Accident-based FMECA study of Marine boiler for risk prioritization using fuzzy expert system

Abstract

Steam generation, in terms of Marine boiler operation, involves a large number of potential failures and hazards, which impose high risks, causing deadly and costly accidents resulting in human casualties, machinery damage, ship operational disruption, and other financial losses. In this paper, in order to enhance the operational safety concepts onboard and for proactive contribution in the improvement of machinery system reliability, the potential failure modes are summarized by reviewing the past accident data and the reports, for the identification of the worst-case scenarios during boiler operations. For risk quantification and prioritization based on collected data from experts’ elicitations, a fuzzy set approach is developed using a Rule-based fuzzy logic system, modelled and tested using different types of membership functions for the calculation of the corresponding risk values, to assess their potential failure impacts. It is expected that the risk analysis method used in this study is applicable, and the results derived from this study can be used to help in the eradication of the potential failures, ultimately contributing to ship safety and system reliability.

Keywords

• Maritime safety
• Marine accidents
• Marine boiler FMECA
• Fuzzy expert system
• Machinery operation