1 AN INTRODUCTION TO PHAST

What to Expect of this Tutorial

The aim of this tutorial is to make you familiar with the ideas and techniques involved in performing a consequence analysis with Phast, and to give you practice in defining a range of common types of hazardous events. It does not cover the Multi-component and 3D Explosions functions of Phast. By the time you have finished the tutorial you should have a firm understanding of the issues involved, and be ready to start work on an analysis of your own.

There is a separate tutorial document for Phast with the 3D Explosion extension. If you have a license for the 3D Explosion extension, you should complete this tutorial first, before starting the 3D Explosion tutorial.

The tutorial is divided into three chapters. In this first chapter you will open an example analysis provided with the program, explore its main features, and run the calculations and view the results – without having to enter or change any input data. In the second chapter you will create a new analysis. First you will set up the background data, and then in the third chapter you will define a range of hazardous events and perform a consequence analysis for them.

The tutorial should take 1-2 hours to complete. You do not have to complete it in a single sitting, and can take a break between chapters if you prefer.

Note: all of the images of the program are taken from the Phast product, without the 3D Explosion or Multi-component extensions. Some images will include features that are not present in Phast Lite, and will not include the additional features associated with the extensions.

Starting the program running

When you install the program, the installation process places a shortcut for the program inside a DNV GL - Software folder under Programs in your Start menu, and you can use this to start the program.

The main window

When you start the program running, the main window will open as shown below if you have a valid licence for the program present on your machine.

If you do not have a valid licence present, the program window will not open, and instead a dialog will appear as shown.

To obtain a license, click on Request a licence. A Request license dialog will appear, and you must select the products and features for which you require a license. The dialog allows you to email the request directly to DNV GL software support, or to save the request to disc so that you can choose when to send it.

Once DNV GL software support have emailed you the appropriate license file, you should save it to disc. If you then click on Import a license file in the Phast licensing dialog, a File Open dialog will appear, and you must browse to select the license file. The program will then copy the file to the appropriate location, and the next time you start the program, it will find a valid license and will start successfully.

Opening the Phast example file

When you start the program, you do not have to take any specific action to start a new analysis, as the program always starts with a new, blank analysis (or workspace) already open. You can explore the features of the program using the blank workspace as all of the features will be displayed, but this tutorial uses one of the example files installed with the program to give a quick introduction to the terminology and approach used in the program.

To open the file, choose Open Example… from the File tab on the Ribbon Bar. The Examples dialog will open, showing all of the folders and *.psux workspace files under the Examples folder that is installed with the program. Select the Phast examples.psux file or the Phast Lite examples.psux file, as appropriate for your type of license, and click on OK. There will be a brief pause, and then the data for the example workspace will be displayed in the program window, as described in the sections below.

Note: the Examples folder will contain files for the four main Phast and Safeti products, and for the 3D Explosions and Multi-component extensions to the products. If you do not have a license for a Safeti product or for a particular extension, then those example files will not be relevant to you.