Pneumatics allows diagnostics and preventive maintenance in the process industry
Written by Festo Monday, 31 January 2011 11:54
The Sindelfingen, Germany, sewage treatment plant cleans the wastewater of 250,000 people.
In addition to the mechanical and biological stages before sludge treatment, a flocculation filtration station was added last year to improve the water quality of the river Schwippe. A pneumatic monitoring system is now also being used to supply diagnostic data.
Sewage is treated in 16 multi-layer filters with flocculation filtration and a 600 m² overflow basin to ensure that the needs of the future are also covered. The filters are cleaned in a combined air/water flushing process. A tailor-made and comprehensive automation concept covering everything from process valves to the actual master control system level ensures trouble-free operation.
Diagnostics and preventive maintenance in the sewage treatment plant in Sindelfingen: thanks to pneumatics. (Photo: Festo)
The aim was to find a reliable, decentralized automation solution for the multi-layer filters in order to be able to link the control system for each filter with the central process control system using Profibus DP.
Decentralized systems reduce costs
The valves and their actuators are distributed throughout the plant and are in some places difficult to access. One solution would be to control them via individual pilot valves, while another is to connect them to the central process control system via decentralized valve terminals.
One look at the costs clearly shows the advantages of decentralized valve terminal systems, ready for installation in control cabinets, as offered by Festo. With such a system solution, there is only one clearly defined and standardized interface between the valve terminal and the fieldbus, i.e. Profibus DP. What is more, function blocks or plant sections can be grouped together and represented by the equipment fitted to the valve terminals. This helps to automate complex installations in a modular and tidy way to form a single seamless system in which everything neatly fits together.
A complete package with 90 drives
The solution provided by Festo for the sewage treatment plant in Sindelfingen is a complete package that includes everything, from drives to valve terminals as well as connecting components and accessories. In total, 90 pneumatic quarter-turn actuators Type DLP and DRD were supplied for the automation of the valves with nominal diameters of up to 800 mm.
Consistent automation concept from the process valve to the coordinating level: control cabinets with pneumatic valve terminal technology from Festo. (Photo: Festo)
In certain cases, the drives were equipped with position controllers and displacement encoders. In addition, 16 control cabinets were installed, including electrical terminals and valve terminals. At the heart of the solution are the electropneumatic valve terminals Type 03, which allow fast and easy commissioning of the decentralized automation solution and offer built-in diagnostic functions.
Diagnostics via pneumatic components
Pneumatic components are reliable and are rarely the cause of a system failure, which is much more likely to be due to communication problems, faults in the process or sensor malfunctions. Process malfunctions can be detected at an early stage via the accurate diagnostic functions of pneumatic components, which means that these can be used very effectively as sensors for process diagnostic functions.
Condition monitoring can be implemented by using various indicators, such as the number of switching cycles or operating hours or by monitoring air supply, operating pressure, end position of the process valves, power supply and correct voltage. If any values are found to be conspicuous, the defective components concerned can be replaced in good time before they fail completely and cause further damage or bring the complete installation to a standstill. This avoids unplanned downtime and also helps to cut costs.
Preventive maintenance with system diagnostics
Simple monitoring solutions of the kind described above are increasingly being complemented by complete system diagnostics. A diagnostic memory integrated into the process control system records all fault data together with a time stamp. Diagnostic data can be evaluated by the central control system, with time-critical process functions being particularly closely monitored. Trends indicating changes of certain process parameters can be identified at an early stage by comparing setpoint and actual values. On the basis of this information, maintenance measures can be implemented before an actual failure occurs – preventive maintenance is now possible.
State-of-the-art systems can be configured from an office desk and monitored via the Internet. This is done using a direct Ethernet link between the automation solution and the IT equipment.
This contributed article from Festo concludes a monthly, three-part series on Process Automation and pneumatics technology.
Part One: Good and inexpensive: The argument for pneumatics in process industries (http://ow.ly/3NpIU)
Part Two: Process automation with pneumatics saves water while you reduce costs (http://ow.ly/3NpQe)
www.festo.ca
Sewage is treated in 16 multi-layer filters with flocculation filtration and a 600 m² overflow basin to ensure that the needs of the future are also covered. The filters are cleaned in a combined air/water flushing process. A tailor-made and comprehensive automation concept covering everything from process valves to the actual master control system level ensures trouble-free operation.
Diagnostics and preventive maintenance in the sewage treatment plant in Sindelfingen: thanks to pneumatics. (Photo: Festo)The aim was to find a reliable, decentralized automation solution for the multi-layer filters in order to be able to link the control system for each filter with the central process control system using Profibus DP.
Decentralized systems reduce costs
The valves and their actuators are distributed throughout the plant and are in some places difficult to access. One solution would be to control them via individual pilot valves, while another is to connect them to the central process control system via decentralized valve terminals.
One look at the costs clearly shows the advantages of decentralized valve terminal systems, ready for installation in control cabinets, as offered by Festo. With such a system solution, there is only one clearly defined and standardized interface between the valve terminal and the fieldbus, i.e. Profibus DP. What is more, function blocks or plant sections can be grouped together and represented by the equipment fitted to the valve terminals. This helps to automate complex installations in a modular and tidy way to form a single seamless system in which everything neatly fits together.
A complete package with 90 drives
The solution provided by Festo for the sewage treatment plant in Sindelfingen is a complete package that includes everything, from drives to valve terminals as well as connecting components and accessories. In total, 90 pneumatic quarter-turn actuators Type DLP and DRD were supplied for the automation of the valves with nominal diameters of up to 800 mm.
Consistent automation concept from the process valve to the coordinating level: control cabinets with pneumatic valve terminal technology from Festo. (Photo: Festo)In certain cases, the drives were equipped with position controllers and displacement encoders. In addition, 16 control cabinets were installed, including electrical terminals and valve terminals. At the heart of the solution are the electropneumatic valve terminals Type 03, which allow fast and easy commissioning of the decentralized automation solution and offer built-in diagnostic functions.
Diagnostics via pneumatic components
Pneumatic components are reliable and are rarely the cause of a system failure, which is much more likely to be due to communication problems, faults in the process or sensor malfunctions. Process malfunctions can be detected at an early stage via the accurate diagnostic functions of pneumatic components, which means that these can be used very effectively as sensors for process diagnostic functions.
Condition monitoring can be implemented by using various indicators, such as the number of switching cycles or operating hours or by monitoring air supply, operating pressure, end position of the process valves, power supply and correct voltage. If any values are found to be conspicuous, the defective components concerned can be replaced in good time before they fail completely and cause further damage or bring the complete installation to a standstill. This avoids unplanned downtime and also helps to cut costs.
Preventive maintenance with system diagnostics
Simple monitoring solutions of the kind described above are increasingly being complemented by complete system diagnostics. A diagnostic memory integrated into the process control system records all fault data together with a time stamp. Diagnostic data can be evaluated by the central control system, with time-critical process functions being particularly closely monitored. Trends indicating changes of certain process parameters can be identified at an early stage by comparing setpoint and actual values. On the basis of this information, maintenance measures can be implemented before an actual failure occurs – preventive maintenance is now possible.
State-of-the-art systems can be configured from an office desk and monitored via the Internet. This is done using a direct Ethernet link between the automation solution and the IT equipment.
This contributed article from Festo concludes a monthly, three-part series on Process Automation and pneumatics technology.
Part One: Good and inexpensive: The argument for pneumatics in process industries (http://ow.ly/3NpIU)
Part Two: Process automation with pneumatics saves water while you reduce costs (http://ow.ly/3NpQe)
www.festo.ca
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