Equipment availability in control systems

Control system coordination in today's manufacturing facilities is crucial to achieve performance objectives. Cement facilities daily consumption can exceed 15,000 tones limestone rock, 1,100 tones of coal, and 1 Gig watt-hour electrical demand. With huge facilities the equipment availability becomes a key indicator to overall facility performance. Control systems need to help production and maintenance teams achieve the availability goals. This cascades to higher control system availability and functionality requirements. Designers are utilizing innovative software methods to integrate systems to allow for flexible and reliable service while ensuring proper equipment alarming and interlock protection. Software objects are able to encapsulate the desired functionality which provides for better system standardization and overall coordination. We all want to build successful control systems. The following discussion will highlight several key aspects to PCS installations that the design teams need to understand and consider throughout the design of a highly available PCS. The topics are based on our personal experiences while supporting large facility integration projects.