End-user details
Name: Details withheld at reviewer request
SI details
Name: Johan Smith
Designation: Managing Director
Company: Artiflex Engineering
Phone: +27 (0)12 664 4885
E-mail: [email protected]
Product details
Product names and versions: Plantstruxure PES V3.1 SP1
Vendor: Schneider Electric
Phone: +27 (0)11 254 6400
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.schneider-electric.com
Application details
Location: Vaalkop water treatment works, Beestekraal, North West Province, RSA
Industry: Water and waste water
Project start date: 2014-02
Project end date: 2015-08
Application: Control system for potable water
Server OS: Windows 7 SP1 64Bit
Client OS: Windows 7 SP1 64Bit
Application statistics
Tag count: Approx. 42 000 tags (Approx. 2500.PES device objects)
Updates per day: Approx. 6 751 000
Disk space for one day’s updates: 25 MB
Physical I/O count: 8672 * Digital; 586 * Analog
Front ends:
2 * Schneider ION 7550 power meters
1 * Schneider PM700
19 * 3rd party power meters
10 * ABB VSD
1 * WEG VSD
4 * Rockwell VSD
Licences:
1 * Engineering System Server
1 * Engineering Client
3 * Operation Clients
1 * Large Application Licence (7500 Object)
Scada configuration man-hours: 2500 man-hours to date (incomplete)
End–user responses
General
Q: Briefly describe the application including information on any pre-existing control system.
The existing system comprised Quantum PLCs, Momentum PLCs and remote I/O islands on a Modbus Plus fibre ring backbone with a standalone legacy scada. The system was upgraded to Quantum PLCs, M340 PLCs and Advantys remote islands. All existing CPUs were upgraded to be Ethernet PES compliant. Plantstruxture PES architecture was introduced to replace the legacy scada system and total re-programming was performed to new standards.
Q: What was the primary motivation for the project?
Replacement of failing equipment and networks.
Q: What were the main goals established for the project?
1. Improve system reliability.
2. Establish company-wide process automation standards
3. Improve management control through availability of real-time data.
Q: In the procurement decision making process what were the primary considerations that influenced the product selection?
Upgrade path for hardware, future expansions and ability to standardise software configurations.
Q: What project management principles and/or methodologies did you employ as end-user to mitigate risk, ensuring the project came out on time and within budget?
Constant feedback from operation personnel and production department was used to mitigate risk before each area upgrade.
Licensing, maintenance and support
Q: How is after-sales support handled on this application?
Support is provided via a software support contract as well as the Schneider Electric Alliance Partner (SI) channel.
Integration, reporting and archiving
Q: Does the application include data archiving / historian capabilities with an historical data reporting system?
Yes, an historian is integrated into the PES system.
Maintenance, reliability and asset optimisation
Q: What maintenance, reliability, asset optimisation and/or continuous improvement criteria were included in the user requirements specification for this project?
Each device information faceplate is pre-loaded with maintenance and operational data. The operator can view PLC code that impacts the object’s behaviour and documentation related to the object.
End-user conclusion
Q: What was the predominant feature (or features) that made you decide to purchase this scada product over all others for this application?
The single database environment for the total control system, which facilitates the development and continuation of standards.
Q: What was the most significant change that you implemented in scada engineering practice / technology in this project?
The PES architecture was very different from what we had in place and the fact that we received standards that we could enforce.
Q: What single operational feature most impresses you about the product now that it is in operation?
The run time services that have already been implemented! Each device information faceplate is pre-loaded with maintenance and operational data.
Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?
The complete control system is integrated into PES and results in a structured design.
SI Responses
Project details
Q: What tools were used to minimise the man-hours taken?
Plantstruxure PES software, standard libraries were expanded to accelerate development.
Q: What human factors were taken into consideration as principles or development standards in the HMI design process?
Operator capabilities were evaluated. The standard PES library layouts and interfacing faceplates were used to establish plant-wide GUI standards.
Q: For the graphics development process did you use standard library images, or did you have to draw images from scratch?
Plant layouts were drawn from scratch. Standard libraries were used for faceplates and sequencing interfaces.
Q: How would you describe the library of graphic images?
Generic library and industry-specific libraries are included. The water library was used extensively.
Q: What alarm management standards or best practices were adopted in configuring the scada system alarms?
PES is a device-oriented system. Each device is designed and the alarms are incorporated into the design. Alarms are managed in PES according to user-defined area and priority.
Q: What structured processes were followed to determine expected performance under full load, and during abnormal failure conditions?
None. For alarms the priority of failures built into each device object were analysed to limit abnormal failure alarms. On this plant this limitation is sufficient to ensure performance and only one server node exists.
Q: What are the key physical communication layers and communication protocols employed in the system?
The PLC/scada network is configured in an Ethernet ring topology on optic fibre using Modbus TCP protocol. Within buildings, star PLC nodes run on Modbus Ethernet copper and fibre, depending on distance. Various Modbus RTU devices are incorporated via Modbus RS-485 copper networks. Schneider Connexium switches are used throughout.
