Patent ID: 7617013

Claim:
A web-based evaluation system for evaluating a process system in support of a plurality of concurrent users, said process system comprising a plurality of pressure equipment including a protection device for protecting the process system, said evaluation system comprising: a storage subsystem for electronically storing an equipment database including equipment information representing each of said plurality of equipment; a server for serving content including some portion of said equipment information, via a public communication network, to web browsers executing on a remotely located user computers; and an assessment subsystem for automatically determining, by utilizing some portion of said equipment information, an adequacy of the protection device for protecting the process system, and generating protection assessment information therefrom, said protection assessment information also being stored in said equipment database or in another database by said storage subsystem, wherein said assessment subsystem is located remotely from said users, and wherein said server is adapted for concurrently serving at least a portion of said protection assessment information and/or at least a portion of said equipment information to at least one of the said web browsers while also serving additional information to at least one other of said users, and further wherein said evaluation system is adapted, when one of said users is currently editing information in said equipment database, to prevent others of said users concurrently accessing said evaluation system from concurrently editing said information in said equipment database.