HIMA, a designer and manufacturer of safety automation solutions, recently announced that Evonik Degussa selected its latest safety system, HIMAx, for its factory in Kalscheuren near Cologne, Germany. The Evonik Degussa factory is the largest producer of carbon black in Europe. In the course of the carbon black production process, the residual gas is used for steam and power generation in thermal afterburning plants. If a boiler stops functioning, a gas flare system starts burning the residual gas. Evonik decided to switch to automated boiler control and monitoring system for gas flare using the latest HIMA’s safety system, HIMax. HIMA’s solution included two HIMax CPUs, two system bus modules, two digital output and three input modules, one analogue output module and one communications module for PROFIBUS-DP. Lutz Dross, PLT planning and process engineer for the IM business division with Evonik Degussa, said it’s very important for the company to conduct online tests using HIMax, as well as other diverse programming possibilities. “The high level of flexibility guarantees low costs during the entire lifecycle of HIMax. Another advantage is that the safety system can be easily expanded without having to interrupt operations,” said Dross. “The new safety control system from HIMA guarantees the highest possible level of availability. Whether during a hardware or software upgrade, or routine maintenance work, HIMax doesn’t have to be turned off – the plant continues to operate.”HIMax, the latest safety system from HIMA for large and medium-sized applications, is the first safety system that allows uninterrupted operation of processing plant over its entire lifecycle. It is based on HIMA’s Nonstop XMR technology that combines diagnostic-based SIL 3 safety integrity with a scalable fault-tolerant architecture that eliminates false trips and provides for unlimited changes, modifications, expansions, upgrades and regulatory proof testing without taking the plant off-line.For more information, visit:
http://www.hima.com.
