Bi-directional connectivity diagram for accident propagation analysis considering the interactions between multiple-process units

Abstract

An incident may propagate to an accident with different severity dependent on its propagation scenarios. Since the accident propagation is a two-way process, the current research is focusing on the one-way analysis. This paper aims to analyze the combined effect of multi-units sources and their interactions during the accident propagation. The bi-directional connectivity diagram (BDCD) is applied to visualize the interactions between multiple process units as hazardous sources. The deployed safety barriers interrupt the connection between the hazardous sources and thus minimize the influence of one BDCD node on another. Through which, the accident propagation is reduced. The proposed method can be suitable to the general accidents, and it is applied to a case study of the LNG terminal station to assess the potential consequences of explosion caused by the leakage, in which the cost of the safety barrier is also considered. The BDCD approach is found more effective than traditional single-hazardous source methods for analyzing the accident propagation of multi-units sources in the chemical plant and achieving intrinsic safety.