Dear reader

Taking care of the environment is a com-mon responsibility for all of us. Preservingresources is one of the most important topics on our agenda. Priorities may differdepending on where you are in the world.Countries in arid regions have to establishsustainable water supply strategies, where-as energy is a very important topic for otherareas in the world. The rapidly growingeconomies in Asia are calling for effectivemeasures to control pollution from indus-trial sewage and waste. This issue focuseson solving these environmental problems,featuring many innovative and fascinatingprojects in this field. One would like to wishthat many countries had a head of statelike King Bhumiphol of Thailand, who hasdedicated parts of the garden in his royalpalace to several research projects in theagricultural and power generation sector.

Progress in this important field is not pos-sible without suitable analytic and automa-tion systems. Field instruments, analyticaland process control systems as well as theprocess know-how supplied by Siemensmake a substantial contribution to manysuccessful projects, as you can see in this issue.

Process safety is closely connected to en-vironmental protection. Quite a few indus-trial accidents have dramatically affectedthe environment. To prevent such acci-dents, knowledge about the safety criticalaspects of a given process is indispensable.Siemens Axiva is a renowned and sought-after expert in the broad field of processsafety and supports the process industry in finding suitable preventive safety con-cepts. You will find more on this topic onpage 3.

Dear reader, the events on the 11th of Sep-tember have left us with disturbing feelingsof fear and sorrow. With the new year com-ing up, I do hope you will find the strengthand the courage to overcome these feelingsand have a peaceful Christmas.

Yours sincerely, Cornelia Dürrfeld, Editor

In Melbourne Water’s EasternTreatment Plant, SimaticPCS 7 is impressing plantoperators with the speed andflexibility with which theprocess control system can beadapted to high demands.

F or the three million people living in Melbourne, Victoria,Melbourne Water has the im-

portant role of looking after thetreatment of sewage in Melbourneand the surrounding district. Mel-bourne Water’s Eastern TreatmentPlant, about 30 km southeast of Mel-bourne in Bangholme, treats an aver-age of 380 million liters of sewage aday using a secondary treatment con-ventional return activated sludgeprocess.

Since being first commissioned in1975, the Eastern Treatment Planthas had a history of keeping up withchanging technologies. The first con-ventional mainframe-based control –highly centralized and very supportintensive – gave way to a modern dis-

tion,” as John Shanley from Mel-bourne Water explains the special re-quirements for the process controlsystem. “In addition, the amount ofsewage can increase by a factor of 5during prolonged wet weather peri-ods. Here, a control system failure hasthe potential to spill large quantities ofuntreated sewage to the environmentin 30 minutes”. Furthermore, theprocess control system needed to of-fer possibilities for plant-wide accessfrom other locations on and off thesite and needed to slot easily into theexisting infrastructure.

The Simatic PCS 7 easily satisfiedall these requirements. Its open com-munication standards via IndustrialEthernet, Profibus and AS-Interface,its open hardware architecture andintegrated software solutions makePCS 7 a remarkably open and flexiblesystem.

Intuitively operable configurationand visualization tools also providemaximum operating comfort. SincePCS 7 can also exchange data withMES or information systems usingstandardized interfaces, it can also beintegrated in the company and plant-wide information landscape withoutany problems. Thanks to its field-proven, rugged hardware compo-nents and redundant communicationsystems, PCS 7 also satisfies the de-mand for very high plant availability.

The partnership with a globalplayer like Siemens ensures that Mel-bourne Water can get local support inoperating the new system. “However,as PCS 7 was still a relatively youngcontrol system at the time of award-ing the contract, we wanted to wit-ness its capabilities in action at real

tributed control system in 1984. Var-ious improvements allowed the sys-tem to stay in operation until the late1990’s. Then, with rising costs ofownership and declining support,another change was necessary.

Modern, open and reliable

When Melbourne Water decidedagain to upgrade the process controlsystem, they had one clear goal: tofind a modern, open and manufac-turer-neutral automation solutionwhich could be easily serviced by localcompanies and which offered a de-fined upgrade path to the future. “Totreat the large quantities of sewagesmoothly, with just three operatorsper shift, we need a process controlsystem which is available 365 days ayear, 24 hours a day. Moreover, itmust offer a high degree of automa-tion with minimum manual interven-

Process News8th edition December 4 2001

I N F O S , N E W S A N D T R E N D S F R O M T H E W O R L D O F P R O C E S S A U T O M A T I O N

A clear choiceSimatic PCS 7 helps treat Melbourne’s waste water

(Continued on page 2)

CCononttenentstsFocus Environment/Safety

B 2 Milltronics InterRanger DPS 300 at Brisbane Water

B 3 Siemens Axiva – the Safety Experts

B 4 Innovative Sewage Treatmentwith Sipan

Biomass Power Station uses Simatic PCS 7

B 5 “Green” Projects in China

Products

B 6 Simulation Platform Simit

Oxymat 6 Ex in PVC-Production

Sipart PS 2 at BASF

B 7 Simatic IT Framework

Chromatography Businessin Italy

Applications

B 8 Saving Costs withEnviroRanger ERS 500

IQ Radar 160 solves DigesterLevel Monitoring Dilemma

B 9 Simatic PCS 7 in theProduction of TitaniumDioxide

Simatic PCS 7at Tessenderlo Chemie

From Around the World

B 10 Success Stories, Net News,Fair Preview, Latest News

Reduced Costs, Improved EfficiencySludge Monitoring with InterRanger DPS 300 at Brisbane Water

sites,” as Ken Baxter of MelbourneWater recalls. A delegation from Mel-bourne Water visited some referenceprojects as well as the Siemens head-quarters to get a hands-on demon-stration of the functionality and per-formance of PCS 7.

International and interdisciplinary

The starting shot for the project wasfired at the beginning of 1998. To-gether with Melbourne Water andHunter Watertech, a local system in-tegrator, and the system integratorTecheng, who assisted MelbourneWater in writing the control software,employees from Siemens Australiaand from the Siemens headquartersin Germany worked in close cooper-ation to optimally adapt the processcontrol system to requirements.

From the very start, the projectteam was challenged by the extreme-ly tight time schedule. In five clearlydefined stages, the treatment plantwas to be changed over step by step tothe new system by mid-2000. The entire conversion was completed inmid-2001. At the same time a num-ber of plant enhancement projectswere executed which were also to beintegrated into PCS 7.

To enable concurrent develop-ment of the necessary software andHMI, part of the project team imple-mented the engineering software in aclient-server architecture with the

support of Siemens specialists so thatseveral developer teams could workconcurrently on the software. All thecontrol elements of the process control system were created in stan-dardized, application-specific com-ponents. In this way it was possible tosignificantly expand and simplify theplant and process documentation.With the excellent support of thePCS 7 Technical Support Centerheaded by Manfred Rietsche theplanning of the process control sys-tem could be completed quickly andsuccessfully.

A convincing performance

This procedure also ensured that the additional requirements of Mel-bourne Water, exceeding the stan-dard system functionality of PCS 7Version 4.0, were satisfied. “We ini-tially assumed that we would eventu-ally switch over to PCS 7 Version 5 in

order to get the fast response timesour plant operators required. But thesystem was able to satisfy all our specifications already in version 4.0 with only a few modifications,” Ken Baxter recalls. Since PCS 7 is able to accept downloading incrementalchanges to the project without inter-rupting the existing control, the stepby step changeover from the old tothe new system was no problem at all.

The PCS 7 system consists of a to-tal of ten automation systems, a re-dundant server pair and 12 operatorstations for local access within theplant. Four operator stations enableaccess to the plant from other loca-tions. Moreover, the system compris-es an engineering station and oneserver each for archiving the plant da-ta and for transmission of the multi-media applications such as the plantradio communication system and thevideo data of the surveillance camera.

Each pair of automation systems isresponsible for one of the majorprocess areas. The field level is linkedto the control system via Profibus-DP. Servers, operator stations andautomation systems are inter-net-worked by optical Fast Ethernet with100 Mbps. The operator stations arelocated not only in the central controlroom but also in distributed controlrooms around the plant allowingcontrol of all processes from any-where in the plant. There is also alarge screen in the control station onwhich current process data are pro-jected.

