Control System World

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that its subsidiary, Yokogawa Electric Korea, has received an order from Hyundai Engineering & Construction, a major engineering company in South Korea, to supply a control system for a combined cycle power plant*1 that it is building for UTE*2 in Punta del Tigre. This is the first combined cycle power plant in Uruguay and the order is Yokogawa's first for a power plant in this country.

Uruguay depends largely on hydroelectric power. However, the amount of electricity that can be generated varies depending on seasonal weather-related factors, and the country must make up for shortfalls by importing electricity from neighboring countries. To increase the country's power generation capacity, UTE has commissioned the construction of a highly efficient combined cycle power plant next to its existing thermal power plant in Punta del Tigre. The new plant is expected to come online in June 2015. With an installed capacity of 520 MW, it will be Uruguay's largest thermal power plant.

For this project, Yokogawa will deliver a CENTUM® VP integrated production control system for the monitoring and control of all plant facilities, including the gas turbines, exhaust-heat-recovery boilers, and steam turbines. The company will also supply an Exaquantum™ plant information management system and DPharp EJA/EJX differential pressure/pressure transmitters, and will be responsible for the engineering, installation, and commissioning of these products. In addition, it will provide operator training services.

The winning of this order to provide a control system and other solutions for this plant, which is expected to make a significant contribution in improving the supply of power throughout the country, can be attributed to the following:

Yokogawa's solid track record in the power industry, including the combined cycle power plant segment

Our long-term relationship with Hyundai Engineering & Construction

Our excellent customer support network in South America

Interest in combined cycle power plants has risen because they generate power more efficiently and emit fewer greenhouse gases than conventional thermal power plants that use only gas or steam turbines. In comparison to thermal power plants that use coal and other fuels, combined cycle power plants do not require large-scale onsite facilities, and can thus be built more quickly and at lower cost. For such reasons, power utilities all over the world are planning to construct plants of this type at sites that have ready access to natural gas.

Encouraged by its success in winning this order, Yokogawa plans to expand its control business in the power sector, including the combined cycle power plant segment.

*1 Plants of this type rely on gas and steam turbines to generate electricity. The exhaust heat from a gas turbine is used to generate steam, which is sent to a steam turbine to generate additional electricity.

*2 La Administración Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Eléctricas: Uruguay's national power company. Generates, transmits, and distributes electricity across the country.

There will be 304 students from 38 countries and 33 U.S. states and territories that will attend the Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy (HLCA) this year. The unique leadership opportunity will run from February 21 to March 7, 2014 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

HLCA uses interactive technology, science-oriented workshops, and team exercises to teach children of Honeywell employees leadership skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). During the program, the students will meet scientists, engineers, and former astronauts who will reinforce core leadership competencies and share their first-hand professional experiences. Students will engage in team-building challenges such as designing, building and testing their own rockets; participating in simulated astronaut training, shuttle missions and a moon walk; and conducting DNA extraction experiments on fruit.

“Our goal is to continue to develop a new generation of leaders, engineers, and scientists who can address the challenges of tomorrow,” said Tom Buckmaster, President, Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company’s global corporate citizenship initiative. “Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy is a holistic program that uses a variety of teaching methods to open students’ minds to the many possibilities for rewarding careers.”

Yokogawa has announced the new CENTUM VP and how it was going to take VigilantPlant, our vision for the ideal plant in industrial automation, to the next level. It exceeds the capabilities of conventional production systems and will become the platform based on which we will provide our customers with solutions and services that maintain operational excellence over the entire plant lifecycle. Innovations are available with it.

Yokogawa CENTUM VP DCS

The International Society of Automation (ISA) has announced that, beginning in March, it will conduct four highly intensive technical training events—comprised of world-class technician, automation engineering and safety courses—in Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; and Carson, California during 2014.

These in-depth instructional events for automation and control professionals, known as ISA Technical Training Camps, span four consecutive weeks and provide:

• Highly condensed, rigorous instruction that speeds learning and mastery of skills while saving time and expenses
• The opportunity to take multiple ISA training courses at one location, and at a discounted rate
• Pre-arranged local plant tours, which demonstrate how the instruction and skills taught in the course are being applied in actual work environments
• Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and Professional Development Hours (PDHs) for each course successfully completed

Each ISA Technical Training Camp includes the following instructional components:

1. ISA Technician Training Boot Camp (TTBC)

One week of intensive training that covers a broad range of technical topics, starting with basic instrumentation fundamentals and leading to the latest advances in smart technology.

