Fuzzy risk modeling of process operations in the oil and gas refineries

Operating several assets has resulted in more complexity and so occurrence of some major accidents in the refining industries. The process operations risk factors including failure frequency and the consequence components like employees' safety and environment impacts, operation downtime, direct and indirect cost of operations and maintenance, and mean time to repair should be considered in the analysis of these major accidents in any refinery. Considering all of these factors, the risk based maintenance (RBM) as a proper risk assessment methodology minimizes the risk resulting from asset failures. But, one of the main engineering problems in risk modeling of the complex industries like refineries is uncertainty due to the lack of information. This paper proposes a model for the risk of the process operations in the oil and gas refineries. The fuzzy logic system (FLS) was proposed for risk modeling. The merit of using fuzzy model is to overcome the uncertainty of the RBM components. This approach also can be accounted as a benchmark for future failures. A unified risk number would be obtained to show how the criticality of units is. The case study of a gas plant in an oil refinery is performed to illustrate the application of the proposed model and a comparison between the results of both traditional RBM and fuzzy method is made.For the case study, 26 asset failures were identified. The fuzzy risk results show that 3 failures have semi-critical level and other 23 failures are non-critical. In both traditional and fuzzy RBM methods, some condenser failures had the highest risk number and some pumps were prioritized to have the lowest risk level. The unit with unified risk number less than 40 is in the non-critical conditions. Proposed methodology is also applicable to other industries dealing with process operations risks.     

Fuzzy logic-based approach for identifying the risk importance of human error

In the system reliability and safety assessment, the focuses are not only the risks caused by hardware or software, but also the risks caused by “human error”. There are uncertainties in the traditional human error risk assessment (e.g. HECA) due to the uncertainties and imprecisions in Human Error Probability (HEP), Error-Effect Probability (EEP) and Error Consequence Severity (ECS). While fuzzy logic can deal with uncertainty and imprecision. It is an efficient tool for solving problems where knowledge uncertainty may occur. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new Fuzzy Human Error Risk Assessment Methodology (FHERAM) for determining Human Error Risk Importance (HERI) as a function of HEP, EEP and ECS. The modeling technique is based on the concept of fuzzy logic, which offers a convenient way of representing the relationships between the inputs (i.e. HEP, EEP, and ECS) and outputs (i.e. HERI) of a risk assessment system in the form of IF–THEN rules. It is implemented on fuzzy logic toolbox of MATLAB using Mamdani techniques. A case example is presented to demonstrate the proposed approach. Results show that the method is more realistic than the traditional ones, and it is practicable and valuable.     

Fuzzy logic for piping risk assessment (pfLOPA)

This paper explores the application of the fuzzy logic for risk assessment of major hazards connected with transportation of flammable substances in long pipelines. As a basis for risk assessment, the framework of the fuzzy Layer of Protection Analysis (fLOPA) was used. fLOPA presents a new approach to risk assessment based on two assumptions: 1. different effects of the layer of protection functions on particular elements of the risks (frequency and severity of consequence), and 2. the application of fuzzy logic system (FLS) composed of three elements: fuzzification, inference process and defuzzification. A further calculation follows LOPA methodology with the use of fuzzy logic system where fuzzy risk matrix is used for risk assessment. A typical case study comprising section of a long pipeline failure is performed and a comparison between the classical LOPA approach and fuzzy approach is made.     

基于AHP-熵权法的城市燃气管道风险评价*

为全面、客观地评价城市燃气管道风险,提出1种基于AHP-熵权法的城市燃气管道风险评价模型。该模型基于风险评价理论,结合管道失效可能性与后果严重性,构建包含105个评价底因素的城市燃气管道风险评价指标体系。针对城市燃气管道风险因素的复杂性和模糊性,引入模糊数学思想和方法,结合AHP和熵权法确定评价指标的综合权重,再运用模糊综合评价法和风险分析矩阵评估燃气管道风险等级。结果表明:该评价模型风险评价结果与实际情况相符,可为城市燃气管道风险预警与管理提供依据。     

