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CHEMICAL ENGINEERINGTRANSACTIONS 
 

VOL. 55, 2016 

A publication of 

 
The Italian Association 

of Chemical Engineering 
Online at www.aidic.it/cet 

Guest Editors:Tichun Wang, Hongyang Zhang, Lei Tian
Copyright © 2016, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l., 
ISBN978-88-95608-46-4; ISSN 2283-9216 

Chemical Process Risk Evaluation Based on Fuzzy 
Mathematics Theory 

Yongping Liang 
Weifang University of Science and Technology, Shandong, Shouguang, China. 
95305265 @qq.com 

Chemical industry is the pillar industry of the fast development of national economy. The risk of chemical 
process is an important part of its industry’s development. In this paper, according to the determined 
influencing factors based on the chemical process of intrinsic safety and the selection principle of evaluation 
indexes, chemical process risk evaluation index system based on intrinsic safety is established. Combined 
with several years' monitoring data and using hierarchical analysis model to calculate the weight coefficient of 
each evaluation index, the chemical process risk based on intrinsic safety is divided into four levels, such as 
Level I low risk, Level II medium risk, Level III high risk, Level IV highest risk. By means of the monitoring data 
to carry on its scoring, according to membership function to obtain the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation matrix, 
chemical process risk evaluation model based on intrinsic safety is then established, taking a certain chemical 
process for example to carry on a simulation calculation. Its combination is in accordance with the local 
situation. This method is professional, reasonable and scientific, which provides a theoretical basis for the 
chemical process risk evaluation. 

1. Introduction 
In the background of economic rapid development and scientific progress, the development of chemical 
industry not only reflects the constant renewal of equipment production mode of chemical process, but also 
the style and the quantity of chemical products that have been increasing. Together with the expansion of 
chemical production scale, in the mass production of chemical products, because of its own nature, there exist 
many raw materials that are inflammable, explosive and toxic (Chan, 2008; Giovanni et al., 2016). In the latest 
decade, with the sustained and rapid development of economy, the process of industrialization is growing, 
chemical production scale expands unceasingly, the production equipment is becoming more and more large-
scale, the production process is more and more complex, the accident possibility and the severity of accident 
consequence is also increasing. The typical examples are: on November 13, 2005, in Double-benzene Plant 
of PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Co. there happens a super explosion accident of dangerous chemicals in 
aniline unit, which killed eight people, 1 person seriously wounded and 59 slightly injured, evacuated the 
crowd 10000 people, at the same time, caused the severe pollution of the downstream and the regional water 
pollution abroad. 
On August 26, 2008, the organic workshop of Guangxi Guangwei Chemical Co., Ltd. happened explosion 
accident, 20 people killed, 61 people injured, and more than 11500 people were evacuated emergently. There 
was also a massive explosion in Tianjin Port. On the other hand, with the progress of our society, people's 
safety consciousness is increasing remarkably, the idea of people-oriented is in the hearts of the people, the 
safety of chemical production is put forward a higher requirement. This contradiction needs the reliable safety 
science and technology to control the accident risk in an acceptable range. Therefore, the safety of chemical 
process and equipment production should be paid attention to, and scientific analysis should be carried on so 
as to ensure that chemical process and equipment is in the production of safe and orderly state. On the basis 
of practical work experience, the safety of chemical process is evaluated (Kletz, 1998). 
At present, domestic chemical process risk evaluation focuses on the traditional accident prevention measures 
and emergency measures, but not considering reducing the risk from its source. Intrinsic safety is to reduce or 
eliminate the risk from its source. It is a kind of risk management method of source control. In the process of 

                               
 
 

 

 
   

                                                  
DOI: 10.3303/CET1655075

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Please cite this article as: Liang Y.P., 2016, Chemical process risk evaluation based on fuzzy mathematics theory, Chemical Engineering 
Transactions, 55, 445-450  DOI:10.3303/CET1655075   

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chemical process risk evaluation to implement intrinsic safety evaluation, it is helpful to carry on the 
optimization process to eliminate or reduce risk in the early stages of system design, avoiding causing great 
losses, so as to replace the complex safety protection device in the system, which provides important 
theoretical significance and practical significance to the evaluation research of chemical process risk based on 
intrinsic safety. 

