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Flexible, Fault-tolerant ESD

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Researchers could not know in advance exactly what alarm and shutdown limits should be set for the 27 variables whose out-of-range values could trigger an ESD, so the limits had to be configurable. The objective was to iteratively refine the process while staying within a zone of safety. The ESD solution consisted of an "off the shelf" Triplex triple-redundant programmable logic controller (PLC) mounted in a control panel. The system's Mean-Time-Between-Failure (MTBF) is 325 years.

At a major oil company’s Research and Development Laboratories, a unique experiment was in progress: an attempt to prove the commercial viability of refining super clean fuel from a variety of dirty energy sources using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Due to the non-linear nature of the process, an industrial-sized pilot plant was required. Also required was a fail-safe yet flexible Emergency Shut Down (ESD) system.

Researchers could not know in advance exactly what alarm and shutdown limits should be set for the 27 variables whose out-of-range values could trigger an ESD, so the limits had to be configurable. The objective was to iteratively refine the process while staying within a zone of safety. In the event that reactions became unsafe, the ESD system had to prevent adverse consequences or in the worst case, to minimize leaks, releases or wear and tear on equipment.

The ESD solution consisted of an "off the shelf" Triplex

The API’s Recommended Practice for SCADA Pipeline Displays identifies best practices for development of human machine interfaces (HMI) to provide optimal transfer of information to the user. The API-compliant display standards developed by SKW encompass graphics screen layout, equipment and processes, screen navigation, and alarm and event handling.