WO2024107150A1 - Artificial intelligence assisted explosion early warning tracking system and method in storage areas of flammable and combustible chemical liquids - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention is related to an IOT (Internet of Things) based early warning and tracking system to protect against the risk of explosion of flammable and flammable chemical liquids used in industrial facilities in storage areas such as stocks and tanks.

Description

DESCRIPTION ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ASSISTED EXPLOSION EARLY WARNING TRACKING SYSTEM AND METHOD IN STORAGE AREAS OF FLAMMABLE AND COMBUSTIBLE CHEMICAL LIQUIDS Technical field of the invention The invention is related to an IOT (Internet of Things) based early warning and tracking system to protect against the risk of explosion of flammable and flammable chemical liquids used in industrial facilities in storage areas such as stocks and tanks. State of the Art While chemicals and chemical processes, the use of which industrial facilities increase in parallel with the development of science and technology, can make production processes and life easier, on the other hand, they can pose a risk to both humans and the environment with when used without supervision, precaution, and improperly. Chemical substances are important production components in agriculture, manufacturing, construction and service sectors, as well as consumer goods. Accidents that may occur as a result of any disruptions during the transportation, storage, production, use and disposal of these substances have the potential to cause serious damage. Hazardous chemicals have the potential to affect not only the people or businesses that directly use these substances, but also the masses, the environment and natural life in case of possible industrial accidents. Accidents cause loss of life, injuries, diseases (and may even have the potential to cause chronic diseases in the long term) for workers and/or residents of the region, and negatively affect and damage the air, water, soil, animals, in short, the nature. Industrial accidents generally occur in the form of explosion, fire and chemical release. Liquids with flash points below 37.8°C and a vapour pressure that does not exceed 276 kPa at 37.8°C are defined as flammable liquids, while liquids with a flash point of 37.8°C and above are defined as combustible liquids. Many flammable liquids are evaporative by nature and constantly emit gases heavier than air, which cannot be seen by the naked eye. When combustible liquids are heated above their flash points, they acquire the properties of flammable liquids and become equally dangerous as flammable liquids. The most important difference between flammable and combustible liquids is related to the mobility of the resulting vapours. While vapours from flammable liquids can travel very far from their source, provided that they are heavier than air, combustible liquid vapours cannot travel very far unless the ambient temperature is above the flash point of the liquid. The risk of flammability of liquids that emit large amounts of flammable or combustible vapour is determined by the evaporation rate of the liquid and its boiling and flash points. Boiling point, one of the physical properties that determine the flammability of a liquid, expresses the heat value acquired by the substance when its vapour pressure exceeds atmospheric pressure. At this temperature value, the evaporation rate exceeds the condensation rate, and at this point, the liquid turns into a gas rather than the gas turning into a liquid. Liquids heated by a heater emit their vapours into their environment. These resulting vapours form a mixture with air in certain proportions. The first temperature at which the saturated air-vapour mixture ignites is called the ignition or flash point. The risks associated with the use and storage of flammable and combustible liquids are determined by the fact that it is not the liquid that burns or explodes, but the flammable vapours released by the liquid exposed to temperatures above its flash point. For this reason, flammable and combustible liquids are divided into hazard classes according to their flash points. These classifications are made according to the NFPA 30 (American National Fire Protection Association) standard. The classification made by the Regulation on Fire Protection of Buildings No.26735 was also taken from NFPA 30. According to this standard, the hazard classes of flammable and combustible liquids are given as in Table 1.

Table1: Classification of Flammable and Combustible Liquid Substances (Regulation on Fire Protection of Buildings No.26735). These liquids, which have very high risks and wide usage areas, can constantly emit vapour when they reach temperatures above their flash points, and when these resulting vapour-air mixtures are within flammable or explosive limits, they can cause serious fires or explosions with a spark or fire source. The minimum and maximum explosion points of vapours of flammable liquids in the atmosphere are called LEL and UEL. Lower explosion limit (LEL): It is the minimum amount of fuel vapour in the air that can cause an explosion. It refers to the minimum proportion of a combustible substance that must be in the air for flash to occur. Upper explosion limit (UEL): It is the highest amount of fuel vapour in the air that can maintain its explosive properties. For explosion or combustion to occur in an environment, there must be an oxygen source. The amount of oxygen in the mixture must be at the minimum level for explosion or combustion to occur. Table 2 shows the ranges within which flammable material vapours in the ambient air can burn (explode).

