Topology analysis for safety conscious production systems

The analysis and design of process topology is an important factor to ensure safety during the design and operation of chemical production plants as well as to support other lifecycle activities. This paper presents topology analysis mechanism, which is integrated within computer-aided engineering environment and used to support the design and operation of chemical production plants with considerations of process safety assessment. The proposed topology analysis is based on robust modeling methodology, which enabled the structuring of the accumulated design knowledge where fault propagation models are defined and mapped to process topology. A case study chemical production plant is used to illustrate the proposed solution.