Real-Time Safety Risk Measurement System for Dynamic Process Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial operations face challenges in effectively managing safety and operational integrity, leading to potential unsafe events that can result in equipment damage, personnel injury, environmental harm, and increased costs, with existing safety measures often prioritizing conservatism over profitability and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A real-time safety risk measurement system that combines operational and conditional safety risk views to provide a composite safety risk measure, enabling dynamic control of safety while optimizing profitability, using a feedback control loop and automatic workflows to guide operator responses and improve process safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conservative safety measures are implemented (setting value limits and process alarms in safe zones), then safety reliability is improved, but productivity and profitability deteriorate due to constrained operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic safety management by continuously monitoring multiple leading indicators (equipment conditions, process parameters, environmental factors) and adjusting safety constraints in real-time based on actual risk levels, rather than using static conservative limits. This allows operations to proceed at optimal levels while maintaining safety through active risk assessment and adaptive control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters used for safety assessment from simple binary alarm states to continuous multi-dimensional risk scores derived from numerous measured variables. By transforming safety management from discrete alarm thresholds to continuous parameter monitoring and evaluation, the system enables more nuanced operational decisions that balance safety and productivity.
2Reliability
If safety instrumented systems are installed to detect and automatically respond to unsafe conditions, then safety reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a unified safety management system that integrates multiple functions (monitoring, assessment, alerting, and control) into a single multi-functional platform. Rather than separate safety instrumented systems for different hazards, one comprehensive system handles diverse safety risks through standardized risk assessment methodologies and integrated control interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intelligent intermediary layer between process sensors and safety actuators. This intermediary consists of software-based risk assessment algorithms that process sensor data, evaluate multiple risk indicators, and generate appropriate safety responses. This software mediator reduces hardware complexity while maintaining safety functionality through computational risk evaluation.
3Reliability
If operators are trained to avoid alarms by operating conservatively, then safety reliability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to underperforming plant operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements comprehensive feedback mechanisms that provide operators with real-time information about actual risk levels based on monitored leading indicators. Instead of operators relying on conservative assumptions, the system continuously feeds back accurate risk assessments, enabling operators to make informed decisions about optimal operating conditions while understanding the actual safety implications.
Solution Approach 2:
The system empowers operators to self-manage safety by providing them with real-time risk assessments and guidance tools. Rather than relying on centralized conservative control, operators use the system's risk indicators and recommendations to independently make safe operational decisions, improving both safety awareness and operational efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method assesses and manages risk of an operation of a user. A rules engine of computer executable instructions stored in the storage device determines at least one of a safety risk measurement based on key performance indicators, an operational safety risk measurement for the operation as a function of the operational safety risk measurement information stored in a storage device and/or a conditional safety risk measurement for the operation as a function of the conditional safety risk measurement information stored in the storage device. A processor connected to the storage device executes the rules engine. An output interface connected to the processor indicates the determined safety risk for the operation.