Safety PLC Validation Using Simulated Hazard and LOPA Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for hazard/safety analysis in industrial processes are inefficient and lack automation, requiring extensive human intervention and potentially missing critical safety measures.
Innovation Solution
An AI-based system that simulates industrial processes using a process model, employing multi-agent interactions to identify hazards and evaluate protective mechanisms, generating safety requirements for safety instrumented systems, and testing application programs to confirm their effectiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual hazard analysis methods are used, then human expertise can be applied to identify safety issues, but the process is time-consuming and prone to human error
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical hazard analysis with an automated computer-based system that uses simulation tools and AI algorithms to identify and evaluate hazards, eliminating human error while maintaining comprehensive analysis coverage
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service hazard analysis by automatically generating safety requirements and evaluating protective mechanisms without requiring extensive human intervention, allowing the computational system to perform the analysis independently
2Reliability
If comprehensive hazard analysis is performed manually, then all potential safety issues can be identified, but extensive human intervention is required increasing complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a computer-based intermediary system that bridges the gap between process simulation and hazard analysis, automatically processing simulation data to identify hazards and evaluate protective mechanisms, thereby reducing the need for complex manual analysis procedures
3Productivity
If automated simulation tools are used, then process operation can be modeled efficiently, but validation of safety requirements lacks systematic approach
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback loops where the system automatically evaluates whether simulated hazards are properly prevented by proposed protective mechanisms, iteratively refining safety requirements until validation criteria are met, ensuring systematic and reliable safety validation
Data Source
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AI summary
A method is provided for automatically or semi-automatically analyzing process hazards and validating protection mechanisms for an industrial process. The method can involve establishing communication between a simulation tool and a process hazard analysis tool. The simulation tool simulates operation of the process according to a process model. The method can further involve creating, using the process hazard analysis tool, conditions for hazards in the process based on information learned about the industrial process from the simulation tool; for each of the hazards, simulating the hazards using the simulation tool and attempting to prevent the hazards using the process hazard analysis tool by introducing protective mechanism(s) to the process; and evaluating effectiveness of the introduced protective mechanisms for each of the hazards and creating safety requirements for the process based on the evaluated effectiveness. The safety requirements are used to generate a safety application program, such as for a PLC.