Dynamic risk assessment of chemical process systems using the System-Theoretic accident model and process approach (STAMP) in combination with cascading failure propagation model (CFPM)

To maintain continuous production, chemical plant operators may ignore faults or handle faults online rather than shutting down process systems. However, interaction and interdependence links between components in a digitalized process system are substantial. Thus, faults will be propagated to downstream nodes, potentially leading to risk...

An integrated approach to quantitative resilience assessment in process systems

Chemical process systems are becoming more automated and complex, which leads to increased interaction and interdependence between the human and technical elements of process systems. This urges the need for updating the safety assessment method by treating “safety” as an emergent property of a system. Uncertainty comes together with...

Inference algorithms for the useful life of safety instrumented systems under small failure sample data

Safety instrumented systems(SIS) have been widely used in petroleum and chemical plants to detect and respond to dangerous events and prevent them from developing into accidents. The in-service time of SIS does not exceed its useful life is one of the crucial assumptions of IEC functional safety standards. The testing method recommended in the...

A STAMP-based approach to quantitative resilience assessment of chemical process systems

Chemical process systems (CPSs) involve complex dynamic processes. Besides, the emergent and uncertain hazards and disruptions cannot be identified entirely and prevented by conventional methods. In those situations, resilience for CPSs plays an essential role in absorbing, adapting to disruptions, and restoring from damages. Systemic modeling...

Resilience-based approach to maintenance asset and operational cost planning

Reliability-based and risk-based methods for directing maintenance activities play a critical role in ensuring system safety and reducing unnecessary downtime. Those methods focus on preventive maintenance to avoid component failures and are applicable before unexpected disruptions occur. However, when disruptions are unavoidable, more attention...

A virtual experiment for measuring system resilience: a case of chemical process systems

Resilience is an emergent property of a system, which changes with various internal and external factors. Resilience is also a hidden property of a system that cannot be observed. Thus, experiments should be performed for a given system to measure its resilience. However, physical experiments are practically impossible. Inspired by the tensile...

Resilience Assessment of Chemical Process Systems under uncertain Disruptions based on Catastrophe Theory (CT) and Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN)

Due to the rapid development of technology, process systems become dynamic, automated, and complex, resulting in the strong interdependence and interaction among components and ensuring system safety by conventional methods a challenge. Compared with traditional risk assessment methods, resilience assessment is a more appropriate method for...

Dynamic Risk Assessment of Chemical Process Systems using System-Theoretic Accident Model and Process (STAMP) and Failure Propagation Model

Chemical process systems involve complex dynamic processes, and the state of the system often fluctuates during the production process. To ensure the continuation of production, these fluctuations are often ignored or processed online instead of shutting down the unit. However, the interdependence between components in the system is strong, and...

Towards limiting potential domino effects from single flammable substance release in chemical complexes by risk-based shut down of critical nearby process units

The explosion load is a significant escalation factor possibly influencing the potential occurrence of domino accidents in chemical plants. It is not economical to install explosion isolation systems (e.g., extinguishing barrier) for all equipment or process units across a chemical plant. Although shutting down all equipment or process unit...

Resilience-based approach to safety barrier performance assessment in process facilities

The performance assessment of safety barriers is essential to find vulnerable elements in a safety barrier system. Traditional performance assessment approaches mainly focus on using several static indicators for quantifying the performance of safety barriers. However, with the increasing complexity of the system, emerging hazards are highly...

On the application of the window of opportunity and complex network to risk analysis of process plants operations during a pandemic

To quantify the pandemic specific impact with respect to the risk related to the chemical industry, a novel risk analysis method is proposed. The method includes three parts. Firstly, the two types of “window of opportunity” (WO) theory is proposed to divide an accident life cycle into two parts. Then, a qualitative risk analysis is conducted...