Risk-aware navigation in industrial plants at risk of NaTech accidents

Abstract

Industrial plants are quite susceptible to NaTech disasters during earthquakes caused by damage to structural and non-structural components and the potential release of toxic materials. To mitigate and manage this risk, the ROSSINI project was initiated and its results are described here for what concerns industrial plant worker safety and their risk-based navigation in emergency situations. The project includes a data acquisition system consisting of a data acquisition board and an array of different sensor technologies, which process the seismic event and other meteorological information before passing them as inputs towards the risk identification and evaluation (RIE) modules. Here, the risks associated with structural and non-structural damage and health risks associated with the release of harmful substances are estimated and combined to form a navigable risk map. This map is used within a purpose-built risk-based navigation application for the safe egress of workers from an industrial plant. To demonstrate the implementation of this system, two case-study industrial plant layouts consisting of buildings, non-structural components, liquid storage tanks, piping systems, and chemical storage vessels, were devised. This paper describes the project’s implementation in these contexts and illustrates the results via several example scenarios.