Abstract—This paper presents a set of recommendations generated from the review of different methods used. They have been selected taking into account research on documented biodiesel plant accidents. It provides a summary of those tools and methods considered to be of potential use to analysts undertaken a Human Reliability Analysis in the Biodiesel plant industry. This potential use is based on a review on published research material about accidents reported and together with previous work allowed to extract the main considerations identified to date. As a result of this work a set of recommendations were generated for use in the biodiesel industry. Index Terms—risk analysis, risk assessment, human reliability assessment, biodiesel plants I. INTRODUCTION IODIESEL is an alternative considered to replace petroleum. Life cycle analysis [1]-[3] is a systematic evaluation of the environmental and resource consequences of a particular product, process, or activity. The analysis may evaluate improvements such as changes in product design, raw material substitution, industrial process improvements, or waste management methods. As a result of these analyzes biodiesel is not cheaper than oil. It is because the raw material of these does not have to be produced. In an industry an accident can be fatal and biodiesel plants are not exempt [4]. Being an industrial facility, risks and dangers exist related to transport, storage and use of great amount of toxic chemical substances. Flammable and highly polluting vegetal oil tanks contribute too. Like other industries, it is necessary to improve the reliability of operation processes, inspection, maintenance and projects during assembly of equipment [5]. According to some authors [6] the contribution of human error is between 60 and 80% in technological accidents. The relevant accidents occurred in the biodiesel industry in the last decades have been presented and analyzed in the open literature [4]-[7]-[9]. Results show that methanol and methoxides fires or explosions are essentially related to Manuscript received March 18, 2012; revised April 16, 2012. This work was supported in part by the Secrectaría de Ciencia, Técnica y Posgrado, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. S. S. Rivera is with the CEDIAC Institute, Eng. Faculty, Cuyo National University, Centro Universitario, CO M5502KFA Ciudad, Mendoza, Argentina (e-mail:srivera@cediac.uncu.edu.ar). J. E. Núñez Mc Leod is with CONICET/CEDIAC Institute, Eng. Faculty, Cuyo National University, Centro Universitario, CO M5502KFA Ciudad, Mendoza, Argentina (e-mail: jnmcleod@cediac.uncu.edu.ar). transportation activities, maintenance operations and the tank farm area. Dangerous materials like methanol can be spilled and generate explosions if it is not have adequate management of them. It is important take into account the lack of training in safety of the personnel. Frequently, safety is omitted due to the simplicity of the process. It is necessary apply secure technology and expert knowledge. According to LEA S.A. [10] the amounts of methanol in the production area should be limited to the fullest. Biodiesel is a methyl-ester of fatty acids with close to flash point 100 °C. The fire risk of biodiesel is equivalent to the risk of oil mineral, however, rags soaked with oil fires usually generate by combustion. Since the methanol vapors generated, it is important that environments are well ventilated and that from a careful area classification, electrical panels are located outside the area where you can create explosive dust clouds. The nitrogen blanketing desirable both to avoid the formation of explosive atmospheres inside equipment to prevent oxidation of the product. For the extinction, biodiesel plants should have at least fire facility with the following features: • water source (tank and pumps) of adequate reliability and flow • cooling tank • extinguishing system based on polar solvent foam • extinguishing system based on water In relation to protecting the environment, the risks are lower than that generated hydrocarbons as the remediation is less expensive. Care environmental authorities require security monitoring systems and less demanding than for petroleum oils, but are necessary double containment and contingency plans. The lower stability of the product in respect of oil (the product oxidized) increases the risk of liability for products. In many cases the biodiesel plants are integrated plants oil extraction with solvents, which have other risk factors critical vapors associated with hexane and the self- combustion of the feedstock (sunflower seeds, soybeans, corn, etc.) Plants with capacity larger than 100,000 tons per year has been proved [9] to be the only processes economically feasible with higher-value virgin oil, yielding higher net annual profit and lower break-even price. The growing plant capacity clearly enhances the hazard of biodiesel production. The consequences of accidental scenarios are due to the increased complexity of plants, due to the number and Recommendations Generated about Human Reliability Analysis on Biodiesel Plants Selva S. Rivera and Jorge E. Núñez Mc Leod, Member, IAENG B Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2012 Vol I WCE 2012, July 4 - 6, 2012, London, U.K. ISBN: 978-988-19251-3-8 ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online) WCE 2012