Development of economic consequence methodology for process risk analysis.

Area of Science:

• Chemical Engineering
• Risk Management
• Industrial Safety

Background:

• Accurate economic consequence analysis is crucial for effective risk management in process industries.
• Existing methodologies may lack comprehensive integration of process deviations and economic impacts.
• Quantifying financial losses from industrial accidents remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a comprehensive methodology for economic consequence analysis in process systems.
• To integrate loss functions for relating process deviations to economic losses.
• To enhance quantitative risk assessment (QRA) for improved industrial safety.

Main Methods:

• Developed a four-step methodology: scenario definition, loss identification, loss quantification, and loss integration.
• Utilized specific loss functions (revised Taguchi, modified inverted normal) to assess different types of economic losses.
• Applied the methodology to two industrial case studies for validation.

Main Results:

• The proposed methodology effectively relates process deviations to economic losses within defined accident scenarios.
• Integration of various loss functions provides a quantified total economic impact.
• Case studies demonstrated the practical applicability and robustness of the methodology.

Conclusions:

• The new economic consequence analysis methodology offers a significant improvement for quantitative risk assessment.
• Implementation enhances the understanding and quantification of risk in process systems.
• This leads to optimized design, decision-making, and risk management strategies in industry.