Track: Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)

Abstract

The domino effect in the oil and gas industry can be attributed to the persistent need to store, transport, and process hazardous materials in equipment or storage facilities in close proximity to optimize operational efficiency and economic viability. Natural occurrences, such as floods, earthquakes, and typhoons, can also act as initiating factors for domino effects. In our current work, we have developed an enhanced model to optimize the allocation of safety barriers for stopping or delaying domino impacts in chemical plants. Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) is used to solve the optimal barrier allocation problem. The solution approach provides information on the minimum propagation times of various fire paths associated with all possible accident scenarios, which is directly related to the location of the selected safety barriers. Furthermore, the current work introduces a pioneering approach to barrier allocation based on nodes rather than the traditional focus on arcs. As a case study, the developed model simulates the Shibushi Storage Base in Japan, comprising forty-three oil storage tanks. The model provides a fast and effective solution to allocating safety barriers around the storage tanks within the allocated budget constraints.