16/12/2014

AssistedlivingforyouragingDCS|ControlEngineering

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AssistedlivingforyouragingDCS
Hasyourcontrolsystemmovedpastthepointwhereyoucandependonit?Understandthesignsthatitstimetoretireyour
platformbeforeitstoolate.
PeterWelander

11/04/2014

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Aprocesscontrolsystemissupposedtohelpaplantorprocess
unitoperatewithaminimumofhumanintervention.Afterall,that's
thewholeideabehindautomation.Theproblemthesedaysisthere
aremanyoldsystemsstillrunningafter20oreven30+years,and
soonerorlaterthesecanbecometroublesometothepointthatthe
levelofattentiontheydemandisdisproportionatetotheservice
theyperform.Let'scompareittoowningacar.Maybeyoureally
likeyour1992ChevroletImpala,butafter22yearsand250,000
miles,itrequiresalotofattention.Brakes,frontend,shocks,
transmission,andmaybeevenawholenewengine.Atsomepoint
it'stimetotradeitin.
That'sfineifallyou'retalkingaboutisastandardpassengercar.
Butlet'ssayyourvehicleisavanthathasbeenoutfittedtocarry
lotsofspecializedequipmentforyourbusiness.Buyinganewvan
meanstransferringallthatshelvingandracks,andmakingmany
othermodifications.Inthatcase,thedecisiontotradeinisn'tso
easybecauseofothercostsinvolved.It'sadifferentsituationwithdifferenteconomicconsiderations.
Ineitherscenario,thelastthingyouwantisthevehicletobreakdown400milesfromyourhome.Givenyourvehicle'sageand
performancehistory,youknowthatanytimeyougoontheroadtherecouldbeafailure,soyoucalculatetheriskbeforeyou
driveitonthetrip.Ifitdoesbreakdown,youcouldbestuckhavingtomakedecisionsunderpressureandmayhaveto
considerasolutionthatisnotoptimalsimplyforthesakeofexpedience.
Therisksofkeepinganoldsystem
EverydaythatanobsoleteDCSplatformcontrolsaplant,theriskincreasesthat
itwillsufferafailureandinterruptproduction.Ofcoursethatcouldalsohappen
withabrandnewplatform,butriskgrowswithage.
Forpurposesofthisdiscussion,let'srestrictthescopetodigitalcontrolsystems.
Nopanelboards,pneumatics,electronicanalog,orothersubsetsofthose.Most
ofwhatwe'retalkingaboutwouldbeconsideredsecondgenerationDCS
platformsinstalledfromthelate1970sthroughtheadventofMSWindowsbased
systemsandtheirbroaddeploymentinthelate1990s.Fewifanyofthese
systemsaretruly"original"sincehardwarefailsinavarietyofwaysdepending
onwhatitis.Thedeviceswiththeshortestlifespanaregenerallyintheoperator
interface.Nocontrolsystemthathasbeenusedeverydayfor20+yearsstillhas
allitsoriginalkeyboards,displays,andharddiskdrives.
Thepartsthatseemtogoonforeverarebasiccontrollers,I/O,andfieldwiring,
buteventhesereachanend.Operatorsmayseeindividualfielddevicesgodark
becauseanI/Ocardhaslostachannelorperhapsallthedevicesconnectedthroughaspecificcard.Hopefully,thereisa
replacement,butoneofthesedaysallthesparepartinventorywillbegone,andtheboardssentinforrepairwillbereturned
astheywerewiththeregretsoftheOEM.Maintenancethenwillbeforcedtoworkwithoperatorstoperformsystemtriageto
makesurethemostcriticalelementsarestillfunctioningwhileothersfallintodisrepair.Eventually,usershavetostartcombing
theInternetforhoarders,partsrecyclers,andmaybeeventryeBay.(ArecenteBaysearchon"BaileyInfi90"yielded495
items.Asearchon"MooreAPACS"yielded186items.Bothturnedupvariousboards,modules,andaccessories.)
Issystemagearelevantissue?
Theageofacontrolsystemisnotnecessarilyaprobleminitself.AnoldDCSthatismatchedwellwiththeprocessandhas
beencarefullymaintainedoveritslifecandoanexcellentjob.Likethespecializedvan,theusermayhavespentagreatdeal
oftimeandeffortgettingitconfiguredjustrightandoptimizingthecontrolmethodologywithspecializedprogramming.Old
platformsarecapableofverysophisticatedfunctionality,althoughtherearefewerprogrammingtoolscomparedtomore
modernversions.Operatorinterfacescanbeupdated,atleasttosomeextent,sonewcapabilitiescanbeadded.
Intellectualpropertytiedtotheprocessanddevelopedovermanyyearsmaybedifficulttomovetoanewplatform,soa
companymaydecidetokeeptheoldsystemandmaintainitscrupulously.Itwillstockpilecriticalpartstokeepitoperational,
butitwillalsohaveanexitstrategyforwhenthetimecomesthatachangeisnecessary.Thissenseofintentionalityiswhat
differentiatesitfromacompanythatsimplygivesintoinertiaanddoesn'twanttomakeanefforttoupgrade.
Otherusersmakeimprovementsincrementallytoreducetheirriskprofileandminimizeatechnologygapwithmorecurrent
systems."AsignificantnumberofourcustomersaremakingcontinuousinvestmentsintheirDCSarchitectures,"saysSean
