Risk assessment of hydrogen generation unit considering dependencies using integrated DEMATEL and TOPSIS approach

Abstract Hydrogen generation is with highly operational risk, and the catastrophic consequence may be caused as hydrogen is easily inflammable and explosive. It is of great importance to perform an effective risk assessment to ensure the operational safety of hydrogen generation unit. This paper presents a novel framework comprising of fuzzy DEMATEL implemented with TOPSIS to assess the comprehensive risk of hydrogen generation unit. This methodology is capable of capturing the interdependencies among different hazards, and prioritize the hazards in the decision-making process. An index-based risk assessment system is built by identifying hazards related to hydrogen generation. Subsequently, fuzzy DEMATEL is used to extract the interrelationships among risk indices and determine their weights, and TOPSIS model is utilized to prioritize hazards and calculate their risk values. Eventually, the risk of hydrogen generation unit is assessed by integrating the initial risk values with the weights of evaluation indices. The safety strategies based on assessment outcomes are developed to reduce the risk of hydrogen generation. A case study is used to test the practicability of the methodology, and it is observed that it can be a useful tool to risk assessment and management of hydrogen generation unit.