ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, recently released its High Integrity (HI) safety system for use with any ABB or 3rd party control system, PLC or operator interface. Users of any control system can now achieve safety targets with this certified safety system while reducing risk in engineering, operations and maintenance.This TÜV certified release gives users the ability to utilize ABB's unique High Integrity safety system for any SIL 1-3 application and to interface all necessary information to the existing control system and/or operator interface.Global Product Group Manager for Safety Systems Alicia DuBay said the most exciting part about the release of this safety system is that it offers ABB customers the ability to this technology regardless of what control system they have. In their most recent Process Safety System Worldwide Outlook Report, ARC identifies the need to meet regulatory requirements, the impact of recent incidents and aging of the existing safety infrastructure as factors driving global safety system sales at a capitalized annual growth rate of over 9% as emerging and mature markets invest in safety improvements. As companies race to upgrade their safety systems, ABB's Independent High Integrity safety system delivers the safety and flexibility needed to evolve the installed base to a solution certified to the most recent editions of IEC 61508 and IEC 61511.The Independent High Integrity offering includes an object oriented engineering environment with SIL certified safety libraries that efficiently support reuse and engineering throughout the entire safety lifecycle. The engineering environment includes IEC 6113103 programming languages and the easy to use Diagram Editor as well as safeguards against non-SIL compliant configurations. Core functions that ensure safe operations include system security, access control, confirm operations, force control, time tagging to millisecond accuracy, audit trail, system diagnostics and difference reporting. These functions provide an extra layer of authentication for maintenance bypasses and force control as well as enhanced capabilities for troubleshooting and root cause analysis.Connectivity options and protocols including Modbus and OPC provide the ability to interface to process panels, ABB control systems or 3rd party software and control systems. The non-interfering communications protocols enable read access to the safety system data for any type of display.ABB's Independent HI safety system is ideal for those applications where deep integration with the process control system is not required, such as relay replacements or systems where visualization is provided by an ABB or 3rd party process panel, simple HMI, or control system. The High Integrity hardware and engineering tool are also used with ABB's Freelance and Symphony Plus control systems to deliver safety solutions that are SIL3 certified to Edition 2 of the IEC safety standards.Several recent projects have been delivered with a solution that includes the ABB Essential Automation Freelance System for process control with the Independent High Integrity safety system for Emergency Shutdown (ESD). These solutions provide the required safety integrity level together with the process control system and level of integration desired by the customer. In the case of the Zhongda China Petrol Company refinery expansion in the Kyrgyz Republic, Freelance AC 800F controllers were used for approximately 4,000 process I/O signals and the AC 800M HI controllers provided SIL 3 ESD functionality for 350 I/O signals. Redundant Ethernet with OPC was used to interface the process control and safety systems.For more information on ABB in Safety and the Independent High Integrity offering, visit http://www.abb.com/highintegritysafety.
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