Improvement of Risk Assessment Using Numerical Analysis for an Offshore Plant Dipole Antenna

Abstract

This paper proposes a numerical analysis method for improving risk assessment of radio frequency (RF) hazards. To compare the results of conventional code analysis, the values required for dipole antenna risk assessment, which is widely used in offshore plants based on the British standards (BS) guide, are calculated using the proposed numerical analysis. Based on the BS (published document CENELEC technical report (PD CLC/TR) 50427:2004 and international electrotechnical commission (IEC) 60079 for an offshore plant dipole antenna, an initial assessment, a full assessment, and on-site test procedures are performed to determine if there is a potential risk of high-frequency ignition. Alternatively, numerical analysis is performed using the Ansys high frequency structure simulator (HFSS) tool to compare results based on the BS guide. The proposed method computes the effective field strength and power for the antenna without any special consideration of the structure to simplify the calculation. Experimental results show that the proposed numerical analysis outperforms the risk assessment based on the BS guide in accuracy of the evaluation.

Keywords

• risk assessment
• numerical analysis
• ignition hazard
• effective field strength
• offshore plant