Table 2. Lower and upper explosion values of some chemicals. Mixtures of gas, vapour, fog, and dust of combustible chemicals with air that can burn completely if ignited are defined as "explosive atmosphere" and poses an important source of danger for workers and workplace safety in the pharmaceutical industry, sugar factories, leather, paint, oil and petroleum products, textile, and other chemical industries. Explosion is the sudden expansion and temperature increase of unstable solid, liquid, and gaseous substances as a result of physical expansion or chemical reaction under the influence of friction, impact, vibration, heat and light. An explosion is a chemical reaction and occurs suddenly. Certain chemicals carry fire and explosion risks and are easily ignited, spread very quickly into their environment and easy to reach flash points. They can produce significant amounts of heat. Explosion generally occurs in three ways. Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion (BLEVE) is a type of explosion that occurs as a result of explosion or combustion that occurs as a result of the increase in internal pressure in ventless containers containing combustible chemicals. As a result of the fire flame resulting from the explosion reaching the liquefied gas tanks, the liquid tanks begin to heat up from the outside, the liquefied gas inside the tank expands and the internal pressure increases. The tank, which cannot withstand the internal pressure, eventually breaks down. The liquefied gas under high pressure evaporates as a result of the decrease in pressure, the gas in vapour form spreads to its environment, and as a result of the ignition of the vapours, a boiling liquid- expanding vapour explosion occurs. Unconfined Vapour Cloud Explosion = UVCE: A vapour cloud explosion occurs as a result of the ignition of a very dense and widely spread vapour cloud or air/gas mixture. Closed Vapour Cloud Explosion = CVCE occurs as a result of the ignition of vapour in closed environments. Vapours formed in a closed container, spread inside a building, or settled in the cavities of a device burn when ignited, increasing the ambient pressure with the effect of heat released as a result of combustion. As a result of increasing pressure, an explosion occurs. As a result of chemical gas and dust explosions, loss of life and property occurs, and employees and equipment suffer significant damage. A risk assessment should be made in all places where an explosive atmosphere may occur, and according to the results, all necessary and possible technical and organisational measures should be determined, and appropriate equipment and protective systems should be selected. In Turkey, national legislation and standards established in accordance with European legislation and standards are implemented on this subject. In studies carried out in accordance with these legislation and standards, all departments, machines, processes and substances in the facilities and their interactions are examined and the formation of explosive atmospheres, the possibility of this environment meeting with ignition sources and the severity of the possible explosion are evaluated. Today, there are more than 150 risk assessment methods. The most commonly used methods among these methods are; − Preliminary Hazard Analysis - PHA, − Job Safety Analysis - JSA, − What If..?, − Preliminary Risk Analysis-PRA Using Checklists, − Preliminary Risk Analysis (PRA), − Risk Assessment Decision Matrix − L Type Matrix − Multivariate X-Type Matrix Diagram − Hazard and Operability Studies - HAZOP, − Hazard Ranking Index (DOW index, MOND index, NFPA index), − Rapid Ranking, Material Factor, − Fault Tree Analysis -FTA, − Failure Mode and Effects Analysis-FMEA − Failure Mode and Effects Critical Analysis- FMECA, − Safety Audit, − Event Tree Analysis - ETA, − Cause and Consequence Analysis, − Cause and Effect Analysis, − Kinney Method - Mathematical Risk Evaluation Method, − Decision Tree, − Multi Criteria Decision Analysis -MCDA, − Zurich Hazard Analysis, − Machine Risk Assessment, − Toxicological Risk Assessment - Chemical Exposure Assessment, − Environmental Risk Assessment − Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points - HACCP − Safety Function Analysis, − Reliability Centred Maintenance - RCM − Sneak Analysis - Sneak Circuit Analysis − Business Impact Analysis − Human Error Identification - HEI − Human Reliability Assessment - HRA, − Technique For Human Error Reliability Prediction - THERP, − Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method - Cream, − Hierarchical Task Analysis, − Deviation Analysis, − Management Oversight and Risk Tree - MORT, − Energy Analysis, − Safety Barrier Diagrams, − Layers of Protection Analysis - LOPA − Bow-Tie Methodology, − Root Cause Analysis, − Scenario Analysis, − Markov Analysis, − Monte-Carlo Analysis, − F-N Curves. Even though existing risk assessment methods such as Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP), Fault Tree Analysis, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), which are technically based on identifying hardware errors and examining the accidents that may arise from them, target technical security, negative consequences may occur due to human errors. While making the evaluation, in addition to the combustible substances released into the environment during planned activities, the release of combustible substances that may occur in case of possible accidents or errors should also be taken into consideration. In the evaluation, explosive atmosphere classification is made by taking into account the physical and chemical properties, flow rate, temperature, pressure, restriction, release frequency and many other conditions of the combustible substance spread/released into the environment, and accordingly, the suitability of electrical or driven devices in the environment is evaluated and possible ignition sources are inspected. As a result of this evaluation, efforts are made to control the formation and ignition risks of all explosive atmospheres in the facilities. Although it seems that the explosion can be prevented in theory by preventing one of these factors from occurring, in practice this situation is almost impossible to happen. If the probability of an