Major upgrade of a large-scale control system platform

Honeywell launches Experion Orion globally, promising significant automation technology advancements to enable faster project implementation and lifecycle investment optimization. Video: Adamczyk and Whitsura explain underlying concepts and value proposition.

June 14, 2012

Honeywell Process Solutions has launched its next-generation Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) Orion. The company says this new upgrade introduces two major innovations: it is the first industrial process system to use Universal Channel Technology to enable remote configuration of process and safety systems without the need for additional hardware; and it comes equipped with a complete virtualization solution that includes what it characterizes as the most advanced and complete package of hardware, software, skills, guidance and best practices, training, and support from Honeywell.

In addition to these advancements, Honeywell also announced the new platform is the first DCS to achieve ISA99 certification in an effort to assure manufacturers that Experion PKS Orion meets the industry’s most-rigorous cyber security standards.

“Honeywell has a long history of technology leadership in industrial automation, and Experion PKS Orion is a major leap in innovation, system flexibility, and cyber security,” says Jason Urso, vice president, technology, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Universal Channel Technology simplifies engineering and configuration during the design stage of a project, which can save up to 33% of the installation costs. It provides the industry’s most complete portfolio of turnkey virtualization solutions for improved open systems management and reliability in the industrial domain, leading to significant reductions in the total cost of ownership.”

Honeywell Process Solutions says Universal Channel Technology can liberate safety and process I/O, as well as the control cabinets, from channel type dependency. This concept offers flexibility in I/O type, thus eliminating the need for custom hardware alignment with different I/O configurations. 

“Late changes which often result in costly project delays can now be done through remote access rather than manipulating hardware in the field. What previously took days or even weeks can now be done in minutes,” said Frank Whitsura, vice president and general manager, projects and automation solutions, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Our customers will benefit by greatly reducing overall project risk.”

With its portfolio of turnkey virtualization solutions, Honeywell believes Experion PKS Orion benefits both customers implementing new projects, as well as those who want to get more out of their existing operations. For those building new plants, Experion virtualization solutions can extend design freeze dates, delay hardware purchases, and provide the option of virtual factory acceptance tests (FAT) to validate configurations remotely.

For existing customers, Experion virtualization solutions significantly reduce system lifecycle management costs by as much as 30% via non-disruptive hardware upgrades, insulation of operating system to computer hardware dependencies, simplified maintenance and provisioning of control system computer nodes, more efficient upgrades, greatly reduced physical node count, and increased system availability.

Other major release features include enhancements to Experion Batch Manager with the ability to increase availability and throughput by executing a complete single unit procedure in a redundant controller. It also includes new operator effectiveness solutions, including leading edge capabilities for operator management of alarms and improvements in human factors. Enhancements in Safety Manager include even tighter integration with Experion PKS Orion, and a new Universal Safety Logic Solver able to execute the safety application independently in a remote module, perfectly suited to geographically distributed installations. 

“Industry globally faces many economic, technical and logistical challenges. Today’s markets require operations to constantly balance safety, productivity and profitability. The significant advances in automation technology introduced in Experion PKS Orion can transform your business by reducing risk, cost and compressing schedules in new project implementation, as well as improving lifecycle return on investment and sustainability,” Whitsura said.

www.honeywellprocess.com

Edited by Peter Welander, pwelander@cfemedia.com