[Objective] Leakage accidents in urban gas pipeline networks occur from time to time, and most of them are accompanied by secondary disasters, such as explosions, fires, and building collapses, which seriously threaten the safety of people's lives and property. Previous research on gas accident rescue capability primarily focuses on gas enterprises or indoor gas emergencies, and research on accidents associated with gas pipeline networks is lacking. Some studies have limitations, such as broad evaluation indicators, vague content, and limited scope of assessment objects, which cause difficulties in applying the evaluation system in practice. This study aims to identify the weaknesses in the emergency rescue process for accidents associated with urban gas pipeline networks, effectively assess the emergency rescue capabilities for such accidents, and help improve the emergency rescue efficiency and gas safety guarantee level.[Methods] Herein, the emergency rescue characteristics for accidents associated with urban gas pipeline networks were analyzed and summarized, and the rescue capabilities for these accidents were evaluated. First, based on an in-depth analysis of emergency plans and accident cases associated with gas pipeline networks, the emergency rescue elements of accidents were extracted and sorted. Furthermore, the emergency rescue process was constructed. By summarizing the limitations in emergency rescue, an indicator system comprehensively reflecting emergency rescue capabilities was established based on four aspects, namely humans, pipelines, materials, and management. The system included 4 first-level indicators, f2 second-level indicators, and 27 third-level indicators. Second, the subjective-objective combination weighting method of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (CRITIC) method were used to calculate the weight of each indicator to reduce the possibility of excessive subjectivity caused by expert scoring to a certain extent. Combining the weight of each indicator can help identify and focus on the indicators with a high degree of importance. Finally, an emergency rescue capability evaluation model was established using the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation approach to realize the quantitative evaluation of the emergency rescue capabilities for accidents associated with gas pipeline networks in specific regions. The model was applied to Zhangwan District, Shiyan City, Hubei Province.[Results] The results show that indicators such as the "supply-demand ratio of rescue personnel", "effectiveness of information transmission", and "formulation and revision of emergency plans" account for a relatively large weight compared to other indicators. The indicators of "cooperation and coordination ability of rescuers", "equipment performance", and "emergency drill effect" are the weak links in the emergency rescue process of accidents associated with the gas pipeline networks in the region. Therefore, the departmental interaction needs to be strengthened, the construction of the rescue coordination mechanism needs to be improved, and joint prevention and control and coordinated rescue capabilities need to be enhanced. Furthermore, to standardize emergency drill training, the safety production investment guarantee for local gas companies should be increased, and to improve the design and planning of training content, online and offline integrated learning is necessary.[Conclusions] The feasibility and applicability of the evaluation system were verified through the application case. This evaluation system for the emergency rescue capability of accidents associated with urban gas pipeline networks offers a theoretical basis and feasible approach for establishing, improving, and evaluating emergency measures for accidents associated with urban gas pipeline networks. © 2023 Press of Tsinghua University. All rights reserved.