explosion cannot be sufficiently reduced, the extent of damage that may occur should also be examined, and technical and organizational measures should be determined and implemented to extinguish, reduce or eliminate the destructive effects of these explosions. The invention that is the subject of the application numbered "TR2022/000385” in the state of the art relates to a system that constantly measures and monitors the amount of carbon monoxide in the environment, warns people in the environment if the amount of carbon monoxide in the environment reaches a toxic and dangerous level, reduces the amount of carbon monoxide in the environment by providing ventilation of the environment and allows fresh air to enter, and also makes it possible to call for help by notifying the necessary authorities in case of emergency. The invention that is the subject of the application numbered "TR2021/021929” in the state of the art relates to an inventive system that enables the early detection of a fire by monitoring the environmental factors of the region where it is placed, and enables critical information such as fire spread direction, fire intervention direction, escape route to be determined and shared with at least one person and/or relevant institution, depending on environmental factors. The invention that is the subject of the application numbered "TR2021/015657” in the state of the art relates to a system that directs people through their mobile devices in case of emergency and fire evacuation in large factories or hotels, allowing evacuation processes to be carried out faster and healthier. The invention that is the subject of the application numbered "TR2021/020033” in the state of the art relates to a system that enables the detection of fire risk areas and prediction of fires that may occur by performing mass movement analysis on telecom signalling data and analysing the image data obtained from watchtowers with image processing techniques. The invention that is the subject of the application numbered "TR2021/15188” in the state of the art relates to an open cell fire suppression internal flash and explosion control system that is developed from open cell roll, sphere foaming or foil for flammable liquid, gas, fuel oil stock tank tanks and tubes, and minimizes the amount of air and oxygen in the storage container by using it in the area where flammable, flammable liquids and gases are located in the fire and accident environment, and in the area where it covers the internal volume of stock tanks and tubes, thus preventing the triggering of hazardous substance vapour and thus preventing internal explosion that may occur. The invention that is the subject of the application numbered "TR2021/01678” in the state of the art relates to a control system for pressure controllers to provide pressure control, especially during the production and transportation of explosive fluids. When the studies in the known state of the technique are examined, there is a need for an early warning and tracking system in which artificial intelligence, data storage/processing module and multiple sensors are integrated, specifically designed to protect flammable and combustible chemical liquids from explosion risk in stock, tanks, and similar storage areas. The aims of the invention The invention is related to an IOT (Internet of Things) based early warning and tracking system to protect against the risk of explosion of flammable and flammable chemical liquids used in industrial facilities in storage areas such as stocks and tanks. The most important aim of the invention is to ensure that the authorised person(s) is directed to the possible explosion point with a warning so that the authorised person(s) can intervene to prevent the risk of possible explosion, according to the architectural sketch of the industrial facility, which is installed on the GSM mobile devices and includes the location information of the stock, tank and similar warehouses of flammable and combustible liquids. Another aim of the invention is to analyse all the data in the database with the artificial intelligence algorithm and to instantly calculate the locations and sizes of pressure, fire, temperature, and gas spread. Another aim of the invention is to detect the danger level and to transmit warning information and location information where the explosion may occur to the GSM mobile device of authorised persons so that they can intervene early in the risk of possible explosion. The structural and characteristic features of the invention and all its advantages will be understood more clearly by the figures given below and the detailed description written with reference to these figures. For this reason, the assessment should be made by taking these figures and detailed explanation into consideration. Description of drawings Figure 1; is a drawing that gives a schematic view of the early warning tracking system. Reference numbers 100. Early warning tracking system 101. Temperature sensor 102. Fire sensor 103. Gas measurement sensor 104. Pressure sensor 105. Liquid filling level indicator 106. IP camera 107. Database 108. Base station 109. Application 110. Data entry interface 111. Server Description of the invention The invention relates to a system that comprises a base station that provides GSM communication and internet access and both receives and sends radio signals and a system that warns authorised persons and prevents a possible explosion accident in case of possible explosion risk in storage areas such as stocks and tanks of flammable and combustible chemical liquids that fall into the category of hazardous substance class 3 used in industrial factories or facilities. The early warning tracking system (100) comprises IoT-based sensors. The temperature sensor (101) detects the temperature level in the environment and transmits the temperature information to the server (111). The fire sensor (102) detects the heat and smoke level in the environment and transmits the fire information to the server (111). The gas measurement sensor (103) detects the dangerous gas level in the environment and transmits the gas information to the server (111). The pressure sensor (104) detects the pressure level in the internal environment of the warehouse