System messages as well as short-term archives of process variables aremaintained directly on the operatorstations servers. A third-party server

dedicated to keeping the data of ap-proximately 5000 data points avail-able for the plant operators for up toseven years is also connected to thePCS 7 engineering system. Four re-mote access nodes enable mainte-nance and support personnel to ac-cess all plant functions through thecompany-internal network.

Easy changeover and excellent acceptance

All five transitional phases went offsmoothly. Since the operators wereinvolved in the engineering processof PCS 7 from the start, the operatorsaccepted the new system, too. Thanksto the easy-to-use, intuitive naviga-tion and fast response times of theprocess control system, the complexprocesses in the treatment plant aremuch easier to control.

With PCS 7, Melbourne Water haschosen a rugged and efficient system,which can easily be expanded andmodified at any time. A number ofqualified local providers are compet-ing for the system support, ensuringthat the Eastern Treatment Plant willcontinue to release only clean waterinto the environment in future. In theyears to come, Melbourne Water hasplans for on-going process improve-ment in the area of plant capacity and cost efficiency, and thanks toPCS 7 they are optimally equippedfor these tasks, as John Shanley pointsout. “Future augmentations and im-provements are planned for the East-ern Treatment Plant and the controlsystem will be expanded to take onthis functionality.” ■

Marek Lisik and Bree Glascott, Melbourne

2 Process News 4/2001

(Continued from page 1)

A clear choice

Simatic PCS 7 helps keep track of all

important processes

Monitoring sludge levels inclarifiers is important for efficientoperation of a wastewatertreatment plant, but accuratemeasurement has traditionallybeen a challenge. In Brisbane,Australia, Brisbane Water soughta better solution for its GibsonIsland wastewater treatmentplant. The plant used infraredoptical sensors to detect sludgelevels in each of its six finalsettling tanks and two thickeningtanks. Three sensors were neededper tank for a range of measure-ment points. Sensors wereexpensive at 2500 AustralianDollars each and neededreplacing every 12 months. Plantmanagement wanted a morereliable, cost-effective approach.

I n 1998, the plant installed a Mill-tronics InterRanger DPS 300 in-terface detection system on a trial

basis on one of its final settling tanks.The system uses ultrasonic technolo-gy with Milltronics Echomax® trans-ducers mounted just below the liquidsurface. The sensor does not contactthe sludge, and can be submerged for

Brisbane Water in

Brisbane, Australia, reduced

maintenance costs and

improved efficiency by using

Milltronics InterRanger DPS

300 to monitor sludge levels.

The plant’s rotating-bridge clarifi-er design made it difficult to connectthe 4-20mA signal into the SCADAsystem. Brisbane Water used radiotelemetry, a very cost-effective solu-tion as all eight transmitters can com-municate with a single receiver.

Saving costs, improving performance

“Using InterRanger DPS 300 systemson all the sludge settling tanks madelevel monitoring easy and improvedefficiency”, said Michael Benfer,Plant Electrical Coordinator. It alsoreduced maintenance costs by thou-sands of dollars in the first year. Con-tinuous monitoring and automaticpumping of return activated sludgeinto the contact tank maintains opti-mum performance levels in the final

extended periods of time withoutfouling or maintenance. It never in-terferes with the rakes in the bottomof the clarifier.

Successful trials

After a successful trial, Brisbane Wa-ter installed InterRangers on each ofthe five remaining settling tanks,feeding the signal to the SCADA system for easy monitoring. Whensludge levels reach a certain height,InterRanger automatically increasespump speeds moving more sludge to

the contact tank where it is mixedwith influent. This keeps sludge levelsat their optimum levels in the finalsettling tanks.

In November 2000, they installedInterRangers on the two thickenedwaste activated sludge tanks to mon-itor level and communicate the infor-mation to a Siemens PLC. The PLCthen controls the sludge pumps basedon sludge level, balance tank level andbelt press operation. These are allused in concert to dry and treat thesludge before removal.

settling tanks. Monitoring sludge lev-els in the thickened waste tanks pro-vides the data needed by the SiemensPLC to efficiently manage the sludgetreatment process, including the bal-ance tank and belt press.

It eliminated the need for manualchecking of sludge levels, freeing op-erators’ time for other tasks. If a finalsettling tank must be taken offline formaintenance, operators can easily de-termine which tanks have capacity tohandle the diverted flows. By check-ing sludge levels in the final settlingtanks each morning, operators caninform the sludge-removal contrac-tor how many trailers will be requiredfor sludge removal that day. ■

Janet Wile, Canada

3Process News 4/2001

Manfred Wick explains. From the so-called safety talks held prior to theconception of a PCS for process safe-ty, through classification also includ-ing risk observation and determina-tion of technical and organizationalmeasures up to the correct selectionof sensors and actuators, both par-ties constantly work hand-in-hand.“With our combination of process-technical know-how and intelligentcontrol systems, we offer a concen-tration in the field of safety engineer-ing which is unique in the industry“,Manfred Wick emphasizes.

A partner to the customer – from the very start

Siemens Axiva supports its customersthrough all the phases of a project –this principle also applies of coursefor process safety. The range of ser-vices – especially for the field of pro-cess control systems – covers:• Consulting in the conception of

process control systems,• Moderation and support in safety

talks,• Complete project handling in con-

sistence with the relevant guide-lines: engineering, planning, in-stallation and commissioning ofplant safety equipment,

• Programming, testing and com-missioning of safety-related pro-grammable logic controls ,

• Documentation for safety-relatedPCS devices and test specifications.

“This gives our customers an all-en-compassing safety monitoring inprocess plants”, Odo Klais and Man-fred Wick stress. ■

Dr. Odo Klais, Siemens Axiva

Plant safety is an important andat the same time very sensitivesubject for the chemical andpharmaceutical industry.However, safety risks are oftennot recognized and eliminateduntil something has gone wrong – as accidents in the past haveshown. Siemens Axiva is arenowned and sought-after expertfor chemical and pharmaceuticalplants. The emerging Siemenssubsidiary offers know-how inprocess technology andautomation from a single source– a combination unique in theindustry, supporting plantoperators in establishing theoptimum level of safety for theirplants.

I n most countries process safety issubject to a whole set of stan-dards and regulations which are

a challenge for operators of indus-trial plants but also an opportunity.“Process safety has two central tasks.On the one hand it has to protect thepeople and the environment as far aspossible from the dangers that canarise from an industrial plant. On theother hand it has to avoid restrictingproduction in these plants more thanis necessary”, as Dr. Odo Klais, Headof Safety at Siemens Axiva, sums upthe aim of his tasks. The first essen-tial step towards greater plant safetyis being aware of the potentially dan-gerous properties of the substances,mixtures and reactions, i.e. whetherthey are inflammable, explosive ortoxic. Odo Klais and his interdiscipli-nary team determine the safety-relat-ed indices with the latest test meth-ods. “We calculate these indices tak-ing into account both regular opera-tion conditions as well as irregularprocess conditions. These indicesthen allow us to set up and evaluatepreventive measures in the first place.We then develop a safety concept forthe process control in cooperationwith the plant owner which also in-cludes potential risks caused by hu-man error”, the safety expert ex-plains. Effects resulting from inter-connected individual process steps –for example recirculation of productstreams – must be taken into accountand continuously re-evaluated whenthe process sequence or technology is

modified. It goes without saying thata very profound process-technicalknow-how is required. “We are inti-mately familiar with the details of agiven process and know just what isneeded. We develop and implementpreventive safety concepts on the ba-sis of this extensive understanding ofthe process and the plant – made-to-measure for the individual local re-quirements”, Odo Klais outlines thecompetencies.

