Vulnerability Assessment in Technology-Based Systems: A Case Study in Tehran Gas Supply Network

A variety of natural, man-made and technological hazards can threaten the resilience of a system and make it vulnerable. This study was conducted to assess the vulnerability of the gas supply network in Tehran.

This cross-sectional study was performed in town board stations (TBS) in one of the gas supply areas of Tehran in 2019-2020. This study is based on the approach of identifying hazards and threats and assessing vulnerability. Vulnerability assessment was performed using a three-dimensional matrix consisting of probability of occurrence, severity of injury and degree of preparedness for the threat factors.

In the studied town board stations, six hazard or threat sources including insulation connection, shut-off valves, station line pipes, sensors, regulators and filters were identified. Vulnerability from these six sources was estimated at 36, 30, 120, 112, 40 and 140, respectively. These results showed that the threat of three sources of insulation connection, shut-off valves and regulators in the second and middle level threat and the vulnerability caused by the three sources of threat of station line pipes, sensors and filters in the third and severe level threat is the vulnerability index in the range of 101-215.

The findings of this study indicated that six major sources threaten the resilience of TBSs in this area. Furthermore, the results of vulnerability assessment of these town board stations revealed that the resilience to these threats is relatively low. So, it needs special attention to reduce vulnerability in this area of the gas supply network.