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

The risk-based assessment, allocation of safety functions to protection devices, the establishment of integrity requirements, design, installation, operation, and maintenance of electrical protection devices must be managed like the protection layers for the process units. This paper focusses on the application of IEC 61511 to the protection of electrical equipment and systems, available industry guidelines, and the unique challenges in implementing the functional safety standards. The paper guides the electrical engineers with an example risk assessment, identification of protection device and its safety integrity level (SIL), verification of the reliability of the protection device and establishing a maintenance and operation program.