Technical Notes
Technical Notes
Technical Notes
Process Safety Time. Process Safety Time. Period of time between a failure
occurring in the process or the process control system and the occurrence of the
hazardous event if the safety function is not performed (IEC 61508-2).
Does the process safety time need to be considered as part of the SIL Verification exercise?
I understand, the process safety time needs to be evaluated and specified during the SRS.
Shall the process response time be calculated during SIL Verification and compared with the process safety
time?
I'm going to answer your question according to IEC 61511, which is the functional safety standard that applies
to the process industry sector.
IEC 61511 doesn't use the term "SIL Verification," but this term is commonly used to describe the concept
design phase of a safety instrumented function. IEC 61511 calls this phase "SIS design and engineering." It is
covered by clauses 11 and 12 in the standard. In this phase, you design the SIS to meet the requirements for
safety instrumented functions and safety integrity. The SRS is an input for this activity.
Taken literally, "SIL Verification" would mean that you're only verifying that the SIF design meets the
specified SIL target. However, it is common that you also verify the response time during this activity (as well
as other functional specifications from the SRS). Your selection of components and subsystems effects
response time, and if your design doesn't meet the requirements then you'll have to select different components
and reverify your SIL performance, response time, and other performance criteria.