Operational
Benefits and Challenges of Integrating Foundation Fieldbus into
Production and Pipeline Control Systems
In this article we will look
at one of these new technologies . Foundation Fieldbus . and the challenges
and opportunities that it provides in terms of SCADA type control systems,
including remote diagnostics and maintenance information, says Logan
Andrew Alexender.
Overview
There are a number of new technologies and standards
that are having a profound impact on the specification and implementation
of SCADA applications in the energy industry. These new technologies
and standards combine with strong cost reduction requirements and greatly
increase data availability and inte-28 INSTRUMENTATION & CONTROL
JOURNAL l JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2005 gration needs resulting in demands
for much more open systems with higher levels of functionality. In this
article we will look at one of these new technologies– Foundation
Fieldbus– and the challenges and opportunities that it provides
in terms of SCADA type control systems, including remote diagnostics
and maintenance information. The article will also touch on some of
the related technologies such as IEC61131, web interfaces and mobile
devices and how they can be used to add value. Finally, these points
will be described in relation to an actual system currently implemented
with these technologies, showing how a practical implementation can
be achieved.
Data, Applications and Portability
Traditional SCADA systems in the primary energy
industries today (as used in Oil & Gas production and transportation)
are undergoing large changes very rapidly. What would have been highly
proprietary systems with a very specific purpose a few years ago have
rapidly evolved into much more open systems incorporating more commercially
off-theshelf available hardware and software and with many more users
than before. These open systems make much more use of emerging standards
at all system levels, from the field devices (using e.g. Foundation
Fieldbus) up to the management layer (using e.g. ODBC). The common thread
through this evolution is the use of hardware and software to automate
and improve the applications used to operate processes in the energy
industries. A big challenge is how to design and implement systems today
that can cope with the rapidly increasing amount of data that is available
from automation systems (a trend that does not appear to be slowing
down) as well as with the rapidly increasing numbers and types of users
that need to access that data usefully. Another big challenge is how
to mainteimplement these systems with operating hardware and software
that typically will become obsolete in the 5-10 year timescale within
organizations that change over a couple of years but within the context
of a process plant that will exist for close to 30 years in most cases.
The rapid pace of technological change has driven the growth of an increasing
number of standards are used at all levels of these systems. Appropriate
use of these standards both in product and system design, as well as
in individual systems specification, can go a long way to protecting
end-user investment in the applications that they develop to manage
their processes. With the appropriate use of standards, the applications
can be largely de-coupled from the underlying products and technologies,
allowing easier upgrading of systems during the lifetime of automation
systems with the benefit of protecting application development investments.
Typical applications in the oil & ....
cont....
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