Topic: Safety Systems

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Shifting to a Safety Mindset
Profit Isn’t Helped by Meeting Production Targets by Sacrificing People and Equipment Integrity. Accidents Really Are More Costly Than Safety

Working with IS and non–Signals on the Plant Floor
Galvanic Isolators Can Solve Some of Your Intrinsic Safety Problems

Welcome to the Web Exclusive Club
If You Haven’t Checked Our Magazine Exclusive Online Channel, Don’t Waste One More Minute and Hop Online

Another Major Safety Fail
There’s No Way to Tell If the Safety System Would Have Worked, or Did Work, Because Major Parts of It Were Turned Off

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White Papers: In Depth Research

Surface Acoustic Wave Technology-Based Temperature Monitoring of High Voltage and High Current Switchgear Boxes
Author: SenGenuity
Posted: 05/27/2009
Safety is a big concern when it comes to managing power distribution systems. High voltage and high current switchgear boxes serve an important role in establishing points of control within the power distribution system. The high voltages and current flowing through switchgear boxes greatly increase the probability of electric arcing and arc blasts. An arc blast is characterized by intense amounts of heat, pressure, shrapnel and molten copper. Great strides have been made in building arc resistant switchgears, nevertheless accidents have happened and the state of technology is far from completely eliminating them. One solution to this problem is to monitor the temperature of switchgear boxes to elicit early warning signs of imminent failure. Conventional methods of monitoring switchgear temperature are expensive and not entirely effective. Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology can provide a passively powered (battery-less), wireless temperature measurement solution that is suited for switchgears. This application note explores how a SAW based solution can provide a reliable, safe and cost-effective means of monitoring switchgear temperature.

OSIsoft Helps MWRA Improve Real-Time Plant Performance, Aid Boston Harbor Cleanup
Author: OSIsoft
Posted: 05/15/2009
A wastewater treatment organization in Massachusetts has been implementing OSIsoft’s PI System (PI) as the core of an enterprise-wide solution. With the help of the real-time data collected and distributed by PI, the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) is able to achieve real-time notification of events to the employees who need to know; real-time pricing of power in order to determine the most cost-effective approach to on-site power usage; deliver accurate and timely compliance reporting to local and federal agencies; and, perhaps best of all, play a key role in improving the quality of the environment in Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay.

Process Safety in Specialty Chemicals: Turning Industry Challenges Into Opportunities
Author: Rockwell Automation
Posted: 04/17/2009
The need: Lower life cycle costs and better information flow. The solution: New standards offer more choices for integrating safety and process control

The specialty chemical industry is facing a number of difficult challenges, including increasingly stringent safety and compliance mandates, higher energy and feedstock prices, and aging plants and equipment – all intensified by global competition. Compounding these challenges is the expanding breadth of specialty chemical product categories, forcing manufacturers to dedicate major resources and continuously innovate to maintain market share and capitalize on new opportunities.

Despite the size of the industry and the increase in worldwide demand for all types of specialty chemicals, margins must be managed closely due to rising costs, more demanding customers, and the fact that all products – no matter how innovative – eventually go off-patent and face stiff competition. While operating a chemical plant is tough business, opportunities exist for companies to optimize their investments and improve both productivity and their financial performance.

Risks prevail wherever people store, process or handle hazardous or toxic materials. In the specialty chemical industry, these risks are compounded because the hazard has the potential to impact a numerous of people. A spill of a toxic agent or explosion could be hazardous to a population within a plant or the surrounding area. One growing area of focus in recent years is the critical value of safety in protecting people, and helping safeguard the environment and plant assets, as well as reducing lifecycle costs.

This paper explores how changes in industry standards and technology developments are expanding how safety systems are applied in specialty chemical applications. It also examines the operational and competitive advantages driving the trend toward separate yet interoperable safety and process control platforms with common development tools. These benefits include reduced life cycle costs, expanded access to process data and improved plant-wide integration.

Risk Control Hierarchy Clarifies Electrical Safety
Author: Phil Allen the President of Grace Engineered Products Inc.
Posted: 03/16/2009
A clear and realistic set of objectives goes a long way in driving continuous improvements in electrical safety. Resources can be allocated and priorities can be defined once objectives are set. The risk control hierarchy (RCH) in the ANSI-Z10 standard provides electrical safety professionals with an excellent roadmap for setting the right safety objectives that result in the reduction of electrical risks. RCH helps improve a plant electrical safety program and inspires manufactures to improve their electrical equipment designs. RCH provides a mean to measure the effectiveness of an electrical safety initiative much the same way a project management uses financial measurements to evaluate a project.

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