Tracking down the cause – with laboratory experiments

If an accident does happen despitethese preventive measures, SiemensAxiva is also a sought-after partnerwhen it comes to identifying thecause. International pharmaceuticalcompanies such as Novartis rely onthe Siemens Axiva’s expertise in clar-ifying all the facts. For this purpose,but also for other tasks, laboratoryexperiments with simulation toolsare an important part of the work ofOdo Klais and his team. “Our prima-ry goal is to largely rule out the risk ofaccidents by process-technical meansand to produce an ‘intrinsically safeplant’ already during concept devel-opment”, Odo Klais explains. To

guarantee the safety of a plant, all regular processes are monitored byprocess control systems (PCS). IfSiemens Axiva discovers deviationsfrom the process, it is back to the lab-oratory again. “There we can simu-late the abnormal state to examinethe time behavior of the fault. The ex-periment gives us a reliable basis for developing suitable countermea-sures”; Odo Klais explains the advan-tages of the laboratory.

Increasing use of intelligent control systems

“Process control systems have be-come a central part of process safety“,Manfred Wick, Head of ProductionLogistics and Automation Planningat Siemens Axiva points out. Well in-to the 1990’s conventional electro-magnetic control systems were usedalmost exclusively. Now a new gener-ation has taken over: safe program-mable logic controllers or SPLC forshort.

Their contribution to newly installed PCS equipment todayreaches already 80 percent. The newS7-400F/FH is a very intelligent ad-dition to the Simatic family. “It is afailsafe control system that immedi-ately goes into or stays in a safe statewhen a fault occurs – the result ismaximum safety for human life,equipment, environment and pro-cess”, Manfred Wick describes theproperties of the system. The innova-tion here is that the conventionalcontroller and the fail-safe system areintegrated on one common platformin a single system for the very firsttime.

The advantage: the communica-tion between separate safe and non-safe systems is no longer necessary.“Process control systems and techn-ology are an excellent example of justhow well the competences of SiemensA&D and Siemens Axiva cooperatein the field of safety engineering,”

The Safebag is patented by Siemens

Axiva and prevents emissions in the case

of a malfunction. It has already been

successfully implemented in several

applications.

Optimum protectionMore safety in industrial plants with the process know-how from Siemens Axiva

and Siemens process control technology

Safety competence from a single source

Siemens Axiva is a leadingprovider of process and engineering services for thechemical-pharmaceuticalprocess industry. The fieldsof expertise range fromprocess development andoptimization, engineeringand project management toimplementation of individ-ual production processes. Inthe field of substance- andequipment-related safety

technology, Siemens Axivahas developed a wide exper-tise over decades. The com-pany was part of the formerHoechst group and has beena subsidiary of the SiemensA&D Division since October2000. The interdisciplinaryteam of experts has the nec-essary know-how to “get to grips with” even the mostcomplicated process andsafety tasks.

Siemens Axiva is performing extensive

laboratory experiments to design a dust

protection concept that is perfectly suited

to the conditions

The Leipzig-Halle EnvironmentalResearch Center is currentlycarrying out a research projectlooking at the effectiveness ofphytoremediation for wastewatertreatment. Precise and reliableanalytical and automated systems from Siemens used in thepilot system are making theircontribution to develop anenvironmentally friendly andresource-conserving way to reusewastewater.

I n arid areas of the earth, enor-mous volumes of freshwater arerequired year after year for the ir-

rigation of agricultural land. The in-creasingly intensive use of the cul-tivable land means that the water re-quired by agriculture will continue toincrease in coming years. To ensurethat this development does not leadto a further shortage in groundwater,experts have long been searching foralternative sources of irrigation water.

One of these alternatives is cur-rently being studied at the Leipzig-Halle Environmental Research Cen-ter in a bilateral cooperation projectsponsored by the Federal Ministry forEducation and Research betweenGermany and Mexico. In this project,phytoremediation is used to recoverirrigation water from municipalwastewater. That means that plants(phytos: Greek for plant) like reed ex-

tract the contaminants from thewastewater so that it can be reusedfor irrigation purposes.

Over a planned period of aroundthree years, the opportunities andlimitations of the purification poten-tial of phytoremediation will be test-ed at plants in Langenreichenbach,Saxony, and Mexico City. The advan-tage of this method is that phytore-mediation plants can be simply con-structed with low technical require-ments, making them particularlysuited to rural and remote areas.

Technological utilization of natural processes

Around six cubic meters of waste-water daily are precleaned with strawin an open rotting tank. An auto-matic sample collector is cyclicallytaking samples from the raw feed forthe determination of important para-meters such as nitrate, ammoniumand phosphate content, and biologi-cal and chemical oxygen demand.The precleaned wastewater is thenpassed through 16 different treat-ment tanks over the next two days.

The purification potential of eachtank relating to different substrateand feed conditions is determinedand compared. Samples are takenfrom the in- and outflows of eachtank as well and are continually mon-itored for pH value, redox potential,conductivity and dissolved oxygen inan analytical container.

A Simatic controller is controllingthe sampling routines and the influxand outflow rates throughout theplant. A total of 48 Sipan 32 andSipan 34 liquid analyzers with corre-sponding sensors measure the sampleproperties and transmit the data to acentral computer where they arerecorded, compared and evaluatedwith WinCC. The results are thenused to determine and evaluate thedifferent purification potentials ofthe individual treatment tanks.

A promising start

Several thousand plants already com-missioned in Germany have indicat-ed that phytoremediation plants arean environmentally friendly solutionfor the treatment of wastewater con-taining biologically degradable cont-aminants. Hence there are also goodprospects for the planned new appli-cation of recovering irrigation waterfrom wastewater. It is expected thatsuch plants will soon be able to con-tribute to the provision of sufficientwater for irrigation while also ensur-ing that groundwater reserves areconserved. The automation and ana-lytics technology from Siemens willcertainly play an essential part in thissuccess. ■

Michael Gilluck, Leipzig

4 Process News 4/2001

Harnessing the power of naturePhytoremediation project uses Siemens technology

Municipal sewage is processed

in the experimental treatment

tanks and will be reused as

irrigation water for farming

The world’s first power stationfuelled by poultry litter is nowgenerating electricity near Fife,Scotland. Providing a uniqueenvironmental solution to wastedisposal and energy provision,the site converts 120,000 tons of poultry litter each year intoelectricity and high-gradeagricultural fertilizer. SiemensPCS 7 is the process controlsystem used in the plant.

W estfield Power Station isowned by Energy PowerResources Limited, one of

the country’s leading renewable ener-gy businesses. The plant uses the latest

in automated process control technol-ogy, to ensure that the boiler and flu-idized bed combustion unit operate atoptimum efficiency. Westfield is thefirst biomass to energy plant in Scot-land and is equipped with a SiemensProcess Control System utilizing aProfibus-DP remote I/O architecture.

Automation specialists fromSiemens Process Automation (SPA)design, configure and support PCS 7and APACS+ systems from their of-fices in Yeovil, Worcester, Bolton andManchester. This biomass PCS 7 sys-tem provides top-level plant controland communicates to the remote I/Ovia the Profibus network.

As well as the innovative fuel usedemonstrated at Westfield Power Sta-tion, which has been selected by theEU as a reference site to demonstratethe viability of alternative energy, the control architecture itself incor-porates many advanced features. Inplace of conventional cabling, nor-mally used to transfer informationbetween a power station’s controlroom and the site itself, the PCS usesfiber optics for communications.These transfer data between the pro-grammable controllers used to man-age the boiler, combustion feeder and

fluidized bed incinerator, and the hu-man machine interfaces (HMI) whichprovide operators with access to op-erating information. The combina-tion of fiber optic links and HMI pan-els significantly reduced the cablingand hardware costs normally associ-ated with this type of installation.

Poultry litter has a number of advantages over conventional waste,when it is used as a fuel source. The ashproduced during combustion is highin potash and phosphate, making it ideal as an agricultural fertilizer.This secondary reuse of waste ensuresmaximum efficiency of the plant.

Essential: Constant access to all information

Access to information relating to theoptimization of plant efficiency wasan important consideration for Ener-gy Power Resources, when they ini-tially considered the Process ControlSystem. Management, engineeringand maintenance staff all required ac-cess to data, while the system alsoneeds to be capable of controlling theplant automatically.

In common with all other powerstations, safety of the plant and itspersonnel was a priority for the sys-tem builders. Automatic shutdownmust be possible without compro-mising the integrity of the plant.

