Application of functional safety to electrical power equipment and systems in process industries

摘要

In process industries, the application of functional safety in preventing major incidents is a well-established practice. The functional safety standard IEC 61511 (IEC, 2016) is applied to the safety instrumented system (SIS) protection layers to avoid the undesired events or reduce the likelihood of the events or impacts due to failures in the process, process equipment, or its control system including human interactions. However, there are risks of catastrophic incidents due to electrical equipment failures as well. Therefore, one should not underestimate the importance of the management, design, installation, operation, and maintenance of electrical power systems and protection devices. Regulatory authorities, in some countries, require the owners or operators to address the risks that arise from electrical equipment failure.