Handbook of Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety in Engineering Design - Part 4 studies the combination of various methods of designing for reliability, availability, maintainability and safety, as well as the latest techniques in probability and possibility modelling, mathematical algorithmic modelling, evolutionary algorithmic modelling, symbolic logic modelling, artificial intelligence modelling, and object-oriented computer modelling, in a logically structured approach to determining the integrity of engineering design. . | 10 1 Design Integrity Methodology following models have been developed each for a specific purpose and with specific expected results either to validate the developed theory on engineering design integrity or to evaluate and verify the design integrity of critical combinations and complex integrations of systems and equipment. RAMS analysis modelling This was applied to validate the developed theory on the determination of the integrity of engineering design. This computer model was applied to a recently constructed engineering design of an environmental plant for the recovery of sulphur dioxide emissions from a nickel smelter to produce sulphuric acid. Eighteen months after the plant was commissioned and placed into operation failure data were obtained from the plant s distributed control system DCS and analysed with a view to matching the developed theory with real operational data after plant start-up. The comparative analysis included determination of systems and equipment criticality and reliability. Dynamic systems simulation modelling This was applied with individually developed process equipment models PEMs based on Petri net constructs to initially determine mass-flow balances for preliminary engineering designs of large integrated process systems. The models were used to evaluate and verify the process design integrity of critical combinations and complex integrations of systems and related equipment for schematic and detail engineering designs. The process equipment models have been verified for correctness and the relevant results validated by applying the PEMs in a large dynamic simulation of a complex integration of systems. Simulation modelling for design verification is common to most engineering designs particularly in the application of simulating outcomes during the preliminary design phase. Dynamic simulation models are also used for design verification during the detail design phase but not to the extent of determining outcomes as the level of