PCS 7 handles the safe control of critical processes, including the un-scheduled shutdowns due to faults.

Alarm messages are automaticallytransmitted to the operators in thecontrol room and on the generatingfloor, allowing decisions to be madequickly. “Developing a control sys-tem for this novel form of power gen-eration provided an interesting alter-native to our usual work,” comment-ed Jon Keswick, Marketing Manager

for Energy Industry Solutions at SPA.“While over 50% of the power gener-ated by conventional power stationsis controlled by our automation sys-tems, this is the first biomass applica-tion we have worked on.”

Although poultry litter as a fuel wasnew to SPA, its experience in the con-trol of power generating plants, cou-pled with a detailed knowledge of dis-tributed control architecture and plant-wide data communication systemsmeant that the Westfield installationwas completed without difficulty. ■

Richard Ahearne, Yeovil

Unusually cleverInnovative biomass power station operates with PCS 7

The Westfield Power Station converts

poultry litter to electric power

5Process News 4/2001

When the Olympic flame is lit over Beijing in 2008, this eventwill mark the end of seven verybusy years for the municipaladministration. By then, almostthe entire infrastructure of theChinese capital will have beenmodernized. With its City BusinessConcept, Siemens is not just theideal partner for the preparationsassociated with the Games them-selves, but also for other projectsdealing with modernizing theinfrastructure of China’s cities.

M any municipal govern-ments of the 700 largestcities in China are faced

with the task of rebuilding their in-frastructures to make them fit for thenew millennium. Two tasks are ofparamount importance. First of all,the infrastructure must guarantee thesupply of water and energy to thepopulation. Secondly, the increasingdemand of the rapidly growing in-dustries must be satisfied, laying thebasis for healthy and sustainable citydevelopment by means of new trans-port concepts, efficient wastewatertreatment and well considered wastemanagement.

A concept for China’s cities

This is why, two years ago, SiemensAutomation and Drives in China hasput forward the City Business Con-cept, offering modular and standard-ized solutions for all these tasks. As

the problems are very similar in al-most every city, one successful imple-mentation can be adopted anywherein China with just a few minor mod-ifications.

The City Business Concept has en-abled Siemens to make a substantialcontribution to municipal develop-ment in numerous projects in recentyears. In fact, over 1,000 successfulprojects in the water and wastewatersector, 100 garbage disposal or dress-ing plants and around 80 districtheating projects are impressive testa-ment to the capability and flexibilityof the concept.

Fit for the Olympics

These excellent references also makeSiemens a promising candidate foranother demanding project. In thesummer of 2008, Beijing will host the Olympic Summer Games. Beforethen, the city does not just need to ex-

tend its airport and the public trans-port network, but also relocate in-dustries from the city, modernize itsgarbage and sewage treatment facili-ties as well as implement stricteremission guidelines.

In order to be able to provide Chi-na and Beijing with optimum sup-port in these ambitious projects,Siemens set up an Olympics ProjectBoard a few months ago. Owing tothe sound expertise and good experi-ences with the City Business Concept,Siemens is looking forward to mak-ing its contribution to the success ofthe Olympic Games. ■

Long Jing, Beijing

Modern garbage incineration plants helpeasing two problems at the same time: Onthe one hand, they reduce the volume ofgarbage to be deposited in landfills, onthe other hand, they generate power andheat and are thus helping to save fossilfuels. In Ningbo in the Chinese province ofZhejiang, a garbage incineration plantwas automated with a SimaticPCS 7 system in order toguarantee a smooth andstable combustionprocess.

N ingbo is not only the second largestcity but also one of the industrial cen-ters in the Chinese province of Zhe-

jiang. A new garbage incineration plant wasrecently commissioned to help dispose of thegarbage produced by the city’s approximately250,000 inhabitants and its many industries.The plant is equipped with three efficientcombustion furnaces and will incineratearound 350 tons of garbage every day, gener-ating up to 12,000 kilowatts of power. This isthe first time Simatic PCS 7 is used as a pro-cess control system in a garbage incinerationplant in China.

A completely redundant PCS 7 system pro-vides a solid and continuous control of the2,500 decentralized I/Os and field devices andensures that the complex combustion processtakes place within clearly defined limits. Thesupply of air and fuel is controlled by theSimatic S7-400 furnace controller, which isseamlessly integrated into the process controlsystem. Both Simatic PCS 7 and the SimaticS7-400 furnace controller are part of theSiemens automation concept of Totally Inte-grated Automation.

Three redundant PCS 7 AS 417H systemsare connected via redundant Profibus-DPfield bus systems to the Simatic ET 200M distributed devices, which record the signalsof the field level on site. This means that thecosts for cabling and installation are consider-ably reduced. The field devices in the plantcommunicate with the control system viaProfibus-PA. Two operator stations and alarge mimic screen in the control room ensurethat the operators have a constant overview ofall processes in the plant. A redundant opticalFast Ethernet Ring connects the operator sta-tions with the redundant automation systems.

Simatic PCS 7 gave an excellent perfor-mance at its premiere in Ningbo. Since nu-merous garbage incineration plants will bebuilt in China in the next few years, this pro-ject also makes an excellent reference for fu-ture tasks in this field. ■

Shao Hairong, China

Sometimes, the sort of rapideconomic development the city ofShaoxing in the Chinese provinceof Zhejiang has experienced alsohas its drawbacks. In the last few years, the nearby rivers hadbecome heavily polluted byindustrial wastewater, primarilyfrom textile and paper industries.With a new treatment plant andthe Simatic PCS 7 process controlsystem, the city council is takingaction to clear the situation.

A fter it has fully gone on-line,the new plant will treataround 500,000 cubic meters

of industrial wastewater per day,making it one of the largest plants forprocessing industrial sewage in Asia.The first phase of the project is to setup a treatment plant with a capacityof 300,000 cubic meters.

Totally Integrated Automation as the deciding factor

After a difficult bidding situation,Siemens Industrial Automation Ltd.(SIAS) won the contract for the au-tomation of the new plant in the faceof extremely tough competition. Themain arguments leading to the deci-sion in favor of Siemens and PCS 7were the integration in the Totally In-

For a better environmentShaoxing’s new wastewater treatment plant uses Simatic PCS 7

Nothing is wasted

In Ningbo, PCS 7 is creatingenergy from garbage

net Ring connects all systems at con-trol and HMI levels. The field signalsare collected by the Simatic ET 200Mdistributed systems, which are linkedto the control level via redundantProfibus-DP cabling. More than 300intelligent field devices record theprocess parameters and transmitthem via Profibus-PA to the controlsystem.

The first of many successful projects

The new automation system was be-ing installed and commissioned thisyear and is working to the full satis-faction of the customer. When theentire project is completed, it willdemonstrate the excellent expertiseof Siemens in the field of environ-mental protection. ■

Yang Xuwei, China

Sewage treatment plant in Song Jian

(China)

As part of the project, SIAS has notjust configured and commissionedthe entire control system includinghardware and software, but it alsotook on the responsibility for the cus-tomer staff training. Moreover, theSIAS team won the contract for theconstruction of a communicationnetwork to acquire data from thehigh-voltage power distribution sys-tem as well.

In total, three PCS 7 automationstations and one AS 417H redundantsystem control all processes withinthe plant. The operating and engi-neering personnel have an excellentoverview of all events via four opera-tor stations and one engineering sta-tion. A dedicated controller drivesthe large mimic display in the centralcontrol room. This controller is alsolinked to the distributed control sys-tem. A redundant optical Fast Ether-

tegrated Automation concept and theoutstanding expertise of the SIASteam in the field of water and waste-water treatment.

Ready, steady – go!The Siemens City Business Concept for China

6 Process News 4/2001

T he Simit simulation platformis now integrated into theSimatic PCS 7 engineering

environment. This facilitates fine-grained solutions for testing the sys-tem software, from simple automa-tion system signal testing or testingof the drive-level (including field de-vices, actuator-sensor level) to repro-duction of the process behavior forthe entire system test or operatortraining.

