Practical No:

AIM: - To study various hardware and software platforms of DCS

OBJECTIVE:

To study evolution of DCS

To study levels of automation in DCS
To study working of DCS
To study various softwares and hardwares used in DCS
To study advantages and disadvantages of DCS

THEORY:Overview
In any process plant, for production of materials, it is necessary to have the control on the process to
obtain desired quality of material.
Control system whether it is a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) or a
Distributed Control System (DCS) is required for the same purpose. Here in Industrial Automation
Laboratory we will mainly discuss about DCS, which is not only used for computerized process
control but its function ranges from monitoring, supervising as well as control of a part or a whole of
production plant.
Definition
A Control system which is functionally as well as physically distributed is called
Distributed Control System.
Evolution of DCS
The control system development took place in the following order as the technology as well as the
difficulties faced by each of them was realized.
1. Open Loop : offline
Here digital computers were applied for acquisition and processing of plant, laboratory and test field
data. At this time operator had to read these data and store them, which was an offline process for
acquisition and processing of data. Here optimization and feedback control loop of the process was
open.

2. Closed Loop : offline

Here set point values were calculated but still manually set by plant operator, thus offline closed loop
control was formed. This was only acceptable when timing condition of process control is not severe
as manual intervention leads to introduct
introduction of timee delay in the control of the process.

3. Open Loop : online

In this era of 50s computers were provided for process interface for data acquisition and process
control, by connecting inputs directly to the computer. But still set point values of the controller were
not being done, thus online open loop control.

4. Closed Loop : online

Here in the end of 50s era output elements were also connected to the computers for online process
monitoring as well as controlling. Thus there was data transfer in both the direct making it the first
stepping stone towards online closed loop control and advance control strategies thereby developed.

5. Distributed Dedicated Computers

In the first half of 60s computers were used for dedicated functions i.e. their functions were clearly
defined like data processing, data acquisition etc. with no interconnection between them. Data
interexchange was only possible via a transportable medium.

6. Centralized Dedicated Computers

Here the information interexchange which was not possible in the distributed dedicated computer
control was possible by introducing another central computer in which data from all the dedicated
computers come which can be shared later on.
This led to the information exchange but with computational speed and reliability of computer at
stake.

7. Decentralized Computer System

In the beginning of the 70s it was
as accepted that the central computer will be solving central
automation problem only leaving peripheral computers to solve local problems in their close

surrounding, because of which a two stage hierarchical automat

automation
ion system structure called
Decentralized Computer System was introduced .

Levels of Automation in DCS

Functionally Decentralized or Distributed Control System is div
divided
ed into four different levels as
follows performing the said functions as described below;
LEVEL 0: FIELD LEVEL
This level comprises of the basic field instruments like sensors, transmitters etc. which are directly
connected to the process or we can say give the information about the actual process.
LEVEL 1: DIRECT PROCESS CONTROL
This level handles the following functions:
Data Acquisition
Data Check
Plant Monitoring
Open and Closed loop Control
Reporting
LEVEL 2: PLANT SUPERVISORY CONTROL
This level handles following functions:
Plant Performancee Monitoring
Plant Coordination
Optimal Process Control
Adaptive Control
Failure Detections
LEVEL 3: PRODUCTION SCHEDULING AND CONTROL
This level handles the following functions:
Production Dispatching
Inventory Control
Production Supervision
Production Re-Scheduling
Scheduling

 Production Reporting
LEVEL 4: PLANT MANAGEMENT
This level handles the following functions:
Market and Customer Analysis
Orders And Sales Statistics
Capacity and Order Balance
Order Dispatching
Production Planning
Terms Supervision
Financial Surveys

Apart from this general hierarchical structure based on functions performed by each level there
ther is a
specific architecture for used for automation in manufacturing plant having almost the same structure
but yet more bifurcations are done for more simplicity and speed of operations as shown in figure
below:

Working of DCS
Its working can be divided
ided into two parts
1. Hardware Flow
In any process the sensory organs of a process are sensors and /or transmitters through which the
status of the process is known. The flow of signal passes from sensors/ transmitters to a local field
junction box where number of wires comes.
come . From field junction box through a multi core cable it
goes to the main junction box. Again from main junction box it comes to a marshalling cabinet near
control room from where the wires enter into the control panel
panel, where in controller
ler and I/O cards are
placed. After signal entering the panel, the signal wire with or without a relay card goes into the
input card connected to the controller. Controller thereby processes the data according to the logic
created and gives output to the Final
inal Control Element through output cards, and following the same
route.

