title: Cost-benefit analysis of passive fire protections in road LPG transportation.
abstract: The cost-benefit evaluation of passive fire protection adoption in the road transport of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was investigated. In a previous study, mathematical simulations of real scale fire scenarios proved the effectiveness of passive fire protections in preventing the "fired" boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE), thus providing a significant risk reduction. In the present study the economical aspects of the adoption of fire protections are analyzed and an approach to cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is proposed. The CBA model is based on the comparison of the risk reduction due to fire protections (expressed in monetary terms by the value of a statistical life) and the cost of the application of fire protections to a fleet of tankers. Different types of fire protections were considered, as well as the possibility to apply protections to the entire fleet or only to a part of it. The application of the proposed model to a real-life case study is presented and discussed. Results demonstrate that the adoption of passive fire protections on road tankers, though not compulsory in Europe, can be economically feasible, thus representing a concrete measure to achieve control of the "major hazard accidents" cited by the European legislation.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, Mineraria e delle Tecnologie Ambientali, Alma Mater Studiorum, Universitá di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Paltrinieri
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonvicini
authors.forename: Gigliola
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spadoni
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cozzani
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005390:Fires / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D014186:Transportation