Petrotech Inc. low-cost upgrade path for existing users of Allen-Bradley PLC-5 controllers from Rockwell Automation.
New Orleans – Petrotech Inc., a 30-year supplier of turbomachinery control solutions, developed what it calls "a low-cost upgrade path for existing users of the Allen-Bradley PLC-5 controller" from Rockwell Automation. "Over the last two decades Petrotech has installed hundreds of PLC-5 systems to control gas turbines and provide gas compressor protection. Now, as the PLC-5 faces obsolescence," Petrotech says it "provides a quick and inexpensive solution to its fleet of PLC-5 users."
The real value in the Petrotech upgrade is that the user still keeps the PLC-5 system, the company says. Although facing obsolescence, the PLC-5 has years of operational life remaining. The Petrotech upgrade replaces the old processor/co-processor bundle with a current technology processor and then moves the legacy system code to the new processor. The rest of the PLC-5 system is unchanged.In addition to improved communications with the new processor, the system can now be upgraded incrementally over time on the user’s schedule. The entire legacy functionality is moved to the new processor application. This application is written in the IEC1131-3 international programming standard languages.
Petrotech says the result is an up-to-date (future ready) control system , continued use of the legacy PLC-5 system, and the same Petrotech turbomachinery control system quality on which the user has relied on, and all for about 30% less than the cost of a replacement system. Petrotech offers upgrades for PLCs from Rockwell Automation and Siemens .
– Edited by Mark T. Hoske, editor in chief, Control Engineering www.controleng.com
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