2. ISA Automation Engineering Survival Training (AEST)

One week of expert-led lecture and hands-on instruction that covers practical, real-world automation survival skills—from process measurement fundamentals to advanced automation.

3. ISA Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) Boot Camp

Four courses offered in two week-long segments, held back to back, of escalating process safety training:

Part I – Two fundamental safety courses: Introduction to Safety Instrumented Systems for the Process Industry (EC50CT) and Safety Instrumented Systems—Design, Analysis, and Justification (EC50)

Part II – Two advanced safety courses: Advanced Safety Integrity Level (SIL) Selection (EC52) and Advanced Design and SIL Verification (EC54)

“The success of the two ISA Technical Training Camps we held in 2013 illustrated that there is strong demand among automation professionals for a training offering that includes multiple in-depth ISA courses in one location,” says Dalton Wilson, ISA’s manager of Education Services. “Professionals tell us that because the training is so condensed and comprehensive, they can quickly ramp up their career skills and knowledge by attending just one training event.”

The locations and dates for the four ISA Technical Training Camps during 2014 include:

• Denver, Colorado in March
  • ISA Technician Training Boot Camp, 3-7 March
  • ISA Automation Engineering Survival Training, 10-14 March
  • ISA SIS Boot Camp, Part I – 17-21 March and Part II – 24-27 March

• Houston, Texas in June
  • ISA Technician Training Boot Camp, 2-6 June
  • ISA Automation Engineering Survival Training, 9-13 June
  • ISA SIS Boot Camp, Part I – 16-20 June and Part II – 23-26 June

• Houston, Texas in September/October
  • ISA Technician Training Boot Camp, 8-12 September
  • ISA Automation Engineering Survival Training, 15-19 September
  • ISA SIS Boot Camp, Part I – 22-26 September and Part II – 29 September to 2 October

• Carson, California in October
  • ISA Technician Training Boot Camp, 13-17 October
  • ISA Automation Engineering Survival Training, 6-10 October
  • ISA SIS Boot Camp, Part I – 20-24 October and Part II – 27-30 October
  Register today at www.isa.org/PR14/TrainingCamp

Invensys has unveiled a new version of its SimSci® advanced process control software. To be released this spring, SimSci APC 2014 will enable customers to shorten their plant testing and commissioning schedules, as well as improve plant operations and personnel performance.

This innovative offering has been built from the ground up to emphasize ease of use. It modernizes the graphical user interface while retaining the rigorous and robust calculation engine from the company's successful Connoisseur APC offering. The new SimSci APC 2014 software is structured around an enhanced, natural workflow that includes full support for model case file development and a connection wizard for faster integration to any distributed control system and programmable logic controller, including the company’s Foxboro® I/A Series® DCS and its new Foxboro Evo™ process automation system. The software will be even more tightly integrated in future releases of the Foxboro Evo system as well, providing enhanced simulation capability.

"Advanced process control can result in tremendous improvements in plant efficiency and performance, but it is largely underutilized, in part because some potential users find it too much of a challenge," said Peter Reynolds, senior consultant with the ARC Advisory Group. "Invensys addresses this issue head on, with new graphical interfaces, intuitive workflows and custom calculation engines. Making optimization easier will empower both seasoned APC users and the next generation of engineers and operators to address a wider range of process conditions and business challenges."

SimSci APC 2014 software greatly extends the capabilities of traditional APC offerings to garner more control over the process. Director, a powerful new feature, allows the control engineer to build custom calculations or add custom supporting controller functions that augment the user's experience. Natural workflows speed up model building, configuration and deployment, and additional features make the software suitable for a complete APC project implementation. These advancements help the transitioning workforce more easily build and maintain APC applications, and can cut implementation and commissioning time by up to 50 percent.

