SPRING HOUSE, Pa. (August 25, 2005) - An independent study sponsored by Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc., concludes that the SIMATIC S7-F/FH safety system from Siemens provides higher levels of availability than traditional safety architectures. The SIMATIC S7-F/FH system is the SIL 3 certified process safety system that has been fully integrated into the SIMATIC PCS 7 process automation systemsince 2000.
The study was conducted by Exida.com, a private safety and reliability research company. The findings were based on system availability models that allow Siemens' process safety specialists to perform application-specific configuration calculations. Exida.com is now embedding these computer models into its popular SIL verification software.
"Contrary to popular belief, TÜV certification of a safety system only indicates that it will operate safely, but provides no indication of the predicted availability of the system," said Siemens' Global Process Safety Business Development Manager, John Cusimano. "Therefore, we decided to have an independent company with deep expertise in reliability engineering evaluate the availability of the system." The SIMATIC S7-F/FH system features a unique design that is flexible, modular and redundant, which enables the assembly of extremely fault-tolerant architectures.
Unlike traditional leg-based architectures, where the failure of a single component causes shutdown of an entire leg of the system, the SIMATIC S7-F/FH system integrates certified safety fieldbus technology, allowing each module to function independently of the other modules in the system.The level of fault-tolerance can be tailored to match the needs of the application by mixing and matching single, dual and triple redundancy in the same system. As a result, the SIMATIC S7-F/FH architecture tolerates multiple faults with no degradation in safety since every component of the system is certified to SIL 3. "The modeling has shown that Siemens Flexible Modular Redundancy delivers higher levels of availability than traditional dual and triple redundant architectures," said Cusimano.
"At the same time, the flexibility of the architecture allows redundancy only where it is needed, providing a more attractive and cost effective solution than traditional one-size-fits-all architectures." Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. is one of Siemens' operating companies in the U.S.
Headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Ga., Siemens Energy & Automation manufactures and markets one of the world's broadest ranges of electrical and electronic products, systems and services to industrial and construction market customers. Its technologies range from circuit protection and energy management systems to process control, industrial software and totally integrated automation solutions.
The company also has expertise in systems integration, technical services and turnkey industrial systems.For more information: www.sea.siemens.com .
