Dependent infrastructure system modeling: A case study of the St. Kitts power and water distribution systems. (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stødle, Kaia; Metcalfe, Caroline A.; Brunner, Logan G.; Saliani, Julian N.; Flage, Roger; Guikema, Seth D.
• Is Part Of: Reliability engineering & system safety. Volume 209(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: Critical infrastructures -- dependencies -- modeling -- case study; Reliability (Engineering) -- Periodicals; System safety -- Periodicals; Industrial safety -- Periodicals; Fiabilité -- Périodiques; Sécurité des systèmes -- Périodiques; Sécurité du travail -- Périodiques; 620.00452
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ress.2020.107421
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0951-8320

Abstract

Highlights: The paper presents the modeling of real-world dependent infrastructure systems. The power and water systems of St. Kitts are the focus of the case study. Despite highly limited data, we developed representative models. Two analyses are presented and discussed to show the usefulness of the model. The challenges of producing and validating a real case study are discussed. Abstract: Critical infrastructure systems underlie the economy, national security, and health of modern society. These infrastructures have become increasingly dependent on each other, which poses challenges when modeling these systems. Although a number of methods have been developed for this problem, few case studies that model real-world dependent infrastructures have been conducted. In this paper, we aim to provide another example of such a case study by modeling a real-world water distribution system dependent on a power system. Unlike in the limited previous case studies, our case study is in a developing nation context. This makes the availability of data about the infrastructure systems in this case study very limited, which is a common characteristic of real-world studies in many settings. Thus, a main contribution of the paper is to show how one can still develop representative, useful models for systems in the context of limited data. To demonstrate the utility of these types of models, two examples of different analyses are performed, where the results provide information about the most vulnerable parts of the infrastructures and critical linkages between the power and water distribution systems.