Program and system tests made easy

For the program test, the Simatic pro-gram is first created in the SimaticPCS 7 engineering system and thenloaded in the PLCSim simulationsoftware. The Simit tool provides thesimulated I/O signals or the relevantinstrumentation. The interface con-figuration takes place automatically.A dedicated library offers simulationmodules to represent the Profibusfield devices from Siemens; addition-al simulation modules for external de-vices can easily be created if required.The PCS 7 operator station is con-nected to the PLCSim software viaMPI. Therefore, all functions – fromthe sensor through the automationsystem to the visualization system andback to the actuators – can already betested on the engineering PC.

If the import/export assistant(IEA) was being used in the PCS 7 en-

gineering process, Simit can automat-ically generate the relevant test envi-ronment. For this purpose, IEA sam-ple solutions are imported into Simitafter conclusion of the engineering.Based on the previously defined testsample solutions, Simit can then gen-erate a suitable test environment.

When the entire system is to betested, the Simatic program runs onthe real Simatic S7-400. The I/O sig-nals and the instrumentation are sim-ulated with Simit, which communi-cates with the Profibus DP connec-tion of the automation system via theSimit IM module in the engineeringPC. The interfaces are automaticallyconfigured from the engineeringdatabase just as in the program testapplication.

Also ideal as a training simulator

Together with the PCS 7 operator sta-tion and the PLCSim software, Simitcan also be used to train the systemoperators. For example, it is possibleto simulate faults and critical systemstates with a realistic representation ofthe system. The operator can practicehandling potentially dangerous situa-tions without a risk. The system offersspecial features, such as the loading ofa scenario or the deliberate activationof error functions in the model, to al-low comprehensive training.

Additional dedicated or special-ized process simulators (e.g. Aspen-Tech or Hyprotech) can be connect-ed to Simit via an OPC interface. Incombination with the modular de-sign of the simulation environment,the user receives a platform thatmeets all its needs.

Faster, more flexible and economical

With the Simit simulation platformexpanding the possibilities of SimaticPCS 7 it is possible to save substantialamounts of time and money by facili-tating the configuration and planningof the system and by avoiding opera-tor- induced or technical system faults.This increases the quality and reliabil-ity of the automation software. More-over, it helps saving time during thecommissioning time of the plant. ■

Franz Deutel, Erlangen

Christian Suhm, Karlsruhe

Increased efficiency from the startSimit simulation platform expands PCS 7

Polyvinyl chloride, PVC forshort, is one of the most ver-satile plastics. This jack-of-

all-trades can be found in the con-struction industry and the packag-ing industry, the automotive sectorand also in many consumer goods.This diverse range of different typesof PVC is produced from vinyl chlo-ride.

At SOLVIN in Ludwigshafen,vinyl chloride is commercially pro-duced in two stages via the additionof chlorine to ethene. The second ofthese two stages is the oxychlorationin the presence of oxygen. The oxy-gen content has to be continuallymonitored to ensure that this reac-tion gives high-quality product andthe base materials are conversed as efficiently as possible. Moreover,ethene and oxygen can form highlyflammable mixtures, so the concen-tration of oxygen must always bekept within the prescribed limit val-ues. SOLVIN uses the Oxymat 6F EXgas analyzers for this task.

Gas-proof seals separate the Oxy-mat’s analytical and electronic parts.Four freely parameterizable measur-ing ranges are available to the user;the six binary inputs and relay out-puts can also be freely configured –for example for changing measuringrange, limit value alarms or mainte-nance requirements. The measuringdevice has a short response timeadaptable to the particular require-ments of the application, and themenu-controlled operation permitseasy operation of the device.

Certified safety

Oxymat 6F EX certification nowpermits operation with any ATEX-certified E Ex p monitoring systems,provided the system also holds anATEX certificate and is constructedand operated in accordance with therelevant regulations. Furthermore,the Oxymat also features a high level of operational safety and longoperating life as well as high cor-rosion reliability and a strictly linearparamagnetic measuring principle.These criteria were additional argu-ments for SOLVIN in choosing theOxymat. ■

Ralf Haut, Düsseldorf

Definitely the right choice

Oxymat 6F EX in PVC production

The positioners of the Sipart PS2series have clearly made apositive impression at BASF. InMay 2001, BASF’s positioningvalves specialist workshop inLudwigshafen decided to order150 of these robust and flexibledevices at the same time, makingthis the largest single order ever received by Siemens in thefield instrumentation area. BASF had already used Sipart PS2positioners and has had excellentexperience with these devices. Inaddition to the remarkably goodcontrol properties, the robustnessand flexibility of the intelligentfield devices in particular weredecisive factors for placing theorder.

T he new devices are being usedin Ludwigshafen for the mod-ernization or retrofitting of

existing plants. BASF is already con-fident that SIPART PS2 will alsocompletely fulfill all expectations thistime, for Sipart PS2 can also be usedin harsh and hazardous productionareas. It can be simply connected tothe main control system via the inte-grated mA-, HART- or Profibus-PA-interface.

Thanks to the on-site operationand a functional display, handling is simple for everyone. Moreover,Sipart PS2 is providing a number ofcontrol parameters on board, so thatthe actuator can be quickly and sim-ply integrated to different fittings,valves and process conditions.

The integrated position feedbacksignal is electrically independent ofthe basic device and guarantees oper-ational reliability, even in process-critical fittings.

Additionally, the low electricalpower consumption of the digitalSIPART PS2 means that the powersupply components do not have to be modified when the conventionalelectropneumatic positioners are be-ing replaced. ■

Winfried Demmerle, Mannheim

Performance with tradition

Sipart PS2 at BASF in Ludwigshafen

Competition within the process industry is getting harsher andharsher. This means that modern plants must be operated exactly attheir optimum. Moreover, plants must be planned and commissionedfaster and more efficiently to secure market shares in time or toprotect technological processes by patent. It is therefore of crucialimportance that technical and human errors are identified andeliminated early in the design process. Using the Simit simulationtool, this can now be carried out in the engineering environment ofthe process control system Simatic PCS 7.

For safety reasons, monitoring of the oxygen concentration has thehighest priority in the production of vinyl chloride. SOLVIN, a jointventure between Solvay and BASF AG, successfully puts this importanttask into the hands of the sensitive Oxymat 6F EX gas analyzer fromSiemens.

Simit can automatically generate a test

environment with the import/export

assistant

7Process News 4/2001

North and central Italy are thehome of most of the country’sleading industries. In addition tothe steel, textile and automotiveindustries, the country’s economyis strongly supported by chemicaland petrochemical industries aswell as globally operatingengineering companies. Thismeans that Italy is an importantmarketplace for process gaschromatography. Siemensrecognized the opportunities to befound in the Italian market and,over the last few years, has builtup a tightly knit sales network.

A fter the successful acquisitionof Applied Automation in1999, Siemens adapted its ex-

isting sales structures. Since then it hascontrolled its chromatography busi-ness both centrally at the Milan na-tional headquarters and via its region-al sales partners Process Analyzers inMilan and Di Pietro Strumentazione,Priolo (Sicily). This new arrangementhas already been proven in several successful projects. In these projects,Siemens has not only demonstrated itstechnical expertise and specialist skillsbut also a new quality of always beingat the customer’s side.

Convincing references

In Ruwais in the United Arab Emi-rates, Bourouge is currently buildingone of the largest polyethylene plantsin the Middle East. In 1999, the Italian EPC company TecnimontSpA and its system integrator ECISawarded Siemens a contract for thedelivery of 20 gas chromatographs forprocess and quality control, to beused in the expansion of the plant.

The process gas chromatographsfrom the Advance Maxum are wellsuited for being integrated into theplant‘s field level. They feature an in-novative device platform allowing foreasy networking and simple interfac-ing with the process control systems.They provide users with completelynew prospects due to their modularapplications and parallel chromato-graphs. The new chromatographswill be commissioned by the end ofthe year or the beginning of next year.

