Shutdown valves in critical SIS applications.

Fisher™ Digital Isolation™ solutions are SIL-certified as full assemblies by exida and can improve critical performance specifications in safety instrumented systems by up to 50%. 

The first valve assemblies that meet the design process requirements of Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3 per the International Electrotechnical Commission’s IEC 61508 standard have been introduced by Emerson. These Fisher™ Digital Isolation™ final element solutions serve the needs of customers for shutdown valves in critical safety instrumented system (SIS) applications.

Without this solution, users must specify all the individual valve components, procure each one, and assemble them into a working whole. Even if these steps are done correctly, this type of custom assembly will still not provide all the benefits of the Digital Isolation assembly.

“We were excited to work with Emerson to accomplish the first certified valve assembly,” said Loren Stewart, exida evaluating assessor for this project. “By providing a complete SIL solution for valve assemblies, Emerson is reducing unknown variables while helping ensure safety is always paramount.”

Engineering a safety shutdown valve is a complicated task. The normal and upset process conditions must be carefully evaluated and understood when choosing valve and actuator components. In addition, the proper combination of solenoids, brackets, couplings and other critical hardware must be specified and carefully matched to the selected valve. Each of these components must function individually and in concert to operate.

Emerson addresses these and other issues by providing an engineered Digital Isolation shutdown valve assembly, designed for each particular process. The various components are specifically selected to satisfy the application requirements. The entire assembly is sold as a fully tested and certified unit, with a single serial number and associated documentation delineating the details of every part of the assembly.

Because the assembly is built as a complete solution in Emerson facilities, it boasts a significantly improved probability of failure on demand (PFD) rate. In some cases, the failure rate of the assembly will be up to 50% less than the combination of the same valve components purchased individually and assembled by an end user.

This improved PFD results from the assembly being certified as a whole system by exida, a global leader in product certification and knowledge, to meet their rigorous Remote Actuated Valve Assembly requirements. By using this certified assembly, SIS designers may realise a substantial reduction in dangerous undetected failure rates (λDU).

In one example, an Emerson customer was hoping to achieve a six-year test interval for a SIL 2 safety interlock. When they performed a component SIL calculation on a standard shutdown valve, they could only achieve a SIL 1 level reliability at a six-year test interval. However, the Digital Isolation assembly exceeded SIL 2 requirements using the same components. This allowed the plant to safely extend their run time to six years, generating millions of dollars in additional revenue.

@FisherValves @Emerson_News @HHC_Lewis #PAuto #Safety

Device manager approved cyber secure.

exida, LLC announced that it has assessed the Honeywell ISA100 Wireless™ Device Manager model WDMY version R320 and certified that it meets requirements for the ISASecure® EDSA certification level 1. The WDMY is the first industrial wireless gateway to achieve the ISASecure® cybersecurity certification which certifies to the ISA/IEC 62443 international cybersecurity standards.

The ISASecure® certification demonstrates to Honeywell’s customers that the company is committed to the safety and security of their products. Honeywell is an industry leader in control system cybersecurity and has certified more products to the ISA/IEC 62443 standards than any other supplier around the globe.

Based on ISA/IEC 62443 standards, ISASecure assures that the WDMY is free of known cybersecurity vulnerabilities and robust against network attacks. In addition, the ISASecure certification provides assurances that development of the WDMY is managed under a secure development lifecycle and will maintain its security capabilities as the product is changed and maintained over its lifecycle.

The ISASecure registration and certificate for the Honeywell WDMY can be viewed on the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI) website.

“Honeywell continues to demonstrate its thought leadership in securing critical infrastructure control systems and components,” stated Andre Ristaino, ISCI Managing Director. “Certification of the WDMY is a tangible result of Honeywell’s commitment to securing their product portfolio, reducing risk to customer’s operations and ensuring the safety of the public.”

@exidaLLC #PAuto #Cybersecurity @HWusers @ISA_Interchange 

Security standards in automation.

The ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards, developed by the ISA99 committee as American National Standards and adopted globally by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), is designed to provide a flexible framework to address and mitigate current and future security vulnerabilities in industrial automation and control systems (IACS). These standards and all other standards may be accessed from the ISA Standards Page.

A newly published standard in the series, ISA/IEC 62443-4-1-2018, Security for Industrial Automation and Control Systems Part 4-1: Product Security Development Life-Cycle Requirements, specifies process requirements for the secure development of products used in an IACS. It defines a secure development life-cycle for developing and maintaining secure products. This life-cycle includes security requirements definition, secure design, secure implementation (including coding guidelines), verification and validation, defect management, patch management and product end-of-life.

These requirements can be applied to new or existing processes for developing, maintaining and retiring hardware, software or firmware for new or existing products. The requirements apply to the developer and maintainer of a product, but not to the integrator or user of the product.

“Designing security into products from the beginning of the development lifecycle is critical because it can help eliminate vulnerabilities from products before they ever reach the field,” emphasizes Michael Medoff of exida, who led the ISA99 development group for the standard. “We all know how difficult and expensive it can be to constantly have to patch software in the field. The new standard gives us a real opportunity to break the cycle of frequent security patches and to produce products that are secure by design.”

The ISA99 standards committee draws on the input and knowledge of IACS security experts from across the globe to develop consensus standards that are applicable to all industry sectors and critical infrastructure. Previous documents in the ISA/IEC 62443 series cover terminology, concepts, and models; establishment of an IACS security program; patch management; and system security requirements and security levels.

#ISA99 #PAuto #ISAuto #Cybersecurity

Collaboration for safety system set-up.

The DeltaV™ safety instrumented system (SIS) configurator, an exida exSILentia® tool that automatically generates DeltaV SIS configurations has been announced. By pairing built-in DeltaV functionality with exida’s comprehensive software tools for functional safety, users can develop safety logic configurations much faster and in fewer steps. Project teams can not only decrease the time and effort of safety system configuration, but also deliver more consistent configurations with fewer errors, requiring less rework.

In traditional SIS configuration, project teams use the safety requirements specification (SRS), along with custom-built cause and effect matrices (CEM) as the basis for system configuration. The CEM data is manually interpreted and coded into the safety logic to configure the system. This configuration model requires multiple stages of data entry, taking too much time and presenting opportunities for human error. The new DeltaV SIS configurator leverages data structures created during the conceptual safety instrumented function (SIF) design, safety instrumented level (SIL) verification, and the SRS to automatically generate the safety system configuration.

“With the DeltaV SIS Configurator, programming the logic only takes a fraction of the time, so the SIS conceptual design can be finalised before programming begins. This eliminates any rework due to changing requirements and dramatically impacts project schedule,” said Iwan van Beurden, chief technology officer and director of product development at exida.

With automated SIS configuration, there is no need for entering data in multiple tools; everything is entered once into exSILentia, and an automated tool translates the information into the DeltaV safety logic configuration. The SRS data, SIF definition, and the associated SIL verification data are included.

“Using automatic SIS configuration, project teams can deliver accurate safety logic with minimal programming,” said Sergio Diaz, DeltaV SIS product marketing manager, Emerson Automation Solutions. “Less data entry means more consistency between engineers, leading to less validation time and faster start-ups.”

“By minimising the need for manually entered data and automating other critical steps, this jointly-developed solution addresses some key pain points and should be able to help end users design and implement safer systems more efficiently, maintain these systems, and ensure compliance with pertinent regulations and standards,” said Mark Sen Gupta, research director with ARC Advisory Group.

@EMR_Automation #PAuto @exidaLLC

Cybersecurity certification.

Exida, LLC has certified the Yokogawa ProSafe-RS to the ISASecure® Embedded Device Security Assurance (EDSA) certification level 1.The Yokogawa ProSafe-RS Safety Control System is Yokogawa’s second product to be certified to the ISASecure Conformance Scheme. Yokogawa also has a DCS Controller product certified to ISASecure EDSA.

