Reviewer details
Name: G. R. Nicholson
Position/designation: chief CIC technician
Company: Anglogold Ashanti
Product details
Vendor: Siemens
Product name and version: WinCC Ver 6.0
Vendor telephone number: 011 652 3683
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.siemens.com/winc
General
Q: What industry (eg, mining, food and beverage, automotive etc) is the scada being applied in?
A: Anglogold Ashanti Mponeng Gold Mine.
Q: Describe the application briefly giving a description of any existing control systems, any previous scada system that was in place etc. If relevant describe the switchover from the previous system.
A: The application comprises the control and supervisory system of the entire shaft from surface to level 121 (4,3 km) plus ice plants and all associated fridge plants at Mponeng. Existing system comprised Siemens S5 150U, 115U on an L2 backbone (copper) integrating into Adroit as well as Wizcon scada systems.
The retrofit/upgrade entails the replacement of all Simatic S5 PLCs with Simatic S7 PLCs based on the new Simatic MP370 with WinAC MP for complete local control integrated into the new Simatic WinCC 6.0 for centralised supervisory control and high speed data historian as well as Internet access throughout the plant and back to the distributed MP370 stations. The whole system is based on a design that makes each level and plant section redundant from the central control section, yet integrated for total accessibility from each distributed station. A central engineering station allows for full on-line access to each system on PLC as well as panel and scada through an Ethernet backbone. The system will comprise of 37 PLCs on current design.
Q: Who did the system integration?
A: The first phase of the integration was completed in-house, from design to implementation.
Q: Approximately how many man-hours did the integration take?
A: Personnel used were one chief CIC technician who implemented the design, a system technician who did all PLC, touch panel and WinCC integration, one instrumentation technician and two instrumentation mechs who installed instrumentation, PLC, remote I/O and network hardware. All the project work was done in tandem with normal operational duties.
Q: How is the after-sales support handled (eg, remote-dial-up, email, Internet access etc)?
A: A full service agreement entailing breakdown, training, project consultation, software update service and on-site inspections was set up between Anglogold Ashanti and Siemens.
Q: What sort of licensing agreement is used on this particular system? Does one licence cover all modules, or can the user only buy those modules that he wishes to use?
A: The system is modular in design allowing us to purchase the base system with options as required as the design expands.
System architecture
Q: How many tag points/I/O does the installation have? Analog? Digital? Maximum possible?
A: At present the system has an I/O count of ±1500. WinCC allows for 64 K per server, with up to 12 pairs of redundant servers.
Q: What operating system is the scada running on (eg, Windows NT, Unix etc)?
A: We are currently using Windows 2000 Server and Workstation, this is the current standard at Mponeng, however, WinCC also allows for Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server.
Q: What impressed you most about the architecture? Open standards, wide range of drivers, the ability to upgrade, etc? Please elaborate.
A: The simplicity of the integration as all components are from the same vendor. The OPC functionality between WinCC and third party devices was easy to accomplish thanks to the fact that OPC Server and Client are standard with WinCC, and OPC Server is enabled by default, even on a client machine, requiring no configuration. The system is also based on Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise edition, which allows for simple integration into higher level systems already present on the plant.
Q: Is the system integrated onto an intranet or the Internet? If so, does the configuration allow simple remote monitoring, or is it configured to allow full remote control? If not, what level of intranet/Internet control does the scada allow for future use?
A: Yes. The options purchased allow both full control and/or data monitoring only across both intranet and Internet, depending on user access levels. Plant performance analysis is also made easy through these tools, with Internet based queries into the high-speed historian built into WinCC 6.0 and Microsoft Excel add-ins. We are also making use of the thin-client capabilities of the system with full control access allowed to our CE based MP370 panels using the built in Pocket Explorer.
Q: What sort of redundancy is built into the system?
A: The redundancy is full hot stand by between WinCC servers, checking for communication failures, PC availability, application errors, etc. There is full transparency between the servers, so any data lost during a server's downtime is automatically recovered as soon as the node comes back online. Historian redundancy is also available. We have also used MP370 panels with local and central connectivity to ensure an additional level of redundancy because of the extreme nature of our application, and the environment in which it lives.
Graphics
Q: Describe the graphics development process - eg, did you use standard library images, or did you have to draw images from scratch?
A: We designed some of the graphics ourselves and made extensive use of the Active X library of WinCC 6.0. The system allows for the importation of GIF, JPEG, BMP, WMF, EMF and CAD files, as well as having over 3500 professionally drawn ActiveX components in the default library.
Q: How would you describe the library of graphic images?
A: For the purpose of a scada implementation the library is more than sufficient.
Q: Did you use any 'special' images (eg, embedded video clips, photographs, 3D images etc)?
A: Yes. Video will be implemented so that control room personnel will be able to monitor from the surface to the pump stations and other processes underground.
Compatibility
Q: Did you run the scada in conjunction with any third-party application software? Describe.
A: Yes, we have integrated between Remcon I/O at present and will be integrating a full Environmental Detection System Vent21 from DesPro, across an OPC connection in the future. An Energy management system is also planned for the next phase with the implementation also across OPC.
Q: Does the scada allow for the user to create scripts to perform specific tasks? Describe any specific scripts that were written for this project.
A: WinCC 6.0 comes standard with ANSII C, VBA and VBS.
Management reporting
Q: Is a trending and historical data reporting system included? Please elaborate.
A: WinCC 6.0 comes with a built in High speed Historian based on Microsoft SQL Server 2000. Trending the data stored in this built in historian is simple with the ActiveX trend control supplied with the system, allowing for easy customisation to our own standards and requirements.
Q: Is a management reporting system included in the package?
A: We are doing this through the Internet/Intranet option WinCC Dat@Monitor, which allows us to create Excel based reports and store them on our Web server for easy access across the Internet/Intranet.
Q: Is the system integrated into a manufacturing execution system?
A: We will be integrating into the Maintenance Management System used by Anglogold.
Q: Is the scada system integrated into a management reporting or control system (eg, SAP, Baan)?
A: Not at present. Under investigation for a later phase of the project.
Conclusion
Q: What impressed you the most about the system?
A: The simplicity, integration with the vendor tree of products, the backup and support from Siemens. The Internet/Intranet systems availability and configuration ease. The scalabilty of the system and the varied options available to us in the design of the overall architecture of our application. The dedication to industry standards by all the components selected, no proprietary standards and no black boxes!
Q: What was the predominant feature (or features) that made you decide to employ this scada, rather than another (ie, ease of use, support from the vendor, upgrade path, redundancy features etc)?
A: The value for money that we are getting from the system within the budget that was allocated to the project, the partnership that we have with Siemens in the design and ongoing implementation of our system, and the roadmap that we have laid out for the future, ensuring a future proof system.
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