The CONDEA company oper-ates the world’s largest n-paraffinplant in Augusta, Sicily. Siemens isinvolved in the current moderniza-tion and expansion of the produc-tion. Ten new process gas chro-matographs will collect importantdata for the optimization of the batch

process. Typical of the liquid samplesthe systems have to deal with arechanging compositions and highboiling points. Owing to its modularstructure, the liquid dosing valve ofthe PGC302 chromatograph can beoptimally adapted to the sampleproperties. A flash heater dosingmodule is used for extremely high-boiling samples. It allows optimal va-porization of the sample with a heat-ing rate of 250 degrees per second.The combination of capillary separa-tion column technology and valve-free live switching guarantees the ideal separation of the very complexblends and a reliable subsequent de-tection.

Complete system solution

As an addition and expansion to itsproduct business, Siemens also mar-kets complete system solutions. In

November 1999, Snamprogetti choseSiemens to supply ENICHEM Pto.Torres on Sardinia with the analysistechnology for a phenol plant. Theanalytic system will monitor both thepurity of the phenol produced andthe compliance with the emissionlimits. The project included the de-livery of two analysis systems, eachwith a PGC302 chromatograph, sam-ple preparation, heated sample sup-ply lines, sampling probes and datatransfer facilities. The commission-ing of the plant and training of thestaff took place in July 2000. ■

Harald Mahler, Karlsruhe

On the road to successSiemens is expanding its chromatography business in Italy

At their production site inBradford, Princes Soft Drinks hasimplemented one of the firstSimatic IT Framework systems todirectly link the production shopfloor with the SAP-system. In thisproject, Siemens was able to show how to achieve successfulintegration from field level to ERP (Enterprise ResourcePlanning) level, improve plantproduction performance andvisibility of production processeswhile reducing waste, time andproduction costs.

P rinces Group is one of theUK’s Top 20 suppliers to theretail and food service indus-

try, with a range of more than 400product lines. Princes Soft Drinks, adivision of Princes, produces and distributes both retailer brands andbranded soft drinks in various cate-gories from its four sites throughoutthe United Kingdom. When PrincesGroup decided to implement a newintegrated plant management systemfor one of their main manufacturingfacilities located in Bradford, UK,they required an open IntegratedPlant System that was flexible, highlyconfigurable and adaptable to accom-modate the dynamic nature of thefood and beverage industry. “Wewanted to achieve improved plantproduction performance, integra-tion with ERP system (SAP) to givegreater accuracy of raw material in-ventory and reduced downtime” saysNeil Crew, IT Director for PrincesGroup. Additional key points forPrinces’ decision were the guaranteedreliability of the system and scalabilityto provide for a growing business.

Integration is the key

The tasks for the new system werequite demanding. It should reliablyreport manufacturing progress, pro-vide sufficient manufacturing datathroughout the process for the earlydetection and removal of possibleproduction obstacles and offer a reli-able and user-friendly interface forplant operators. Moreover, it was toprovide an open Integrated Plant Sys-tem solution able to control and im-prove the plant’s production perfor-

mance, allow full integration of all ex-isting systems from PLCs to SAP/R3and improve data integrity across theenterprise.

To achieve this impressive set ofgoals, Princes chose a Simatic ITFramework solution. It offers a com-plete product suite for the synchro-nization and coordination of Pro-duction Management, Process Man-agement and Process Control in asingle, consistent Plant System ar-chitecture. “Among the key reasonsfor Princes’ decision to adopt the

Siemens Simatic IT Framework ap-proach were the commitment to cus-tomer satisfaction, world-class prod-ucts using state-of-the-art technologyand the people who understood ourmanufacturing environment”, statesNeil Crew.

At the heart of the project isSimatic IT Production Modeler, abusiness object-oriented tool formodeling the physical and logicalprocess flow of work for a specificsite. Coordinating the components inorder to manage the plant’s manu-

facturing business processes, Produc-tion Modeler is speeding successfulimplementation and serves as the un-derlying business intelligence frame-work for a complete Integrated PlantSystem. With Simatic IT open archi-tecture, not only can the process con-trol and automation systems be inte-grated with the existing ERP systembut it is also possible to access this in-formation from anywhere in theworld.

A whole set of improvements

Through the integration with SAP,the visibility of the productionprocess has been improved and in-formation from controllers can beused for daily analysis and reporting.Operating costs have been reducedand electronic recording of all batchinformation permits the generationof complex batch reports and reducesthe incidence of operator errors. Thenew system is providing Princes withan accurate raw materials inventory,resulting in a reduction in warehousestock and improving productionplanning.

Finally, Simatic IT Framework al-lows the electronic control of the PLCand reading of gathered data, provid-ing also the possibility for further factory automation. The project atBradford has been completed on timeand Princes Soft Drinks is on courseto achieve the goals of improvedplant production performance, inte-gration with ERP system and reducedoperating costs. ■

Andrea Molinari, Genova

The missing linkSimatic IT Framework connects shop floor level to business system

Simatic IT Frame-

work coordinates

all physical units

and integrates

them into the plant

management system

8 Process News 4/2001

The city of Orillia, located north of Toronto, Canada, has found areliable level measurementsystem for the two anaerobicdigesters at its wastewatertreatment center. This facilityfeatures five primary and fivesecondary clarifiers, as well as six aeration basins, servicing aflow of six million gallons a dayvia 21 pumping stations.

T he level in an anaerobic di-gester is a critical measure-ment. If the top foam level

gets too high, it can enter the gas col-lection pipeline and lead to costlymaintenance. In extreme cases, pres-sure can lift the roof off the vessel.Gas can escape, harming staff and theenvironment. Releasing carbon diox-ide and methane gas into the envi-ronment requires notification paper-work and has potentially negative ef-fects on a community blessed withclean lakes and rivers.

The conditions in a digester makelevel measurement particularly chal-lenging. Bubblers are prone to main-tenance problems. Traditional ultra-sonic level monitoring systems areadversely affected by sound absorp-tion caused by the combination ofcarbon dioxide and methane gases

above the foamy level surface, a con-dition aggravated by the steamy en-vironment.

Innovative technology

Radar technology is not affected bythese conditions; however, if a radardevice is simply installed above thevalve, excessive signal noise leads tofaulty signals and unreliable readings.This application required a reliablelevel measurement device to accom-modate the existing rotary valve usedfor instrument isolation. It also need-ed to be inspected and serviced with-out discharging any digester gas intothe environment.

Eldon Wallis, Chief Plant Operatorfor the Orillia plant, found an effectivesolution with the Milltronics IQ Radar160 level measurement device fittedwith a built-in sliding waveguide antenna. The sliding waveguide is aunique feature available with the Mill-tronics radar unit. The waveguide pipecarries the radar signal from the in-strument to the horn antenna, bypass-ing the spool and valve components.The pipe has a clamping seal on thetop of the mounting flange which sealsthe low pressure digester gases afterinstallation.

The system was installed and com-missioned quickly. After bolting the

flange on the spool section, the valvewas opened and the radar instrumentwas lowered and clamped into place.Set-up was easy, with only six para-meter entries required for operation.

Safe and simple service

The Milltronics IQ Radar 160 instru-ment is providing reliable level mea-surement on this difficult challenge.The sliding waveguide configurationeliminates valve signal noise. Thesliding waveguide, using the rotaryvalve between the radar unit and thedigester vessel, has also eliminatedthe related environmental safety is-sues. The instrument can be raised,inspected or removed at any timewithout releasing methane gas intothe environment. Previously, theplant needed permission from theMinistry of the Environment to openthe tank to install or remove an in-strument because the gases in the di-gester tank would then be released in-to the environment.

Now level measurement for thedigesters is reliable and safe. “Onceagain, Milltronics has provided a re-liable solution to a difficult chal-lenge,” states Eldon Wallis. ■

Janet Wile, Canada

ChallengingSolution

IQ Radar 160 Solves Digester Level Monitoring Dilemma

The Town of Cobourg, locatednear Toronto, Canada, hasreduced operating cost at itswastewater pumping station by30% after an upgrade to theplant’s monitoring and controlequipment. The wastewatertreatment system features twopollution control plants with adesigned treatment capacity of3.58 million gallons per day(MGD) at plant 1 and 2.58 MGD atplant 2, plus five sewage pumpingstations. The McGill Streetpumping station is the largestwith a capacity of 4.6 MGD. It isequipped with three constantspeed pumps and a magneticflowmeter.

