Yokogawa’s enhanced ProSafe®-RS safety instrumented system offers greater efficiency in system configuration and engineering

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has released an enhanced version of its ProSafe^®-RS safety instrumented system (SIS) featuring new I/O devices and SIS components as well as compatibility with the company’s FieldMate™ Validator software.

Key new features of the latest release include:

• N-IO (Network I/O): a field I/O device with smart configurable I/O that can handle multiple types of I/O signals
• FieldMate™ Validator: a software tool for use with field I/O instruments to check field device wiring and verify that devices are operating correctly
• Automation Design Suite (AD Suite): the same integrated engineering environment used with Yokogawa’s CENTUM VP integrated control system.

N-IO (Network I/O)

The N-IO field I/O device developed for use with ProSafe-RS fulfils the functions of smart configurable I/O, enabling software marshalling and flexible I/O assignment. It has an I/O module that accommodates multiple I/O signal types and allows configuration of an individual signal type for each point. Both analogue and digital I/O signals, which account for the majority of I/O signal traffic, can be handled solely through software settings.

With the N-IO, it is no longer necessary to replace the I/O module, reducing the amount of rewiring that must be done when changing sensor types and/or layouts during a plant revamp.

In addition, Yokogawa has signed OEM agreements with Pepperl+Fuchs GmbH and MTL Instruments Group Limited under which Yokogawa will receive baseplates and market them as its own products. These will be used in combination with the company’s N-IO modules and intrinsic safety (IS) isolators procured from the two companies. This tie-up means that Yokogawa is able to ensure that the N-IO conforms to the major IS regulations in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

FieldMate™ Validator

When a field instrument is installed and the wiring is completed, the wiring must be checked. Until now, such verification could only be conducted using the safety system’s engineering screen, which required engineers to wait for all field I/O devices to be installed and the entire system, including all operation/monitoring stations and system controllers, to be set up.

Now, however, the FieldMate Validator tool can check in real time the wiring of all field instruments, based on the control loop I/O information in the SIS’s application software, to verify that they are operating correctly. As a result, there is no longer the need for the entire SIS to be installed to do this, thus saving significant time and providing added versatility in project execution.

Automation Design Suite (AD Suite)

ProSafe-RS R4.01 features AD Suite, the same engineering environment used with the CENTUM VP integrated control system, allowing the integrated management of CENTUM VP and ProSafe-RS data. With this feature, ProSafe-RS engineers can use AD Suite to design the I/O. AD Suite also has functions for managing the change history and recording changes that save time when renovating systems.