Variables that can influence Accident Ocurrence at Ethanol Fuel Industry

ROMINA D. CALVO OLIVARES; SELVA S. RIVERA; PEDRO A. BAZIUK; JORGE E. NÚÑEZ MC LEOD

IAENG Transactions on Engineering Sciences

World Scientific

Año: 2016; p. 418 - 431

Increasing global energy demands have generated an exponential growth of world biofuel production, among which ethanol can be found. This growth has been accompanied by rising accidental rates. Human error can be found as a cause of some of those accidents. However, its modelling is difficult due to scarcity of data. In order to determine the influence that other variables may have in accident occurrence, a correlation analysis was made between production volumes and the number of accidents. Additionally, a Multiple Correspondence Analysis and an Association Analysis through Contingency Tables was carried out in order to determine if there is any association between size of plants and main variables involved such as type of accident, causes, and consequences. Data for analysis comprises accidents and incidents occurred at ethanol fuel facilities between 1998 and June 2015.