2006 Press Releases-20

Tokyo, Japan - August 22, 2006

Yokogawa Releases YTA Series Temperature Transmitters
Certified to be Compliant with International Safety Standard

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that its YTA series temperature transmitters have been certified by TÜV NORD, a product quality certification organization based in Germany, as being compliant with the requirements of the IEC61508 *1 international safety standard for Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 2 *2. Yokogawa is releasing the YTA series to the market today, and from this date onward all products in the YTA series will be SIL2 compliant.

*1: IEC61508
There are two international safety standards issued by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). One is IEC61508 for the functional safety of electronic devices used in all industries and.another is IEC61511 which is specifically for devices used in the process industry.

*2: Safety Integrity Level (SIL) and SIL2
The Safety Integrity Level, or SIL, refers to safety levels that have been defined by the IEC. SIL2 means that the risk factor for a plant can be reduced from 1/100 to 1/1000, and SIL1 means a reduction from 1/10 to 1/100.

Development Background
For petroleum, natural gas, petrochemical, and other energy and raw material plants, safety is of critical importance, necessitating a high level of safety for their control and monitoring systems.  

Plant control and monitoring systems encompass process control systems and safety instrumented systems. While a process control system controls plant operation under normal situations, a safety instrumented system works independently to detect problems during operation and to execute shutdown and other emergency actions in order to prevent accidents and the like from occurring.

Today, users demand an objective assessment of the SIL for devices that are used in a plant's safety instrumented system, as it indicates the difference in the safety level that can be achieved by implementing a safety measure at a plant. Temperature transmitters are important components of a safety instrumented system as they send sensor temperature readings to the plant control and monitoring system.

For these reasons, Yokogawa has requested a third party to conduct an objective assessment of its YTA series products, andthey have successfully been certified as being SIL2 compliant.

Product Features

Products in the YTA series have been certified to reduce the risk factor for a plant to a range from 1/100 to 1/1000. When combined with a safety instrumented system, they can enhance plant safety.

Major Target Markets and Applications
Petroleum, natural gas, petrochemical, and other types of plants that require the transmission of sensor temperature data to controllers

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About Yokogawa
Yokogawa's global network of 18 manufacturing facilities, 81 companies, and over 650 sales and engineering offices spans 30 countries. Since its founding in 1915, the US$4 billion company has been engaged in cutting-edge research and innovation, securing more than 7,000 patents and registrations, including the world's first digital sensors for flow and pressure measurement. Industrial automation and control, test and measurement, information systems and industry support are the core businesses of Yokogawa. For more information about Yokogawa, please visit our web site at www.yokogawa.com.