Formed in 1976, the Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems (DIERS) was a consortium of 29 companies that developed methods for the design of emergency relief systems to handle runaway reactions.DIERS spent $1.6 million to investigate the two-phase vapor-liquid onset / disengagement dynamics and the hydrodynamics of emergency relief systems. Of particular interest to DIERS were the prediction of two-phase flow venting and the applicability of various sizing methods for two-phase vapor-liquid flashing flow. DIERS became a users group in 1985.

Presently, 250 companies (75 percent domestic and 25 percent international) participate in the DIERS Users Group to cooperatively assimilate, implement, maintain and upgrade the DIERS methodology. The group’s purpose is:

• to reduce the frequency, severity and consequences of pressure-producing accidents and
• to promote the development of new techniques that will improve the design of emergency relief systems.

The DIERS Users Group conducts meetings twice a year. These three-day technical meetings have been held in 23 major cities including two locations in Canada and featured presentations by member company representatives. The technical meetings have also included invited speakers and 13 experimental and several computational round-robins. Each meeting is the equivalent of a 3-day short course and consists of approximately 25 - 28 technical presentations. More than 1050 technical presentations have been given at the 40 semi-annual meetings held since 1985.

There is currently no fee for participation in the DIERS Users Group. Membership is open to industrial or engineering organizations interested in the design, use or manufacture of emergency relief devices and systems. Visit the DIERS Users Group website at www.aiche.org/diers for membership or DIERS publications or computer program information.

The DIERS Users Group published all of the original DIERS research reports, the DIERS Project Manual, and the proceedings of three international symposia on “Runaway Reactions, Pressure Relief Design, and Effluent Handling”. The DIERS Users Group has endorsed and AIChE has licensed two computer programs, first SAFIRE and now SuperChems for DIERS, which have found widespread industrial acceptance for design of emergency relief systems. The group has also currently taken the lead to update, revise and publish the second edition of the CCPS book “Guidelines for Pressure Relief and Effluent Handling Systems”.

OSHA in its 1992 Process Safety Management (PSM) regulation (CFR 1910.119) recognized technical reports published by the AIChE on topics such as two-phase flow for venting devices as constituting “generally recognized and accepted good engineering practice”. OSHA also recommended “re-evaluation of the size and capacity of the emergency relief system using the methodology of the AIChE’s Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems” for a device involved in a runaway reaction venting incident.

In 1995 the AIChE Council presented the Gary Leach Award to the DIERS Users Group. Created in 1989, this award recognizes publicly those groups who actively work toward the institute’s mission of advancing chemical engineering practices and serving society. The DIERS Users Group met this standard by advancing the technology of emergency relief systems (ERS) and providing a forum for companies worldwide to work together to make chemical plants safer.

DIERS Users Group company representatives also conduct an AIChE / ASME / DIERS sponsored three day continuing education course “Emergency Relief System Design Using DIERS Technology”. Since 1987 this course has had approximately 650 students in 56 offerings, which include several in-house courses held at domestic and international (Mexico City and Canada) companies.

DIERS’ technology has been adopted worldwide with many domestic and international standards and recommended practices having incorporated elements of the original sponsored research and contributions of member company representatives. The efforts of the original DIERS research program, the DIERS Users Group, and company representatives over the years have changed a chemical engineering paradigm – the methodology used to size emergency relief systems for runaway reactions involving two-phase, vapor-liquid venting. The DIERS Users Group has truly been a forum for development and dissemination of the technology used to design emergency relief systems.

For membership information, contact Harold G. Fisher, Chair of the DIERS Users Group

229 Brookhaven Drive
Nitro, WV 25143
Phone: 304-776-6371
Fax: 304-776-1076
E-mail at fisherhg@suddenlink.net

For more information about DIERS printed books and software, click here or
contact AIChE
3 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016-5901
Customer toll-free number: 800-242-4363
Fax: 646-495-1504
Email at xpress@aiche.org, or one of the following:

For the DIERS manual online at Knovel.com, please click here

For historical DIERS research reports online, please click here and enter the search string "AIChE B"

For all other publication and software requests, contact AIChE Industrial Technology Alliances at 646-495-1372 or ccps@aiche.org, click here