Real-time Assessment of Integrated Safety-security Scenarios Triggering Cascading Events in the Process Industries

Abstract

Industrial sites processing and storing hazardous chemicals can be attractive targets of malicious acts of interference. The consequences successful intentional attacks to chemical facilities can be severe and could escalate generating domino effects, potentially affecting people and the environment. Moreover, intentional attacks have a dynamic escalation that is not well depicted by conventional analyses, which are instead static. This works focuses on the development of a comprehensive tool for Integrated Safety-Security risk assessment and related domino effects based on a three-dimensional (3D) real-time approach. Firstly, the plant is inspected using a drone to generate the graphic interface of the tool, which is the 3D reconstruction of the plant. Real-time data are associated with each mapped element, e.g., pressure/temperature conditions. The tool allows for the evaluation of probabilities and 3D consequences of accidents given real time and/or user input data. Potential domino effects of integrated safety-security scenarios will also be included in the tool, allowing for the mapping of plant vulnerability, risk and supporting the evaluation of weaknesses and need of additional countermeasures. In order to provide a sample application, a simplified version of the tool was used on a case study.