such as stock and tank and transmits the pressure information to the server (111). The liquid filling level indicator (105) measures the filling level inside the storage such as stock and tank and transmits the internal filling level information to the server (111). The application (109) can be executed on any mobile device and ensures that the authorised person(s) is directed to the possible explosion point with a warning, so that the authorised person(s) can intervene to prevent the risk of possible explosion, according to the architectural sketch of the industrial facility. The application (109) provides the location information where the user needs to go to the explosion risk area within the structure. The application (109) includes a data entry interface (110) that allows the occupational safety expert to enter risk assessment data, explosion protection document data and employee information. Risk assessment data, explosion protection document data and employee information are used when determining the danger level by the server (111). Application (109) enables the flash points of flammable and combustible liquids to be entered. IP (Internet Protocol) camera (106), located in certain areas within the architectural structure, records the image of the environment and transmits it to the server (111). The database (107) records the architectural sketch of the industrial facility including stock, tank and similar warehouse location information of flammable and combustible liquids, temperature sensor (101) data, fire sensor (102) data, gas measurement sensor (103) data, IP camera (106) data, pressure sensor (104) data, liquid filling level indicator (105) data and data transmitted from the data input interface (110). The server (111) records the data coming from temperature sensor (101), fire sensor (102), gas measurement sensor (103), IP camera (106), pressure sensor (104), liquid filling level indicator (105) and data input interface (110) in the database (107). The server (111) analyses all data in the database (107) with the artificial intelligence algorithm and instantly calculates the locations and sizes of pressure, temperature, heat, smoke and gas emissions. The server (111) uses the data from the sensors and the base station (108) to provide a score by categorising the five levels of danger between very dangerous and non-dangerous. The server (111) detects the danger level and sends the warning and location information to the application (109) via the base station (108) so that the authorised person(s) can intervene early in the possible explosion risk. The server (111) detects the danger level and sends warning and location information to the application (109) via the base station (108) to the GSM subscriber authorised person(s) to intervene early in the possible explosion risk. By taking the flash points of flammable and combustible liquids from the application, the server (111), provides the system with a system risky situation warning when there is an increase of more than 10% in flash point values, a very risky BLEVE explosion warning when the boiling point is 20% below, and a system risky situation warning when the pressure exceeds 276 kPa. The base station (108) provides GSM communication and internet access, and both receives and sends radio signals. Early warning tracking system (100) working method comprises the process steps of; - Detecting the temperature increase in the environment by the IOT temperature sensor (101) and transmitting this information to the server (111) on a location basis when the temperature rise above the critical temperature determined in the industrial facility begins, - Detecting the heat and smoke in the environment by the IOT fire sensor (102) and transmitting this information to the server (111) on a location basis when a fire starts in the architectural structure of the industrial facility, - Detecting the gas level in the environment by the IOT gas measurement sensor (103) and transmitting this information to the server (111) on a location basis when the target hazardous gas begins to spread within the lower alarm limits in designated areas within the architectural structure of the industrial facility, - Taking images of the environment within the architectural structure by IP cameras (106) and transmitting them to the server (111), - Measuring the internal pressure level of the warehouse within the architectural structure of the industrial facility by the IOT pressure sensor (104) and transmitting the pressure information to the server (111) on a location basis when an increase above the determined level begins, - Measuring the filling level in the warehouse within the architectural structure of the industrial facility by the IOT liquid filling level indicator (105) and transmitting the internal filling level to the server (111) on a location basis when an increase above the specified level begins, - Recording the information coming from the temperature sensor (101), fire sensor (102), gas measurement sensor (103), IP camera (106), pressure sensor (104) and liquid filling level indicator (105) to the database (107) by the server (111), - Recording the risk assessment data, explosion protection document data and employee information entered by the occupational safety expert via the data entry interface (110) to the database (107) by the server (111), - Activating the application (109) carried out on the GSM mobile devices of the authorised person(s) within the industrial facility architectural structure, - Analysing the data in the database (107) by the server (111) using the artificial intelligence and instantly calculating the locations and sizes of pressure, dangerous temperature, heat, smoke, and gas emissions and transmitting these to the application (109) for authorised person(s) to intervene early, - Determining the danger level by the server (111) by taking the flash points of flammable and combustible liquids from the application (109), - Early intervention in the risk of possible explosion by obtaining early warning information through the application (109) and displaying the location to be visited within the structure, and - Presenting the danger level information calculated by the server (111) via the application (109).