B efore the plant upgrade, theMcGill station used a manualfloat system to control the

pumps. It required daily servicing offloats, manual inspection, and opera-tion logging. A technician had to driveto the station, manually check thefloat operation, select the lead pump,change the chart recorder paper, logthe pumped hours and the daily vol-ume pumped as measured by a mag-netic flowmeter, and then bring thelog back to the office. The technicianperformed these tasks every day.

Automation of routine tasks

Robert Landry, Plant Superinten-dent, spearheaded the introductionof a remote monitoring system forthe McGill station. He chose Mill-tronics, a leading brand of level mea-surement and process instruments.Automating the routine tasks proveda successful strategy for improving efficiency and reducing costs.

The EnviroRanger ERS 500, a newstate-of-the-art monitoring and con-trol system, was installed. Connectedto a Milltronics Echomax XRS-5transducer, the EnviroRanger panelmount control unit provides accurateand reliable level measurement. It is

also connected to the flowmeter tomonitor flow.

The installation eliminated theneed for daily on-site servicing. It au-tomated the information gatheringand all pump control routines and sequencing setups. EnviroRangerprovides pump control, data-logging,and communications functions. It isintegrated into the existing SCADAsystem running Modbus RTUthrough a telephone modem. Fromthe comfort of the office at the maintreatment plant, the operator cannow remotely track pump run-time,pump faults, number of pump starts,instantaneous flow rate from themagnetic flowmeter, and totalizedpumped volume.

Saving up to 30 percent

“The EnviroRanger improved effi-ciency, lowered the cost of operation,and it keeps me informed,” saidRobert Landry, Plant Superinten-dent. The immediate benefit was timesavings. It eliminated the need fordaily manual inspections, manualpump control settings, and data col-lection. This frees a technician andequipment for other important pro-jects. It improved plant operationand quality control by making moredata available for decision-making.

The EnviroRanger ERS 500 pro-vides instantaneous monitoring ofpump station liquid level, pump status and pump duty cycle. It alsorecords pump starts, pump runtimes, alarm history, and totalpumped volume. The new systempermits continuous monitoring ofliquid level – a major improvementover the previous point level float sys-tem. The investment in automationhas proven beneficial to the bottomline. The financial savings were con-siderable, with operating cost re-duced by 30%. ■

Janet Wile, Canada

Automating for Cost SavingsEnviroRanger ERS 300 automates pumping station

The unique sliding waveguide antenna

on the Milltronics IQ Radar 160 lets

you raise the device for installation or

inspection without releasing methane

gas into the atmosphere.

9Process News 4/2001

When it came to implementing a new process control system inthe sulfates department atTessenderlo Chemie in Ham,Belgium, the engineers defined animpressive set of requirementsfocusing on product quality,environmental benefits and agraphical visualization system.Simatic PCS 7 convincedTessenderlo with its flexibility and functionality that it is theright system for these tasks.

I n Ham, the Tessenderlo Chemiegroup, a world leader in severalspecific fields of chemistry, pro-

duces sulfuric acid, sulfates, phos-phates and hydrochloric acid. Cus-tomers use these raw materials inparticular for the production of fer-tilizers and cattle feed, sweeteners,the treatment of drinking water andeven for billiard ball plastics. A con-siderable proportion of the “endproduct” is used directly within thegroup itself.

Rene De Kesel, head of the electricpower and instrumentation section,explains the task in just a few words.“For some years now, we have beendeveloping a three-year plan for su-pervising the entire sulfates depart-ment using a central display andmonitoring system. Previously, we

had a traditional software packageand a few Simatic S5 controllers, scat-tered through local control rooms. Asa result of ever more stringent quali-ty requirements and the need forcloser monitoring and greater knowl-edge, we naturally had to consider theoption of centralizing data. Our re-quirements were extensive: enhanc-ing product quality, anticipating anyenvironmental problems and inte-grating the current possibilities fortrend curves”. Simatic PCS 7 can solvethese tasks easily.

The very first plans were producedin 1998. Analyzing the old installa-tions systematically, it was found that

everything could be radically ratio-nalized and automated to a higher de-gree. Excellent cooperation betweenTessenderlo Chemie and Siemensand the outstanding flexibility andperformance of Simatic PCS 7 weredecisive factors for the successful implementation of the new system.Much functionality of the existing S5 controllers could be easily handedover to the new automation sys-tems.

Ergonomic aspects played an im-portant role in the configuration ofthe system. The central console ismore comfortable for the operatorsthan the screens, PCs and racks posi-

tioned more or less at random. Thecompany Ethernet links five operatorstations and an engineering station.One of the five stations is still underlocal or decentralized control. TheOS and ES stations are linked viaProfibus to the S7-400 (AS 416-2)systems, while the old S5 programcontrollers are now used partially asdecentralized peripherals. The exist-ing cabling was re-used as far as pos-sible. The network connecting thecontrollers to the PCs uses opticalfibers and includes redundancy.

Switching over was easy

Tessenderlo Chemie is totally satis-fied with the new process control so-

lution. The entire conversion was undertaken in 24 hours and the sys-tem started up perfectly and is work-ing without a hitch since then.

Operator training on the new sys-tem went off without problems. “To-day, we are already saving lots oftime, even though we are for the timebeing, intentionally, using a systemof redundant manual records, so as tobe able to pass the exact figures to ourERP system in case of emergency”,explains Rene De Kesel. These resultsare fully satisfying the demands ofTessenderlo Chemie. ■

Marc Moors, Huizingen (Belgium)

A strategic choiceTessenderlo Chemie centralizes its process control with Simatic PCS 7

processes, a large number of processdata, laboratory analyses and calcula-tions have to be collected and evalu-ated. Until recently, Cinkarna Celjewas using an automation system forthe job that allowed neither an opti-mum process control nor a satisfac-tory linkup to the plant’s informationsystem. When problems with thecontrol and monitoring systemsstarted to occur, Cinkarna decided tomodernize the plant.

Some of the basic requirementsfor the new technology were assur-ing an absolutely constant pigmentquality, greater flexibility in themanufacturing of different titaniumdioxide products and shorter deliv-ery times. Following extensive price-performance comparisons, Cinkar-na finally chose the Simatic PCS 7process control system. In Cinkar-na’s opinion, the modern design andarchitecture, seamless integration ofall production phases, modular con-struction of the system and the op-tion for later smooth integration inthe company-wide information net-work were among the main argu-ments in favor of PCS 7. Thoroughand competent consulting fromSiemens in Ljubljana and good ex-perience with other Siemens prod-ucts also played a major role in thedecision.

Gradual modernization

The plant will be modernized in sev-eral steps within the scope of a de-velopment and research project overa period of about three years. In afirst phase, the entire network infra-structure has already been imple-mented based on Industrial Ether-net. Three Engineering Stations, twoOperator Stations and two AS 416Automation Systems are in opera-tion at the moment. The Simatic ET200M distributed systems collect thesignals at field level and send trans-mit on to the process control systemvia Profibus-DP.

Batch control made easy

One of the two servers is solely re-sponsible for running the applica-tions of the Batch Flexible Version

V4.02 package, enabling CinkarnaCelje to control the complex tasks ofbatch operation comfortably. Cin-karna Celje can now produce varioustypes of titanium dioxide in differentbatches and rearrange the sequenceof the individual technological pro-cesses as is required by the productprofile.

Based on the good experience,Cinkarna Celje is already making de-tailed plans for the next moderniza-tion steps. These will include upgrad-ing of the process control system withthe latest release, integration of all theremaining processes and linking tothe world of IT. With PCS 7 Cinkar-na Celje will be able to control theirprocesses optimally and flexibly inthe further phases of the project. ■

Dejan Ketis, Cinkarna (Slovenia)

Whiter than whiteTitanium dioxide production at Cinkarna Celje with Simatic PCS 7

The production of titanium dioxide is a complex process. Numerousproduction steps, high plant throughput and an enormous amount ofdata ask a lot from production control and monitoring. The establishedplant at Cinkarna Celje, Slovenia was no longer able to keep up with thegrowing demands of the customers and so the whole production line isnow being modernized with the Simatic PCS 7 process control system.

