Investigation of the Risk of Accidents at the Heat Supply Facility and Development of a Set of Measures to Improve the Safety of its Operation

Abstract

In every technological process, there is a risk of an emergency or any other emergency that could result in death, material damage, or environmental damage. For Russia, the problem of breakdown of heat supply enterprises is especially acute, since the climatic conditions in its larger territory are quite severe, while the level of wear of the housing stock and engineering facilities is high. The relevance of the research topic is due to the increasing level of risk of accidents at heat supply enterprises working with hazardous chemicals. The following factors affect the operational safety of facilities in this industry: the reliability of the protection of workers and employees from the effects of emergencies; protection against secondary damaging factors; reliability of the organization’s supply system with everything necessary for functioning; sustainability and continuity of production and civil defense management; preparedness of the facility for emergency rescue and other emergency operations and more. In the process of the study, basic information about the activities of the district thermal station was studied, an analysis of the causes of emergencies at it was conducted, probable scenarios for the development of possible accidents were developed and characterized, and characteristics of the damaging factors and their negative impact zones were presented. Of all the possible scenarios, the most dangerous scenario associated with the boiler rupture, as well as the most probable scenario, was the complete/partial depressurization of the boiler equipment. The risks of accidents that are possible during the operation of the heat station (boiler room) are analyzed, and a set of measures is proposed to prevent and minimize the consequences of possible emergencies at the livelihood of the population with justification for their economic feasibility.