References TMMOB Kimya Mühendisleri İstanbul Odası (2019) ‘’ Endüstriyel Yangınlar ve Patlamalar 2019 yılı Raporu” Özer, Muzaffer (1985) ‘’Endüstriyel Yangın Tehlikeleri ve Güvenlik Tedbirleri” Zengin, Mehmet Ali (2021) ‘’Parlayıcı ve Patlayıcı Maddeler” Resmi Gazete, (2013) ‘’Çalışanların Patlayıcı Ortamların Tehlikelerinden Korunması Hakkında Yönetmelik’’ TS EN 1127-1 (2019) ‘’Patlayıcı ortamlar – Patlamayı önleme ve korunma – Bölüm 1: Temel kavramlar ve metodoloji’’ Eğri, Nihat (2008) ‘’Patlayıcı ortamlarda iş güvenliği’’

Claims

CLAIMS 1. IoT-based early warning tracking system to protect against explosion risk in storage areas of flammable and combustible chemical liquids used in industrial facilities (100), comprising; − at least one temperature sensor (101) that detects the temperature level in the environment and transmits the temperature information to the server (111), − at least one fire sensor (102) that detects the heat and smoke level in the environment and transmits the fire information to the server (111), − at least one gas measurement sensor (103) that detects the dangerous gas level in the environment and transmits the gas information to the server (111), − at least one pressure sensor (104) that detects the pressure level in the internal environment of the warehouse and transmits the pressure information to the server (111), − at least one liquid filling level indicator (105) that measures the filling level inside the tank and transmits the internal filling level information to the server (111), − at least one IP camera (106) positioned within the architectural structure, recording the image of the environment and transmitting it to the server (111), − at least one database (107) that stores architectural sketch of the industrial facility comprising warehouse location information of flammable and combustible liquids, temperature sensor (101) data, fire sensor (102) data, gas measurement sensor (103) data, IP camera (106) data, pressure sensor (104) data, liquid filling level indicator (105) data and data transmitted from the data input interface (110), − at least one application (109) that comprises at least one data entry interface (110) allowing the occupational safety expert to enter risk assessment data, explosion protection document data, employee information and flash points of flammable and combustible liquids, and that can be run on any mobile device and ensure that the authorised person(s) are directed to the possible explosion point with a warning, so that the authorised person(s) can intervene to prevent the risk of possible explosion, according to the architectural sketch of the industrial facility, and − at least one server (111) that analyses all data in the database (107) with artificial intelligence and instantly calculates the locations and sizes of pressure, temperature, heat, smoke and gas emissions, receives the flash points of flammable and combustible liquids from the application, determines the danger level, and sends warning and location information to the application (109) via the base station (108) to the authorised person(s) for early intervention in the risk of possible explosion.

