Modeling Offshore Environmental Risk Assessment: a Case Study of Installing Tripod Bases in a Deep Sea Mining Structure

Sarkheil, Hamid; Alghasi, Shahram; Sadeghy Nejad, Ali

doi:10.22044/jme.2024.14304.2673

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

¹ School of Mining Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

² Chemical Engineering-HSE, College of Environment, Department of Environment (DOE), Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22044/jme.2024.14304.2673

Abstract

Environmental degradation, particularly in marine ecosystems, has become a critical issue, due to industrial activities. Offshore areas are significantly impacted by the deep sea mining operations, leading to pollution and ecological imbalances. The existing environmental risk assessment models often fail to integrate the qualitative and quantitative data effectively, highlighting a significant research work gap. This work aims to address this gap by developing a comprehensive framework using the Bayesian Networks (BN), and the NETICA software to evaluate the risks associated with the installation of three-legged deep sea mining structures. The major goals are to systematically identify and prioritize the risks, and to develop effective mitigation strategies. The novelty of this work lies in its innovative use of the Bayesian modeling to combine the expert knowledge with the empirical data, providing a detailed categorization of risks into the low, medium, and high levels. The output parameters focus on the severity, likelihood, and detectability of risks. The results indicate that 40% of the habitat destruction risks are low, 46% fall within the ALARP region, and 14% are high, while the species destruction risks are 31% low, 50% ALARP, and 19% high. These findings guide the targeted mitigation measures to ensure effective protection of the offshore marine environment. Also the work concludes with a set of recommendations aimed at mitigating identified risks, and minimizing the environmental impacts. These include the implementation of advanced monitoring technologies, adoption of best management practices, and enforcement of stricter regulatory frameworks.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Environment

References

[1]. Seyyedi, M. (1989). Civil liability for oil pollution damages in the open sea: A Comprehensive Portal of Humanities Sciences https://ensani.ir/fa/article/124981. [Persian]

[2]. John Rogers, S. (2001). Energy Demand Creates New Opportunities and Challenges for Drilling, Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, 40, 05, id. DASNASA/ADS. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001BCaPG..4005DASS/abstract. [Persian]

[3]. Asgari, S., Sadeghi, F., & Khan Mohammadi, Z. (2014). Environmental Characteristics of the Persian Gulf and Its Position within the Kuwait Conventions and International Law of the Seas (1982), A Comprehensive Portal of Humanities Sciences, 89, https://ensani.ir/fa/article/346195/

[4]. Zadeh, A. N., & Behbahani, S. (2015). Identification of project risks in offshore projects of oil and gas companies: A case study of offshore phase 24-22 of South Pars gas field. In International Conference on Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering.

[5]. Kapoor, I. (2001). Towards participatory environmental management. Journal of Environmental Management, 63, 269–279.

[6]. Sarkheil, H. (2021). Risk and incident analysis on key safety performance indicators and anomalies feedback in South Pars gas complex. Results in Engineering, 9, 100210.

[7]. Sarkheil, H., Alavi-Tabar, A., & Shayan Fard, P. (2019). An innovative method for identifying and detecting factors and indication of fraud occurrences in health, safety and environmental management system audits. Journal of Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention, 7(2), 95–105. [Persian]

[8]. S Sarkheil, H., Tahery, B., Rayegani, B., Ramezani, J., Goshtasb, H., & Jahani, A. (2020). Evaluating the current status of the national health, safety and environment management system for integration, harmonization, and standardization of environmental protection. Health Risk Analysis, 1, 18–24.

[9]. Sarkheil, H., & Rahbari, S. (2016). HSE key performance indicators in HSE_MS establishment and sustainability: A case of South Pars gas complex, Iran. International Journal of Occupational Hygiene, 8(1), 52–60.

[10]. Tunali, M., Adam, V., & Nowack, B. (2023). Probabilistic environmental risk assessment of microplastics in soils. Geoderma, 430, 116315.

[11]. Marx-Stoelting, P., et al. (2023). A walk in the PARC: Developing and implementing 21st century chemical risk assessment in Europe. Archives of Toxicology, 97, 893–908.

[12]. Tang, L., et al. (2023). Global occurrence, drivers, and environmental risks of microplastics in marine environments. Journal of Environmental Management, 329, 116961.

[13]. Topaldemir, H., Taş, B., Yüksel, B., & Ustaoğlu, F. (2023). Potentially hazardous elements in sediments and Ceratophyllum demersum: An ecotoxicological risk assessment in Miliç Wetland, Samsun, Türkiye. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30, 26397–26416.

[14]. Raian, S., Siddiqua, T., Abdul Moktadir, Md., & Rahman, T. (2023). An empirical model for identifying and controlling operational and environmental risks in spinning industry in an emerging economy. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 180, 109244.

[15]. Taheri, M., Amalnick, M. S., Taleizadeh, A. A., & Mardan, E. (2023). Investigating the green inventory control problem considering liquidity risk: Application in the dairy industry. Sustainable Cities and Society, 92, 104479.

[16]. Dodd, T., Guthrie, J., & Dumay, J. (2023). Management controls and modern slavery risks in the building and construction industry: Lessons from an Australian social housing provider. British Accounting Review, 55, 101098.

[17]. Elbisy, M. S. (2016). Environmental management of offshore gas platforms in Abu Qir Bay, Egypt. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 20, 1228–1241.

[18]. Beyer, J., Goksøyr, A., Hjermann, D., & Klungsøyr, J. (2020). Environmental effects of offshore produced water discharges: A review focused on the Norwegian continental shelf. Marine Environmental Research, 162, 105155.

[19]. Kirin S., Sedmak A., Zaidi R., Grbović A., Šarkočević Ž. (2020). Comparison of experimental, numerical and analytical risk assessment of oil drilling rig welded pipe based on fracture mechanics parameters. Engineering Failure Analysis, 114 ,104600.

[20]. Dimaio, F., et al. (2021). Accounting for safety barriers degradation in the risk assessment of oil and gas systems by multistate Bayesian networks. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 216, 107943.

[21]. Kleiv, R. A., & Thornhill, M. (2022). Deep-sea mining—A bibliometric analysis of research focus, publishing structures, international and inter-institutional cooperation. Minerals, 12(11), 1383.

[22]. Sarkheil, H., Rahbari, S., & Azimi, Y. (2021). Fuzzy-Mamdani environmental quality assessment of gas refinery chemical wastewater in the Pars special economic and energy zone. Environmental Challenges, 3, 100065.

[23]. Sarkheil, H., Azimi, Y., & Rahbari, S. (2018). Fuzzy wastewater quality index determination for environmental quality assessment under uncertain and vagueness conditions. International Journal of Engineering, 31(8), 1196–1204.

[24]. Sarkheil, H., Azimi, Y., & Jafari Aghdash, J. (2019). Fault creator cases analysis based on Bayesian method in current permit to work system to optimize the protection layers and risk management, during commissioning and start-up phases of gas refinery plant. International Journal of Occupational Hygiene, 11(2), 70–84.

Journal of Mining and Environment

Modeling Offshore Environmental Risk Assessment: a Case Study of Installing Tripod Bases in a Deep Sea Mining Structure

References

References

Volume 16, Issue 2
April 2025
Pages 705-719

Modeling Offshore Environmental Risk Assessment: a Case Study of Installing Tripod Bases in a Deep Sea Mining Structure

References

References

Volume 16, Issue 2April 2025Pages 705-719

Volume 16, Issue 2
April 2025
Pages 705-719