"We are excited about our new APC offering, which builds on our market-leading Connoisseur APC software to help our customers enhance quality, increase throughput and reduce energy usage," said Tom Kinney, vice president of Invensys' optimization business. "The software was developed with the end user in mind, and it includes several well-thought-out features that help achieve better and more sustainable control of the process. A built-in auto-discovery wizard captures the specific syntax of any DCS for even faster buildup of tag connections; its automated testing feature means faster, more flexible configuration; it's tablet ready; new click-and-drag functionality allows users to select the best models from many scenarios; and customizable user-defined functions improve how users can cope with changing process conditions. The end result is that SimSci APC 2014 provides a better, friendlier and more flexible user experience than traditional APC applications, making operators and engineers far more effective and productive."

During this half-day seminar, Hector Buchelly, Global Director of Turbo Machinery, Invensys and a team of experts will explain methods and technologies to help you achieve your operational and business objectives. They will examine TMC control platforms and compare and contrast configurations and installations. The focus will be on how you can significantly boost performance, safety, and productivity.

The event will begin with lunch at 11:30 a.m. and the seminar work sessions will start promptly at 1 p.m.

Seminar Work Sessions:

Session 1: The advantages and disadvantages of turbine valve control

Session 2: A tutorial on automatic voltage regulation control configurations

Session 3: The pros and cons of trip system upgrades, trip blocks, and monitoring devices

Session 4: How to boost compressor controls performance

For Registration Click Invensys Complimentary Event

ICONICS announces the introduction of FDDWorX™ to GENESIS64™, the world’s most advanced HMI/SCADA software platform! Experience how the powerful GENESIS64 platform, with FDDWorX, enables Situation Awareness by integrating information from a variety of data sources and environmental factors into a unified operations dashboard.

With the introduction of hundreds of time-saving features that combine people, processes and technology to improve operational decision-making and predictive capabilities, ICONICS' GENESIS64 is a progressive leap towards the future of automation software. With the current overflow of incoming data, operators oftentimes feel inundated with more information than they can handle. Now, with ICONICS' integrated Fault Detection and Diagnostics (FDD) technology, operating personnel can more efficiently manage the influx of data, while still maintaining equal levels of security.

Based on its longtime partnership with Microsoft, ICONICS has taken advantage of the entire Microsoft technology platform, including Microsoft .NET, SQL Server, SharePoint®, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1. Microsoft Bing, Google and Esri geospatial maps can be combined with real-time information, creating powerful GEO SCADA solutions that provide geographical context for informed decisions. Users can access information from anywhere, any time and on any platform using the WebHMI™ browser-based solution and HTML5 technology. ICONICS also spent significant effort to achieve OPC Foundation certification and the prestigious VMware Ready™ status, ensuring reliable connectivity and network communications with the strictest security.

GENESIS64 was designed from the ground up and is the most advanced HMI/SCADA solution and the leader in next generation 64-bit automation visualization software solutions. While maximizing the advantages of the latest Intel 64-bit processors and providing the highest performance and memory headroom on the market, GENESIS64 allows users to get their HMI/SCADA system up and running quickly and efficiently, while easily bridging the plant floor, operations centers and facilities to corporate business systems. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Application Development Partner, ICONICS is uniquely positioned to remain in line with the most advanced technology available. Across all industries, GENESIS64 bridges data connectivity, aggregation and visualization to provide the most flexible and comprehensive software suite for your HMI/SCADA needs both now and in the future.

The Fieldbus Foundation has announced the postponement of its 2014 General Assembly in Rotterdam due to travel and security restrictions associated with the upcoming Global Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Originally planned for March 25-28, the Fieldbus Foundation’s global FOUNDATION™ fieldbus end user seminar will be rescheduled for the fall of this year somewhere in Europe (location pending), while its End User Advisory Council (EUAC) meeting and business meeting will be conducted electronically on the original dates of March 26 and March 28, respectively. The EUAC session will be the first in a series of such meetings to be held electronically this year.

Fieldbus Foundation President and CEO Rich Timoney explained the change of plans: "We were recently advised that the global community will be holding a major nuclear summit in The Hague during the same week as our General Assembly. The Dutch government has announced the highest level of security protocol for all modes of transportation to, from and within the tri-city region of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. As such, it was necessary for us to cancel our end user conference, relocate our board meeting and conduct a WebEx business meeting for the membership, which is required annually."

The Fieldbus Foundation's General Assembly offers an overview of FOUNDATION fieldbus developments across the globe. It includes updates by leading fieldbus experts on the latest advancements in fieldbus technology, as well as presentations by major end users who have installed FOUNDATION fieldbus in their industrial operations.