Methodology for pressure equipment risk assessment based on fracture mechanics and influence of human and organizational factors

Abstract

During the last couple of decades, there was a definitive increase in the need for process safety control due to working conditions and systems becoming more complex, up to a point where the existing methodologies could no longer provide satisfying results. Hence, the topic of this paper involves the development of an original methodology for risk assessment of pressure equipment, based on fracture mechanics and the influence of human and organizational factors. This methodology resulted from the systemization of existing knowledge in the filed of process safety, innovations and integration of existing tools and models for risk assessment, as well as from improvements in working with pressure equipment in general and combining of above approaches with fracture mechanics, which allowed the solving of main issues that existed in these fields. This was achieved by establishing and verifying new methodologies and models, with particular focus on simplicity and adaptability to practical application, along with solving of problems related to the lack of systematic and practical approach to assessing of the influence of human and organizational factors on risk. In order to verify the newly proposed methodology, a case study was conducted in Serbia, related to Bajina Bašta hydropower plant, which confirmed the accuracy and simplicity of the methodology in question. It was shown that the application of this methodology enabled a systematic approach to quantitative risk assessment for pressure equipment in any and all companies which work with such equipment, regardless of their size or field of work. Thus, it was concluded that the proposed methodology has offered valuable insights, both to the scientific and public communities, through its improvement of process safety.