Proceedings of the
The 33rd European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL 2023)
3 – 8 September 2023, Southampton, UK
Risk Identification and Bowtie Analysis for Risk Management of Subsea Pipelines
1Research Group on Risk Assessment and Modelling in Environment, Assets, Safety, Operations and Nature - REASON, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE, Brazil /EADDRESS/2Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, a risk identification based on the Bowtie analysis is formulated, exploring a subsea pipeline system. Transporting dangerous materials by subsea pipelines during field operation is defined as a hazardous situation. The major pipeline causes during the field operation are also considered: external and internal corrosion; material, weld, and equipment failures; incorrect operation; and external interference. Based on this information, it is established that the main failure modes of subsea pipelines during the transport of dangerous materials by subsea pipelines are mechanical, structural, and external interference failures. Furthermore, environmental and financial aspects are considered in analysing the main consequences in the Bowtie diagram. Finally, barriers are implemented to prevent an undesirable incident or limit the consequences. The Bowtie helps structure the problem and consequently monitor the effectiveness of preventive and mitigating barriers, allowing risks to be better understood and managed over time, recording causes, consequences, and preventive and reactive controls for better monitoring.
Keywords: Subsea pipelines, Risk identification, Pipeline failure, Bowtie analysis.
