Keyed Hose Connectors 1

[BenjaminM]

I am looking for a hose connector which can be keyed to prevent connecting to the wrong tank.

What I am looking for is very similar to a standard cam & grove fitting, except for the male plug has a few pins in place which can only mate with a female socket with grooves for those pins.

I had a vendor provide me with a line card with this years ago (CHEMSHOW 2017 maybe?). Does anyone have any experience with anything similar to this?

Thank you.

 

[pierreick]

Hi,
My experience is to use caps and padlocks at the unloading station. The key locks are kept in the control room and prior to unloading the operator has to record on logbook to get the key from shift leader. Same at the end of the process.
Keys should be different for each connector. It worked for me on acrylic monomers unloading station in Thailand.
Pierre

 

[Compositepro]

Great idea.

 

[LittleInch]

How many different combinations do you need?

Hospitals use different shaped connectors for oxygen and other gases, but think they only have three or four variations.

Different colours helps a lot as well and quite cheap?

What size of hose?


Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[shvet]

Different colours helps a lot as well and quite cheap?
Colour coding/labeling can't mitigate a human error

https://www.aiche.org/ccps/resources/process-safety-beacon/archives/2012/april/english

even splitting the unloading bays is not a remedy

https://www.aiche.org/ccps/resources/process-safety-beacon/archives/2009/march/english

I am looking for a hose connector which can be keyed to prevent connecting to the wrong tank.
Seems incompantible connection fittings can be considered as Inherently Safer Design over other safety options like labeling and caps padlocking.

The CSB found that this and similar incidents could have been prevented through improved design of the chemical unloading area to prevent incorrect connections of incompatible materials. In addition, clear pipe markers at fill line connection points also decrease the opportunity for error when connections are made between the CTMV and facility fill line.
Preventing incidents during chemical unloading operations is a shared responsibility between chemical distributors and facilities receiving chemicals. Therefore, facilities and distributors must work together to develop and agree upon procedures that clearly define roles and responsibilities and ensure safe execution of unloading operations.

Source

https://www.csb.gov/mgpi-processing-inc-toxic-chemical-release-/

 

[TiCl4]

Shvet,

I have found that locking unloading valves to be a better option than trying to supply different fitting for each and every unloading option. There is a particular case of an explosion (in a refinery, I think) where the truck driver went to the wrong unloading location only to find that his fitting did not match. He then left, made up an adapter fitting, and proceeded to unload his truck into the wrong tank.

Providing locks on unloading valves, with the keys kept by a second individual (supervisor), should prevent any mis-operation or mis-action by one individual from resulting in incorrect loading destination.

See "Four Eyes Principle".

Providing different fittings may seem like an "engineering" solution, but in truth it is only an administrative control, as it relies upon an individual to not use an adapter to bypass the control.

Providing both locks and different fittings is probably the best you will be able to do.

 

[LittleInch]

Or when you don't have any say type 2 hoses left but some spare type 3 hoses. "Hey Joe, just go and grind off this key on the type 2 so we can use this hose...."

People will do the strangest things imaginable to overcome what they see as a restriction.

Note on the picture above, they are all bolted onto the connection. Doesn't take than long to change the end...

Colour coding doesn't seem like such a bad idea if you ally that to some locked system

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[shvet]

Gentlemen, am I right in understanding that you are trying to say that it’s more likely for someone to spend their time, physical, and mental efforts on doing a complicated task with a file / wrench to ‘fix’ an incompatible fitting over than ignoring or confusing labels? I have some experience in workforce managing and I completely agree that people tend to do irrational things, but for a situation with negligble efforts to happen more likely than one requiring significant attention&time&efforts… Please share where a place is, where such exceptional employees work.

The only point I tried to share is that the reputable authority recommends 'improved design' of connections as first in a row over administrative means like labeling, color coding, or padlocking (I assume the sharing responsibily also):

The CSB found that this and similar incidents could have been prevented through improved design of the chemical unloading area to prevent incorrect connections of incompatible materials. In addition, clear pipe markers at fill line connection points also decrease...

If one would ask me I would respond that 'administrative [insert appropriate]' is always weaker than 'design [insert appropriate]' and therefore 'administrative' should be considered as a final layer of protection bearing in mind that there must be other layers over the final. May be yours background differs, may be.

Hope the idea above is clear.

 

[TiCl4]

Shvet,

My point is that differently-shaped fittings are only an administrative control, not an engineering control. Unloading areas tend to keep a lot of double-ended fittings on-hand because truck drivers don't always arrive with the correct hose, and it is not uncommon to use that fitting (i.e. 2"x3" camlock connector) to make a delivery. You are still relying on people to choose the correct unloading line.

You will note that I suggested providing both differently-shaped fittings AND locks on unloading lines with supervisor oversight. I suggest that there are NOT any engineering controls that can be implemented unless the chemicals themselves lend to easy detection of error.

In the case below, an in-line pH probe on each of the sulfuric and hypochlorite unloading lines could have been an engineering control to prevent the wrong material being unloaded. This exact incident apparently had locks, but did not follow the proper locking procedure and verification procedure.

https://ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com/2018/04/chemical-deliveries-can-go-wrong/

 

[BenjaminM]

Thank you all!

pierreick,

In our case, we have five vessels that we run a particular product line in. The concern is that residue from these products may remain in hoses / pumps / filters and contaminate other products produced in other five vessels if those hoses are inadvertently used. (ppt level contamination concerns).

On a typical day any number of the processes of concern may be active in addition to the other processes. The worry is that a hose or other equipment is shared between processes.

 

[BenjaminM]

Littleinch,

In our case we have primarily 2" hoses.

We really only need two separate hookups. Those for the process of concern and those for normal process.

I am ultimately in need of an alternative to cam & groove. We could make every thing for the process of concern flanged, but I don't think that is a good solution for our situation.

We have already implemented color coating with tap on the ends of the hose like you suggested. It's cheap and easy, but it is not foolproof.

 

[BenjaminM]

shvet,

What you have shown in the photo with the gold and blue fittings is very near what I am looking for if you have a vendor.

 

[pierreick]

Hi,
Can you please share a schematic for us to understand your set up and connections between all the equipment (vessel, filter, pump, tank)?
You mentioned ppt (contamination level), does it mean part per trillion? If so, this is a different story which requires dedicated line and equipment.

Pierre