Asset Integrity Capability - IPF and SIL

Examination of integrity related aspects of oil and gas production control and protection systems leads to cost-effective and appropriate protection systems for new build designs and enhancement of existing technology.

Establishing IPF SIL targets appropriate to hazards
SIL Assessment for new or existing IPF
Suitability assessment of IPF design and technology
Design/ engineering substantiation of IPF and safety related control systems
Compliance with regulatory requirements
Conformance with standards and guidelines

SIL Targets & SIL Assessment

Leading offshore operators and regulatory bodies recognise the importance of establishing the correct Safety Integrity Level (SIL) targets for Instrumented Protective Functions (IPF), and for Control Systems (CS) with a capacity to initiate hazards, such that risks are properly controlled and excessively conservative integrity implementation costs are avoided. Effective SIL target setting delivers the following benefits:

Determination of appropriate SIL for safety, environment, and assets
Criticality ranking of IPF/CS, facilitating identification of maintenance and proof testing requirements
Identification of relevant performance parameters and implementation requirements to be used when specifying IPF/CS

Many IPF/CS designs/ systems already exist, or were designed prior to the publication of relevant integrity standards and/or guidelines (IEC 61508, IEC 61511, UKOOA, etc.). Alternatively, the IPF/CS design process may not have been subject to relevant requirements of these standards/ guidelines. In these situations, it is important for operators and regulators to know if respective systems are (will be) compliant with requirements of relevant integrity standards/ guidelines, and if not, where resources will be best directed to provide a remedy. Effective SIL Assessment of IPF/CS satisfies these needs, and delivers the following benefits:

Determines how closely existing designs meet/ fail integrity targets
Identification of principal causes of under-compliance, and provides valuable information to establish remedial strategies (opportunistic upgrades, planned refits, etc.)
Identification of where operation and maintenance flexibility exists that will allow effective integrity enhancement without the need for re-design

SIL Assessment is also often employed for new designs, to provide verification and confidence that the design process has delivered an appropriate and cost-effective IPF/CS.

Vectra Group offers the following services to deliver effective Integrity Studies (Target Setting and Assessment):

Provision of integrity recording and analysis software and methods
Facilitation of assessment teams
Training for IPF Assessment team leaders and members
Modelling IPF & CS to establish SIL targets
Modelling IPF & CS designs to assess SIL actually delivered
Design review and design/ engineering substantiation to support SIL claims included in Safety Cases
Extraction of integrity-related information pertinent to developing effective maintenance strategies
Identification of dependencies on Human Factors for operating and maintenance aspects