Namur General Meeting – A Robust Core Process Control System Is a Platform For Innovation

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“Automation must suit operational needs, and at the end of the day it is the people at the individual companies who define what those needs are,” said Schlagowski. From the manufacturer’s perspective, there are conservative users out there in the market as well as those who enthusiastically embrace innovation, and the challenge is to come up with a uniform approach which meets the needs of both.

Even conservative users will soon have to replace their first-generation control systems. Manufacturers can continue to provide support by offering extended lifetimes, hybrid configurations with multiple versions, automated migration of application software from old to new systems and whitelisting instead of virus scanners.

Innovators on the other hand are looking for hard facts that demonstrate the advantages of innovation. The wish list also includes a dependable version policy (i.e. only stable versions are released), online upgrading, partnership agreements, standardized import/export interfaces and functions such as patch management. No matter whether users prefer the changes to be small or more extensive, Schlagowski is convinced that the process control systems must be based on a solid foundation.

Firm Basis for Innovation

This year's sponsor ABB shares this view. "We need a hardened core process control system," emphasized Dr. Peter Terwiesch, Executive Board Chairman of ABB Germany and Europe and sponsor of this year’s Namur General Meeting. When that is the case, today's process control systems offer plenty of scope for innovation. “Hardware visualization is one example along with alarm optimization strategies which ensure optimum alarm management during ongoing operation,” added Terwiesch. In his view, merging functions such as energy distribution and automation, which up to this point have been handled separately, offers significant potential. He argues that an integrated approach improves productivity, optimizes energy costs and reduces maintenance expense. Examples from the oil & gas industry show that joint engineering can reduce investment costs by more than 20%. By addressing both of these operational aspects together, StatoilHydro Grane was able to save 20% -30% during the engineering phase and 50% in the supply chain. Change orders were reduced by 90% - 95%. Additional savings of 20% were realized during ongoing operation. At several Petrobras refineries, installation of an 800xA process control system with integrated safety systems and energy distribution functionality simplified the engineering effort, improved energy efficiency and reduced investment costs. ABB estimated that production increased by 40%.

However, there appear to be opportunities in small applications as well. Optimization of five blowers at a fertilizer plant cut annual electricity consumption by 4000 MWh. Another example is the deployment of a frequency converter in place of a control valve. Besides reducing operating costs by 20% - 30%, the change also led to improved control performance. The ROI period was only a few months.

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