Recursive Operability Analysis of a pilot plant gasifier

This paper describes the utilization of the Recursive Operability Analysis for the identification of accident scenarios of a pilot plant gasifier fed with solid wastes and alternative fuels. The procedure was used for the identification of situations of potential risk during the operation of the plant and, coupled with the Fault Tree algorithm, in the successive quantification of probability of occurrence of the different potential Top Events. The results indicated that Recursive Operability Analysis can be usefully applied in the design as well as in the commissioning and in the start-up stages of the plant construction. The quantification of the actual effects of the implementation of new management criteria and design solutions can also be easily obtained. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.