[2012] Paradigm change in Safety Design against Hydrocarbon Explosions and Fires > Selected Papers

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Selected Papers

[2012] Paradigm change in Safety Design against Hydrocarbon Explosions…

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Author Admin 작성일12-11-04 14:05 Hit73,166 Count Comments0 Count

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FABIG Newsletter, SCI, Issue 60, Pages 30-38, August 2012

Paradigm change in Safety Design against Hydrocarbon Explosions and Fires

Author(s): Jerzy Czujko and Jeom Kee Paik

Introduction: More than 70% of the accidents that occur in offshore installations stem from the extremely hazardous phenomena of hydrocarbon explosions and fires, involving blasts and heat (HSE, 2005). They have serious consequences for human health, the surrounding environment and structural safety.

Structural integrity of offshore installations exposed to hazards is one of the challenges the offshore industry has faced. Like all kinds of installations, offshore structures can be damaged or collapse as a result of a number of possible incidents (Paik & Thayamballi, 2007).

As expected in the environment where oil and gas are processed, hydrocarbon explosions and fires constitute the most severe hazards for offshore installations. With respect to hydrocarbon fire and explosion threats, a risk-based design framework for offshore structures should involve both risk assessment and risk management. This article presents procedures for the quantitative assessment and management of fire and gas explosion risks in offshore installations. When it comes to explosion and fire hazards, not everything can be predicted. However, based on statistics and experience, the work is focused on the most probable situations and application of probabilistic methods for determining design loads.

Paik and Czujko (2011A, 2011B) give state-of-the-art review of technologies used in assessing the risk of hydrocarbon explosions and fires in offshore installations. Both qualitative and quantitative risk assessment approaches are described, and the modelling techniques employed in the quantitative assessment of explosions and fires are presented.

A quantitative method for the calculation of explosion risk on FPSO is given in Paik and Czujko (2011C) and Paik et al. (2011). The method is a result of a Joint Industry Project on Explosion and Fire Design of FPSO (EFEF JIP). These procedures can be efficiently applied in offshore development projects, and application includes the assessment of design explosion and fire loads as well as the quantification of effects of risk control options such as platform layout, location and number of gas detectors, isolation of ignition sources, etc.

Ultimately, any hazard identification will help in preventing and/or mitigating each hazard separately. Feedback from historical data can be of tremendous value during a Hazard Identification brainstorming session (HAZID) when analysing event frequencies and consequences. It is during such sessions that deviations from normal operations, unlikely events, and human factors come into play. Hazards related to offshore facilities are identified by a team of experts and users, who work jointly on risk assessment, risk reduction and emergency preparedness. These three tasks are separate entities and in most cases the implementation of a risk control option is decreed by regulations.

Existing technology can couple numerous scenarios together in a multi-physics analysis where thermal, impulsive, ultimate limit state and hydrodynamic analyses are linked in one common system with the capability of parametric design. Studying various scenarios with advanced techniques can help designers understand the consequences of an initiating event. This can help to engineer a system against target safety levels, a system which will achieve a balance between minimal cost and maximal safety of the designed structure.

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