We have been teamed together with the plant, boiler manufacturer, burner manufacturer, and contractors. Our involvement in the project has been supplying combustion and burner management engineering and consulting services throughout the installation to include:

• Distributive Control System (DCS) combustion controls programming
• Field wiring installation checkout and troubleshooting
• Calibration of field devices
• Implementing fuel / air ratio curves in DCS
• Tuning PID loops in DCS
• Operator training

The plant is currently operating three boilers that are exceeding expectation in emissions and beating the required 13ppm NOx and 18ppm CO on natural gas.

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Demand-side economics speak in favor of LED lighting (LED’s MAGAZINE)

The economic benefits of taking on a LED lighting retrofit could not have come at a better time. Business owners have seen their assets decrease in value over the last 24 months as profits have dropped while utility rates, materials costs and labor rates continue to rise. For the first time in over a decade, facilities managers, asset managers and property owners are looking at cost cutting as the only way to increase their revenues.

LED lighting retrofits offer a significant opportunity to reduce costs in multiple areas.

LED lighting retrofits can demonstrate quantifiable savings in power consumption, air-conditioning demand, material and labor cost for replacement, and recycling cost. Add to those savings the tax benefits of the deductibility of an operating lease or the ability to depreciate a capital lease structure and one can see a payback as short as 1.78 years on fixtures that have a rated life of over 9 years. That’s not to mention the benefits of “going green” including a significant carbon footprint reduction.

The paper mill contracted with Columbia Automation Systems (CAS) to meet the client’s need to reduce its maintenance costs. CAS designed a new electrical system to use the original Beloit mechanical equipment and be integrated with the other winder control systems. The VAX based Beltronics was replaced with a twin PC-based WonderWare HMI system (hot-backup, automatic fail-over) complete with custom slitter positioning software. The HMI communicates over Ethernet to an existing ControlLogix that replaced the PLC5. A new 1756-MO8SE module in the ControlLogix chassis is used to communicate over a SERCOS network to an Allen-Bradley Ultra3000 servo drive. The original 1771 I/O is incorporated directly into the ControlLogix system to save hardware and wiring costs.

A new ControlNet interface was implemented between the ControlLogix and the Reliance AutoMax drive system using the 1756-CNB and MBCN cards. This removed the hardwired interlocks and made more information available to the operators. The AutoMax code was revised to incorporate new alarms, interlocks, and roll structure set points.

The new HMIs with roll structure and slitter positioning improved the operators’ ability to run the winder and reduced their dependence on the maintenance personnel due to enhanced status and control features. The system is interfaced to the mill roll tracking system to eliminate the need for operators to manually enter roll width set points. Roll structure curves are now stored in recipes and stop-to-length and stop-to-diameter options are available. Quick troubleshooting is now possible with the inclusion of more status information and alarms.

Equipment and services supplied by CAS includes:

• Stainless Operator Console with twin HMI computers and 18″ color touch screen monitors with industrial keyboards.
• Servo drive cabinet from our UL listed panel shop
• Servo motor
• ControlLogix hardware
• AutoMax hardware and programming
• ControlLogix programming
• WonderWare programming
• C programming
• Project management
• System design
• AutoCAD documentation
• System manuals
• Operator Training
• Installation supervision and commissioning
• Drive system tuning

Contact Columbia Automation Systems for more information.

The original system was a Reliance AutoMate 40 PLC with AutoMate remote chassis I/O and rail I/O. It had redundant masters with fifteen remote drops. I/O was a mixture of digital and analog. There were four Modbus serial interfaces to the Honeywell DCS.

The new system is a redundant ControlLogix system (1756-L55, 1757-SRM, 1756-CNBR). All AutoMate chassis were replaced with ControlLogix chassis (1756-A10, 1756-A17). All AutoMate analog I/O modules were replaced with ControlLogix isolated analog I/O modules (1756-IF6I and 1756-OF6CI). All remote chassis are on ControlNet.

The new system utilizes existing rail I/O to reduce costs. Reliance I/O Saver modules are used to communicate to the rail I/O. The ControlLogix masters communicate over ControlNet to remote 1756-DHRIO modules then over Allen-Bradley Remote I/O (Blue Hose) to the I/O Saver modules. This approach greatly reduced costs while simplifying the installation.

The Modbus interfaces to the Honeywell DCS were replicated in the ControlLogix so that no reconfiguration was required in the DCS. Four ProSoft Modbus Communication Modules (56MVI-MCM) replaced the four Reliance Gateway modules. These four ProSoft modules are installed in a remote ControlLogix chassis with its own dedicated Logix processor for handling the communication to the DCS. Information is then shared with the masters over ControlNet.

A software interface to the Reliance AutoMax drive system was added using an Ethernet/IP Bridge (1756-ENBT) and an AN-X DCSNet module from Quest Technical Solutions. This interface passes PLC interlocks to the drive system to simplify drive system troubleshooting and for trending on the Reliance Sigma Universal Process Monitor (UPM).

CAS worked closely with the mill in a team effort to complete this upgrade in the scheduled shutdown time.

