September 2014System Integration & Control Systems Design
When Shell Lubricants in the UK needed to replace an ageing process alarm system with SIL certified technology, it chose Omniflex to engineer a replacement solution based on the state-of-the-art Omni16R annunciator system, but downtime would be critical.
The challenge
Keeping a manufacturing process safe is a critical factor in running a successful process plant. Ageing plants can put people and the environment at risk by relying on old alarm systems that no longer meet current safety requirements, or are no longer able to be maintained.
However, replacing such systems can be costly due mainly to the plant downtime incurred during system change over. The brief from Shell was to replace the ageing RIS AN5100 system without the need to touch field wiring or plant drawings.
The solution
Omniflex engineered a replacement solution based upon its SIL certified Omni16R rack based alarm annunciator. Special terminal boards were constructed to interface with the existing plant cabling to ensure the minimum of disruption during change over.
Ten Omni16R annunciator racks were fitted into the original RIS panels further reducing the cost and risk during of the change out.
The result
Geoff Roberts, Engineering Technician said, “I felt totally confident from the start working with the Omniflex engineers that the system would be designed and installed correctly, and they did not let me down. Installing the new system enabled us to tidy the alarm fascias in the control rooms, making the whole system more efficient.”
The new Omniflex system also provides Shell with an Ethernet link to the scada system, meaning that alarms can now be logged.
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