Evaluation of Fire Mitigation and Control Approaches in Gas Processing Plants

With the rapid development of urban construction and increasing industrial demands, numerous long-distance oil and gas pipelines have been constructed and are now operational in China. During transportation, these pipelines are susceptible to leakage incidents caused by various internal or external factors. If the concentration of leaked oil or gas mixed with air reaches its flammability or explosiveness limits, the presence of an ignition source in the vicinity could lead to fire or explosion accidents, resulting in casualties and severe property damage. Consequently, research on risk analysis and evaluation of oil and gas pipelines has become a key focus within the field of safety engineering in recent years. Therefore, it is essential to conduct fire risk assessments to ensure the safe operation of long-distance oil and gas pipelines. In this study, the risk characteristics of long-distance oil and gas pipelines were first analysed, followed by a fire risk assessment based on Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA). Taking a natural gas pipeline as an example, the affected area (death radius) and individual fire risk contour lines were mapped using the CASSTQRA software. For the natural gas pipeline studied, the death radius was determined to be 148.42 m, and the areas enclosed by the individual risk contour lines of 3×10^-7 and 1×10^-6 did not include high-density residential zones, public gathering areas, highly sensitive sites, critical facilities, or other densely populated locations. Thus, the fire risk of the natural gas pipeline was considered acceptable. Finally, this paper proposes corresponding preventive and control measures to ensure the safety of pipeline transportation. The findings of this study provide practical significance for risk assessment and safety management of long-distance oil and gas pipelines.