Vulnerability Assessment of Blast-Resistant RC Control Room In Refinery Facilities by Eulerian-Lagrangian Coupling Method

A control room is a place where, as a center of operations in the petrochemical industry, production processes are monitored and controlled. Two main factors must be considered in the design of control rooms. The first factor is the protection of the control room building against possible hazards and the second factor is the location of the control room and the arrangement of the panels, to ensure the effective and ergonomic operation of the control room in normal and emergency conditions, which must be designed in such a way that the danger to the residents of the control room is acceptable and be suitable for the maintenance and protection of the unit (ASCE, 2010; Association, 2014). One of the regulations for the design of blast-resistant structures is the Swedish shelter regulations, which are derived from the examination of structures destroyed in the second world war (Ekengren and räddningsverk, 1994). The Swedish Shelter Regulations regulate the design of civil defense shelters in Sweden and include the requirements specified for these protection structures. Civilian defense shelters are designed not only to withstand the effects of conventional weapons, but also to withstand radioactive radiation, chemical and biological warfare, and gases explosion. By considering these requirements, shelters should be designed with minimal risk of death or injury to those in need of shelter, and be able to withstand the effects of the shockwave generated by a 250-kg bomb at a distance of 10 meters. Also, the requirements of proper design and retrofitting of existing structures against explosion can significantly reduce costs. In view of the above, the analysis and design of refinery structures against explosion loads and the strengthening of their members has great importance. Long-distance explosions and loading of structural elements also include phenomena that are not yet well understood. In order to increase knowledge in this field, a numerical study is currently presented. For this purpose, in this study, four types of concrete columns and four models of exterior wall for the control room were designed according to Swedish regulations to withstand the pressure of an explosion of a 250kg TNT at a distance of 10 meters and then against explosions of 6000, 4000 and 8000 kilograms at a safety distance of 40 meters is evaluated by the Eulerian-Lagrangian coupling method in Autodyn software. Response limit-state are selected according to the ASCE standard (ASCE, 2010).