Reviewer details
Name: Willie Bousema
Position: Mine consulting engineer
Company: Blue Ridge Platinum Mine
Phone: +27 (0)82 770 8483
E-mail: [email protected]
Product details
Vendor: Citect – a Schneider Electric subsidiary
Product(s): Vijeo Citect Version 7
Phone: +27 (0)11 699 6600
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.citect.com
Application
Industry: Mining and metallurgical
Server OS: N/A
Client OS: Windows XP Professional
Front end: 1*Schneider Premium PLC, 3*Schneider M340 PLCs
Tag count: 5000
Updates per day: Estimated 43 million
General
Q: Briefly describe the application including information on any pre-existing system that was in place.
A: This is a new installation. The scada incorporates underground and surface water reticulation and the underground conveyor system with vibrator feeders. The project scope included PLCs, MCCs and radio networks for a new incline shaft platinum mine.
Q: Who performed the scada configuration?
A: Supervisory & Control Expertise (S&CE).
Q: Approximately how many man-hours did the scada configuration take?
A: 1200 man-hours.
Q: Was a structured process followed to determine expected performance under full load and during abnormal failure conditions?
A: The system was selected by the end-user who felt that the I/O count did not require such tests.
Q: What sort of licensing agreement applies to this particular system?
A: Three licences were supplied: one developer licence, one HMI developer licence and one Client licence. Other modules such as historical and trending can be ordered separately.
Q: What upgrade agreements are in place? Are patches and version upgrades free, covered under annual maintenance or managed in some other way?
A: The purchase price included one year free maintenance. Subsequent years’ maintenance must be purchased separately.
Q: How is after-sales support handled?
A: The scada vendor ships upgrade disks to the system integrator (SI), who then supplies these to the end-user as long as the maintenance agreement is valid. Patches are downloadable from the Internet.
System architecture
Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?
A: No response.
Q: What are the key physical communication layers and communication protocols employed in the system?
A: Modbus TPC/IP on fibre between PLCs and scada. CANopen between PLCs and MCCs. Modbus over wireless to remote pumping station (approximately 7 km away).
Q: Is the scada system integrated onto an intranet or the Internet? If so, what level of remote monitoring and control is configured?
A: No.
Q: Does the application utilise web services?
A: No.
Q: What redundancy is incorporated in this scada application?
A: None.
Graphics
Q: Describe the graphics development process.
A: Existing and new Citect 'genies' were used.
Q: How would you describe the library of graphic images?
A: Above average.
Q: What human factors were taken into consideration in the HMI design process?
A: We defined how the SI should do the mimics and layouts based on end-user standards.
Q: Did you use any ‘special’ images or video technology?
A: Photos of plant layout and remote stations were incorporated.
Compatibility
Q: Do you run the scada in conjunction with any third-party application software?
A: No response.
Q: Was any custom code or scada scripting written for this project?
A: No response.
Management reporting and integration
Q: Is a trending and historical data reporting system included?
A: Yes.
Q: Is a management reporting system included in the package?
A: Reporting is accomplished through Microsoft Excel.
Q: Is the system integrated with an MES / ERP or other management reporting or control system?
A: No.
Q: Are any production benchmarking tools configured as part of the scada system?
A: No.
Q: Does the application include asset management functionality?
A: No.
Q: Does the application include GIS (geographic information systems) integration?
A: No.
System safety, security and data protection
Q: What alarm management standards or best practices were adopted in configuring the scada system?
A: The standard alarming of Vijeo Citect was used.
Q: How were the potential consequences of abnormal process conditions taken into consideration during the HMI design process?
A: As the monitored processes are relatively slow these were not considered.
Q: Does the design make provision for a DMZ and firewall segregation of process network and business networks?
A: No.
Q: What intrusion detection is incorporated on the plant network(s) on which this scada system exists?
A: Not considered necessary for a standalone scada application.
Q: What configuration backup and archive backup methodologies have been adopted?
A: We used standard backup and restore functions on daily basis, sometimes more during development.
Conclusion
Q: What was the predominant feature(s) that made you decide to employ this scada, rather than another?
A: The fact that the hardware supplier is also the software supplier.
Q: What impresses you the most about the system?
A: Stability and communication. Changes like mimic and tag changes can be performed without changing client stations, and only once checked by the SI can be downloaded and made available to the operator.
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