Sims,vicepresidentoflifecycleservicesforprocesssystemsandsolutionsatEmersonProcessManagement."Theysee,and
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haverealized,theoperationalvalueandoveralllifecyclecostbenefitsofmaintainingcurrentlevelsoftechnologywithintheir
facilities.Somechoosetoinvestinsmall,incrementalstepswhilstthefacilityisfullyoperational,whilstsomechoosetoalign
theirinvestmenttimingwithmajormaintenanceeventssuchasaplantturnaround.Whateverthetimingstrategy,deliberate
incrementalinvestmentresultsinreducedexposuretocomponentandtechnologyobsolescence."
Someoldersystemsmayhavereachedtheircapabilitylimits.IfaplanthasreachedthemaximumnumberofI/Opointsa
platformcanhandle,therearen'tmanyoptionsforaddingsomenewpieceofequipmenttotheprocessthathasanotherdozen
orsofielddevices.
TheWindowsinvasion
Controlsystemarchitecturetookamuchdifferentdirectionabout15yearsagoascontrolsystemvendorsbegantoshiftfrom
proprietaryhardwareandsoftwaretoMSWindowsbasedplatformsusingmoreofftheshelfequipment.Somevendors
consideredthataninvasionwheretheylostcontroloftheirowndestinyandsuddenlyfoundthemselveshavingtofollow
Microsoft.Oversubsequentyears,ownersoftheseproprietarysystemsoftenfoundtheeasiestwaytoupgradewasto"bolton"
anewsystemthattookadvantageofWindows'flexibility.Controlsystemsthathavebeenuntouchedinthiswaystillexist,but
therearen'tmanyleft.
Inmoreextremesituationswhereacompanyistryingtopreservealegacysystemthatmovedintothenolongersupported
category,usersresorttoputtingonwhatis,ineffect,athirdpartySCADAsystemontopoftheDCStosupportauser
interface,extendthesystem'scapabilitytocommunicatewithotherequipmentusingWindowsorOPC,andmovedata
throughoutthesystem.Thisapproachrequiresmuchintegrationeffort,butinasituationwhereacompanyinsistsonrunninga
platformwellbeyonditsusefullife,itmaybetheonlyalternative.
Migrationvs.emergencyretrofit
Ultimately,anycontrolsystemwillhavetobephasedout.Itwillgettothepointwherefailuresoverpowertheabilitytorepairor
replacecriticalparts.Migrationscanbeeasyorchallengingtodealwithdependingonthelevelofplanningandpreparation,
butwhensystemsarefailingandmuchoftheplantisbeingrunmanually,movingtoanewplatformistrulynightmarish.
AsRichClark,principalapplicationsconsultantforHoneywellProcessSolutions,pointsout,itispossibletoreachapoint
whereit'seffectivelytoolatetomigratebecausethehumanresourcesneededtocarryoutthatprogramaretotallyengaged
simplykeepingtheplantrunning.Hisadviceistoplanwhileyoustillhaveoptions."Thereareperiodswhereyoulookatyour
riskcurveandyouropportunitycurve,andbothareprettyflat.Youhaveplentyofoptionsatthatpoint.Buteventuallyyou
reachatippingpoint,andit'shardtoknowwherethatisprecisely.That'swhenyouroptionsbecomelimitedandyouhaveto
dothingsinahurry.Ifyou'rethepersonmanagingthatsystem,youhavetosetsomeredlinesandsomeyellowlines,andlook
atyoursystematleastonceayearandseewhereyouare.Ifyoudon't,youcanpassthetippingpointandsuddenlyyou're
dealingwithacascadeofeventsthatforcesyoutodoamigrationprojectinawaythathasahighercostandgreaterrisk.
You'retryingtodoitonacompressedtimescheduleusingpeoplethathaveotherjobs,andthatpressurecreatesmorerisk.
"Insomerefiningandpetrochemicalenvironments,youmayhaveanoutageoranopportunitytomigrateonceeveryfiveyears.
Sowhenyou'redoingyourplanning,youhavetoaskyourself,ismysystemmaintainablerightnow?Youmightsayyes,but
thereisanonzerochancethatfiveyearsfromnowitmightnotbe.Sothereisanopportunitytomigratetwoyearsfromnowor
waitsevenyears.Ifyou'replanning,youhavetotakethosekindsofthingsintoaccount.Wetrytohelpourcustomers
understandtheirrealrisktoleranceandhelpthemidentifyopportunities."
Inadditiontohumanconstraints,companiestryingtomakeamigrationintoacrashprogrammayfindotherunpleasant
surprises:
Documentationmightbelargelynonexistentorhasnotbeenkeptuptodate.
Criticalinformationandprogrammingmaybeonoldmemorymedia(e.g.,floppydisks,tapedrives)thataren'treadable
anymore.
Keyindividualswhowereinvolvedinsystemdesignarelonggone.
Companiesthatallowacontrolsystemtocontinuetorunpastitsendoflifeoftenletmanypartsoftheplantdeteriorate
similarly,solaunchingoneupgradeprogrammayopenacomplexcanofwormsextendingintootherfunctionalareas.
RelatedNews:
FivekeyconsiderationsforimprovingHMIgraphicsduringacontrolsystemmigration13.02.201401:02
10stepstoasmootherautomationsystemupgrade27.08.201311:28
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