Anevaluationofriskmethodsforprioritizingfireprotectionfeatures:aprocedureforfirebarrierpenetrationsealsOriginalResearchArticle

Thispapergenerallyevaluatesriskmethodsavailableforprioritizingfireprotectionfeatures.Riskmethodsinvolvingboththeuseofqualitativeinsights,andquantitativeresultsfromafireprobabilisticriskanalysisarereviewed.Theapplicabilityofthesemethodstodevelopaprioritizedlistoffirebarrierpenetrationsealsinaplantbasedonrisksignificanceispresentedasaproceduretoillustratethebenefitsofthemethods.Thepaperconcludesthatcurrentfireriskassessmentmethodscanbeconfidentlyusedtoprioritizeplantfireprotectionfeatures,specificallyfirebarrierpenetrationseals.Simpleprioritizationschemes,usingqualitativeassessmentsandinsightsfromfirePRAmethodologymaybeimplementedwithouttheneedforquantitativeresults.MoreelaborateprioritizationschemesthatallowfurtherrefinementstothecategorizationprocessmaybeimplementedusingthequantitativeresultsofthescreeningprocessesingoodfirePRAs.TheuseofthequantitativeresultsfromgoodfirePRAsprovideseveralbenefitsforriskprioritizationoffireprotectionfeaturesatplants,mainlyfromtheplantsystemsanalysesconductedforafirePRA.