Association News: A Conversation with Kevin Klein, ISA Fellow 2024

Summary

Kevin L. Klein, PE, is one of four individuals recognized in 2024 by the International Society of Automation as an ISA Fellow. The esteemed Fellow member grade is one of ISA’s highest honors, recognizing senior members who have made exceptional contributions to the automation profession, in practice or academia.

Klein, currently an instrumented protective systems engineer at Chevron Technical Center, was recognized for outstanding and significant contributions to the process industries in the areas of safety instrumented systems (SIS) design, operations, maintenance, functional safety and process safety.

Angela Summers, owner of SIS-TECH, said, “Throughout his working career, Kevin has consistently demonstrated a profound dedication to advancing the field of safe automation and has made significant contributions that have had a lasting impact. His commitment to training and development, exemplified by his creation of SIS [safety instrumented systems] training programs, demonstrates his passion for knowledge sharing and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. His extensive knowledge, expertise and unwavering commitment to process safety are truly commendable.”

In an exclusive interview with InTech magazine, Kevin Klein answered questions about his distinguished career.

InTech: Can you tell us about where and when you started in industrial automation, and where you are now?

Klein: I graduated from Valparaiso University with a BSEE and aspired to go into power distribution design. I started my career in the steel industry working on managing a power distribution systems at 44 kV, 25 Hz and 69 kV, 60 Hz. I also started working on some automation projects and troubleshooting problematic systems. The automation was very simplistic with an operator sitting in a pulpit using a manual drum switch to control rolling mill operations.

I then went into the fiberglass industry where the automation included fiberglass mat machines, automated packaging machines and fiberglass production systems. The automation systems included some early logic solvers and electronic controls. I went from there to the chemical industry for most of my career where there were many advances in automation. When I started, batch operation was dominated by drum switches to control the batch operation and included mostly manual operation. I learned about pneumatic logic and spent time converting older systems to more modern programmable logic controllers (PLCs).

There was a lot of distrust for some of these systems and the reliability was not always good, which meant providing backup control panels in case the automation failed. Eventually, this became a liability since the operators no longer knew how to operate the processes manually and the older equipment was not maintained. I remember one day getting a call from the control room telling me someone flipped the switch to go to manual and could not get the process to go back to the automated control. Soon after, the decision came to remove the backup and depend solely on the automation systems. The consoles became more sophisticated, and the control rooms became quieter as the pneumatics were moved out and printers were eliminated.

InTech: How and when did you first get involved with ISA? What work with the organization has been most meaningful to you over the years?

Klein: I first started with ISA by attending the ISA shows and learning more about instrumentation in the ‘90s. Monsanto had a great culture of teaching and growing competent engineering skills. There were two engineers I remember most in that journey: Greg McMillan and Stan Weiner. Their humor and passion for instrumentation and controls provided great inspiration for new engineers in the industry. In the early 2000s, getting involved with all of the experts in the safety system field with the ISA84 committee and the energetic discussions about the topic of safety instrumented systems was the most meaningful.

InTech: What more can you tell us about your work on ISA84 and IEC-61511 standards?

Klein: I started on ISA84 in early 2002 by getting involved in the development of ISA84.04. Eventually, I supported the development of all the ISA84 technical reports. In 2012, I got involved in ISA TR84.00.08 Guidance for Application of Wireless Sensor Technology to Non-SIS Independent Protection Layers. Eventually, I took on the co-chair role for the working group, bringing the document to be published in 2017. In 2012, I also started participating in IEC61511 as part of the U.S. TAG [Technical Advisory Group]. I participated in the development of the 2016 edition 2 and concurrently led the design team working on the Third edition. Currently, I lead the ISA84.91.03 Functional Safety: Process Safety Controls, Alarms and Interlocks as Low Integrity Protection Layers workgroup, which is developing a new standard for Low Integrity Protection Layers [Instrumented IPL].

InTech: Tell us more about developing a methodology for calculating the maximum instrumented safeguard response time within the process safety time, and the relationship with the IPL response time by defining the limits and the acceptable “never exceed” limits.

Klein: There has been a lot of discussion and confusion on the understanding of the relationship between the process operation and the response time needed for the safety systems. Some of the definitions were not clear, specifically the term “process safety time.” As a result, the ISA84 committee started developing a better method of looking at the limits of the process and the performance requirements for the instrumented protective systems (IPS) to operate within.

Annex Q was created for ISA TR 84.00.04 to provide engineers with a better understanding of the process limits and the IPS Limits. For the most part, engineers typically were able to recognize if the trip point of the safety system was a good upper operating limit, but the more difficult a topic was determining where the safety system needed to complete the action and bring the process to a safe state. The term “never exceed limit” was developed by the committee to understand that limit.

Typically, the expectation was for the IPS or independent protection layer (IPL) to complete the action within half the time it took the process to go from the upper operating limit to the never-exceed limit. This was due to the inaccuracies with the development of the process progression from the upper operating limit to the never-exceed limit as well as the variations in the performance of the IPS. The technical report provided guidance on how to develop the process safety time and the relationship with the IPL as well as development factors to be considered in the IPL response. This was a great advancement of the technology.

InTech: Who or what has been most influential to you as far as influencing your career?

Klein: When I was at Monsanto, I was influenced by Greg McMillan to get more involved with automation. I credit Len Laskowski with providing me the opportunity to get more involved with the development of the ISA84 standards. Within the ISA84 committee, Vic Maggioli and Angela Summers always encouraged my involvement and growth in the field of safety instrumented systems. Finally, I would like to recognize Dennis Zetterberg for supporting me at Chevron and getting engaged with the IEC61511 U.S. TAG.
 

InTech: What advice or insight do you have for young professionals just starting their automation careers?

Klein: The purpose of the college degree is to give you the basics and foundation for learning. I have approached my career from the point of always growing and expanding my knowledge base. I started with a BSEE degree with aspirations of working in power distribution, but with experience and opportunities, have migrated to more controls and process engineering. Do not be afraid of taking lateral moves to gain the complementary experience needed to obtain your full potential. I took a position in process safety and maintenance during my career, which may not have been the most interesting, but it provided immense benefit to my career and advancement. Remember to keep a balance between your work and life.
 
_{Read more about Kevin Klein on the ISA Interchange blog.}