Chemical Engineering April 2019 - 48

gas detectors with their DCS, and
thus enabling two-way communications
between field workers and operations
and safety personnel, CPI
engineers can gain effective safety
monitoring from the control room
console. This includes access to
critical alarm reporting from wearable
gas detectors for hazardous
gases and radiation exposure. This
allows operators to enhance their
situational awareness and leverage
control-room resources for faster
initiation and support of emergency
responses. More robust detection
solutions
also
serve
to eliminate
FIGURE 3. Some gas-detection solutions feature connectivity with smartphones or tablets to transmit
data over a satellite or cellular network
quickly react and provide necessary
assistance in case of an emergency.
The ability of safety managers in remote
locations to access realtime
safety and location data from a
worker's wireless gas detector decreases
safety risks for offsite or lone
workers and can help to expedite
required intervention if an incident
does occur.
Other practical applications extend
to carrying out a man-down
rescue or plant egress with greater
confidence and better outcome, or
identifying an equipment malfunction
in its early stages so that costly
downtime can potentially be averted.
This safety intelligence enables
users to do the following: immediately
determine the location and
severity of a gas alarm; get instant
awareness of a worker in distress;
make better decisions about rescue
and evacuation; and proactively
monitor their plant's safety, compliance
and productivity.
Furthermore, the location and gas
status of workers, whether they are
in a confined space during planned
maintenance or walking throughout
a process unit during normal operations,
are always being monitored.
Safety personnel are notified of any
threats, while giving team members
assurance that someone always has
their back.
Lastly, as with any IIoT technology,
48
robust cybersecurity technology can
ensure that data remains protected
from increasing external threats.
Secure remote connections to networks
employed for gas detectors
require a solid defense-in-depth
strategy. Plant operators must also
have a proactive strategy for managing
firewalls, intrusion detection and
a host of other items.
An integrated approach
Portable gas-detection systems can
now be securely integrated with the
plant DCS via the cloud to help safeguard
workers and speed up emergency
response. Data from wearable
gas detectors play a key role in revealing
hazards, enabling proactive
steps to improve safety and assist
with learning from incidents.
With this integrated approach,
for instance, control-room operators
can identify and stop trace gas
leaks, flag non-compliant or malfunctioning
gas monitors for removal
from the field and more quickly
generate safety reports for regulatory
compliance, as well as help
reduce maintenance costs. In addition,
safety teams can take advantage
of powerful tools embedded in
the DCS to provide detailed trending,
reporting and data analysis of
the gas detectors to further ensure
safe operations.
By unifying connected wearable
extra load in the control room under
non-emergency conditions.
For the CPI, the safety of plant
assets and personnel is a crucial
concern. Facilities must meet
their safety needs while optimizing
operational and business performance.
Faced with this reality,
they are seeking to utilize advanced
gas-safety technologies to help
ensure the lowest risk and highest
level of protection for their most
important resources.
■
Edited by Mary Page Bailey
Authors
Tony Downes is the global process
safety advisor for Honeywell
Performance Materials & Technologies
(115 Tabor Rd, Morris Plains,
NJ 07950; Phone: 973-4553216;
Email: anthony.downes@
honeywell.com). He has been involved
with process safety since
1979 when - while working at
DuPont - he helped investigate
an explosion due to a human error. He has launched process
safety programs at Bayer Canada and Westlake
Group and has worked at the corporate level in FMC and
Honeywell to improve many aspects of their health,
safety, security and environment (HSSE) and process
safety programs. Downes is one of the first to receive the
certified process-safety professional credential from the
Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS).
Thomas Negre is currently the
global marketing director for Honeywell
Analytics (Javastrasse 2,
8604 Hegnau,
Switzerland;
Phone: +41 44 943 4339; Email:
thomas.negre@honeywell.com).
He manages the global product
portfolio of BW Technologies and
RAE Systems portable gas-detection
solutions, as well as the fixed
gas-detection lines, including wireless and software solutions.
Negre joined Honeywell through the RAE Systems
acquisition in 2013, where he was the vice president of
product and marketing. He has been working for RAE
Systems since 2004. Prior to joining RAE Systems, he
was employed by General Electric (GE) in France, first as
regional sales manager and then as a product manager
for the Gas Detection & Process Instrumentation product
line. Negre holds a M.S. degree in scientific & technical
subjects from Marseille University and a M.S. in business
and marketing from Marseille Management school.
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