Ulrich Hauptmanns studied economics and nuclear engineering at the Universities of Berlin and Edinburgh. He obtained a doctor's degree in nuclear reactor physics in Berlin and then worked as a safety analyst for the company constructing the German High Temperature Reactor THTR-300. After more than three years as visiting professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Oviedo in Spain he joined the German government consultant for nuclear safety (GRS) in Cologne. His areas of work were engineering risks and probabilistic safety analyses for nuclear and process plants. Concurrently he taught at the Ruhr-University Bochum. In 1995 he was appointed to the chair of plant safety at the Otto-von-Guericke-University in Magdeburg, which he occupied until his retirement in 2011. Since then he has been working as a consultant on process and plant safety.

Contains case studies of real plants

Explains "functional safety" through risk assessment methods

Shows numerous worked-out examples with solutions

Introduction.- Hazardous Properties of Materials.- Exothermic and Pressure-Generating Reactions.- Safe Design and Operation of Plants.- Personal Safety and Personal Protective Equipment.- Safety of Process Plants by Process Control.- Protection of Equipment (End-of-pipe Technology).- Risk. -Investigation of Engineered Plant Systems.- Consequences of Accidents.- Functional Safety (Safety Integrity Levels).- Determination of Appropriate Distances Between Industry and Residential Areas.