The study aims at developing a process to evaluate the impacts of the accidental emission of hazardous chemicals. The proposed process consists of four basic steps: i) identifying risks/hazards; ii) development of the worst-case scenario; iii) simulating the emission and dispersion of the toxic chemicals; and iv) assessing the severity of the impact to the people and the surroundings. It makes use of different techniques including accidental release source term, atmospheric dispersion modeling and results in the concentration and extent of the toxic chemicals in the atmosphere for either the direct evaporation of toxic chemicals as a primary emission or the dispersion of toxic chemicals as a domino effect of a fire or explosion accident. This process has been applied in a contrived case study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In a suppositious accident of p-xylene spill from a pesticide factory, the assessment for the worst-case scenario showed that p-xylene concentration in the atmosphere could reach up to 8,882,381 µg/m, that is higher than Protective Action Criteria for Chemicals-level 2 but far lower than the level 3. p-Xylene from the accident could disperse more than 20 km from the site, to a highly populated area with a large number of sensitive social economic object. The results of this assessment provide helpful information for the development of accidental response plan in the practical cases or supports the training for accident prevention and responses.
In this study, a combination of semi-quantitative risk assessment, composite indicator and fuzzy logic has been developed to identify industrial establishments and processes that represent potential environmental accidents associated with hazardous chemicals. The proposed method takes into consideration the root causes of risk probability of hazardous chemical accidents (HCAs), such as unsafe onsite storing and usage, inadequate operation training, poor safety management and analysis, equipment failure, and factors affected by the potential consequences of the accidents, including human health, water resources, and building and construction. These issues have been aggregated in a system of criteria and sub-criteria, demonstrated by a list of non-overlapping and exhaustive categorical terms. Semi-quantitative risk assessment is then applied to develop a framework for screening industrial establishments that exhibit potential HCAs. Fuzzy set theory with triangular fuzzy number deals with the uncertainty associated with the data input and reduces the influence of subjectivity and vagueness to the final results. The proposed method was tested among 77 industrial establishments located within the industrial zones of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Eighteen establishments were categorized as high HCA risk, 36 establishments were categorized as medium HCA risk, and 23 ones were of low HCA risk. The results are compatible with the practical chemical safety situation of the establishments and are consistent with expert evaluation.
In this study, a hybrid model was developed by the combination of Group Multi‐Criteria Decision‐Making Based on Best‐Worst Method (so‐called Group Best Worst Method) and GIS‐Based Fuzzy Logic Relations to provide decision support of the sustainable development of wind power. The proposed model was developed in four main steps including 1) defining exclusion criteria and weighted criteria; 2) normalizing data by fuzzy membership functions in GIS environment; 3) determining the influence/weighting of the criteria through Group Best‐Worst Method; and 4) identifying the suitable areas for wind farm location. In a case study of Bac Lieu Province, Vietnam, it resulted in the coastal areas being most suitable for the development of wind power. It was found to be in line with the local plan of renewable energy development. Moreover, the paddy field areas could also be highly suitable for wind energy sitting due to the reduced adverse effects on nature reserves biodiversity, and the potential benefits associated with the increased land values and local farmer's income, higher crop yield, etc. The proposed hybrid model is considered a novel and straightforward approach in wind power planning that can be extended to other fields of MCDM regarding the selection of geographical location for the other renewable energy projects.
This study proposed a multiple criteria decision process to identify the industrial facilities and operations that represent potential environmental accidents associated with uncontrolled release of chemicals. Unlike the existing approaches that simply rely on the storing capacity (quantity) and hazard of chemical substances at site, the proposed process takes into consideration the common root causes and recurring themes of the accidents such as unsafe onsite storing and using, inadequate operation training, inadequate safety management and analysis, equipment failure… The issues have been aggregated in a criteria system demonstrating a potential of environmental accident. The screening process comprises of 2 steps: 1) primary screening based on logic analysis; 2) detailed screening based on analytic hierarchy process. This method may overcome some limitations of the traditional approaches such as failure to take into account the state of the chemical safety or the ability to respond to chemical incidents of the facilities. The proposed process has been applied for screening a number of industrial facilities and operations in Hiep Phuoc industrial zone, Ho Chi Minh City. The results are consistent with the regulatory requirements, and reflect the current state of risk of chemical incidents at the facilities. Thus it is expected to facilitate the proper management of chemical safety and development of a feasible chemical accident prevention and response plan.
The inter-regional incidents associated with the oil spill is increasingly a serious problem to the industrial developing countries, like Vietnam. In this study, a multi-criteria analysis process was proposed to identify petroleum depots that represent potential inter-regional oil spill incidents in Ho Chi Minh City and the neighboring provinces. The criteria for determining the inter-regional inccidents asscociated with oil spill comprise of a number of criteria sets such as oil spill hazard criteria, inter-regional hazard criteria, oil spill damage criteria. Hierarchical analysis (AHP) has been applied for identifying the importance factor of the criteria. The total risk of inter-regional oil spill incidents are then estimated to provide effective support to the risk management and response plan.
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