Activity

  • Three Things to Do, and Three to Avoid, When Assessing Your Cybersecurity Situation

    Jim Cahill
    Any process manufacturing company that has not yet launched a cybersecurity program is probably frozen in a frequent difficult position: Where do we start? If your company is trying to break free and make some progress—and maybe you’re the one tasked with doing it—we have some suggestions for critical first steps. These suggestions are included in our article in the September issue of Control Engineering . The key point…

  • Three Things to Do, and Three to Avoid, When Assessing Your Cybersecurity Situation

    Jim Cahill
    Any process manufacturing company that has not yet launched a cybersecurity program is probably frozen in a frequent difficult position: Where do we start? If your company is trying to break free and make some progress—and maybe you’re the one tasked with doing it—we have some suggestions for critical first steps. These suggestions are included in our article in the September issue of Control Engineering . The key point…

  • Three Things to Do, and Three to Avoid, When Assessing Your Cybersecurity Situation

    Jim Cahill
    Any process manufacturing company that has not yet launched a cybersecurity program is probably frozen in a frequent difficult position: Where do we start? If your company is trying to break free and make some progress—and maybe you’re the one tasked with doing it—we have some suggestions for critical first steps. These suggestions are included in our article in the September issue of Control Engineering . The key point…

  • Selecting the Right Automation Architecture

    Jim Cahill
    Creating a safe and secure automation process starts with implementing a well-designed basic process control system (BPCS) and safety instrumented system (SIS). Government agencies and industry associations offer guidelines and requirements for how these systems should be connected and separated—most importantly with the requirement that the SIS and BPCS should be logically independent regardless of the level of physical…

  • Selecting the Right Automation Architecture

    Jim Cahill
    Creating a safe and secure automation process starts with implementing a well-designed basic process control system (BPCS) and safety instrumented system (SIS). Government agencies and industry associations offer guidelines and requirements for how these systems should be connected and separated—most importantly with the requirement that the SIS and BPCS should be logically independent regardless of the level of physical…

  • Selecting the Right Automation Architecture

    Jim Cahill
    Creating a safe and secure automation process starts with implementing a well-designed basic process control system (BPCS) and safety instrumented system (SIS). Government agencies and industry associations offer guidelines and requirements for how these systems should be connected and separated—most importantly with the requirement that the SIS and BPCS should be logically independent regardless of the level of physical…

  • Selecting the Right Automation Architecture

    Jim Cahill
    Creating a safe and secure automation process starts with implementing a well-designed basic process control system (BPCS) and safety instrumented system (SIS). Government agencies and industry associations offer guidelines and requirements for how these systems should be connected and separated—most importantly with the requirement that the SIS and BPCS should be logically independent regardless of the level of physical…

  • Multiple Systems Working Together Prevent Tank Overfill Disasters

    Jim Cahill
    In Hydrocarbon Engineering’s Tanks & Terminals Supplement , Emerson’s Helena Hjortsberg looks at all the elements of a comprehensive overfill prevention system in her article, A Coordinated Strategy. Overfilling a tank storing hydrocarbons or other flammable chemicals can cause an environmental incident under the best circumstances, but also a high probability of an explosion and fire. Given the costs in lost product…

  • Multiple Systems Working Together Prevent Tank Overfill Disasters

    Jim Cahill
    In Hydrocarbon Engineering’s Tanks & Terminals Supplement , Emerson’s Helena Hjortsberg looks at all the elements of a comprehensive overfill prevention system in her article, A Coordinated Strategy. Overfilling a tank storing hydrocarbons or other flammable chemicals can cause an environmental incident under the best circumstances, but also a high probability of an explosion and fire. Given the costs in lost product…

  • Multiple Systems Working Together Prevent Tank Overfill Disasters

    Jim Cahill
    In Hydrocarbon Engineering’s Tanks & Terminals Supplement , Emerson’s Helena Hjortsberg looks at all the elements of a comprehensive overfill prevention system in her article, A Coordinated Strategy. Overfilling a tank storing hydrocarbons or other flammable chemicals can cause an environmental incident under the best circumstances, but also a high probability of an explosion and fire. Given the costs in lost product…

  • Multiple Systems Working Together Prevent Tank Overfill Disasters

    Jim Cahill
    In Hydrocarbon Engineering’s Tanks & Terminals Supplement , Emerson’s Helena Hjortsberg looks at all the elements of a comprehensive overfill prevention system in her article, A Coordinated Strategy. Overfilling a tank storing hydrocarbons or other flammable chemicals can cause an environmental incident under the best circumstances, but also a high probability of an explosion and fire. Given the costs in lost product…

  • Hydrogen Sulfide in Paper Mills: Find it Before it Finds You

    Jim Cahill
    In a Paper360 magazine article, “Wireless Sensors Improve Toxic Gas Mitigation in P&P Mills”, Emerson’s Forrest Francis explains how workers can avoid nasty surprises. TV shows add drama saying their stories are “ripped from the headlines,” meaning they’re based on real-world people and events. Sometimes the same thing can happen with articles. The real-world story in this case was a report from Australia about two…

  • Hydrogen Sulfide in Paper Mills: Find it Before it Finds You

    Jim Cahill
    In a Paper360 magazine article, Wireless Sensors Improve Toxic Gas Mitigation in P&P Mills, Emerson’s Bill Francis explains how workers can avoid nasty surprises. TV shows add drama saying their stories are “ripped from the headlines,” meaning they’re based on real-world people and events. Sometimes the same thing can happen with articles. The real-world story in this case was a report from Australia about two maintenance…

