The new Version 6.0 of the Simatic PCS 7 process control system from Siemens Automation & Drives (A&D) offers increased system capacity and overall performance. Usability and scalability have been significantly improved, with the ability to make changes during operation has also having been expanded.
The modern client/server architecture of Simatic PCS 7 Version 6.0 supports up to 12 servers, and up to 32 clients per server. The quantity structure per server has been increased to approximately 5000 process tags. This further increases scalability - from the starter level with around 160 process tags, to the full expansion level with up to 60 000 process tags. The integrated Simatic PCS-7 system platform is suitable for anything from small applications right up to large, complex plants, or networked configurations of larger plants at a production site. Simatic PCS 7 thus covers all sizes of process plants and is especially suitable for standardisation at a production site. For customers, this means Simatic PCS 7 grows with the expansion level of the plant, expensive reserve capacities are eliminated, and reduced spare parts inventory results in further reductions in costs.
Batch functionality has also been expanded in Version 6.0. The new Batch-flexible software is 'steplessly' scalable and can be used in plants of any size - either as a single-user system, or within a modern client/server architecture. Fault-tolerant design of the batch server is also possible.
Further functional improvements to Batch-flexible and Simatic PCS 7 in the new Version 6.0 include the hierarchical recipe structure in accordance with ISA S88.01, an integrated class concept for simple creation of neutral recipes for plant sections, optimised plant usage through assignment of plants at runtime, management of recipe operations using the user library (ROP), and the integration of library recipe operations as a reference in recipe procedures.
The validation functionality has been further expanded in Version 6.0 to acknowledge the increasing importance of plants requiring 21 CFR Part 11 validation. It now encompasses audit trail and thus the logging of changes to recipes and recipe operations, as well as the logging of modifications during production. Other new features include access protection using a plant-wide centralised user management system based on Windows 2000 and including the PCS 7 OS, and the use of electronic signatures.
Thanks to the new high-performance archive system - based on the Microsoft SQL Server - approximately 5000 process values can now be archived per second, and message bursts of around 15 000 can be controlled in 10 seconds. To increase availability and protect quality-relevant process data, redundant configuration of the server is preferable, but it can also be operated as a standalone unit. The archive data are stored using data compression. An integrated archive back-up is available as standard for swapping and protecting archives.
In order to make the larger quantity structures and volumes of messages clearer for the operator, 'message priorities' can be assigned as another attribute in addition to the familiar message classes. Operators are also supported with functions like 'loop-in-alarm' and 'open picture via measuring point' that that will take them with one mouse click (without additional configuring overhead), straight to the relevant process display where they can deal with the cause of the fault.
Functions in the engineering system support the expanded quantity structure of Simatic PCS 7 when it comes to mastering large and extremely large projects. With multiproject engineering, a large project can be broken down into several sub-projects according to technological criteria, so that several configuring engineers can work on them in parallel - an important contribution to effective handling of large plants.
The process object view has also been introduced to the engineering system. This consists of a tree with the familiar technological view as well as a representation in table form with all aspects of a process object such as parameters, signals, messages, picture objects, and archive variable. These aspects can be checked coherently in the table but also modified direct in the table.
Advances in renaming objects are also worth highlighting. For example, it is now possible to copy and then rename a fully configured and tested plant section with all diagrams, sequential controls, and pictures in its entirety. In doing so, all internal interconnections between the diagrams, between pictures and components, and to the sequential controls, are automatically adapted. In this way, complex plant sections or entire production lines of an extensive plant can be reproduced in the shortest possible time.
Modifications are implemented significantly faster in Version 6.0. Compilation times have been halved, and it takes just a few minutes to make smaller modifications in a controller, or to add a new process tag. This prevents waiting times and contributes towards reducing start-up costs.
The ET 200M process I/O and the components for converting Profibus-DP to Profibus-PA have now also been released for use in explosion protection zone 2. This means more freedom in setting up I/Os in the field, increased flexibility for distributed configurations, and therefore cost benefits for the user. A significant increase in flexibility has also been achieved by the expansion of online modification facilities. On all standard S7-400 controllers, changes such as the addition/removal of new stations or I/O modules can be made during operation for the main ET 200M I/O family on Profibus-DP. Online modification has also been expanded at the visualisation level in parallel with the controller level. All modifications made on the engineering station are downloaded to the operator station online over the Industrial Ethernet plant bus (server and clients) - without impairing ongoing operation.
For more information contact Siemens Automation & Drives, 086 0808 080.
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