Research And Application Of FF Technology In Production Safety Of Chemical Plant

Fieldbus Foundation (FF) technology provides a good solution to theinterference problem on the traditional4-20mA analog signal transmission. Italso realizes true diversification of control functions. Features such asall-digital communication and open characteristic better satisfies therequirement of information integration of overall factory automation system.Fault diagnosis technology of FF system can improve safety of factoryequipments by providing a tool for lowering cost of equipment life cycle.FF-H1supports bus power supply and can be used in explosive area thatrequires intrinsically safe equipments. Therefore it is exactly what needed bythe highly integral and networking development of modern process controland factory management system. Fundamental principles of FF will beexpounded in Chapter2of this article. Nowadays FF technology is widelyadopted by process controls in the industry of Petrochemical, Natural Gas,Metallurgy, Power Generation, Paper Making and Pharmaceuticals.This paper analyzes the safety requirements of applications of FFtechnology in chemical plants. Taking a redispersible powder project of ahydroxyethyl cellulose production expansion as background, also combiningthe characteristics of FF technology and factory condition, this paper usesexample of a Polyvinyl Alcohol–Polymer Blending unit to demonstrate thedesign application of FF technology.Nowadays chemical products are everywhere in our daily life. Chemical production relates to both people’s life and countries economy. Productionprocess of chemical plants is very complicated, most of which containscondition of high temperature and high pressure. Sometimes toxic, harmfuland explosive mediums are also present. Safety is so critical to chemicalproduction, unsafe or hazardous factors must be reduced to an acceptablerange during design phase. Chapter3of this paper introduces the designrequirements of system safety and concepts of intrinsically safety of FFtechnology. FISCO is the idea of supplying maximum energy to the fieldbusin hazardous area in the premises of safety. Since the introduction of FISCOby PTB and users’ acceptances and recognitions afterwards, FF technology isadopted in more and more fields and industries. Automatic control must berealized in chemical production. And it shall establish a platform forinformation management system for plants and overall factory to ensuresafety, long duty cycle and steady operation of plants. The process ofchemical production in this paper exist both explosive gas and combustibledust at the same time, in this special conditions the application of FISCOtechnology to try is worth exploring.This paper discusses the basic principle and engineering design methodof FF implantation in detail. It also introduces the risk management ofsegments, security of physical layers, selection of ex-proof type, auxiliaryequipment safety principle of FF segment and requirement of FF designdocumentations. This paper describes hardware configurations of controlsystem, realizations of control functions, factory acceptance test of controlsystem and FF field instruments and commissioning procedures of fieldinstallations in the process of general design based on the characteristics ofspecific process system. The paper also introduces the selection of FFequipments and requirements of safety certifications. It describes the basicrequirements of design applications of FF equipments and distributionprinciple of key equipments and valve loads in various segments.The project mentioned in this paper designed and built a completecontrol system based on FF technology in compliance with current regulations and standards. It managed to meet requirements of processproduction and realized safe and efficient operation of chemical plants. Theplant has been stable and in good condition since its initiation of production.