Process Control and Plant Safety: Integrated Yet Separate
ABB has released its next-generation System 800xA High Integrity (HI) Safety Integrated System (SIS). The controller design is SIL3 certified by the German TÜV. The company said the system provides the highest level of integration of safety and control on the market today.
The 800xA HI has taken plant automation to a new level with the seamless integration of two previously independent automation platforms, safety and process control, into a single, yet functionally separate, system.
The product’s architecture offers users the flexibility to either combine control and safety functions in the same controller, or to keep the functions separate but within the same integrated network. Full integration of the safety and process control systems through 800xA HI means that all data associated with the safety instrumented
system is available to the process control system, and vice versa.
Engineering is simplified through the use of common software tools and the common system 800xA architecture. Significant savings can also be achieved by sharing costly field equipment and wiring, and from using common (instead of separate) configuration tools, communications networks, spare parts, maintenance, training,
service and upgrades.
System 800xA HI allows end users to tailor their safety system solutions to specific process requirements to optimize efficiency and cost while protecting the process, personnel and the environment. The latest version of the modular 800xA HI includes several new features designed to augment safety integrity. The hardware is
common on the market, and the system utilizes embedded hardware and software diversity in the logic solver and subsystem, with diverse execution paths to detect any potential random failures. It includes additional SIL 3 libraries for shutdown applications, and provides combined non- SIL, SIL 2 and SIL 3 applications for increased safety protection and process efficiency.
