Biomedical subjects

I A Papazoglou

Publications and source records attributed to I A Papazoglou.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Master Logic Diagram: method for hazard and initiating event identification in process plants.

Master Logic Diagram (MLD), a method for identifying events initiating accidents in chemical installations, is presented. MLD is a logic diagram that resembles a fault tree but without the formal mathematical properties of the latter. MLD starts with a Top Event "Loss of Containment" and decomposes it into simpler contributing events. A generic MLD has been developed which may be applied to all chemical installations storing toxic and/or flammable substances. The method is exemplified through its application to an ammonia storage facility.

Accidents, Occupational↗

PubMed2000

Supporting decision makers in land use planning around chemical sites. Case study: expansion of an oil refinery.

An approach for supporting decisions on land use around chemical sites - along with a software decision support system (DSS) - based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA; and particularly on the establishment of the set of efficient solutions and letting the final selection depend on local procedures and value tradeoffs) is being illustrated through a case study where five alternative expansions of a refinery are considered along with the existing situation. Alternative land use plans are based on combinations of alternative uses of specific land cells coupled with alternative expansion options. Criteria for evaluating alternative land use plans are the potential loss of life (PLL), the noise levels and the economic benefit resulting for each specific land use plan.

Accidents, Occupational↗

PubMed1999

Uncertainty quantification in the health consequences of the boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion phenomenon.

A methodology for estimating the risk owing to the phenomenon of boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE) in the presence of uncertainties both in the model and in the parameters of the models is presented. BLEVE takes place when a tank containing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is exposed to fire and fails catastrophically. Two models have been used in the estimation of the intensity of thermal radiation from the resulting fireball, namely the solid-flame model assuming an emission power independent of the combustion mass and the point-source model that estimates the emissive power as a function of the combustion mass. Three measures of the BLEVE consequences, the intensity of thermal radiation, the dose of thermal radiation and the probability of loss of life as a result of the exposure to the thermal radiation and as a function of the distance from the center of the tank have been considered. Uncertainties in the exact values of the parameters of the models have been quantified and the resulting uncertainties in the three consequence measures have been assessed. A sensitivity analysis on the relative contribution of the uncertainty in each of the input variables to the uncertainties of the consequence measures has been performed. One conclusion is that the uncertainties in the probability of loss of life are mainly due to the uncertainties in the model of the physical phenomenon rather than to the uncertainties of the dose-response model.

Accidents, Occupational↗

PubMed1999

Risk-informed selection of a highway trajectory in the neighborhood of an oil-refinery.

A methodology for characterizing alternative trajectories of a new highway in the neighborhood of an oil-refinery with respect to the risk to public health is presented. The approach is based on a quantitative assessment of the risk that the storage facilities of flammable materials of the refinery pose to the users of the highway. Physical phenomena with a potential for detrimental consequences to public health such as BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion), Unconfined Vapor Cloud Explosion, flash fire and pool fire are considered. Methodological and procedural steps for assessing the individual risk around the tank farm of the oil-refinery are presented. Based on the individual risk, group risk for each alternative highway trajectory is determined.

Decision Support Techniques↗

PubMed1997

Establishing protective long term measures after severe nuclear accidents using multiple criteria.

This paper proposes a methodology supporting decisions on protective measures following severe nuclear accidents and demonstrates its use. A multicriteria decision analysis approach is adopted where value tradeoffs are postponed until the very last stage of the decision process. All feasible solutions are implicitly considered and evaluated in the chosen criteria. Technically inferior solutions are excluded. Only the non-dominated or efficient solutions forming the "efficient frontier" are retained and presented to the decision makers. Implementation of inefficient solutions is in this way avoided. A choice among the efficient solutions, although it implies value tradeoffs among the multiple criteria, avoids the direct and apriori assessment of preferences. An interactive computer package has been developed with which the decision maker can choose a point on the efficient frontier in the consequence space and immediately see the corresponding alternative in the decision space. The methodology is demonstrated through an application on the choice among possible protective measures in contaminated areas of the former USSR after the Chernobyl accident using as criteria the collective effective life-time dose received by the population and the cost associated with each possible decision.

Cesium Radioisotopes↗