Reviewer details
Name: Neville Frewin
Position/Designation: Chief Elec Eng
Company: Pretoria Portland Cement
Tel: (011) 488 1705
e-mail: [email protected]
Product details
Vendor: BeST
Product name and version: KICS
Tel: (011) 884 0510
e-mail: [email protected]
General:
Q: What industry (eg mining, food and beverage, automotive etc) is the scada being applied in?
A: Cement, lime and slag grinding.
Q: Describe the application briefly giving a description of any existing control systems, any previous scada system that was in place etc. If relevant describe the switchover from the previous system.
A: KICS is used in three of PPC's plants. Dwaalboom Cement, 3 of the kilns at Lime Acres and the Slag Grinding plant at Saldanha. The systems replaced TDC 2000, 3000 and relay logic. Saldanha was new.
Q: Who did the system integration?
A: BeST
Q: Approximately how many man-hours did the integration take?
A: The fully integrated cement plant control system (Dwaalboom) TDC 3000 replacement took 3000 man hours.
Q: How is the after-sales support handled (eg remote-dial-up, e-mail, Internet access etc)?
A: Total support and maintenance is provided by BeST via e-mail, Internet and site visits. PPC outsources most scada maintenance.
Q: What sort of licensing agreement is used on this particular system? Does one licence cover all modules, or can the user only buy those modules that he wishes to use?
A: The KICS licence is site wide with no restrictions on any functionality or capacity.
System architecture
Q: How many tag points/I/O does the installation have? Analog? Digital? Maximum possible?
A: Dwaalboom has 4500 analog I/O and 15 000 digital I/O.
Q: What operating system is the scada running on (eg Windows NT, Unix etc)?
A: KICS is transportable across the Unix, NT and Windows 2000 operating systems. Dwaalboom is currently porting from Unix to Windows 2000 without affecting operations.
Q: What impressed you most about the architecture? Open standards, wide range of drivers, the ability to upgrade, etc? Please elaborate.
A: Ease of application development, inherent advanced control, powerful security, and ability to configure exactly to our needs. Intelligent alarming and diagnostics, excellent graphics, seamless integration into the MES environment.
Q: Is the system integrated onto an intranet or the Internet? If so, does the configuration allow simple remote monitoring, or is it configured to allow full remote control? If not, what level of intranet/Internet control does the scada allow for future use?
A: Yes. PPC do not require remote control however it is fully available.
Q: What sort of redundancy is built into the system?
A: Full live redundancy above PLC level. This is PPC's policy.
Graphics
Q: Describe the graphics development process - eg did you use standard library images, or did you have to draw images from scratch?
A: Both.
Q: How would you describe the library of graphic images?
A: The graphics are fully embedded in the object hierarchy and object orientation programming applies, therefore every digit has its own dynamic graphic.
Q: Did you use any 'special' images (eg embedded video clips, photographs, 3D images etc)?
A: Yes - We have used photographs at Saldanha.
Compatibility
Q: Did you run the scada in conjunction with any third-party application software? Describe.
A: Yes. A variety of realtime databases, eg SETCIM, INFOPLUS21, Industrial SQL; automated laboratory systems; office business systems and IT systems eg Microsoft, Baan; APC systems such as Process Perfecter.
Q: Does the scada allow for the user to create scripts to perform specific tasks? Describe any specific scripts that were written for this project.
A: Yes, KICS is a powerful realtime expert system with intelligent and rule creation capability. Hundreds of 'scripts' have been written which are seamlessly integrated into KICS e.g. fire detection, ash ring prediction, alarming.
Management reporting
Q: Is a trending and historical data reporting system included? Please elaborate.
A: Yes. All realtime. Reports, trends are configured to PPC's requirements. Third party realtime databases are also used. Custom reports can be configured as required for special tests, trials etc, on line.
Q: Is a management reporting system included in the package?
A: Yes. A very flexible reporting environment is embedded.
Q: Is the system integrated into a manufacturing execution system?
A: KICS has a manufacturing execution system module that is used.
Q: Is the scada system integrated into a management reporting or control system (eg SAP, Baan)?
A: Yes, Baan.
Q: Who integrated the scada into the MES and/or ERP?
A: BeST.
Q: Describe the integration process.
A: MES is an integrated module in KICS and no integration process is required. KICS was integrated with the legacy ERP system SAM (sales and marketing). When Baan replaced this some 18 months later no real integration process was required.
Q: Was any additional software development needed? Please elaborate.
A: No.
Conclusion
Q: What impressed you the most about the system?
A: PPC required an advanced control system as well as a scada. In 1993 the decision was taken that instead of buying separate packages both functions could be performed with KICS. PPC was surprised how well KICS performed both functions.
Q: What was the predominant feature (or features) that made you decide to employ this scada, rather than another (ie ease of use, support from the vendor, upgrade path, redundancy features etc)?
A: KICS provided the best conformation to all PPC's key performance requirements.
Review
PPC have long seen the need for scada/DCS systems. The first DCS was installed on Lime Acres Kiln 9 in 1981. With time and the development of scada, PPC moved towards scada. Several were installed from 1987 to 1991. Parallel to this was some experimentation with advanced control that operated from 1989 to 1992. Although only partially successful this proved that advanced control was of value to the running of a cement kiln. In 1993 an upgrade on Kiln 9 at Lime Acres was necessary due to the obsolescence of the DCS system. PPC searched for a system that would provide the scada function as well as supporting advanced control. It was found that a system based on the Gensym G2 system could do this and this formed the forerunner of KICS. The first installation was commissioned in September 1994 replacing the ageing DCS system. The changeover was completed in two weeks. Since then both the scada and advanced control capabilities of KICS have been exploited to an ever increasing degree with substantial improvements to the operation of PPC's plant.
Specifically at Dwaalboom all operations are executed from one operating seat situated off plant. Roving machine minders patrol the plant.
KICS has provided an ideal platform for advanced control at Dwaalboom. This system has now operated for about 20 months and has proved to be superior to other cement kiln advanced control systems available.
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