Controller, software evolution eases integration, helps operations, says ABB

ABB products and services, including advanced controllers, collaborative production management, and state-based control, help customers integrate and operate more quickly, efficiently, and economically, ABB representatives told Control Engineering on Dec. 3. They also reviewed process and electrical integration, system evolution, advances in the AC 700F controller, and customer examples. See photos and 5 tips to enhance plant performance.

By Control Engineering Staff December 4, 2008

SCA Ortviken’s new pulp line in Sweden will use integrated process and electrical systems to expand capacity, increase efficiency and improve quality. An $8.7 million automation and power order for ABB, announced Dec. 1, includes an integrated process and electrical automation system based on System 800xA to reduce energy losses and increase operational reliability in the pulp line.

Oak Brook, IL – ABB products and services, including advanced controllers, collaborative production management, and state-based control, help customers integrate and operate more quickly, efficiently, and economically, ABB representatives told Control Engineering on Dec. 3. They also reviewed opportunities for process and electrical integration, system evolution, and advances in the AC 700F controller, along with customer examples. Update on Dec. 8 : See video links added below . Five critical steps to enhancing plant performance with process control evolution are, according to ABB:1) Assess existing systems; justify investments;2) Define required functionality;3) Develop plan to provide new functionality;4) Identify evolution options within budget; and5) Implement at your own pace.To help with that, ABB System 800xA platform enhanced core functions in 2008, said Alicia Dubay, ABB director of global marketing, control systems and products and Mark W. Taft, ABB group vice president, process automation control system business.

ABB IndustrialIT cpmPlus Smart Client, part of the CPM suite, is thin client that helps process customers securely view automation systems via an Internet browser for real-time visibility.

New core functions include integrated electrical capabilities, a more powerful AC800M controller, and a SIL3 certified SM module. Enhancements include improved engineering tool performance, centralized operations support, enhanced process graphics, and OCS [open control system] evolution libraries for AC800M to help evolve and improve earlier ABB control system platforms. Applications include Industrial IT for PAT (process analytical technology), and state based control (as defined in the ISA88 Part 5 efforts). More than 4,300 ABB System 800xA have been sold worldwide since release in January 2004, they noted. Here are more highlights on ABB controller, software, and power news . White paper: Benefits of State-Based Control : “State Based Control is a plant automation control design based on the principal that all process facilities operate in recognized, definable process states representing a variety of normal and abnormal conditions of the process. state based control implemented with the latest developments in object-based technologies, delivers direct benefits to its adopters in a variety of operational excellence categories that result in productivity increases, higher asset utilization of both people and process, automated responses and recovery for abnormal conditions and provides an environment for knowledge capture directly into the control design,” according to a December 2008 executive summary of that ABB white paper. The Control Engineering blog,

Standard profits: Make2Pack and ISA88

, provides related information about ISA88 Part 5.

ABB AC 700F provides compact, robust control.

Controller platform : Small-scale system bridges device gap . Benefits of AC 700F controller platform, announced in July, were discussed. The ABB AC 700F provides compact, robust control and exceptional process performance for small applications, for roughly the same price as PLCs that have less power and functionality. Collaborative production management (CPM) systems are the evolution from manufacturing execution systems (MES): ABB IndustrialIT cpmPlus Enterprise Connectivity (ECS) introduced in February includes enhancements for quicker integration of systems, improved performance, and simplified user interface. ECS provides one streamlined interface for vertical integration between plant and enterprise business systems for improved productivity, flexibility, quality control and reduced order-to-cash cycle. In May ABB announced IndustrialIT cpmPlus Smart Client, as part of the CPM suite. This thin client helps process customers securely view automation systems via an Internet browser for real-time visibility into processes from any location as long as a connection to the plant exists. Process analytics : The Version of ABB Industrial IT for PAT (process analytical technology) software available in March 2008 improved data visualization and connectivity to a wider range of third-party analytical devices. The enhancements provide manufacturers with expanded capability to process and model information, ABB says, so that they can reliably integrate these vital analytical measurements with the process control system to improve overall production efficiency and product quality, company says. Also read: OPC Foundation to release analyzer devices integration draft specification. www.controleng.com/article/CA6603649.html Electrical system installations : ABB recently won six contracts collectively worth more than $150 million to supply main electrical systems for drilling rigs and drill-ships built in Asia. The orders were booked in third-quarter 2008. Among the new orders are three deepwater drilling rigs now under construction at the Jurong Shipyard in Singapore, two drill-ships (Stena DrillMax Ice and the Pride #4 drill-ship) to be built at Samsung Heavy Industries and another drill-ship for Metrostar to be built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea. ABB will supply the complete electrical system for the rigs, including generators, medium and low voltage power distribution, thruster drive systems, drilling drive system and related engineering and services. Other projects follow. Hydroelectric electricity : AmerenUE Taum Sauk Pump Storage Hydro plant in MO, granted ABB an 11.5 million to provide power plant equipment on Dec. 2. The delivery will include an integrated process and electrical system based on System 800xA. Power generation: Black Hills Corp., a diversified energy company, has selected ABB to provide power generation products, services and electrical design expertise for Wygen III, Black Hills’ new power generation station near Gillette, WY, ABB announced on Dec. 2. Chilean cement manufacturer Polpaico (a Holcim subsidiary) will meet challenging targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions with help from an ABB emissions monitoring solution uses precise FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) analyzer technology integrated with Extended Automation System 800xA. That announcement came in October. Wastewater : Designed and engineered by Australian company AnaeCo, the first installation of a patented technology known as DiCOM is currently under construction at a municipal waste transfer station in Shenton Park, a suburb of Perth, Australia’s fourth largest city, ABB said Nov. 5. In another application, ABB supplied a SCADA system based on System 800xA to the TVIS district heating utility in Denmark at the Skærbæk combined cycle power plant. Steel: VSB (Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil) is having supply automation systems, equipment and services for a new seamless steel tube and pipe production plant. Plant is expected to have annual capacity of 600,000 tons per year of seamless steel pipes produces seamless OCTG (oil country tubular goods) products, ABB said on Nov. 24. Safety: At Pemex’s Burgos Basin in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, an oil and gas / refining facility, ABB provided System 800xA Extended Automation with emergency safety as well as fire & gas systems, the control systems for cryogenics plants, the distribution and storage terminal, fluid treatment and the security systems for process and fire. ABB provided the electric panels for substations, transformers and electrical distribution. Learn more with these video links (after clicking links, see under movie, center column) : ABB video movie shows , and ABB video movie shows implementation ease of Connecting SAP to System 800xA .

–  Mark T. Hoske , editor in chief Control Engineering News Desk Register here .