2. Chemical process risk evaluation system based on intrinsic safety 
2.1 Intrinsic safety 
The basic concept of intrinsic safety is considering the potential risk of chemical process and equipment 
radically so as to avoid it in the design process. Its basic idea is to use chemical process and the design of the 
equipment itself to eliminate or reduce system risk. Intrinsic safety is an active risk management method. It 
includes four basic strategies. The specific details are shown as follows: 
(1) Minimization, that is, the amount of hazardous substances in less system 
Generally, the less the hazardous substances in the chemical process system is, the smaller the accident 
possibility is, the lower the danger coefficient is, and the lighter the accident consequence is. 
(2) Alternative, namely, use safe or less dangerous substances or process to substitute more dangerous 
substances or process so as to reduce the risk. 
(3) Aalleviation, using the smallest form of hazardous substances or process conditions 
Alleviation principle is that in this process of chemical process dangerous operation, the operation conditions 
of relative safety is adopted, or reduce dangerous materials, or use the storage and transportation of relative 
safety, and etc. 
(4) Simplification, namely, through the process design to simplify the operation process. 
Simple chemical process is usually safer than complex chemical process, reducing the chance of human error 
(Fan et al, 2008). 

2.2  The evaluation index selection principle of chemical process risk based on intrinsic safety 
Generally, chemical process involves flammable, explosive or toxic materials, intermediates, products and 
equipment. In this production, physical and chemical reaction would happen, involving chemical explosion, 
physical explosion, fire explosion, poisoning, choking and etc. Therefore, once it has been chosen, it is hard to 
be changed again. When determining the chemical process, its reliability and risk must be comprehensively 
analyzed and evaluated. Its selection of evaluation indexes must be in strict accordance with the standards 
(Rahman et al, 2005). The details are shown as follows: 
(1)Scientific principle 
The selected indexes much be scientific, implement the national standard. Only in this way, the selected 
indexes could be scientific, reflect the risk size of chemical process correctly. And its evaluation result would 
have reference value (Faisal and Khan, 2003). 
(2) Comprehensive principle 
Chemical process is a very complex system. Its risk is the outcome of multiple factors’ interaction. Therefore, 
when establishing the evaluation index system, all influencing factors should be considered, trying to be 
comprehensive, achieving the independence of each index, not repeating, which could reflect the whole 
situation of chemical process. 
(3) Pertinence principle 
Referring to the process, materials and equipment of chemical process based on intrinsic safety, there are 
many factors affecting chemical process risk. The factors with different material, different number, and 
different process differ from the others. Therefore, selecting evaluation indexes must be pertinent. 
(4) Feasibility principle 
In the process of selecting chemical process risk evaluation indexes, the quantitative analysis index should be 
chosen as much as possible, namely, all the selected indexes could be measured or judged according to the 
known data. Meanwhile, the selected indexes should have clear meaning, conform to the national and local 
policies and regulations, have the operability and practicability, and be suited to local conditions. 

2.3 Chemical process risk evaluation system based on intrinsic safety 
Chemical process risk evaluation index system based on intrinsic safety is an organic evaluation system 
formed by various indexes of revealing the quantity, quality, condition, technology, equipment of things from 
one series (Gentile, 2004). According to the characteristics of chemical process and the basic principle of 
intrinsic safety, based on the selecting principles of evaluation indexes, combined with the experience abroad, 
a chemical process risk evaluation index system based on intrinsic safety is established (Gupta and Edwards, 
2003). The details are shown in table 1. 

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Table 1: Chemical process risk evaluation index system based on intrinsic safety 

Target First-level indexes Second-level indexes Third-level indexes 

Chemical process 
evaluation based 
on intrinsic safety 

Intrinsic safety indexes 
of chemical substance 

The risk of chemical 
substance 

(1) flammability 
(2) explosion 
(3) toxicity 
(4) corrosivity 

The risk of chemical 
reaction 

(5) chemical reaction heat 
(6) chemical activity 

Intrinsic safety indexes 
of technological 
conditions 

 
(7) process temperature 
(8) process pressure 
(9) storage 

2.4  The evaluation index weight calculation of chemical process risk based on intrinsic safety 
Expert analysis, evaluation and AHP is used to calculate the evaluation index weight of chemical process risk 
based on intrinsic safety, the detailed calculation results are shown in table 2-table 6 

Table 2: The first-level index weight of chemical process risk evaluation  

Target Chemical process risk evaluation based on intrinsic safety
The largest 
eigenvalue 

Consistency 
ratio First-level indexes 

Intrinsic safety indexes of 
chemical substance 

Intrinsic safety indexes of 
technological conditions 

weight

Intrinsic safety indexes 
of chemical substance 

1 1 0.5 

2.0000 0.0000 Intrinsic safety indexes 
of technological 
conditions 

1 1 0.5 

Table 3: The second-level index weight of chemical process risk evaluation 

First-level indexes Intrinsic safety indexes of chemical substance 
The largest 
eigenvalue 

