Title: Simulation and improvement of personnel evacuation in living area of offshore platform

Authors: Xinmei Zhang; Hao Sun; Chen Chen

Addresses: College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao Shandong 266580, China ' College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao Shandong 266580, China ' School of Economics and Management, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao Shandong 266580, China

Abstract: The living space of the offshore platform is relatively small and the staff density is generally large. This causes difficulty for evacuation in case of emergency. Combining the features of an offshore platform, the main influence factors of the personnel evacuation are discussed in this paper by qualitative analysis. In the factors system, the controllable factors were found and quantitative simulation analysis was conducted to achieve the evacuation time and attendant problems in the nearby evacuation of main deck living area under normal and typhoon conditions. The software Pathfinder was introduced to analyse the influence of different features of living area and personnel activities in the evacuation process. Through the simulation of the evacuation routes of people in different locations, the optimised evacuation route was determined. The evacuation time was shortened and the efficiency of emergency evacuation will be improved.

Keywords: offshore platform; evacuation; pathfinder; simulation; optimisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2018.097365

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2018 Vol.14 No.4, pp.364 - 376

Received: 01 Feb 2017
Accepted: 27 Jan 2018
Published online: 16 Jan 2019 *

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