  • Cybersecurity Considerations for Automation Architectures

    Jim Cahill
    Automation architectures extend beyond the instrumentation and control systems to safety instrumented systems, asset management systems, manufacturing execution systems, and more. All these systems and devices must be considered in managing strong cyber defenses. In an Industrial Safety and Security Source article, Considerations in Choosing a Defendable Safety System Architecture , Emerson’s Sergio Diaz and Alexandre…

  • Cybersecurity Considerations for Automation Architectures

    Jim Cahill
    Sergio Diaz Alexandre Peixoto Automation architectures extend beyond the instrumentation and control systems to safety instrumented systems, asset management systems, manufacturing execution systems, and more. All these systems and devices must be considered in managing strong cyber defenses. In an Industrial Safety and Security Source article, Considerations in Choosing a Defendable Safety System Architecture …

  • Safety Shower and Location Awareness Wireless Monitoring

    Jim Cahill
    Marcio Donnangelo In an earlier post, How Digital Transformation Can Impact Compliance for Environmental and Safety Regulation , I shared some safety examples. Emerson’s Marcio Donnangelo explored specific examples more deeply in his 2020 4C HSE conference presentation, Safety Showers and Location Awareness – Improving Safety with Wireless Monitoring. Marcio opened describing three ways to help create a safe environment…

  • Self-Contained Hydraulic Emergency Shutdown System

    Jim Cahill
    Sergio Vaz Lopes A safety instrumented function (SIF) in a safety instrumented system (SIS) contains a sensor, logic solver and final element. All must function properly in the event of a safety demand to take the process into a safe state in coordination with other SIFs. The final element consists of several parts including the isolation valve, actuator, pressure pilots, test valves and other components as required…

  • Self-Contained Hydraulic Emergency Shutdown System

    Jim Cahill
    Sergio Vaz Lopes A safety instrumented function (SIF) in a safety instrumented system (SIS) contains a sensor, logic solver and final element. All must function properly in the event of a safety demand to take the process into a safe state in coordination with other SIFs. The final element consists of several parts including the isolation valve, actuator, pressure pilots, test valves and other components as required…

  • Self-Contained Hydraulic Emergency Shutdown System

    Jim Cahill
    Sergio Vaz Lopes A safety instrumented function (SIF) in a safety instrumented system (SIS) contains a sensor, logic solver and final element. All must function properly in the event of a safety demand to take the process into a safe state in coordination with other SIFs. The final element consists of several parts including the isolation valve, actuator, pressure pilots, test valves and other components as required…

  • Non-contacting Radar for Automatic Tank Gauging and Overfill Prevention Systems

    Jim Cahill
    Bulk liquid storage tanks often contain fluids that are hazardous, flammable and/or explosive. These tanks require not only a control system to control levels but and overfill prevention system (OPS) as layer of protection beyond the control system. This basic process control system (BPCS) is commonly referred to as an automatic tank gauging (ATG) system and the OPS is the safety instrumented system (SIS). A Fluid Handling…

  • Non-contacting Radar for Automatic Tank Gauging and Overfill Prevention Systems

    Jim Cahill
    Bulk liquid storage tanks often contain fluids that are hazardous, flammable and/or explosive. These tanks require not only a control system to control levels but and overfill prevention system (OPS) as layer of protection beyond the control system. This basic process control system (BPCS) is commonly referred to as an automatic tank gauging (ATG) system and the OPS is the safety instrumented system (SIS). A Fluid Handling…

  • Non-contacting Radar for Automatic Tank Gauging and Overfill Prevention Systems

    Jim Cahill
    Bulk liquid storage tanks often contain fluids that are hazardous, flammable and/or explosive. These tanks require not only a control system to control levels but and overfill prevention system (OPS) as layer of protection beyond the control system. This basic process control system (BPCS) is commonly referred to as an automatic tank gauging (ATG) system and the OPS is the safety instrumented system (SIS). A Fluid Handling…

  • Understanding Functional Safety Concepts and Final Element Suitability

    Jim Cahill
    Riyaz Ali The world of functional safety has its own tribal language and acronyms, e.g. safety instrumented systems (SISs), safety instrumented functions (SIFs), logic solvers, final elements (FEs), safety integrity level (SIL), probability of failure on demand (PFD), etc. In a Hydrocarbon Engineering article, Keep in the Safety Loop , Emerson’s Riyaz Ali does an excellent job of defining and demystifying these phrases…

  • Approaches to Partial Stroke Testing Safety Valves

    Jim Cahill
    The safety valve within a safety instrumented function (SIF) must be tested regularly to help assure proper operation in the event of a safety demand. Operators usually perform an offline full stroke test during a scheduled shutdown because of the impact of this test on the process. But when a SIF (a.k.a. safety loop) requires more frequent testing, users can perform a partial stroke test (PST) , per the global IEC 61511…

  • Approaches to Partial Stroke Testing Safety Valves

    Jim Cahill
    The safety valve within a safety instrumented function (SIF) must be tested regularly to help assure proper operation in the event of a safety demand. Operators usually perform an offline full stroke test during a scheduled shutdown because of the impact of this test on the process. But when a SIF (a.k.a. safety loop) requires more frequent testing, users can perform a partial stroke test (PST) , per the global IEC 61511…

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