Quantitative assessment of safety barrier performance in the prevention of domino scenarios triggered by fire

• We developed a methodology for the quantitative assessment of safety barriers.
• We focused on safety barriers aimed at preventing domino effect triggered by fire.
• We obtained data on effectiveness and availability of the safety barriers.
• The methodology was exemplified with a case study of industrial interest.
• The results showed the role of safety barriers in preventing fired domino escalation.

The evolution of domino scenarios triggered by fire critically depends on the presence and the performance of safety barriers that may have the potential to prevent escalation, delaying or avoiding the heat-up of secondary targets. The aim of the present study is the quantitative assessment of safety barrier performance in preventing the escalation of fired domino scenarios. A LOPA (layer of protection analysis) based methodology, aimed at the definition and quantification of safety barrier performance in the prevention of escalation was developed. Data on the more common types of safety barriers were obtained in order to characterize the effectiveness and probability of failure on demand of relevant safety barriers. The methodology was exemplified with a case study. The results obtained define a procedure for the estimation of safety barrier performance in the prevention of fire escalation in domino scenarios.