2. Early warning tracking system (100) working method, comprising the process steps of; − Detecting the temperature increase in the environment by the IOT temperature sensor (101) and transmitting this information to the server (111) on a location basis when the temperature rise above the critical temperature determined in the industrial facility begins, − Detecting the heat and smoke in the environment by the IOT fire sensor (102) and transmitting this information to the server (111) on a location basis when a fire starts in the architectural structure of the industrial facility, − Detecting the gas level in the environment by the IOT gas measurement sensor (103) and transmitting this information to the server (111) on a location basis when the target hazardous gas begins to spread within the lower alarm limits in designated areas within the architectural structure of the industrial facility, − Taking images of the environment within the architectural structure by IP cameras (106) and transmitting them to the server (111), − Measuring the internal pressure level of the warehouse within the architectural structure of the industrial facility by the IOT pressure sensor (104) and transmitting the pressure information to the server (111) on a location basis when an increase above the determined level begins, − Measuring the filling level in the warehouse within the architectural structure of the industrial facility by the IOT liquid filling level indicator (105) and transmitting the internal filling level to the server (111) on a location basis when an increase above the specified level begins, − Recording the information coming from the temperature sensor (101), fire sensor (102), gas measurement sensor (103), IP camera (106), pressure sensor (104) and liquid filling level indicator (105) to the database (107) by the server (111), − Recording the risk assessment data, explosion protection document data and employee information entered by the occupational safety expert via the data entry interface (110) to the database (107) by the server (111), − Activating the application (109) carried out on the GSM mobile devices of the authorised person(s) within the industrial facility architectural structure, − Analysing the data in the database (107) by the server (111) using the artificial intelligence and instantly calculating the locations and sizes of pressure, dangerous temperature, heat, smoke and gas emissions and transmitting these to the application (109) for authorised person(s) to intervene early, − Determining the danger level by the server (111) by taking the flash points of flammable and combustible liquids from the application (109), − Early intervention in the risk of possible explosion by obtaining early warning information through the application (109) and displaying the location to be visited within the structure, and − Presenting the danger level information calculated by the server (111) via the application (109).

3. Early warning tracking system (100) according to Claim 1, comprising the base station (108) that provides GSM communication and internet access and both receives and sends radio signals

4. Early warning tracking system (100) according to Claim 1, comprising the server (111) that detects the danger level and sends warning and location information to the application (109) via the base station (108) for the GSM subscriber authorised person(s) to intervene early in the possible explosion risk.

5. Early warning tracking system (100) according to Claim 1, comprising the server (111) transmits the data coming from temperature sensor (101), fire sensor (102), gas measurement sensor (103), IP camera (106), pressure sensor (104), liquid filling level indicator (105) and data input interface (110) to the database (107) to be stored.

6. Early warning tracking system (100) according to Claim 1, comprising the application (109) that allows the users to display location information where they should go to the explosion risk area within the structure.

7. Early warning tracking system (100) according to Claim 1, comprising the server (111) that provides a score by categorising the five-level danger level varying between very dangerous and non-dangerous, using data from sensors and the base station (108).

8. Early warning tracking system (100) according to Claim 1, comprising the application (109) that provides a system risky status warning when an increase of more than 10% in flash point values is detected by the server (111).

9. Early warning tracking system (100) according to Claim 1, comprising the application (109) that allows the system to issue a very risky BLEVE explosion warning when the server (111) detects that the boiling point is 20% below the boiling point.

10. Early warning tracking system (100) according to Claim 1, comprising the application (109) that provides a system risky situation warning when the pressure is detected to exceed 276 kPa by the server (111).