Functional safety technical support to jack-up drilling rig upgrade

MAR Consulting AS has been contracted to provide functional safety support to a jack-up drilling rig update of a major drilling contractor. The drilling rig will enter a new contract on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), where requirements for functional safety are considerably stringent when compared to other parts of the world. MAR Consulting will support the client to achieve a level of functional safety adequate to operate a drilling rig on the NCS. MAR Consulting has extensive experience with Norwegian rules and regulations regarding functional safety. Namely the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOG) “Application of IEC 61508 and IEC […]

FSA stage 4 on long operating oil and gas asset

MAR Consulting partly produced a functional safety assessment, FSA stage 4 of a long operating oil and gas asset in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The main responsibilities were to assess the safety requirements specifications (SRS) for the different safety instrumented functions (SIF) required to operate the asset; and how they have been maintained and applied during the operating lifetime of the facility. Of special importance to an FSA stage 4 is to understand how functional safety has been maintained during the many years of operations. In general, nowadays, there is special focus and emphasis on functional safety during the […]

SIL study of over-speed modules for gas turbine generators and compressors

MAR Consulting performed a functional safety/SIL study of over-speed safety instrumented functions (SIF) protecting gas turbine generators (GTG) and gas compressors installed in a floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. The SIFs included 2oo3 voting speed sensors and 1oo3 voting valves controlled by over-speed modules. The work covered the following phases of the safety instrumented system (SIS) lifecycle, as per IEC61511 Ed.1 and the client’s internal guidelines: Allocation of functions to protection layers (phase 2) using layers of protection analysis (LOPA); Safety requirements specification (SRS) (phase 3) with general and specific one-pagers SRS datasheets; Safety integrity level (SIL) compliance (phase […]

Functional safety assessment of automated safety system

MAR Consulting AS performed a functional safety assessment (FSA) stage 1 of a new emergency shutdown system (ESD). The reason for the upgrade is to substitute an obsolete automated safety system in an operating offshore oil and gas facility in the North Sea. The safety instrumented system (SIS) lifecycles phases assessed in this FSA were: hazard analysis; allocation of safety functions to protection layers; the initial version of safety requirement specifications (SRS); management of functional safety plan and verification activities. MAR Consulting followed the methodology developed based on hands-on functional safety experience (e.g. http://www.marconsulting.no/2017/06/10/sil-compliance-for-fg-systems and http://www.marconsulting.no/2017/05/25/fsa-stage-1-of-subsea-production-system/). In essence, a detailed evaluation of the […]