The ISASecure® Embedded Device Security Assurance (EDSA) certification demonstrates to Yokogawa’s customers that the company is committed to the safety and security of their products.

Based on IEC 62443 standards, ISASecure assures that the ProSafe-RS Safety Control System is free of known cybersecurity vulnerabilities and robust against network attacks. In addition, the ISASecure certification provides assurances that the ProSafe-RS is managed under a secure development lifecycle and will maintain its security capabilities as the product is changed and maintained over its lifecycle.

The ISASecure registration and certificate for the ProSafe-RS Safety Control System can be viewed on the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI) web site (www.isasecure.org).

“We are pleased to see the maintenance of the ISASecure® EDSA certificate for the Yokogawa ProSafe product,” stated Andre Ristaino, ISCI Managing Director. “Yokogawa continues to demonstrate their leadership in cybersecurity through their participation and contributions in the ISASecure program.”

 @exidaLLC @YokogawaIA  #PAuto 

SIS certified!

Emerson’s DeltaV safety instrumented system (SIS) has been granted the 2013 Safety Award by exida, the global leader in functional safety and cybersecurity certification for the process industries. exida recognised the DeltaV safety instrumented system with its safety award for the logic solvers category, citing the system’s Electronic Marshalling and CHARMs technologies. 

"exida recognises the importance of excellence in functional safety," said William Goble, exida principal partner. "Through extensive analysis of the nominated products, we believe DeltaV SIS with Electronic Marshalling has the ability to play a key role in the continuous journey of making the world a safer place."

"It’s gratifying to receive this recognition from the experts," said Emerson process systems and solutions president Jim Nyquist (left), who accepted the award from William Goble, exida. "It affirms that we accomplished our goal of reducing complexity while meeting or exceeding the stringent functional requirements of systems safety."

Founded in 1999 and with offices around the world, exida is a key player in testing and assessing automation safety products. The agency is a leading certification body and serves on the international committees that write safety standards.

Goble noted that exida is in a unique position to review safety products from many different manufacturers. The safety award gives the agency an opportunity to recognise products that stand out in meeting functional safety standards. 

"The DeltaV SIS architecture is what I would call a hybrid," said Goble. "It combines the best attributes of many different architectures into one. Also, its flexible design gives users all the different I/O types they need, and allows them to pick levels of redundancy and safety so they can make trade-offs between costs and the essential parameters of availability and safety." 

Goble said cyber security is a big consideration – noting it was not even a topic of discussion in safety systems just a few years ago. "It’s something a lot of people are now having trouble retrofitting," Goble said. "The DeltaV SIS with Electronic Marshalling and CHARMs technology was built with security as an important part of the design." 

"It’s gratifying to receive this recognition from the experts," said Emerson process systems and solutions president Jim Nyquist, who accepted the award. "It affirms that we accomplished our goal of reducing complexity while meeting or exceeding the stringent functional requirements of systems safety."

Safety approval for isolators & splitters

The SSX and SST family of safety isolators and splitters from Moore Industries have been approved by exida for use in a Safety Instrumented System (SIS) up to SIL 3 in monitor mode, where only the input circuit is part of the safety function. It is the latest product in the FS Functional Safety Series to receive SIL 3 approval, joining the STA Safety Trip Alarm. The SSX and SST are also approved for single use in an SIS up to SIL 2, as is the SRM Safety Relay Module.

These three products form the core of Moore Industries’ growing line of safety-related instrumentation. They have been designed and built to strict IEC 61508 standards, ensuring safe and reliable function – particularly in environments where hazardous or emergency situations are likely to occur. Detailed FMEDA reports are also available for all FS Functional Safety Series Products.

Although using Proven In Use data is an acceptable approach per the IEC 61508 standard, designing instruments in accordance with the standard from the ground up forces the components and circuit design to undergo additional scrutiny that ensures the highest level of reliability. Leading third-party safety auditing firm exida audits Moore Industries products and processes to ensure they are in compliance with the IEC 61508 standard. With this certification, end users can rely on these instruments to perform as expected and when demanded.