Won K. Kim
MSc, BSc
Fire protection engineer | Process safety engineer | Risk engineer
Country of Residence
Current Professional Activities
I have recently performed risk assessments of high-pressure hydrogen tanks mounted on hydrogen vehicles, fire risk assessments of lithium-ion battery assembly processes, hazard analyses of fuel supply systems of LNG engine ships, and hazard analyses of fuel supply systems of methanol engine ships. I am also developing risk assessment methods for major infrastructure projects, preparing fire safety standards for Hyundai Mobis lithium-ion battery research institutes and assembly plants, and fire safety standards for Coupang’s Storage and Distribution Facility.
Professional Experience
I have over 40 years of experience in Process Safety Engineering, Fire Protection Engineering, and Risk Assessment in various industries including high-rise buildings, storage and distribution, oil and gas, petrochemicals, semiconductors, nuclear and conventional power generation, transportation and others. I have provided services including process hazard analyses, process risk assessments, process safety management, fire protection code compliance reviews, fire safety inspections and audits, fire hazard analyses, fire risk assessments, fire and life safety reviews, fire protection design reviews, expert witness services, and training. I have applied performance-based design approaches in fire safety services. In a recent project, as an EHS lead engineer in a RAPID project of Petronas Malaysia, I successfully applied the results of a Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) for a plant siting, the plant’s layout, fire protection design, and an emergency response plan. In several projects I assessed facilities risk to provide a high level of safety assurance to stakeholders. My QRA experience includes, cooling water systems in nuclear power plants, LNG storage tanks, unit processes in petrochemical plants, subway stations, road tunnels, and sprinkler systems. I also performed a Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA), semi QRA method, for the process unit of a petrochemical plant. I believe that my expertise in fire protection engineering helped me develop realistic problem-solving measures to reduce the risk of fire and explosion.
Academia, Publishing, Awards
At the 13th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management in 2016, I presented “An analytical approach to probability of successful performance of sprinkler system”. And it was regarded as a new approach which analyze the risk by FTA with failure frequency of parts of sprinkler system and the level of maintenance efforts. One of the other notable presentations was “A Study for the Prevention of Unconfined Vapor Cloud Explosion from Spilled LNG Confined in a Dike”, which proved that cold vapor from LNG can form a vapor cloud like LPG and explode near the ground level. This presentation was given at the 17th Annual International Conference and Workshop of Center for Chemical Process Safety (American Institute of Chemical Engineering) in 2001. I presented “Development of Regional Risk Analysis” at DAVOS Risk Forum in 2010. I developed the risk map of a region and it was evaluated as a new tool for risk governance. I also published a book “Guideline for Room Fire Modeling” in 1999, and it was used as a text book in fire protection engineering course in many universities in Korea.
Role at RSI
Won K. Kim is both an Associate Expert at RSI and a subject matter expert in various engineering facets of risk assessment and management. Kim also acts as RSI’s South East Asia Lead, providing our Asian clients with both risk expertise and proximity client support.
