A Highly Effective Approach to Modernization and Digitalization of Brownfield Sites

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“Using Artificial Intelligence in the Cloud” — Interview with Stephan Sagebiel, Phoenix Contact

Stephan Sagebiel, Phoenix Contact: “Anyone who is using only conventional tools made available by the PLC and maintenance software is faced with constraints.”

PROCESS: Mr. Sagebiel, at many brownfield sites where control system migration has already been completed, there are still problems with system availability. Is there a silver bullet for bringing production performance up to a competitive level?

Sagebiel: Unfortunately not. There is no alternative to thorough vulnerability analysis. It makes sense to look at the issues from different perspectives — operators, the maintenance team, safety engineering and process engineering. The objective should always be clearly formulated. Is it enough to get operations back to normal and create space for preventive maintenance? That could possible be done by introducing handheld tools for paperless inspection rounds. However often that is not enough.

PROCESS: And then things start to get expensive?

Sagebiel: Not necessarily. Of course a generous spending budget for additional modernization would be great. In reality, all this is available is the money in the maintenance budget. So careful thought must be given to the modernization plan and the available funds must be stretched. Priority should be given to measures which produce the biggest efficiency gains. That could be, for example, better monitoring of trace heating, or perhaps the regulation and control algorithm in a distillation column has not been optimized. There is one common thread, namely to make the most out of the data which is available.

PROCESS: It appears that this is still only being done at a rudimentary level. Why?

Sagebiel: Anyone who is using only conventional tools made available by the PLC and maintenance software is faced with constraints. Take for example column regulation and control, where even Advanced Process Control Software fails to deliver. Why not send the full set of variables to the Cloud where it is available to the IT team? They have sufficient computing capacity for generating the ideal regulation and control parameters. In addition, many manufacturers now offer web services, e.g. for pumps and valves. This provides access to artificial intelligence with minimal effort on the part of the plant operator.

* The author is Head of Industry Management Process at Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG, Blomberg/Germany.

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