油气储运设施事故风险指数模糊逻辑评估方法

油气储运设施风险是其事故发生概率和事故后果的综合度量,而事故概率和后果的定量评估结果往往是具有不确定性的数据,以确定性风险评估准则为基础的传统风险矩阵法和风险值法显然难以评估油气储运设施风险。为此提出开展油气储运设施事故风险的模糊逻辑推理法,首先,对风险矩阵的概率语言等级和损失语言等级的边界进行定量划分;然后,建立油气储运设施风险矩阵模糊集和模糊逻辑推理规则;最后,通过风险模糊推理运算和模糊风险解模糊化以确定油气储运设施的风险水平。实例应用与分析表明,利用推荐方法可得到较为详尽的风险数据信息,不但风险指数更加清晰,而且其所属风险等级类别也更加明确,评估结果能更好地指导油气储运设施的风险管理。     

高层建筑火灾风险的二级可变模糊评价

随着国民经济的迅速发展,结构复杂、人员密集的高层建筑正在逐渐增多,由于其特殊的结构形式,高层建筑火灾的性质与一般建筑火灾不同,因此,高层建筑的火灾风险评价方法是火灾安全学中的一个热门研究方向。本文以可变模糊集理论为基础,建立了一种新的高层建筑火灾风险评价模型—二级可变模糊评价模型。以某高层建筑火灾安全评价为例,运用二级可变模糊评价模型进行风险等级计算,并与其他评价方法的评价结果进行了比较分析。最后,通过变动权值,对该建筑的火灾风险等级进行了重新评价,结果表明,本文建立的模型有效,且评价结果对指标的权值依赖较小。该模型考虑了隶属度的相对性,使评价结果更为可靠,具有普遍适用性。     

Risk analysis for oil & gas pipelines: A sustainability assessment approach using fuzzy based bow-tie analysis

Vast amounts of oil & gas (O&G) are consumed around the world everyday that are mainly transported and distributed through pipelines. Only in Canada, the total length of O&G pipelines is approximately 100,000 km, which is the third largest in the world. Integrity of these pipelines is of primary interest to O&G companies, consultants, governmental agencies, consumers and other stakeholder due to adverse consequences and heavy financial losses in case of system failure. Fault tree analysis (FTA) and event tree analysis (ETA) are two graphical techniques used to perform risk analysis, where FTA represents causes (likelihood) and ETA represents consequences of a failure event. ‘Bow-tie’ is an approach that integrates a fault tree (on the left side) and an event tree (on the right side) to represent causes, threat (hazards) and consequences in a common platform. Traditional ‘bow-tie’ approach is not able to characterize model uncertainty that arises due to assumption of independence among different risk events. In this paper, in order to deal with vagueness of the data, the fuzzy logic is employed to derive fuzzy probabilities (likelihood) of basic events in fault tree and to estimate fuzzy probabilities (likelihood) of output event consequences. The study also explores how interdependencies among various factors might influence analysis results and introduces fuzzy utility value (FUV) to perform risk assessment for natural gas pipelines using triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability criteria, namely, social, environmental and economical consequences. The present study aims to help owners of transmission and distribution pipeline companies in risk management and decision-making to consider multi-dimensional consequences that may arise from pipeline failures. The research results can help professionals to decide whether and where to take preventive or corrective actions and help informed decision-making in the risk management process. A simple example is used to demonstrate the proposed approach.     

基于模糊逻辑系统的管道风险评估

为了合理地对管道风险进行评估,提出了一种基于模糊逻辑系统的管道风险评估方法.根据模糊逻辑系统的基本原理,建立了管道风险评估的模糊逻辑方法模型,根据模糊风险矩阵及模糊规则库等理论研究成果,对管道风险进行模糊推理,并得出给定管道系统的模糊风险指标值.以某段天然气管道的风险评估为实例,证实该方法能够合理地评估出给定管道系统的...     

Fuzzy logic approach to calculation of thermal hazard distances in process industries

In this paper, a general procedure to deal with uncertainties in each stage of consequence modeling is presented. In the first part of the procedure, the sources of uncertainty are identified and confirmed by sensitivity analysis for the source term, dispersion, physical effects and consequence analysis. While the second part comprises an application of the fuzzy logic system to each step of the consequence modeling. The proposed procedure is verified by the case study for a pool fire liquefied natural gas (LNG) on water. The results in terms of thermal radiation distances are compared with calculations obtained using the Monte Carlo method and with experimental data. The consequence model based on fuzzy logic approach provides less uncertain and more precise results in comparison to the deterministic consequence model.     

