Common cause failures in safety instrumented systems on oil and gas installations: Implementing defense measures through function testing

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 218-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Ann Lundteigen ◽  
Marvin Rausand
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Common Cause ◽  
Common Cause Failures ◽  
Function Testing

RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY INSTRUMENTED SYSTEMS IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY: A PRACTICAL APPROACH AND A CASE STUDY

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (02) ◽  
pp. 187-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARY ANN LUNDTEIGEN ◽  
MARVIN RAUSAND
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Fault Tree ◽  
Reliability Assessment ◽  
Fault Tree Analysis ◽  
Practical Approach ◽  
Suggested Approach ◽  
Tree Analysis ◽  
Common Cause ◽  
Common Cause Failures

This article presents a practical approach to reliability assessment of a complex safety instrumented system that is susceptible to common cause failures. The approach is based on fault tree analysis where the common cause failures are included by post-processing the minimal cut sets. The approach is illustrated by a case study of a safety instrumented function of a workover control system that is used during maintenance interventions into subsea oil and gas wells. The case study shows that the approach is well suited for identifying potential failures in complex systems and for including design engineers in the verification of the reliability analyses. Unlike many software tools for fault tree analysis, the approach gives conservative estimates for reliability. The suggested approach represents a useful extension to current reliability analysis methods.

scholarly journals Energise or De-Energise to Trip?

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 276-281
Author(s):  
A G Foord ◽  
C R Howard
Keyword(s):  
Failure Modes ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Common Cause ◽  
Power Stations ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Common Cause Failures ◽  
Testing Policies

“De-energise to trip” is a long established principle because of the danger of common cause failures. Although there is little published on this topic, it is covered in the section “Protection systems (trips and interlocks)” in the HSE Technical Measure Document for COMAH sites, but the quality of UPS, diagnostics etc. is now very different from the last century. As well as the obvious effects of architecture, failure modes and frequency on the number of spurious trips and failures to dangers, we have also studied the relationships between design policies, (for example, overrides and diagnostic coverage), testing policies, repair policies, operating policies and their effects on common cause failures. The effects of different policies on spurious trips and failures to danger would be illustrated with practical examples from the energy industry: oil and gas production and power stations.

Failure-Dependent Test, Repair, and Shutdown Strategies: Reducing the Impact of Common-Cause Failures

1996 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-256
Author(s):  
Stanislav P. Uryasev ◽  
Pranab K. Samanta
Keyword(s):  
Common Cause ◽  
Common Cause Failures ◽  
The Impact
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