| PLATO | What is PLATO ?
PLATO is a software system for the analysis of risk to personnel on offshore installations. In particular, it concentrates on the complex escalation of fire and explosion events taking full account of the platform's geometry, the vulnerability of individual platform components, the process fluids, the interconnections between wellheads, vessels, risers and other key process items, and the arrangement of protective systems.
For what applications is PLATO used?
The specific contexts in which PLATO is intended to be most useful are:
- The performance of QRA as part of a “Safety Case” for offshore installations
- In support of decisions about the upgrading of existing platforms
- Optimisation of new platform designs.
Contact tim.geyer@erm.com for more information
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What do clients think?
Shell International - Corporate
"The PLATO concept for modelling the escalation of process related events on complex offshore platforms offers advantages over conventional event tree based methodologies. Not least amongst these advantages is the ability of PLATO to generate escalation scenarios in an objective manner without the requirement for preconceptions as to the likely escalation routes and without full reliance on the imagination of the risk analysts. Compared to event tree methodology, the achievable complexity of the escalation scenarios is less limited by time or budget constraints."
"Maintainability of a “living” QRA is considered to be relative simple as a consequence of the programming structure. Platform modifications can be modelled by adding or removing platform components, or by changing component parameters."
Britannia - safety case extracts
“PLATO represents a detailed approach to escalation modelling for complex offshore platforms such as Britannia.”
“It encapsulates the expertise of risk analysts in the form of sub-models and rules which may be expressed in a variety of forms. By this means, a tree of scenarios can be generated which is far more complex than could possibly be worked out by manual or even computer-interactive means. Consequence models and rule sets are local to each platform component and they are applied consistently in all PLATO analyses.”
“The platform description database is highly transparent and accessible for scrutiny as the platform layout can be easily verified using a CAD interface. Consistency and completeness of the platform description is checked automatically during the first pass through the simulator.”
“PLATO automatically evaluates the impact of platform modifications on all accident scenarios, not just in respect of a modified set of initiating events, but also including alterations to the escalation paths.”
“Because the input data are factual, there is no need for lengthy re-learning of the analysis when re-running some time after the original analysis.”
Total Oil
In safety case presentation to UK HSE
Risk model developed to be:
- As realistic as is reasonably practicable
- Confidently giving insight into the escalation mechanisms and time progression of incidents
- Adequately assessing the emergency evacuation and escape facilities
PLATO can be used, to some extent, by a non-expert user to look at sensitivities of modifications etc.
In an internal memo ...having built the PLATO model of the platform, we are now experiencing the real pay back in that the sensitivity cases and feasibility studies can be evaluated for as little as one days work. The is approximately an order of magnitude more cost effective than equivalent arrangements with....[another well known consultancy]
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