Use of Discrete-Event Dynamic Systems for HAZOP Analysis

Abstract The automaton based approach to performing HAZOP has been studied previously in literature. The approach is based on the discretization of the state-space of a system and stems from the idea that the component equilibrium hypersurface divides the state-space into subregions having opposing gradients. On the basis of a defined ‘safe operability region’, one can use the automaton to detect regions in the state-space where there is possibility for the system to go out of the safe region. This knowledge obtained from the automaton can be used to design discrete controllers that can take supervisory level control actions. This paper briefly revisits the methodology and discusses the computational cost involved, in addition to demonstrating the approach through an illustrative example of two tanks connected in series.