exida Case Studies

Case Study

Certifying Emerson’s DeltaV SIS with Electronic Marshalling to SIL 3 per IEC 61508

Based in part on the successful IEC 61508 certification of Emerson's SLS1508 in 2007, exida was again selected as the Certification Body for their next big product.


Customer:

Emerson

Challenge:

IEC 61508 Logic Solver Certification

Solution:

Engineering process overview audit, design architecture review, Safety Case compiled

Results:

SIL 3 Certification


Emerson, a word leader in automation, processing and distribution, has successfully obtained a Systematic Capability SIL 3 per IEC 61508 for their DeltaV SIS Electronic Marshalling Logic Solver.

This next generation logic solver has a uniquely scalable modular architecture that is based on the CHARMs Smart Logic Solver (CSLS) and the unprecedented flexibility and ease in the use of the Emerson Electronic Marshalling solution. Supporting up to 96 individually configurable channels and allowing for flexibility when implementing safety instrumented functions, the DeltaV system enables all communications to be completely redundant from the channel (LS CHARMS) to the CSLS.

Why Emerson Chose exida

Based in part on the successful IEC 61508 certification of their Emerson Process Management SLS1508 product in 2007, exida was again selected as the Certification Body for their next big product.

The DeltaV SIS product line with Electronic Marshalling was developed and brought to exida to be certified to IEC 61508 and a number of additional application standards. Dave Denison, Emerson Project Manager alluded to exida’s invaluable service in his statement, “exida demands a high level of quality and care in both processes and documentation. We selected them due to their technical expertise in functional safety.”

For a product such as the DeltaV, with newly integrated functions and systematic capabilities it required a skilled team to assess and certify each process ensuring the highest level of safety. “At exida we offer a different kind of certification. We were able to provide training and design analysis as well as certification assessment. We found that the DeltaV SIS with Electronic Marshalling is an advanced fault tolerant architecture with great flexibility which will make project engineering much easier.  It is also the first design I have seen with cybersecurity considered in the design," says exida Principal Engineer Dr. William Goble.

This advanced level of innovation and design displayed by the DeltaV Logic Solver resulted in Emerson Process Management winning the 2013 exida Safety Award. This award is set to recognize those in the functional safety and cybersecurity industry who have displayed exceptional work as well as encourage manufacturers to improve the functional safety of their products “This design was quite an advancement over the conventional Safety PLC,” says John Grebe, Senior Safety Engineer at exida making it a privilege for the exida team to present Emerson Process Management with its annual safety award.