Q: What is the network speed and communications medium of the slowest link in this project’s scada network?
9600 bits/s over copper.
Q: What is the network speed and communications medium of the fastest link in this project’s scada network?
1 Gbits/s over fibre for external links.
Q: What levels of redundancy are incorporated in this scada application?
The network has ring topology for redundancy.
Project management
Q: What project management principles and/or methodologies did you as SI employ to mitigate risk and to ensure the project came out on time and within budget?
We had two major risks to consider. Firstly, this was a running plant for which the PLC and scada hardware needed to change and secondly, the software technology we implemented was new. Critical path planning was used to keep the project on track and training was implemented on a phase-by-phase basis because user-interfaces were totally new to users.
Security and data protection
Q: How have authentication, authorisation and role management been configured?
The built-in authorisation features of PES were used with the following roles: engineering, maintenance, administrative and operator.
Q: What intrusion detection has been incorporated on the plant network(s) on which this scada system exists?
As provided by antivirus software.
Q: What configuration backup and data archive backup methodologies have been adopted?
Backups are made by the development engineer before commencing with changes. A further backup is taken upon completion of the new section implementation.
Maintenance, reliability and asset optimisation
Q: What steps were taken to address maintenance, reliability, asset optimisation and/or continuous improvement aspects relating to this system?
The existing Modus Plus network was upgraded to Ethernet ring. The PES features in the design of the device objects were used to developed specific run-time services for the client. These included maintenance schedules, data packs on the scada system for each device for maintenance purposes and reporting real-time operation e.g. production figures.
SI conclusion
Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?
The architecture integrates all aspects of the control system from the drives and PLC network into one development environment. Development is done from the run-time system architecture that eliminates engineering in separate environments.
Q: What impresses you most about the engineering / configuration aspects of the product now that it is in operation?
The standards that flow out of the project design. Also the structure that is enforced by the scada system allows for a very high quality delivered product.
Q: How would you rate the ease of use of the historical reporting system?
You need some knowledge to incorporate this into the object design, but the use thereafter is very easy.
Vendor responses
Product
Operating systems / VMware
Q: Vendor comments on product / modules?
PlantStruxure PES offers an object oriented approach with pre-defined and user-definable libraries, reducing engineering time, project risk, capex and opex. Specific segment libraries are available in mining, minerals and metals, cement, food and beverage, and water and waste water.
Q: Vendor comments on operating systems
PES utilises partial virtualisation. The system server uses VirtualBox for control and supervision participants, therefore the control platform (Unity Pro) and the supervision platform (Vijeo Citect) are embedded in VMs. The engineering environment of PES presents the user with editors for control or supervision which are via calls to the VM.
Licensing, maintenance & support model
Q: What sort of licensing agreement options are offered?
Each software component of the PES infrastructure requires a licence to run. The System Server, Operation Server, Operation Client and Application licences are mandatory. Additional engineering client and operation client licences are optional. The system makes use of embedded virtual machines, therefore, a Windows 7 Pro licence is required for the System Server which runs the VM.
Q: Are licences sold outright or subject to periodic (e.g. annual) renewal?
Licences are version specific and are permanent, therefore, a once-off purchase for a particular version.
Q: What upgrade agreements are offered?
An annual support contract is recommended. This entitles the end-user to version upgrades within that year along with patches.
Q: What after-sales offerings iro support and maintenance are available, and which technologies are used to deliver them?
With the paid annual support contract, the end-user is entitled to 24/7 technical support via telephone, email or live chat. This level 3 support is handled by product experts overseas.
Technology incorporated
Q: What new technology has been introduced into the product in the last 12 months?
Support for multi-user during development, enhanced performance, support for X80 remote I/O, first level of configuration audit trail and easier integration of ProfiBus.
Integration and reporting
Q: What generic and/or product specific interfaces does the product have iro well-known MES packages?
Data acquisition is made possible through OPC HDA.
Q: What native historical data reporting options are available?
Vijeo Historian is an optional module, which collaborates tightly with PES.
PLC configuration and programming
Q: What capabilities does the scada offer in terms of generation and/or management of PLC configuration files or PLC application code?
The plant is modelled via objects coming from libraries. Once the process has been described and the hardware topology configured, PES generates the PLC code necessary to control those objects. PES can generate up to 80% of the PLC code for a project.
Security and data protection
Q: If the scada system generates application files that are transferred to the PLC, how are PLC virus attacks prevented in this process?
Supplied library objects are tested and validated in the Schneider Electric Labs. These objects can be locked, therefore when used in the system the user can be assured that the code generated by PES is safe and free from mistakes or malicious intent.
Q: What authentication, authorisation and role management models are available for the runtime environment?
Runtime security is set up in a hierarchical role-based structure e.g. manager, engineer, tech, electrician, operator. Priority levels are then assigned to each role. Users are associated with a role.
Unique selling proposition (USP)
Q: List the top five feature/benefit pairs that contribute to this product’s USP.
To view the unabridged version of this scada review, please visit http://instrumentation.co.za/+C20138
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