2. Software
There is a scan cycle which needs to be completed for the execution of an instruction needed to
control the process. The scan period is set by the user while configuring DCS and the following steps
occur for each scan period:
Firstly the inputs from the process through the input card
cards are checked.
checked
Then the values are updated in the program and according to the logic prepared
by the programmer output values are decided.
These outputs then go to the field through output cards.
Moreover the status is updated in the SCADA as well as the changes are stored
for future reference in the historian. Any alarms i.e. deviations in the process
are there, then they are also noted and stored.
Functions of DCS
I/O signal characterization
Signal filtering
Alarming I/O modules
Ranging and engineering units
Control logic
Control interlocks
Sequencing
Batch control
Passing on trending information
Passing on report information

Performance Evaluation of DCS

Available memory for configuration,
Available idle time (based on a given scan rate),
I/O loading or criticality,
Number of available software addresses for Input/output blocks, and
Number of available software addresses for control blocks
Internals of DCS
DCS can be divided into two parts to make its understanding easy:
1. Hardware: It consists of the following
Controller
Power supply for controller
I/O Terminal Block
DIN Rail
I/O Interface Carrier
Bulk Power Supply
System Power Supply
Server
Professional Stations
Operator Stations
Application Stations
Remote Workstations
Relays
Apart from these the important ones are the various interfacing cards whose types along with the
classification are depicted here as follows:

Based on Channels

Analog

Based on Sensors

4
8
16
RTD
Thermocouple

4-20 mA
4-20 mA
HART
1-5V
Input Cards
4
8
Based on Channels
16
32
24V DC
Digital Type of Voltage
120V AC
O/P
230VAC
Pulse Output Card
Isolated output
Dry Contact type Ouput
4
Based on Channels
8
16
Analog
4-20 mA
Based on Standard
4-20 mA
Signal type
HART
4
8
Output Cards
Based on Channels
16
32
12V DC
Digital
Type of O/P
24V DC
Voltage
120V AC
230VAC
Isolated
High Side
Foundation Fieldbus
Device Net
Communication
Profibus DP
Interface Cards
Actuator Sensor Interface (AS-i)
Serial Interface
Based on Standard
Signal type

2. Software: It consists of the following

To view and control the process using mimics same as the real process
(SCADA).
Programming environment wherein logic can be created.
A hierarchical view of the whole system
Advance Control Strategy Schemes
Configuration Suite to configure the hardware attached.
Diagnostic Suite
Alarm Module

History Module
Trends Module
Database management module

Advantages
System implementation can be carried out in a modular fashion due to which system
growth can be easily achieved as each processor has clearly defined set of functions; if
carefully designed.
System overloading is less in case of DCS.
In case of failure of a part, DCS doesn't affect the whole system/ process.
Backup i.e. redundancy feature possible in DCS.
Reliability of DCS is more than that of Centralized Control.
Reduction of cost of interfacing to computer due to reduction in wire usage for control
purpose.
DCS is more flexible in terms of altering configurations within a range so as to conform to
the change requirements if any.
Duplicate storage of critical data can be done easily.
Independent or standalone processors communicate with each other which make
management of computers easy.
Minimization of data loss as well as errors due to placement of controllers in the nearby
vicinity in DCS.
Advanced control strategies are easy to implement in DCS.
Limitations
Cost high when compared with PLC/PC Combination.
Specialized support from engineering personnel required.
As system configuration is easy, this makes DCS less flexible.
DCSs require a clean control room environment compared to PLC/ PC environment.

Assignment: Draw architecture of any one of the make and model of the DCS available in the
market.