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Posted On: 06/08/2005

Integrated Fieldbus demonstrated at BDO plant

PlantServices.com

On May 19, the Fieldbus Foundation demonstrated full implementation of its open, integrated Foundation Fieldbus architecture at the International Specialty Products (ISP) butanediol (BDO) plant in Lima, Ohio. The demonstration combined Foundation Fieldbus H1, high-speed Ethernet (HSE), and Flexible Function Block (FFB) technology, integrated with OPC, to form an open, interoperable plant infrastructure.

The demonstration was a joint project initiated by BP Chemical Co., an indirect subsidiary of BP plc, and the Fieldbus Foundation. ISP, through one of its subsidiaries, acquired BP’s BDO operations in March.

According to John Rezabek, lead controls engineer at the ISP Lima facility, the fieldbus demonstration project provided valuable, real-world experience for end users seeking to replace proprietary control systems with an open, interoperable fieldbus architecture enabling robust, reliable control at the field level. Foundation fieldbus devices and systems also typically provide a high degree of condition-monitoring and self-diagnostic capability.

“Having implemented the demonstration project in a mission-critical part of an operating process, we feel confident that we have passed a milestone in the development of fieldbus HSE and truly distributed control,” Rezabek says. “The distinct advantages of implementing H1 and HSE in lieu of proprietary networks will become increasingly apparent as our leading suppliers develop products to make this technology accessible to their customers everywhere.”

For the live demonstration application in Lima, a Foundation fieldbus system consisting of H1 field devices and HSE linking devices from various vendors was installed on a vapor system. The fieldbus controls actuated a series of butterfly valves used on the process.

The demo highlighted FFB implementation of host-resident logic using both discrete and analog field devices residing on H1, the co-existence of diverse control systems from various manufacturers using HSE, and the interoperability of alternate HSE linking devices and associated controllers. In addition, the demo showed the suitability of existing Foundation fieldbus devices for high-speed batching and sequencing of discrete systems, as well as the use of FFBs in discrete and hybrid applications.

Rezabek says they were performing more than 70% of the closed-loop control in the BDO plant with the Foundation Fieldbus equipped field devices. It is clear that this reduction in “control system overhead” will result in cost savings. The operators, Rezabek says, don’t see the difference. It is transparent to them, but, he says, “If they lost features like real-time indication of device status, they’d get mad.”

Details of the application can be found in the Fieldbus Foundation white paper, “H1 + HSE FFB Integrated Architecture Demonstration."

“Thanks to the efforts of leading automation equipment suppliers and end users, the future of true plant-wide distributed control is here today,” says Richard Timony, Fieldbus Foundation president and CEO. “As seen in the BDO demo application, industrial manufacturers can eliminate the constraints of proprietary legacy systems and realize the benefits of a modern, open, fieldbus-based control environment.”

Foundation members participating in the demonstration project included ABB, Emerson Process Management, Fieldbus Center at Lee College, Hawke, Hirschmann, Honeywell, Invensys, MTL/Relcom, Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact, Rockwell Automation, Smar, Softing, StoneL, TopWorx, Turck, Yamatake, Yokogawa and Westlock.