Safety in modular process plants: demonstration of safety concepts

Abstract

The modularization of process plants addresses the need for flexible production options in the process industry. In order to maintain the advantages of the adaptability of modular plants, an adaptation of established engineering methods and procedures to their dynamic context of use is required. This paper describes the development and the features of a demonstrator, which makes it possible to investigate aspects of modular plant topology, the design of modular process units, and the functional safety of modules and plants. During the engineering of the modules, modular planning principles are applied and evaluated with respect to the requirements for functional safety and with a strong focus on the modification of safety systems through the exchange of PEAs and FEAs. For the design and modification of the safety systems, a safety life cycle, which meets the requirements of modular automation and takes the provisions of IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 into account, is applied. Practical insights into the construction and the implementation of the distributed Safety Instrumented System as well as the Basic Process Control System are described. In addition to the validation of safety concepts related to the interconnection of Safety Instrumented Functions, the demonstrator is used to study human working environments in modular plants.

Modularisierung in der Prozessindustrie – Bericht von der ACHEMA 2022

“…Die Anlagenbetreiber betonen, dass der Sicherheitsaspekt der Anlagen ein zentrales Thema ist. Insbesondere bei modularen Anlagen ist dieser Bereich noch nicht vollends zu Ende entwickelt, obgleich schon Konzepte und Demonstratoren zur funktionalen Sicherheit existieren [11,12]. Die Anlagenbetreiber vermuten unno ¨tige Redundanzen sowie eine komplexe Zuordnung von Priorita ¨ten im Bereich der Anlagensicherheit.…”

Definition, Characterization, and Modeling of Hybrid Modular‐Monolithic Process Plants

“…Besides the state-based control and service-based automation, various other aspects are of utter importance, e.g., safety or energy management of modular plants. In [58,59], the authors define concepts for considering and integrating safety into modular plants. In addition, recent ideas for the integration of energy management concepts into modular plants [60] were introduced.…”