工程系统一体化安全风险模型研究

借鉴功能模拟原理,利用目标树-成功树-主逻辑图(GTST-MLD)框架,提出了一个一体化安全风险模型。该模型对关联于工程系统安全特性的目标、功能、结构、行为等因素予以综合,提供了从多层次研究解决安全问题的模型基础,克服了基于事件树/故障树模型的概率风险评估等传统方法而分别对系统结构、行为、事件进行研究的问题,支持实现在更高的系统功能层面上对系统安全性的分析研究。通过研究该模型在安全风险评估、事故因果关联分析、潜在交互作用鉴别中的应用,表明研究成果为解决复杂工程系统安全问题提供了新的分析手段。     

Risk assessment of sour gas inter-phase onshore pipeline using ANN and fuzzy inference system – Case study: The south pars gas field

Nowadays, pipelines have been extensively used for transporting oil and gas for long distances. Therefore, their risk assessment could help to identify the associated hazards and take necessary actions to eliminate or reduce the risk. In the present research, an artificial neural network (ANN) and a fuzzy inference system (FIS) were used to prepare a new model for pipeline risk assessment with higher accuracy. To reach this objective, the Muhlbauer method, as a common method for oil and gas pipeline risk assessment, was used for determining important and influential factors in the pipeline performance. Mamdani fuzzy model was developed in Matlab software by considering expert knowledge. The outcomes of this model were used to develop an ANN. To verify the developed model, the inter-phase shore pipe of phase 9–10 refinery in the South Pars Gas field was considered as a case study. The results showed that the proposed model gives a higher level of accuracy, precision, and reliability in terms of pipe risk assessment.     

基于云模型的海上船舶溢油应急管理能力评估方法

为更好地解决海上船舶溢油应急管理能力评估过程中的不确定性问题，提出1种基于区间二型模糊层次分析法的云模型综合评估方法。针对评估体系的局部性，借鉴PPRR应急管理过程理论，对影响船舶溢油应急管理能力的因素进行分级和分类，构建全局评估指标体系；分别运用区间二型模糊层次分析法和逆向云发生器确定各指标权重和云模型参数；通过浮动云和综合云算法获得最终评估结果。结果表明:将5个评估等级和评估结果进行仿真得出评估云的“云滴”图可显示出评估结果的能力等级以及评估结果的可信度和稳定性。计算某海区船舶溢油应急管理能力的评估等级为“较好”，即管辖该海区的海事管理部门能较好地解决海上船舶溢油突发事故，验证了所提方法的可行性和有效性。     

SPA–fuzzy method based real-time risk assessment for major hazard installations storing flammable gas

For monitoring and control of major hazard installations storing flammable gas, the risk based warning/early-warning is very important. A set-pair analysis (SPA) based fuzzy assessment method (SPA–fuzzy) is proposed for the real-time risk assessment in this paper. Based on principle of SPA and fuzzy logic theory, the likelihood of accident occurrence and the consequence of the accident can be assessed, and the risk value or risk degree can be evaluated. The method takes advantage of the data acquired from the real-time safety monitoring system, so that the varying of the risk can be revealed during an accident developing. The risk assessment simulation of VCE accident caused by gas leaked from LPG tank is performed. It is shown that SPA–fuzzy method has the same risk value as that assessed by normal fuzzy method.     

模糊综合评价法在油气管道跨越工程风险评价中的应用

油气管道跨越工程项目开工数量不断增加,随之而来的安全、环保事故也大量发生。油气管道跨越工程进行风险评价对项目的安全、环保实施具有重要意义。利用节点分析方法对油气管道跨越工程进行风险识别,针对风险识别结果利用模糊综合评价法进行评价,得到油气管道跨越工程各施工单元的安全级数,评价结论为工程的安全、环保管理提供科学的依据。评价方法具有一定的应用和推广价值。     

Uncertainty aspects in process safety analysis

Uncertainties of input data as well as of simulation models used in process safety analysis (PSA) are key issues in the application of risk analysis results. Mostly, it is connected with an incomplete and uncertain identification of representative accident scenario (RAS) and other vague and ambiguous information required for the assessment of particular elements of risk, especially for determination of frequency as well as severity of the consequences of RAS. The authors discuss and present the sources and types of uncertainties encountered in PSA and also methods to deal with them. There are different approaches to improve such analysis including sensitivity analysis, expert method, statistics and fuzzy logic. Statistical approach uses probability distribution of the input data and fuzzy logic approach uses fuzzy sets. This paper undertakes the fuzzy approach and presents a proposal for fuzzy risk assessment. It consists of a combination of traditional part, where methods within the process hazard analysis (PHA) are used, and “fuzzy part”, applied quantitatively, where fuzzy logic system (FLS) is involved. It concerns frequency, severity of the consequences of RAS and risk evaluation. In addition, a new element called risk correction index (RCI) is introduced to take into account uncertainty concerned with the identification of RAS. The preliminary tests confirmed that the final results on risk index are more precisely and realistically determined.     

