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INDUSTRY: MANUFACTURING (CEMENT PRODUCTION) INVENSYS WONDERWARE
SOUTHERN AFRICA CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
PPC Hercules SCADA Upgrade PPC Cement chooses leading SCADA system for Hercules
Faced with a growing market demand for cement and obsolete supervisory and
control equipment at their Hercules facility, PPC decided to replace their
existing 30-year-old electrical and control systems with sophisticated
technology – a major upgrade that took more than a little courage and
commitment.
And they did so using the number one supplier in the business, as ranked by Frost &
Sullivan in 2010 – Wonderware and the company’s System Platform, InTouch (HMI),
Historian and ActiveFactory (trending, analysis and reporting) suite of solutions.
Introduction
As the leading supplier of cement in Africa’s largest economy as well as the Southern
African region, it is imperative that PPC continuously improves efficiencies at its
operations to ensure that it supplies product to the market reliably and consistently.
To maintain its market-leading edge, PPC’s Pretoria-based Hercules plant went through
a major overhaul. Given the extensive nature of this upgrade, it was critical that there
was as little interruption as possible to the plant’s operations.
The proposal included upgrading the electrical and control systems of kiln 5 and raw
mill 3 at PPC’s Hercules plant. The proposal dealt with the replacing of all Motor
Control Centre panels (MCCs) and Control Panels (RIO) to improve the standard of
MCCs, SCADA and PLC.
In short, this meant replacing a 30-year-old control centre that had served well with a
new, state-of-the-art solution that is flexible and offers the best in real-time information
management and optimised process control.
About Pretoria Portland Cement Company Limited In 2010, PPC celebrated its centenary as a JSE-listed company, joining an extremely small and elite group of listed centenarians, not only in South Africa but worldwide.
The roots of PPC, however, stretch back 118 years to 1892 when it established South Africa's first cement plant on the outskirts of Pretoria to counter the exorbitant delivered cost of cement imported from Europe. Since those early gold-rush days on the Witwatersrand, PPC has proven its ability to adapt and flourish in changing circumstances - two world wars, a global depression and several lesser recessions, the booms and busts of the cement market, and considerable political turmoil that culminated in South Africa's democracy.
If R100 had been invested in PPC shares listed on the JSE in 1910 and the after-tax proceeds of the dividends reinvested in PPC shares, the portfolio value would have been R26 million 100 years later. This represents an annual compound growth rate of 13.3% versus an annual compound inflation of 5.6%.
Today, PPC is the leading supplier of cement in southern Africa through eight cement manufacturing facilities and three milling depots in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe that can produce around eight million tons of cement products each year. PPC also produces aggregates, metallurgical-grade lime, burnt dolomite and limestone.
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Invensys Wonderware Southern Africa • Block D, Gillooly’s View Office Park, 1 Osborne Lane, Bedfordview, South Africa
Tel: 0861 WONDER (0861 966337) • Fax: +27 11 607 8478 • www.wonderware.co.za
PPC Hercules SCADA Upgrade
Project background
The pre-engineering phase involved gathering plant
information to ascertain exact equipment installed,
determining process flow diagrams as well as updating and
redesign of electrical drawings. This enabled PPC engineers
to compile a list of equipment to be replaced as well as to
draw up a detailed enquiry document and functional design
specification. The purpose of this exercise was to minimise
any unforeseen obstacles in the tendering process and to
enable potential suppliers to offer an accurate quote. A
comprehensive tender document was then drawn up and
given to suppliers for their consideration.
PPC chose system integrator Quad Automation for the
project. “This was a multi-faceted and large project,” says
Ernie Koopmans, Director, Quad Automation. “All MCCs
would have to be replaced with modern switchgear as well
as for the PLC and SCADA system. There was a limited
version of ArchestrA already in place and this would have to
be expanded and upgraded to the latest version.”
Challenges faced with the old system
Given the scale of the overhaul, management encountered
various challenges with the previous, outdated system. The
nature of this required a fine balance between maintaining
operations and mitigating potential interruptions, while
installing new equipment – an art in itself.
Maintenance issues and obsolete equipment - Most of the
electrical switchgear and instrumentation in use was
obsolete compared with the technology available today.
This older equipment is maintenance-intensive and causes
prolonged downtime during failures, as most of the original
spares are no longer available and modifications need to
be done.
Limited expansion - Existing panels have no more room for
expansion or additions, hence retrofitting new equipment
would incur a high level of risk. In addition, where loose-
standing equipment had been introduced, irregular plant
supply had been used, thereby cluttering the walls of the
substations, jeopardising the equipment installed. Any
further expansion, such as the burning of secondary
material, would not allow newer equipment to be fully
integrated with older equipment, forcing the new
expansion to run on semi-automatic with limited control.
Inflexibility (relay control) ---- Any changes were difficult to
implement and required extensive rewiring.
Limited information - There was insufficient information on
bin and silo levels and all damper actuators used were
discontinued due to their age and spare shortages. In
addition, events were not logged which meant that cause
and effect scenarios could not be determined. Gathering of
process information was a lengthy procedure that ended
up being useless or inaccurate. This made it difficult to back
track or get enough information to implement process
changes successfully while gathering information such as
alarm and trip settings for auditors was a challenge because
there was no central storage repository for all of the
information.
