LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course is devoted to the knowledge of techniques and theoretical basis for reliability evaluation in process plants, the identification of hazards, the evaluation of the consequences of accidents (by consequence analysis and damage models)  and to quantitative risk assessment in stationary process plants and multimodal HazMat transportation. Concerted application of skills in environmental and accident risk mitigation.

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to give students the basic theoretical scientific knowledge and the technical tools allowing to acquire:

• the formal methodologies to assess and evaluate reliability of plant and processes;
• the identification of hazards and their reltionship with occupational and process safety;
• the evaluation of the consequences of accidents and related advanced damage models;
• the assessment of risk  as a combination of frequencies and consequences considering both stationary sources and multimodal transport
• environmentl and accident risk manegment.including emerging trends towards "safety 4.0"
• transversal skills in terms of communication and team working ability, as well as learning capability during class numerical guided applications and team case-study on a selected research topic iwithn the broad safety domain.

The knowledge of these issues is necessary to manage safety problems during the whole plant lifetime ensuring compliance with the safety regulations of the process industries and the industry sustainability goals.

TEACHING METHODS

In-class lessons. Tutorials and numerical case-studies solved and critically discussed during the lessons. Self-directed team-work focused on acquring transversal knowledge to be assessed at the examination.

The teacher will NOT make available the video recordings of the lessons. Students are  warmly reccomanded  to directly follow all the lessons, at the best in presence, wheneve rpossible.

Lessons are delivered in Italian: to fruitfully attend classes, a good comprehension of Italian languange is necessary (B2 level). 

DSA students

Students holding DSA certificate, or needing other dedicated education needs, are kindly requested to contact the professor at the start of the first semester to agree upon educational activity and final examination, in close adherence with the targets and learning outcomes of the course.  

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1.Introduction

Qualitative and quantitative risk assessment. General Risk Model. Unwanted events classification. Personnel and process safety. Complementing economics with safety. Relevant national and international regulations.

2.Occupational Safety

Statistics and accident frequency evaluation. Performance indicators of personnel safety. Human factor and risk determining factors. Occupational health and ergonomics.

3.Hazard Identification and Analysis

Gas, vapour and dust hazardous properties and their evaluation. Risk indicators. Hazard identification tools and application to case-studies. Fire, explosion, instability and reactivity. Sound and vibration: basic concepts.

4.Reliability engineering and frequency evaluation

Theory of industrial reliability and elements of statistics. Frequency and probability.

Human and system reliability. Fault-tree analysis of complex systems. Case-study selection.

5.Severity and damage evaluation

Source term models.  Dispersion modelling of neutral and dense gas and cold jet. Fire scenarios modelling (flash fire, pool-fire, jet fire, fireball, ventilation controlled fire). Explosion modelling (vapour cloud explosion, physical explosion, runaway, cold and hot BLEVE). Novel approaches towards inherent safety and process plant resiliency Notable major accidents and relevant lessons.

6.Quantitative Risk Assessment

Local, individual and social risk. Damage models (threshold and probit approach). Risk acceptability criteria. Risk mitigation and design of emergency relief systems. Land use planning.  Risk in multimodal HazMat transportation. HSE risk management. Dynamic risk modelling towards Safety 4.0. Risk perception.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The reference teaching textsbooks are: 

P. Citti, G. Arcidiacono, G. Campatelli. “Fondamenti di affidabilità”. Mc Graw Hilll, Milano.

J. Casal "Evaluation of the effects and consequences of major accidents in industrial plants". Elsevier, Oxford, UK.

G. Nota. “Advances in Risk Management” Sciyo ed.(Chapter 4 : Trends, problems and outlook in process industry risk assessment and aspects of personal and process safety" by B. Fabiano and H. J. Pasman.  Free download at: http://www.intechopen.com/books/advances-in-risk-management . It is already uploaded also on Teams platform.

Lecture slides and reference scientific papers are promptly delivered in reduced electronic format. on Teams platform. Supporting material for tutorials is provided during the lessons and together with lesson and tutorial attendance is adequate for passing the final examination

Additional reference texts available for consultation at University library, or on the web:

Lee et al. “Lees’ Loss Prevention in the Process Industries” S. Mannan ed. vol. 1-3 Butterworth, Oxford, UK, 2011.

G.G. Brown. “Unit Operations” Hoepli ed., Mialno.

L. Verde, S. Moreno. “Il convogliamento degli scarichi di emergenza nell’industria chimica”. Franco Angeli ed., Milano.