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Next Step in Control System Design Productivity and Quality

ControlGlobal.com
03/28/2011

By Intergraph and Endress+Hauser

Faster … cheaper … better. These are the terms increasingly used to describe the goals for project execution and plant operations. In addition, projects continue to grow, both in size and complexity. Given these drivers, larger projects are executed in a global setting with engineering companies and suppliers participating from all over the world.

It is simply impossible to meet these challenges using traditional CAD, older technology, or unproven engineering solutions.

Engineering is teamwork. Likewise, creating solutions involves teamwork. Intergraph has joined forces with Endress+Hauser (E+H) to provide a state-of-the-art engineering solution. This unique offering combines the market-leading engineering tool Intergraph SmartPlant® Instrumentation and the market-leading instrument supplier E+H. This "1+1=3" solution will benefit both engineering companies and plant
owners to meet and exceed their business goals.

One of the most time-consuming tasks during the engineering of a process plant is the specification, selection, and application of field instrumentation. It is not the most expensive component in the plant
and is often dealt with as a commodity.

But in a mid-sized refinery, there may be as many as 5,000 devices that need to be specified. At least
10 percent of these devices are installed in critical applications. For example, the devices control plant shutdown when dangerous conditions are detected. Other devices are used for the primary control of
the process and the final product quality.

It's absolutely essential to ensure that each device is correctly selected according to its application. For these reasons, the detailed engineering and documentation of instrumentation can sometimes account
for as much as 30 percent of plant design time.

In the early design phase of a plant, process engineers specify the need for instrumentation and note the requirements on P&ID drawings. Instruments are assigned to the different tasks required, whether control or simple monitoring. This enables a first estimation of cost. But when detailed engineering takes place, the instrument engineer must document each measuring point on a specification sheet and collate with it the respective documentation and drawings associated with each individual tag.

Initially, the specification sheet has base application information, plus tag and location data attached. The sheet is populated with as much process data as possible at this stage. Completing each specification sheet can typically take one to two hours. This document is the basis for sizing, selection, and pricing of the optimal measurement instrument.

The remainder of the specification document contains device-specific data following the selection of
a suitable supplier. This task often adds another hour of the engineer’s time, because the respective
data must be researched from the manufacturer’s datasheets and manually added.

A joint development by Intergraph and E+H now makes it possible for SmartPlant Instrumentation
to automate a large part of this process by exchanging the specification sheets electronically. This reduces engineering time because once a device has been selected, the supplier’s system automatically populates the specification sheet and attaches all of the respective technical documentation and sizing calculations. This eliminates the need for manual entry, reduces data transfer errors, and can save an estimated more than one hour of engineering time per device. In a plant with 5,000 instruments, this can quickly bring huge savings in engineering time.

Download the entire document to learn more.