Safety issues (compliancy) – The status of power
distribution in the plant was unknown in many cases while
some field instruments and relays were filled with liquid
mercury, which is hazardous to the environment and health
of workers.
Nuisance trips - Some temperature devices were hardwired
together in order to give temperature differences. When
one of the devices failed it had an influence on one or more
devices causing inaccurate readings and unnecessary trips.
Also, there were process lines and equipment that had
been decommissioned, but not taken out of the circuit.
However, some of these interlocks were still working,
causing a high risk of unnecessary stops and trips.
Limited data acquisition capability – Much of the data was
read off chart recorders (provided they hadn’t run out of
ink).
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Figure 1: Replacing 30 years of control system evolution in five weeks – before and after
PPC Hercules SCADA Upgrade
Project goals and requirements
To address these challenges, the project would have to be
ambitious, radical and have the least possible impact on
production at the Hercules plant. This would entail the
following:
Establishing a centralised control room – There would be
no more isolated sources of data
Ensuring the effective measurement of KPIs, logging and
trending – For example, cement production is a significant
contributor to global fossil carbon emissions (figure 3).
Bearing in mind the impact of cement production on the
immediate environment, PPC situated the plant as far from
Pretoria as possible in 1892. Today, PPC Hercules has been
swallowed up by the greater Pretoria metropolitan
complex, making its dust management that much more
meaningful.
Installing a distributed PLC network (based on Profibus)
and remote I/O capabilities
Translating the old system into PLC / SCADA control –
Although this sounds obvious, the implementation is not.
“And it wasn’t just the hardware,” says Koopmans.
“Perhaps the greatest challenge was migrating operators
who, for decades, have known exactly which button to push
under given circumstances to an environment that takes all
that away but still needs their understanding of the
process.”
Adding a new Historian server – Some standards had
already been established with the existing but under-
utilised ArchestrA-based system
Upgrading all Wonderware licences
Replacing all redundant electrical equipment
Installing new instrumentation
And it all had to happen during five weeks of the World
Cup starting in July 2010.
“Two years ago, the Hercules plant had ‘bits and pieces’ of SCADA control. Today, we have a complete, modern, fully integrated SCADA control solution that runs effectively and gives us reliable performance.” Njombo Lekula, General Manager, PPC Hercules
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Figure 2: InTouch screen showing an overview of the Vertical Roller Mill plant
Figure 3: Cement production as part of the global fossil carbon emissions picture
For further information contact Jaco Markwat at Invensys Wonderware Southern Africa
tel: +27 11 607 8303 | e-mail: [email protected]
Implementation
It was planned that approximately 60% of work would begin
in January 2010, inclusive of MCC manufacture, new cabling
and cable racking. MCC and I/O panels were manufactured
off-site with FAT testing being overseen by PPC to ensure
that the equipment would be ready for commissioning on
delivery. As far as possible, new instruments were also
installed, but only powered-up on commissioning.
Disconnection of old MCCs took place during the planned
Girth Gear replacement in July 2010. Installation of new
MCCs, remote I/O panels and connection of new cabling
took place during this shutdown.
The ArchestrA Galaxy status shows that 101 templates were
used for 3364 instances (objects- motors, dampers, valves,
analogues, etc.). “The idea was to minimise template
design while maximising instance design to make it a
manageable environment,” says Koopmans. “Also,
standardising displays and icons contributed towards a
greater level of operator acceptance and buy-in. This
included simulating the analogue displays of the old system
which they were used to as well as filtering alarms such that
they were meaningful and prioritised.”
Benefits
• Achieved PPC objectives within time and budget
constraints
• Upgraded to the latest release of ArchestrA seamlessly,
which made best use of PPC’s existing investment
• Operator buy-in, early ownership and easier change
management through the ability to change the system
to their liking cost-effectively
• Working library and structured standards based on best
practices will save PPC from expensive experimentation
in future upgrades
• Four-screen design and navigation standard saves
operators running around the plant as they can see
everything at a glance and navigate to the necessary
information easily
Conclusion
Replacing ageing control systems with modern technology
is a complicated process because it means reinventing and
reinstalling the control structure of processes that keep the
company ticking. This means interfering with the company’s
core business operations. When manufacturing companies
undertake major upgrades and improvements, it is a
process that is planned well in advance before engineering
even begins. But, like death and taxes, that decision is
inevitable and with today’s technology and system
integrator knowhow, it is easier for companies to upgrade
now than in the past. The alternative is ... well, there really
isn’t one.
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PPC Hercules SCADA Upgrade
“For the first time in a very long while, we feel that we are in control of one of our primary production processes. Even more than that, we are now in a position to improve operations through trustworthy real-time information and trends.” Johan Saunders, Technical Advisor, PPC
Figure 4: Template example where highs and lows are dynamically set by operators on log-in. Templates were designed in consultation with operators and all graphics created with ArchestrA rather than InTouch.
“The client’s involvement in a project of this nature and magnitude is of paramount importance as is the following of a strict process of design and implementation.” Ernie Koopmans, Director, Quad Automation
Figure 5: System Topology