeling regula- tions already exist in California Illi- nois New Jersey Oregon and the Territory of Hawaii and are in the makingin many other states so more can be expected Most state regulations are guided by recommendations of the Manufacturing Chemists Association exceptions Inc. and with some in con- formity conform- in one state resultsin ity in other states Itis recognized that as a rule label- ing of many products is advisable and results in safer handling of the ma- giene divisions in nearly every indus- trial state and in many insurance com- B' . panies Industries themselves however have made the greatest expansion in industrial hygiene units over the past 22year period Today in most large industries industrial hygiene is being con ducted under the guidance of increas- ingly trained professional per- sonnel No longer is industrial hygiene seen by industry as an aimless effort of intellectuals collecting bottles filled with nothing so that they can prepare long and useless discourses that few read or understand or would know what ac tion to take Iristead the safeguarding of health is assuming a new significance It not only saves time money and problems for management but it actually improves employee morale and efficiency by eliminating apprehension in occupational environments Instead of telling what mistakes have been made and how to correct them with costly changes industrial hygien- ists now are called in at the blueprint stage where their ideas can be incor- porated into factories machines and other installations to accomplish the ee most good easily and inexpensively awn yy Industrial hygiene at its best in the petroleum industry requires the cooperation and skills of industrial physicians industrial nurses toxicologists chemists safety men and industrial hygienists working together as a team American industry particularly the oil industry is aware of the benefits of more and better production derived from environmental control and health- promotional activities It needs only to be guidedin the application * * * THE PETROLEUM ENGINEER May 1955 ro