Consistency 
ratio Second-level indexes 

The risk of chemical 
substance 

The risk of chemical 
reaction 

weight

The risk of chemical 
substance 

1 1/3 0.25 
2.0000 0.0000 

The risk of chemical 
reaction 

3 1 0.75 

Table 4: The third-level index weight of chemical process risk evaluation 

Second-level indexesThe risk of chemical substance The largest 
eigenvalue 

Consistency 
ratio Third-level indexes flammability explosion toxicity corrosivity Weight 

flammability 1 1/6 1/3 5 0.1238 

4.2501 0.0937 
explosion 6 1 4 9 0.5956 
toxicity 3 1/4 1 7 0.2396 
 corrosivity 1/5 1/9 1/7 1 0.0410 

Table 5: The third-level index weight of chemical process risk evaluation 

Second-level indexes The risk of chemical reaction The largest 
eigenvalue 

Consistency 
ratio Third-level indexes chemical reaction heat chemical activity Weight

chemical reaction heat 1 2 0.6667
2.0000 0.0000 

chemical activity 1/2 1 0.3333

Table 6: The third-level index weight of chemical process risk evaluation 

First-level indexes Intrinsic safety indexes of technological conditions The largest 
eigenvalue 

Consistency 
ratio Third-level indexes process temperature process pressure storage 

process temperature 1 4 7 
3.0324 0.0311 process pressure 1/4 1 3 

storage 1/7 1/3 1 
 

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Due to all the consistency ratio CR is less than 0.10, it could be thought that all weight value could pass the 
consistency check. 
From the comprehensiveness above, we could get the weight table of chemical process risk evaluation 
indexes based on intrinsic safety as follows: 
Table 7: Chemical process evaluation index weight value based on intrinsic safety 

Target First-level indexes Weight Second-level indexesWeight Third-level indexes Weight 

Chemical 
process 
evaluation 
based on 
intrinsic 
safety 

Intrinsic safety 
indexes of 
chemical 
substance 

0.5 

The risk of chemical 
substance 0.25 

(1) flammability 
(2) explosion 
(3) toxicity 
(4) corrosivity 

0.1238 
0.5956 
0.2396 
0.0410 

The risk of chemical 
reaction 0.75 

(5) chemical reaction 
heat 
(6) chemical activity 

0.6667 
0.3333 

Intrinsic safety 
indexes of 
technological 
conditions 

0.5   

(7) process 
temperature 
(8) process pressure 
(9) storage 

0.7050 
0.2110 
0.0840 

3. The chemical process risk evaluation model based on fuzzy mathematics theory 
3.1 The establishment of chemical process risk evaluation factor set based on intrinsic safety 
All third-level indexes of chemical process risk evaluation index system based on intrinsic safety are regarded 
as the factor set of fuzzy evaluation model, that is, U={flammability u1, explosion u2, toxicity u3, corrosivity u4, 
chemical reaction heat u5, chemical activity u6, process temperature u7, process pressure u8, storage u9}. 

3.2  The establishment of chemical process risk evaluation set based on intrinsic safety 
Divide chemical process risk into four levels, such as level I low risk, level II medium risk, level III high risk, 
level IV highest risk, establish four-level scale set, that is, N=(n1,n2,n3,n4)= (levelⅠlow risk, levelⅡmedium 
risk, level III high risk, level IV highest risk). 
The corresponding values of each level is (1, 0.75, 0.5, 0.25). 

3.3 The determination of membership degree 
According to the membership function of half trapezoid and trapezoid distribution, the membership function of 
chemical process risk level could be determined as follows: 

Level I low risk: 
1

1, 9 10,
1

( 7), 7 9,
2

0, 7.

i

x

r x x

x

≤ ≤
= − ≤ <


<

 Level II medium risk 
2

1
( 7), 7 9,

2
1, 5 7,

1
(5 ), 3 5,

2
0, 9, 3.

i

x x

x
r

x x

x x

 − ≤ <


≤ <= 
 − ≤ <

 ≥ <

 

Level III high risk 
3

1
( 5), 5 7,

2
1, 3 5,

1
(3 ), 1 3,

2
0, 7, 1.

i

x x

x
r

x x

x x

 − ≤ <


≤ <= 
 − ≤ <

 ≥ <

Level IV highest risk 
4

1, 1,
1

(3 ), 1 3,
2

0, 5.

i

x

r x x

x

<
= − ≤ <


≥

 

x is the average value experts score on the third-level indexes.  
Based on the established four-level scale sets, carry on the fuzzy evaluation to chemical process risk factor 
set, determine the membership degree matrix, and set up the fuzzy mapping: 

: ( )f P F N→ , 1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4

i i i i
i

r r r r
P

n n n n
→ + + + ,  

And 0 1ijr≤ ≤ , 1, 2, ; 1, 2, 3, 4i j i= = = .  

