The Energy-Barrier Concept

Basic Guide to System Strfety, Third Edition. Jeffrey W. Vincoli. 

ETBA has been designed as an investigative tool with which to focus specifically upon four primary areas of concern. 

The adequacy of any barriers or controls within the energy path  

The eventual target(s) of unwanted/uncontrolled energy flow (Note Targets may be people or objects). 

The ETBA is an analytical technique which can be of great assistance in the preparation of the preliminary hazard list (PHL). It can also be quite useful in the development of a Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA), Subsystem Hazard Analysis (SSHA), or the more general System Hazard Analysis (SHA). The ETBA can also be used, depending on the specific system under consideration, in the development of the Operating and Support Hazard Analysis (O SHA), and, of course, during the MORT process from which the ETBA evolved. 

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According to the energy barrier concept shown in Figure 2-1, we would expect flie reaction rate to be proportional to F e > e ), i.e., to the fraction of molecules that have at least the minimum energy, e, required to cross flie energy barrier. 

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