Mitigation of domino effect

Abstract

Abstract This chapter addresses the issue of safety measures that may be applied to mitigate domino effect, preventing or mitigating escalation scenarios. The role of safety barriers in domino effect mitigation is discussed. Several examples addressing the prevention and mitigation of domino effects triggered by the exposure to heat radiation generated by fire, blast waves, and fragments projection are provided. Safety barriers working principles are described on the basis of a preliminary conceptualization. A specific quantitative approach, based on a modified event tree analysis (ETA), is introduced for the probabilistic assessment of escalation, taking into account the presence of safety barriers. The probability of failure on demand and the effectiveness of the safety barrier are considered in order to assess their expected quantitative performance. An approach to evaluate barrier probability of failure on demand and effectiveness is discussed, and baseline value for barrier performance are provided. Overall, methods and tools supporting the analysis and performance assessment of mitigation barriers for domino effect are presented.