Best Practices in SIS

Documentation
Ed Marszal, President, Kenexis

Presenters

Ed Marszal

Gary Hawkins

Introduction

Safety Instrumented System Design per ISA S84* is

becoming a common practice
Poor documentation is being generated due to
safety case mentality
Current practices ignore audience of documents and
good practices for specifications in general

* ANSI /ISA 84.00.01-2004 (IEC 61511-Mod)

FEED Phase SIS Documents

List of Safety Instrumented Functions (SIF)

Grouping of Instrumented Protective Functions (IPF)
Group by equipment or process
Compressors
Reactors
Fired Heaters

P&ID representation of SIF

Logic description
cause and effect tables
Boolean logic diagrams
Narrative (plain English description of operation)

Testing procedures (with documentation of results)

Preliminary Design Steps

SIF List should be precursor to SIL selection

HAZOP/LOPA without knowledge of typical SIF leads
to errors
HAZOP is a final check on a good design, not a
design task
Typical SIF based on experience, standards, codes,
and judgment

Instrumented Protective Function Groups

Group instruments together that are functionally

related
Typically based around major equipment
Compressors
Fired Heaters
Reactors

Typically contains multiple SIF

Also can contain non-SIF instruments and logic

Typical Plant Groupings

IPF Grouping for Separator

PIC
101A

PT
101A

A
D
PV
101B

Detail A

USC
101

PT
101D

PI
101C
PT
101C

V-101

PV
101A

LG
101B
LG
101A

LT
101A

LT
101B

USC
101

Detail A

PIC
101B

PT
101B

Advantages of IPF Grouping

Compact information with minimal duplication

Facilitates programming programmer shielded for
single instruments in multiple SIF
Facilitates design and I/O counting
Facilitates test plan development and testing

P&ID representation

Symbology for SIS, specifically tag naming in

inconsistent (I, X, UC, USC)
Use of S is technically correct, but leads to more
confusion (PSV is always a relief valve??)
Use of typicals to minimize clutter

Typical SIS I/O Details

Detail A - SIS Inputs

XT
XXX

USC
XXX

XI
XXX

Indicator

XAHL
XXX

Pre-Alarm

XAHHLL
XXX

Trip Alarm

HS
XXX

Bypass
Switch

HA
XXX

Bypass
Alarm

XDA
XXX

Deviation
Alarm

Safety Requirements Specs

Specifications (emphasis on s)
Limit information to what is required for audience (SIL
not required on C&E or P&ID)
Use general requirements statements for common
features such as bypassing
Refer to other documents for non-critical information

Typical Bypass Note

1.1 Bypass / Override SIS Logic Solver
Each of the functional groups that are described in this Safety Requirements
Specification shall require a shutdown bypass function for maintenance and testing. The
bypass functionality described in this note shall not be used for normal operations. If a
bypass is required for normal operations such as start-up, a dedicated hard-wired
bypass facility shall be provided.
The SIS shall be configured so that bypasses are implemented using a two-step process
that includes activation of a unit-specific bypass enable switch and activation of an
input-specific BPCS bypass soft switch. Only when both of these items are activated
shall the input be bypassed. When an input is placed in bypass, the SIS logic solver
shall hold the input in the non-trip state, regardless of the status of the bypassed input.

Reference External Documents

Conclusions

Room for improvement in SIS documentation

practices
Consider the audience for the documents
Use good engineering practice
Minimize data duplication
Leads to shorter preparation time and fewer errors

Business Results Achieved

Decreased implementation time and cost

Compact documentation is easier to prepare and more
accurate
Use of standard modules instead of custom development
Minimal clarification and rework

Decreased ongoing maintenance effort and cost

Updates only occur in one document
Likelihood of inconsistent data in multiple documents
decreased

Safer processes
Lower probability of systematic errors in system resulting from
poor documentation

Summary

SIS design can be made safer and more cost

effective through documentation method
improvements
Specification preparation time can be reduced by as
much as 50%*
Please fill out comment cards and e-mail any feed
back you have to the authors
Questions?!?

Where To Get More Information

ISA Bookstore Safety Integrity Level Selection

Kenexis Web Site
HTTP://www.kenexis.com/resources

Emerson SIS Lifecycle Workbook

At Delta V SIS Booth during EGUE
Contact Emerson After EGUE