Playing to the events Everyday Super Hero theme, Kent ClarkHUGmans not-so-mild-mannered alter-egotoured the demonstration room floor of the Honeywell User Group. View an eight-minute video of his close encounter with the latest innovations in process automation technology, services and solutions.
Embedded Batch in the Controller
Honeywell also introduced new integrated batch functionality in its new Experion Batch Manager that can significantly increase production and reliability for specialty chemical and life sciences companies.
The systems embedded batch functionality allows users to execute batches at the controller level instead of using a separate server. The high-reliability feature actually means fully redundant batch controllers, said Honeywells vice president of technology, Jason Urso. In the event of a problem, controller switchover is nearly instantaneous.
Faster batch execution means a reduction of approximately 80% in phase translation time, Urso said, and this can lead to 15% to 20% more production. The system also is more reliable, less complex and easier to maintain. One beta customer calculated it would earn several million dollars in additional revenue by moving to a controller-based batch execution system. Early adopters have reported 8% to 10% higher throughput already, Chitale noted.
Sim City: C300 Simulation with UniSim
Experion also features embedded integration capability with Honeywells UniSim simulation tool, and it can be used to train operators on processes before they are implemented in a plant. You can test your logic and your loops while you are designing them, Chitale said. This can remove an entire step in acceptance testing and validation.
This approach can help prepare operators for normal and abnormal operations and improves plant reliability by reducing operator errors. Experions comprehensive simulation capability also provides significant engineering efficiency by testing control strategies, displays and procedures before applying them on live processes. This does not have to be the UOP Master Simulation Models, Chitale said, referring to the announcement yesterday that the Master Simulation Models were available for C300 Simulation. We can use UniSim to model any process. It is just that for those processes where UOP Masters are available, the simulations are even more precise.
Turn Off That Blasted Buzzer!
Another new feature of Experion is a unique alarm-shelving utility that allows operators to better manage and prioritize alarms on their displays. This capability is based on several years of collaboration between Honeywell and the Abnormal Situation Management Consortium in the interest of improving operator effectiveness during abnormal situations that can lead to process upsets. This, of course, doesnt alleviate the need for good, solid alarm management, said Scott Hillman, Honeywells director of marketing for greenfield solutions, and a longtime safety and alarm management expert. At the end of the day, your alarm system must still be rational. What alarm-shelving does is give your operator some breathing room.
We Talk to Everybody
As Jason Urso announced in his roadmap discussion yesterday, the R310 release of Experion also provides a reliable interface with third-party subsystems to reduce the overall cost of ownership. The Process Control Data Interface uses the universally accepted MODBUS TCP protocol to control devices such as remote terminal units, terminal servers, analyzers and scales.