Risk Assessment through Fire and Evacuation Simulation in the Main Control Room of a Domestic Thermal Power Plant

A fire in the main control room of a thermal power plant is a significant threat to the entire power plant by incapacitating the concept of performance design to secure the safety of the power plant. In this study, using the PyroSim and Pathfinder programs to evaluate fire and evacuation risk of the main control room, the appropriate time and fire shape for evacuating people calmly were confirmed when the available safe egress time and required safe egress time of the main control room were compared. In the case of a cable fire, the simulation results indicate the heat generation rate to be more serious than the actual experimental results showed. This is because heat generation was lower in the experiment as the polymer material constituting the cable fell to the floor during combustion and no loger burns. The fire dynamics simulator results indicate that the power plant facility is safe because even these points are not considered.

Simulation-Based and Risk-Informed Assessment of the Effectiveness of Tsunami Evacuation Routes Using Agent-Based Modeling: A Case Study of Seaside, Oregon

Typically, tsunami evacuation routes are marked using signs in the transportation network and the evacuation map is made to educate people on how to follow the evacuation route. However, tsunami evacuation routes are usually identified without the support of evacuation simulation, and the route effectiveness in the reduction of evacuation risk is typically unknown quantitatively. This study proposes a simulation-based and risk-informed framework for quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of evacuation routes in reducing evacuation risk. An agent-based model is used to simulate the tsunami evacuation, which is then used in a simulation-based risk assessment framework to evaluate the evacuation risk. The route effectiveness in reducing the evacuation risk is evaluated by investigating how the evacuation risk varies with the proportion of the evacuees that use the evacuation route. The impacts of critical risk factors such as evacuation mode (for example, on foot or by car) and population size and distribution on the route effectiveness are also investigated. The evacuation risks under different cases are efficiently calculated using the augmented sample-based approach. The proposed approach is applied to the risk-informed evaluation of the route effectiveness for tsunami evacuation in Seaside, Oregon. The evaluation results show that the route usage is overall effective in reducing the evacuation risk in the study area. The results can be used for evacuation preparedness education and hence effective evacuation.

Application of Extended Lattice Gas Automata Model in Ship Evacuation Simulation

Lattice gas automaton is a mathematical model that is used to simulate the horizontal uniform evacuation behaviour of a group. However, extended lattice gas automata model is proposed to examine marine evacuation behaviour, which is subject to deck heeling. The application of distance accumulation algorithm and the conversion probability mostly make the extended model, while the approach deals with the most complicated ship evacuation. Moreover, the suggested model is expected to enhance the safety and efficiency of evacuation. The distance accumulation lattice gas automata model considers multiple movement behaviours, flow density, deck heeling, counterflow, and congestion. Movement behaviour will be severely affected in deck heeling process where people may walk normally, walk while bent over, or crawl. To verify the proposed model, 11 test scenarios and several emergency evacuation scenarios are demonstrated. The simulation results explain the validity of another experimental model. The number of people in counterflow, deck heeling, and difference in movement have a direct effect on evacuation, which is as discussed in results. This research article provides a brief study on ship design and crew response behaviour in case of mishap/accident.

The Spatial Optimization of Emergency Shelters Based on an Urban-Scale Evacuation Simulation

As an important space for disaster prevention, the construction of emergency shelters is crucial for the creation of a complete disaster relief facility network. Based on the goal of the prevention of day and night disaster, short-term fixed shelters are taken as the study object of the present work, and models are designed for evacuation simulation and the spatial optimization of shelters. According to the simulation, 680 of the 2334 demand points were found to be incompletely evacuated, and the average time for everyone to be evacuated was 10.3 min. Moreover, of the 888 short-term fixed shelters, only 218 did not reach their maximum capacity. In the context of short-term fixed sheltering, Haizhu was found to have the largest number of non-evacuated people (1.11 million), and the average number of non-evacuated people in Yuexiu was the largest (2184). According to the spatial optimization data of the shelters, the numbers of target plots for new shelter resources that must be added in Haizhu, Yuexiu, Liwa, and Tianhe are 406, 164, 141, and 136, respectively, the effective shelter areas of which are 2,621,100, 2,175,300, 812,100, and 1,344,600 m2, respectively. A total of 487 short-term fixed shelters and 360 temporary shelters were newly added, and the recommended scales for Haizhu, Liwan, Tianhe, and Yuexiu were 243, 70, 58, and 116, respectively, with average effective areas of 6169 m2, 5577 m2, 8707 m2, and 12,931 m2, respectively. Additionally, the recommended scales of newly added temporary shelters in Haizhu, Liwan, Tianhe, and Yuexiu are 163, 71, 78, and 48, with an average effective area of 2706, 2581, 4017, and 6234 m2, respectively. These findings provide a direct quantitative basis for the spatial optimization of various types of emergency shelters, and the method proposed in this paper supports the planning and layout of emergency shelters, as well as the improvement of the efficiency of urban resource allocation.

Crowd Emergency Evacuation Simulation Time Analysis via Obstacle Optimization Strategy

The crowd evacuation simulation is essential to provide important results for occupants, especially in the large capacity building compared to the human fire drill exercise. The strategy of evacuation such as the use of obstacles may need to be adapted by many organizations as an aid to help in visualizing and estimating the evacuation time during an emergency. During certain crowd events, they may consider the various setting of the object to ensure smoothness and effective crowd evacuation flow. In this paper, it aims to provide the simulation with 100-1000 agents and testing with obstacle using Anylogic tool and analysis of evacuation time validated using SPSS. The results show that the placement of obstacles near the exit way indeed can reduce the evacuation time and complies with the anti-arching phenomenon during evacuation.

PRIORITY SEARCH SIMULATION FOR FLOOD EVACUATION ROUTES USING FUZZY AHP APPROACH

A flood is an event of an increase in water volume above the standard limit due to increased rainfall, rising sea levels, storms, and others that result in submerging an area. Floods are disasters that can cause damage and loss of property, disrupt community activities and even cause loss of life. The central defiance to rescue flood victims is choosing a safe route for flood victims to reach the evacuation site. To be able to choose a safe route for flood victims, a flood evacuation simulation is made. Flood evacuation simulation is part of the game that has been created and aims to provide education about the weight of the obstacle that needs to be considered in selecting routes for flood victims. In this flood evacuation simulation, each road has obstacles. The method proposed for choosing safe routes for flood victims is the Fuzzy-based Analytical Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy AHP). The calculation of road route weight using the Fuzzy AHP method will produce the weight for each route. The smallest weight route shows the priority route and the safe route for flood victims to pass. In this case, the Fuzzy AHP method's calculation produces the lowest weight of 0.02347, which is achieved by route 5, the route passing through S-a-b-d-D. This route is a priority route that is safe for flood victims to pass through.