The site recognised that the control system responsible for controlling the sites evaporation process required replacement and asked Opensoft Systems to look to carry out the upgrade of these controllers.
Original System Configuration
The Evaporator control system consisted of a Rockwell PLC 5 series Central Processing Unit (CPU) which had long since been obsolete and unsupported.
The CPU was in turn connected to six also (obsolete and unsupported) remote 1794-ASB flex I/O racks through a DeviceNet network which had been experiencing network faults.
The system communicated to a Wonderware InTouch 2014 version SCADA system via Ethernet.
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A Functional Design Specification (FDS) was developed by the HEINEKEN and Opensoft Systems Engineering Teams which gave project clarity and understanding to everyone’s roles and responsibilities in the forthcoming project.
New System Configuration
The modifications of the original system consisted of replacing the main obsolete Rockwell PLC 5 series rack with a Rockwell Control Logix rack and then replacing the Device Net ring network with a faster and more responsive Ethernet ring network.
The existing 1794-ASB Device Net adapters connected to the six remote racks to the main CPU were replaced with new Ethernet adapters and Flex I/O Adapter with two Ethernet ports.
The PLC 80/E model was replaced with a new Control Logix CPU 1756-L71
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Following sign off the FDS by HEINEKEN the project was commissioned with minimal disruption to the production process. The new control system now provides stability to a critical part of the production process ensuring future supportability.
The Site Automation Manager said:
“We have now run all of the production processes and CIP recipes without many major problems and the machine is efficiently producing concentrate. All in all a very successful piece of work without many problems. Thanks to all of the colleagues who worked on this project.”
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Published by Steve Craig on behalf of Opensoft Systems Ltd
