Bai Y., Liu K., Weng W., Wu J., 2025, A Novel QRA Model for Coupling Accidents - A Case Study of Utility Tunnels, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 116, 67-72.
Since there are more emerging and interacted process installations, the traditional QRA treating risks as independent ones may ignore coupling effects and result in risk underestimation. The utility tunnel is a new process installation with multiple hazardous pipelines inside a confined space. Existing studies of utility tunnel risks focus more on single accidents like cable fire or gas explosion, with limited analysis of the coupling effect. In this paper, a novel QRA model for coupling risks is proposed in a new perspective for the coupling risk assessment of process installations. The ponding inside utility tunnels coupled with personnel evacuation is analysed as a case study. The results show that the current design of utility tunnels is insufficient for preventing ponding-triggered drowning in heavy rain like the “7.20” rainstorm. Heightening the water barrier of ground ventilation openings to over 0.6 m can effectively reduce the coupling risks. Besides, the proposed model can also be further applied to other coupling risks.
