Aiche to Hold 52nd Annual Ammonia Safety Symposium in Nevada

Chemical plant safety is a worldwide concern for both companies and general public; AIChE Committed to reducing incidents by educating attendees.

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 14, 2007 -- Chemical plant safety continues to be a topic of great concern, not only for plant employees but the public at large. With that in mind, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) announces the 52nd annual Safety in Ammonia Plants and Related Facilities Symposium to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 16-20.

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 www.aiche.org/ammonia.

About AIChE:

AIChE, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008, is a professional society of more than 40,000 chemical engineers in 92 countries. Its members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society.

Through its varied programs, AIChE continues to be a focal point for information exchange on the frontier of chemical engineering research in such areas as nanotechnology, sustainability, hydrogen fuels, biological and environmental engineering, and chemical plant safety and security. More information about AIChE is available at www.aiche.org.

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