Safety Instrumented Burner Management Systems - Requirements for the Paper Industry

Companies around the globe are awakening to the fact that providing a safe working environment is no longer a judgment call by management but is strictly defined in safety standards. And, there is growing urgency to comply with these standards due to insurance rate structures and OSHA authority. The consequences of an incident occurring in a plant that has not complied with the standards has met with steep fines from OSHA and/or the EPA followed by legal repercussions that involve liability settlements and potential incarceration. The moral obligation to manage the threat to human life and the environment raises the obligation to an even higher level.

 What most of the companies do not yet realize is that all safety critical processes must be analyzed and their potential risk determined. It has come as a surprise to many that Burner Management Systems (BMS) associated with fired devices in the pulp and paper industry such as, dryers, kilns, thermal oxidizers, power boilers and black liquor recovery boilers are all defined as Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) if they contain sensors, a logic solver and a final control element according to ANSI/ISA 84.01. Additionally, FM Approval Standard 7605 requires that PLC based BMS must comply with IEC 61508.   

This paper will explore the requirements for conformance to ANSI/ISA 84, IEC 61508, IEC 61511, NFPA 85, NFPA 86 and BLRBAC guidelines.

By actively embracing the concept that a BMS and some other lower profile operating equipment may in fact be a SIS, companies can ensure that these systems are designed, maintained, inspected and tested per both the applicable prescriptive standards (BLRBAC, NFPA, etc.) as well as the latest SIS performance-based standards (ANSI/ISA, and IEC).  Do you know if you are installing and  / or operating fully compliant Safety Instrumented Burner Management Systems?