Product category:
Pumps and valves
News Release from: ICS Triplex | Subject: hValve test hard and software package
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 April 2002
Valve test package does not stop
production
A hard and software package for checking safety and shutdown valves does so without disrupting production in petrochemical and other critical safety plants.
ICS Triplex has developed a hard and software package for checking safety and shutdown valves without disrupting production in petrochemical and other critical safety plants The idea behind the valve test package is to partial stroke the valve to check that it is not stuck in the open position and to automate this testing using only the standard ESD system components
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 3 Feb 2000 at 8.00am (UK)
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Valves and their actuators are the cause of most dangerous failure in process plants, being prone to blockage and corrosion or sticking of their moving parts.
Because the procedure does not require the plant to be shutdown it can be performed regularly, with a consequent dramatic improvement in process safety.
The relevant standard, IEC 61508, now specifies that safety shutdown valves are included in the assessment of the process protection systems.
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However, operating valves periodically to test them can be highly undesirable because of the loss of production.
The ICS Triplex package checks the movement of the valve after only a few percent of its travel, before returning to the open position.
It satisfies the IEC 61508 requirements and confirms the performance of the valve without process interruption.
Calculations show that a partial closure test every quarter plus an annual full closure test will improve the valve's Safety Integrity Level as defined by IEC61508 approximately 30-fold.
The ICS Triplex valve test package consists of a software module and a flexible hardware I/O card that carries all the necessary digital input/output channels.
The product is designed so that the test operation is conducted at the real valve speed, thus all potential failure modes are checked in the solenoid, actuator and most of the valve body itself.
To do this the package monitors valve movement times with millisecond accuracy using the intelligent I/O modules of the Trusted fault-tolerant critical control system.
Trusted is ICS Triplex's flagship product.
Certified by TUV as suitable for AK6 applications, the highest possible rating for fault tolerant systems, it uses RunSafe fault-tolerant control (First fault: fault tolerant, Second fault: fault tolerant, Third fault: failsafe) to virtually eliminate spurious trips due to safety system faults, delivering the highest availability and lowest cost of ownership of any SIL3 rated safety system currently available.
It features dual Ethernet and MODBUS interfacing, OPC compliant communication software, and familiar IEC61131-3 configuration languages, offering significant savings in engineering time and cost.
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