AIChE understands the ongoing challenges and this year the conference will feature the latest safety developments, safety incident studies, technological advancements, and maintenance improvements that will provide concrete ideas on how to avoid or manage plant incidents.
The keynote speaker this year will be Herbert W. Cooper, Ph.D., founder and president of Dynalytics Corporation, who will be discussing the 'Vulnerabilities of the International Energy Supply for the Ammonia Industry.' Dr. Cooper has more than 40 years of United States and international experience in the technological, economic, environmental, health, and safety aspects of independent power production, hydrogen production, asphalt plants, thermal coatings, steel mills, petrochemical production and oil refining, as well as other industrial facilities.
Several significant papers related to the issue also will be presented including on Monday, 'Ammonia solutions explosivity' by Laurent Dupont, INERIS, France; on Tuesday, 'Hurricane Katrina and learning for the chemical industry' by Dorothy F. Maxwell Shaffer, DMS Risk Consulting, USA; and on Wednesday, 'Over three years of continuous operation of an ammonia plant; an all time record by Jacky de Letter, Yara, Norway.
This year's Roundtable will address topics related to plant operation safety with special attention to causes and remedies of tank explosions in chemical plants. Panelist will include:
Dorothy Maxwell Shaffer, DSM Risk Consulting, USA
Bill Taylor, Saskferco Products Inc., Canada
Venkat Pattabathula, Incitec Pivot Limited, Australia
Leonard Werner, Agrolinz Melamine International, Austria
Rainer Feser, BASF Akteingesellschaft, Ludwigshafen, Germany
Loraine Huchler, MarTech Systems, Inc. USA
OP Kathuria, IFFCO, India
Eugene Britton, Mosaic, USA.
"Safety is always paramount for AIChE and its members in every area we are involved in," said John Sofranko, executive director of the organization. "This industry is no exception and the symposium provides an important venue for those involved with ammonia to come together and discuss critical issues related to it.
The Ammonia Safety Symposium is an annual event, the longest running symposium of its kind, and was developed and is sponsored by AIChE's Ammonia Safety Committee. The committee is dedicated to making the plants that manufacture ammonia and related chemicals as safe as possible.
For more information on all the activities surrounding the AIChE annual ammonia safety symposium, please visit our website at
Aiche to Hold 52nd Annual Ammonia Safety Symposium in Nevada