T he Cinkarna Celje companylooks back on a long and suc-cessful tradition. Today it has

1,300 employees and is one of themost successful companies in Slove-nia. One of their main products withthe highest sales figures is titanium

dioxide. It is primarily used in thepaint and varnish industry and inplastics production as a colorant andadditive.

In order to monitor the complexmanufacturing process with numer-ous batches and continuous sub-

Process News 4/2001

P r o c e s s N e w sPublisher

Siemens AG,Automation and Drive Technology

Responsible for contentAnton S. Huber

EditorCornelia Dürrfeld, Siemens AG A&D AS PAS

Östliche Rheinbrückenstr. 50, D-76187 KarlsruheTel: +49 (0) 7 21 5 95-25 91,Fax: +49 (0) 7 21 5 95-63 70

e-mail: cornelia.duerrfeld@khe.siemens.de

Editorial committeeDavid Favell, Dr. Michael Gilluck, Achim Heim,

Walter Huber, Michael Lang, Harald Mag, Hartmut Oesten, Manfred Schirner, Bernd Renner

Publishing housePublicis KommunikationsAgentur GmbH

Head of periodicalsWolfgang Meyer

CoordinationSabine Zingelmann

Artwork and layoutWerner Völkl

PhotosMelbourne Water Corporation (1, 2), Picture Press(1, 2, 3, 4), Brisbane Water (2), Siemens Axiva (3),

Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig-Halle (4), EPR (4), dpa (5), Zingelmann (5), Orillia (8), Cinkarna Celje (9), Tessenderlo Chemie (9)

ISSN 1430 2292

© 2001 at Siemens AG

All rights reserved by the publisher. No part of thisdocument may be reproduced without prior writtenpermission from the editor. Process News is printed

on 100% recycled paper.

SIMATIC S7-400, ET 200, SIPAN, SIPART,OXYMAT, ULTRAMAT, TOTALLY INTEGRATED

AUTOMATION are registered trademarks of Siemens AG.

If trademarks, technical solutions or similar are not included in the list, it does not imply that

they are not registered.

Siemens AG, Geschäftsgebiet Prozessautomatisierung und -instrumente, Östl. Rheinbrückenstr. 50, 76187 Karlsruhe

Order No. E20001-M7401-B100-X-7600004900 RPE14 1201 28.Printed in Germany

Subject to change without prior noticeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft

NTER

NET

INTE

RNET

INTE

RNET

TERN

ETINTE

RNTE

RNETINTE

RNET

INTE

RNET IN

TERN

TERN

ET

NTER

NET

NET

RNET

INTE

RNE

TERN

ETNTER

NET

Process News

on the Internet

www.processnews.com

In Germany, as in many other European countries, cremation isbecoming more and more popu-

lar. An increasing number of peopleare choosing this type of funeral.

Since several years, a special ordi-nance is regulating the amounts ofdust and pollutants being emitted in-to the atmosphere. This means thatall crematoria in Germany must beequipped with suitable analysis sys-tems.

For this purpose, Siemens has developed a system comprising ananalysis cabinet with sample prepara-

A t a core supplier conferencein September 2001, KoSa,one of the world’s leading

manufacturers of polyester, an-nounced supplier awards in the fieldsof capital equipment, electrical & in-strumentation and mechanics. KoSaused this award to honor supplierswho have convinced them with their

Five new websites provideinformation on differenttopics concerning processautomation from and bySiemens.

At www.siemens.com/pcs7,visitors will find infor-mation on new products,

application stories, order infor-mation and numerous add-onsfor the Simatic PCS 7 processcontrol system.

The www.fielddevices.comsite is dedicated to the compre-hensive topic of field instrumen-tation, introducing innovativefield devices from Siemens.

Three industry-specific sitesillustrate how tailor-made solu-tions for a certain type of appli-cation automation can be assem-bles with systems and field de-vices from Siemens. Companiesin the glass, chemicals and phar-maceutical industries place veryspecific requirements on the au-tomation of their systems.

Owing to innovative prod-ucts, automation expertise andindustry knowledge, Siemens isin a position to put together theideal solution. At www.siemens.com/chemicals, www.siemens.com/glass-industry and www.siemens.com/pharmaceuticals,visitors can find out what ser-vices Siemens offers that specificsector. ■

New on the Web

F R O M A R O U N D T H E W O R L D

• Stop Press

+++ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Siemens was awarded

the contract for the delivery

of 1,176 Sitrans P DS III

transducers for the Khuff

gas project in Saudi Arabia

by the Saudi Arabian Oil

Company (Aramco)

++++++++++++++++

Spain’s biggest sewage

treatment plant is equipped

with a Simatic PCS 7 process

control system.

The plant is run by Depu-

radora del Baix Llobregat

S.A. and treats the sewage

of several communities with

a population of 2 million

in the Barcelona area.

+++ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

HANNOVER FAIR Hannover, GermanyFair for Industry, Automation and Innovation April 15 to 20, 2002

Salon d’Analyse Industrielle Paris, France January 29 to 31, 2002

FAIR PREVIEW

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

tion, one or more Ultramat 23 ana-lyzers and an evaluation unit. The Ultramat 23 can be operated for ayear without maintenance since it isautomatically calibrated with the ambient air. This makes the systemparticularly suitable for use in crema-toria.

Currently, 22 complete analysissystems have been supplied to sever-al crematoria. Other manufacturersof analysis systems for crematoriahave also recognized the advantagesof the Ultramat 23, which has led toan additional 25 individual Ultramat23 devices being supplied to systemmanufacturers. ■

Hartmut Oesten, Hannover

A whole range of innovativeprocesses and applicationsare being studied in the Roy-

al Chitralada Projects to reduce bothhigh energy costs and pollution inThailand. His Majesty King Bhumi-phol has allocated an area within thecompound of his residence Chitra-lada Palace for use in agricultural research. The Royal Chitralada Pro-jects are non-profit making and serve experimentation and demonstrationpurposes.

Among these projects is an ex-perimental plant for the generation offuel-grade bioethanol. This substancecan be used as an additive for con-

ventional petroleum-based fuel or asa sole fuel. An important sponsor andowner of the process itself is the Thai-land and Singapore based companyEC Chem. Walter Sarakun, GeneralManager at EC Chem, and Siemenshave been cooperating successfully inseveral other projects, for example at

Clariant in Indo-nesia. ThereforeSiemens quicklydecided on sup-plying the SimaticPCS 7 process con-trol system and sev-eral field instru-ments for this pro-ject. The German-Thailand Instituteprogrammed theapplication soft-

ware. In the summer of 2001 theplant was handed over to operationby Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirinthorn. If the ex-perimental project is successful,about 100 commercial plants apply-ing the same principle will be built inThailand. In this case Siemens hasgood chances to be awarded the con-tract for supplying the analytical andautomation equipment. ■

Moiz Parekh, Siemens Thailand

excellent product ranges, innovativeideas and good cooperation.

Siemens is proud to have won thisyear’s award in the electrical & in-strumentation sector. KoSa based itsdecision on the successful long-termcooperation in the field of pro-cess automation, particularly at the Gersthofen production site. KoSa also stressed the great expertise ofSiemens in new business fields suchas e-business and emphasized the im-portance of a working internationalaccount management. Siemens isproviding such an account manage-

ment, and one benefit of this is thatthe supplier’s potential could be op-timally used in the cooperation be-tween Siemens, Siemens-Axiva andthe KoSa locations in Charlotte andHouston in the USA.

Siemens is quite rightly veryproud to have received this awardand sees the supplier award as addi-tional incentive to continue this goodcooperation in coming years. ■

Dr. Otto Graf, Frankfurt

Siemens receivessupplier award

Working forThailand’s future

Analysis systemsfor crematoria

Why not just take a look!

www.siemens.com/pcs7

www.fielddevices.com

www.siemens.com/chemicals

www.siemens.com/glass-industry

www.siemens.com/pharmaceuticals