Fuzzy inference system for fire and explosion risk assessment of floating storage and offloading vessels

Abstract

A case study for the fire and explosion risk assessment of a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel is presented in this paper. The fire and explosion hazards affecting the storage tanker for different operating modes were first identified. Two approaches for risk assessment were then adopted. The first is a qualitative risk assessment approach using a qualitative risk matrix. The second is a fuzzy risk assessment approach using a fuzzy inference system (FIS). The use of a fuzzy representation for probabilities, consequences, and risk values takes into account the imprecision associated with the assignment of their values. A comparison is provided between the results obtained using the two approaches for an FSO vessel which is located about 120 km offshore from Libya. Results show that the use of an FIS approach provides a more robust framework for fire and explosion risk assessment and more output information than the qualitative matrix approach. The results also show that the computed risk values using a fuzzy risk index measure are consistent with those obtained using a qualitative risk matrix approach.