Therefore, we could get the fuzzy evaluation decision matrix of chemical process risk evaluation: 

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11 12 14

21 22 24

1 5 4s s s

r r r
r r r

R

r r r

 
 
 =
 
 
 




  


,  

rij=A(Pi, nj) indicates that evaluation factor Pi is evaluated as the membership degree of level nj, s is the factor 
number of evaluation factor Pi. 
Substitute the score that experts give to chemical process risk evaluation into the membership function, and 
we could get the fuzzy evaluation decision matrix of the corresponding factors as follows: 

( )11 4 4ijR r ×= , ( )12 2 4ijR r ×= , ( )2 3 4ijR r ×= . 

3.4 The result analysis of chemical process risk evaluation based on intrinsic safety. 
With the aid of the weighted model ( , )M + , using the calculated weight of chemical process risk evaluation 

index, the fuzzy evaluation decision matrix of second-level is first calculated as follows: 31 11
1

32 12

R
R

R
ω
ω
 

=  
 




  

The fuzzy evaluation decision matrix of first-level indexes could be calculated: 21 1
33 2

R
R

R
ω
ω
 

=  
 




,  

And 31 (0.1238, 0.5956, 0.2396, 0.0410)ω = , 32 (0.6667, 0.3333)ω = , 33 (0.7050, 0.2110, 0.0840)ω = , 21 (0.25, 0.75)ω = . 
According to the weight of first-level indexes to calculate, the comprehensive evaluation result Q  of chemical 
process risk could be obtained as follows: ( )1 1 2 3 4, , ,Q R q q q qω= = ,  

And 1 (0.5, 0.5)ω = . 

According to the four-level scale set 1 2 3 4( , , , )N n n n n=  of chemical process risk to calculate, the final score 

could be obtained as follows: ( )
1

2
1 2 3 4

3

4

, , ,

n
n

S Q N q q q q
n
n

 
 
 = =
 
 
 

  . 

By comprehensive consideration of chemical process risk evaluation based on intrinsic safety and the analysis 
of evaluation model, we could get: 
(1)when 0.7S > , it indicates that chemical process risk evaluation belongs to level I low risk. 
(2) when 0.5 0.7S< ≤ , it indicates that chemical process risk evaluation belongs to level II medium risk. 
(3) when 0.3 0.5S< ≤ , it indicates that chemical process risk evaluation belongs to level III high risk. 
(4) when 0.3S ≤ , it indicates that chemical process risk evaluation belongs to level IV highest risk. 

4. A simulation calculation aiming at certain chemical factory’s chemical process risk 
evaluation in Weifang 
Carrying on the data collection and field investigation to the third-level indexes of certain chemical factory’s 
chemical process in Weifang, using experts to score, its grading result is shown in table 8. 

Table 8: The grading result of certain chemical factory’s chemical process risk in Weifang 

Target First-level indexes Second-level indexes Third-level indexes 
The average mark of 
experts’ grading 

Chemical 
process 
evaluation 
based on 
intrinsic 
safety 

Intrinsic safety indexes 
of chemical substance 

The risk of 
chemical 
substance 

(1) flammability 
(2) explosion 
(3) toxicity 
(4) corrosivity 

5 
6 
3 
4 

(5) chemical reaction heat 
(6) chemical activity 

6 
7 

Intrinsic safety indexes 
of technological 
conditions 

Second-level 
indexes 

(7) process temperature 
(8) process pressure 
(9) storage 

4 
3 
2 

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Substitute the experts’ evaluation results into the membership function, the fuzzy evaluation decision matrix of 
certain chemical factory’s chemical process evaluation in Weifang could be obtained as follows: 

11

0 1 0 0
0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0

R

 
 
 =
 
 
 

, 
12

0 1 0 0
0.5 0.5 0 0

R
 

=  
 

, 
3

0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0
0 0 0.5 0.5

R
 
 =  
 
 

,  

From calculation, the final score of certain chemical factory’s chemical process evaluation in Weifang could be 
obtained as follows: S=Q•N=0.4102. 
Because 0.3 0.5S< ≤ , it indicates that certain chemical factory’s chemical process evaluation in Weifang 
belongs to Level Ⅲ high risk. 

5. Conclusion  
Chemical process risk evaluation is an important part of chemical industry. The size of its risk is related to the 
development prospect of chemical industry, and also related to the regional development level and the future 
development direction (Palaniappan et al, 2002). In this paper, on the basis of the basic theory of intrinsic 
safety, the evaluation index system of chemical process based on intrinsic safety is put forward. It could be 
more scientific and effective to choose chemical process using the fuzzy mathematics theory to establish the 
risk evaluation model of chemical process. At the same time, because of the complexity of chemical process 
and its risk factors, the quantification method of intrinsic safety indexes should be further studied, the 
scientificity and rationality of chemical process intrinsic safety should be further improved.  

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