城市埋地天然气管道系统的脆弱性评价模型及其实例应用

脆弱性评价是系统风险评估的新方法,具有理论成熟、指标全面,结果贴合等优点。在对天然气管道风险研究基础上,建立起适合城市天然气管道系统的脆弱性评估指标体系。结合城市天然气管道脆弱性指标的取值特点,选择模糊综合评判方法,建立城市天然气管道系统的脆弱性评估数学模型,实现系统脆弱度计算和脆弱等级确定。并对北京市某段次高压天然气管道的指标进行调研取值,带入模型进行该管道的脆弱性评价,实现模型的实例应用和效果检验。     

老龄海底油气管道弃置决策研究

针对我国老龄海底油气管道在弃置决策上缺少理论依据的问题,建立老龄海底油气管道弃置决策模型的结构流程,基于多属性效用理论,从4个维度进行分析,选取影响老龄海底管道安全寿命的工程因素、结构因素、风险因素和影响决策的成本因素,构建属性树;运用模糊理论建立模糊互补判断矩阵,综合专家意见计算各属性权重,并进行影响因素敏感性分析;确定老龄海底管道弃置决策评分准则,对属性树各因素取值进行量化,引入成本效益率量化成本因素;采用逻辑运算计算综合得分,根据综合得分进行弃置决策。工程实例应用表明:相比于传统决策方法仅凭设计寿命作为弃置依据,老龄海底管道弃置决策模型不仅避免了单一性,还能反应服役环境对管道的影响,有利于提高管道服役过程的经济性和安全性。     

基于模糊Bow-tie模型的深水海底管道定量风险评价研究

为有效评价深水海底管道风险,提出一种新的模糊Bow-tie模型定量风险评价方法。综合运用Bow-tie图、模糊集以及德尔菲法,定量分析油气泄漏概率。进一步利用层次分析法(AHP)研究油气泄漏后果的严重程度,给出泄漏后果因素的权重系数选择方案。同时,结合风险矩阵,实现对高风险深水海底管道的定量风险评价。将上述方法用到具体海底管道工程中,得出目标海底管道泄漏概率属于A级,泄漏后果属于Ⅲ级,泄漏风险为高风险,这一结果与实际情况较为符合。     

基于ANP和模糊证据理论的应答器系统风险评估方法研究

针对应答器系统风险评估过程中存在较大模糊性和主观性的问题,提出了基于网络分析法(ANP)和模糊证据理论的风险评估模型。首先,识别评估对象的风险因素,建立相应的ANP评价模型,采用专家均值置信法改进传统ANP,确定风险因素权重;然后利用模糊数学理论确定专家评语基本信度分配(BPA)函数,并运用折扣系数法修正证据理论,合成专家意见得到各风险因素的BPA函数;最后通过加权平均函数实现风险综合评判,依据最大隶属度原则确定风险等级。利用该评估模型对应答器系统功能失效进行了风险评估,验证了模型的可行性和有效性。     

基于毕达哥拉斯模糊贝叶斯网络的海底管道泄漏风险分析*

为分析海底管道运行中存在的泄漏风险,提出1种基于毕达哥拉斯模糊数与贝叶斯网络的风险评估模型。首先,通过毕达哥拉斯模糊数转换专家定性评价,拓展专家意见模糊范围;然后,结合主客观组合赋权法,利用毕达哥拉斯梯形爱因斯坦混合几何算子（PTFEHG）实现专家意见的聚合;最后,通过贝叶斯网络的推理与敏感性分析,计算海底管道泄漏风险的失效概率,并辨识关键风险因素。研究结果表明:该方法可以结合专家意见对海底管道泄漏风险进行定量分析,并识别导致泄漏事故的关键风险因素,对海底管道安全管理具有指导意义。