Risk assessment of an oil depot using the improved multi-sensor fusion approach based on the cloud model and the belief Jensen-Shannon divergence

At present, enterprises have introduced the Internet of Things (IoT) technology to monitor and evaluate the safety status of oil depots, allowing for the collection of a substantial amount of multi-source monitoring data from factories. However, sensor monitoring data is often inaccurate and fuzzy. To improve the reliability of risk prevention and control based on multi-source sensor data, this study proposed a CM-BJS-DS model based on the cloud model (CM), the Belief Jensen-Shannon (BJS) divergence and Dempster-Shafer(D-S) evidence theory. First, the relevant evaluation factors of the accident and their threshold intervals of different risk levels were determined, and the fuzzy cloud membership functions (FCMFs) corresponding to different risk levels were constructed. Then, the sensor monitoring data were processed using the correlation measurement of the FCMF, and basic probability assignments (BPAs) were generated under the risk assessment frame of discernment. Finally, the BPAs were pre-processed by the improved evidence fusion model and the accident risk level was evaluated. Based on the monitoring data, a case study was performed to assess the risk level of vapor cloud explosion (VCE) accidents due to liquid petroleum gas (LPG) tank leaks. The results show that the proposed method presents the following characteristics: (i) The BPAs were constructed based on the monitoring data, which reduced the subjectivity of the construction process; (ii) Compared with single sensors, the multiple sensor fusion evaluation yielded more specific results; (iii) When dealing with highly conflicting evidence, the evaluation results of the proposed method exhibited a higher belief degree. This method can be used as a decision-making tool to detect potential risks and identify critical risk spots to improve the specificity and efficiency of emergency response. •The improved multi-sensor fusion approach is firstly used to assess the risk status of the oil depot.•The correlation measurement of cloud model is used to construct BPAs using monitoring data.•A new oil depot risk assessment approach for the VCE accident was established.•Multi-sensor fusion approach can acquire more specific evaluation results.•The combination of CM, BJS divergence and D-S theory effectively improves the reliability during the risk assessment process.