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The AutoMax software has been revised for the new panels. The Profibus scanner is configured as a generic module in the AutoMax with variable names entered in the variable configurator. Additionally, a master reference task in function block language is used to replace the basic task used with the CTC panels. This provides a much cleaner software layout than the original system.

Information and control available to the operator is substantially increased with the new panels. These are full color graphical displays that have many more possibilities than the CTC panels. Standard paper machine drive system control features from CAS include the following:

• Single screen overview of each section for ease of use
• Full machine overview screen on each panel
• Master machine speed on each panel
• Speed, percent (%) load, & amps feedback displays
• Start, stop, jog, and thread buttons
• Speed, draw, and warm-up setpoint entry
• Loadshare setpoints and monitoring
• Redundant setpoint entry from neighboring benchboards allows uninterrupted machine control if one panel should fail as well as providing the operators flexibility during start-up
• Pop-Up alarms and alarm history
• Permissives overview and pop-up information on missing interlocks giving operators immediate information whenever a section will not start thus decreasing start-up time

The Siemens MP270 panels provide a low cost solution with many features such as built-in Profibus, Serial, and Ethernet ports. Siemens ProTool software run time license is included on each panel. With this approach, we were able to meet our customer’s needs by providing a leading edge system of operator interfaces directly connected to the existing drive system for minimal cost. The project was completed in three phases on regularly scheduled shutdowns over a six month period.

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The customer selected a variety of vendors based upon careful analysis of each system. The chosen process control system was Fisher-Rosemount Delta V, which was preferred for its connectivity to existing Rosemount transmitters, its operator friendly graphics, and use of Foundation Fieldbus. An ABB quality control system with an Advant controller was selected for measurement. Cutler-Hammer Advantage motor starters and SV9000 drives were prearranged in a factory DeviceNet MCC package.

The customer needed a way to integrate all of these systems into the existing Allen-Bradley PLC5 control system with WonderWare and PanelView operator interfaces and Eurotherm and Westinghouse drives. For commonality of spare parts and minimization of training for the maintenance team, the customer wished to stay with the Allen-Bradley PLC5 platform. CAS engineered a solution using a PLC5 controller as a network gateway to connect all of the different systems. 1785-KE modules were used to communicate with the Fisher-Rosemount and ABB systems which each have serial DF1 protocol capability. Data Highway Plus (DH+) was used to connect to the existing PLC5 controller. Allen-Bradley 1771-SDN DeviceNet scanners were used to control the MCC from the PLC5. A SLC5/04 controller connected to DH+ was added to replace analog circuits for reference generation in the existing Westinghouse drives. The Eurotherm drives were integrated with the X-Link from SST.

In order to complete this project, CAS worked closely with the customer and the other suppliers to ensure a seamless start-up. A database of shared signals was developed and maintained to clearly define the interfaces between the systems. Modifications to the existing PLC program were made to support the new equipment. CAS joined with Cutler-Hammer personnel to fully test the MCC prior to start-up.

Due to careful planning, thorough testing, and teamwork, the start-up went extremely smoothly. Everything worked as designed and the customer was pleased. The customer was especially appreciative of the documentation and structure of the PLC program, which was designed to make troubleshooting fast and easy. Of our performance on this project, the mill project manager said, “I always have high expectations, and you exceeded them every time.”

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ORIGINAL SYSTEM

• Analog drives and DC motors
• Sectionalized wet end
• Line shaft from dryers to the reel drum
• Push buttons and potentiometer operator controls
• Drive system monitoring with analog meters, pilot lights, and annunciation panels

PROJECT GOALS

The project goals were accomplished over several short shutdowns to allow production goals to be met throughout the project

• Remove line shaft and sectionalize the machine.
• Upgrade to digital drive system from analog.
• Upgrade operator controls from push buttons and potentiometers to a networked system of touch screen panels (on the machine) and HMI computers (in the control rooms).
• Revise the control scheme to make the couch the master with progressive draw from wet end to dry end.

NEW EQUIPMENT

• AC motors and drives for sections previously driven by the line shaft
• Common DC Bus supply with regenerative unit for AC drives
• Digital front ends on existing analog DC drives
• Supervisory control system for the drives
• Touch screen panels (one per section) on the machine
• HMI computers (wet end control room, dry end control room, drive room)
• Dedicated trending computer with high speed real time and historical trends

IMPLEMENTATION

• Installed new supervisory controller and upgraded several wet end analog drives to digital. Installed touch screens on wet end. Temporarily hardwired interlocks and analog signals to remaining analog drives.
• Installed new AC drive line up for dryers, breaker stack, calendars, and reel. Pre-commissioning was accomplished with motors temporarily placed behind the machine.
• Starting at the reel drum and working toward the wet end, the line shaft was systematically broken and a new motor installed and commissioned on short shutdowns. With each new motor and drive, a touch screen was added for operator control.
• Concurrent to the installation of new AC motors and drives, the remaining analog DC drives were upgraded with digital front ends. Additional touch panels were installed for operator control. Hardwired signals and interlocks were removed.
• Communication interfaces were installed to interlock the drive system with other machine control systems.
• HMI and trending computers were installed.

Contact Columbia Automation Systems for more information.