| Summary: | Ensuring safe operability and minimizing risk is the key component to
prevent negative impact in all industries dealing with toxic, reactive, flammable
and explosive materials. HAZOP (Hazard and Operability), a preliminary
and systematic approach for identifying hazards has been unquestionably
successful in reducing incident of hazards by mitigating the consequence of
major accident in the industrial process facilities. However, laborious work, time
and cost are the shortcoming in performing and maintaining HAZOP analysis.
Many research works on HAZOP automation are available, yet the traditional
approach is still widely used by plant operators. The traditional method only
covers parts and aspects of a specific plant type rather than generalizing to fit
many plant types. In HAZOP analysis of chemical process industries (CPI),
process analysis can be divided into two groups - defined or routine process,
which roughly occupies 60-80% and predefined or non routine process, which
occupies 20-60% of HAZOP analysis. Thus leading towards the significance of
having safety information as update and accessible as possible.
In recent years, computer hardware capable of developing and running
virtual reality model has become more affordable for middle and small scale CPI.
Consequently, virtual reality has been proposed as a technological breakthrough
that holds the power to facilitate analysis. The ability to visualize complex and
dynamic systems involving personnel, equipment and layouts during any real
operation is a potential advantage of such an approach. With virtual reality
supporting HAZOP, analysis which often solely relied on expert imaginative
thinking in simulating hazard conditions, will aid understanding, memory
retention and create a more interactive analysis experience.
In focusing assessment for safety operator and safety decision maker, we
present a web-based HAZOP analysis management system (HMS) to help
HAZOP team and related individuals to perform revision, tracking and even
complete HAZOP analysis without management bureaucracy. Besides,
depending solely on expert imaginative thinking of scenario using P&ID, this
work will develop a dynamic visual model which brings to the user a different
view of consequent and subsequent to an accident and will further enable three
dimensional analyses of effects. This approach will prevent ‘miss looks’ due to
‘paper-based’ view.
We also present Virtual HAZOP Training system, a risk-managing
virtual training concept supported by intelligent HAZOP proposed to eliminate
analysis redundancies and bring static ‘paper-based’ analysis to more dynamic
and interactive virtual analysis simulation. However, the efficiency of VR
simulator depends on the scenario accuracy to the real world that can be
simulated. We introduce the system’s artificial intelligent engine responsible for
retrieving the most accurate and highest possibility ‘to-happen’ scenario case. A
fuzzy – CBR method enables the engine to classify and use real past scenarios
combined with suitable parameters in creating a defined scenario. This method
resolves issues in balancing between computational complexity and knowledge
elicitation
Reactor section in a vacuum gas oil hydrodesulphurization (VGO HDS)
process is used as the case study to illustrate the performance of the proposed
system. The wide usages of HDS unit in the petroleum refining industry play
important roles in chemical plant incidents happening worldwide. HAZOP
analysis management system in average manages to reduce more than half the
time required in performing HAZOP analysis compares to traditional method.
With the proposed system, operator is able to optimally use safety information in
HMS to prevent common and repetitive mistakes. Virtual process and accident
simulator available in virtual HAZOP training system help to improve safety
operator estimate overall impact towards equipment, operator and environment
during process 20-35% better.
This system is expected to be the main foundation for Virtual Reality
simulator research in analyzing accident caused by human factor. Asides
providing better and healthier working environment, negative profitability
impact which influence not only the company that runs it but also the world
economy due to byproduct shortage, can be avoided.
|
|---|