The Problem

The primary role of a control system is to execute the plant control philosophy. On safety-critical plants the primary role of the safety-shutdown system is to shut down the plant under certain plant conditions.

While control- and safety-system technologies have come a long way in terms of reliability and fault tolerance, they are still susceptible to failures.

The Consequence

When systems fail, the outcome can be unpredictable. CPUs can stop, I/O cards can fail altogether, I/O can be stuck on or off, power supplies could cut power to the systems, and operators may have not direct control over the plant.

The consequences of these failures range from minor process disturbances affecting quality, through to major catastrophes such as equipment damage or endangerment of life.

The Cause

Root cause #1: Perceived cost savings by not incorporating any redundancy in the control system.

The Solution: With more than 30 years’ in-house experience at Arion in the design of process-control systems across a wide spectrum of industries. We assist in the FEED stages and basic design stages of projects to ensure the most cost-effective and fit-for-purpose solutions are delivered. While systems may incur more cost to construct, the long-term benefits may far outweigh the investment in redundancy.

Root cause #2: Lack of available technology to perform the required design requirements

The Solution: Different plant situations call for different solutions – there is no one-fits-all. We offer a range of solutions which will match your specific reliability requirements to the system best suited to meet your needs. Where you have already selected a particular system, we are able to bring the best practice designs to improve system resilience.

Root cause #3: Inexperienced or untrained personnel.

The Solution: Customized application training to suit specific customer installation and staff needs can be provided. Our engineers can also work with your teams to co-develop the optimal architecture for your system.

Root cause #4: Control philosophies simply haven’t taken component failure into account.

The Solution: Assistance with a review of the overall control system design philosophy to identify problem hot spots and potential susceptibility to failures.