CENTUMTM VP R6.11.10, an improved version of the CENTUM VP integrated production control system and a key component of the OpreX Control and Safety System family of products, will be released on May 31, 2024, revealed Yokogawa Electric Corporation.
Through the addition of a redundancy function to a new IO card that allows communications via the PROFINET communications protocol for industrial networks, this new version of CENTUM VP improves plant uptime.
Additionally, functional improvements have been made to the CCC Inside for the Yokogawa CENTUM VP compressor control system and the Unified Alarms and Conditions Server (UACS) in order to save project costs and increase plant operations efficiency.
Development Background
With its exceptional real-time speed, PROFINET is one of the most popular Ethernet-based industrial communications protocols in use today. Yokogawa created an IO board with PROFINET functionality in 2019.
Although this made it possible for CENTUM VP to monitor the performance of PROFINET-compatible devices, further work needed to be done to increase uptime and dependability. In response to this requirement, Yokogawa has created a new PROFINET IO card with redundancy capability, making high uptime and reliability a reality.
This new CENTUM VP also includes functional upgrades to the UACS and CCC Inside for the Yokogawa CENTUM VP compressor control system, which will improve engineering effectiveness and plant operations.
Product Features
PROFINET IO card redundancy support for greater reliability and increased uptime
To improve plant uptime, an S2*1 redundancy function has been added to the new PROFINET IO card, enabling its use in a redundant configuration. Thanks to this and enhancements that have been made to the card’s network diagnostics function, this device has been certified by a third-party agency as having all the PROFINET functions for Conformance Class*2 B (CC-B), including the system redundancy that is so important in process control. By supporting the use of NAMUR NE107*3 compliant self-diagnostic information from devices that support PA Profile 4.0*4 and enabling the use of a motor control center that centrally controls motor power sources, remote I/O and Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL) compatible device operation monitoring are also now possible, and this expands the scope of control that is possible with a single control system.
Improved plant operational efficiency with alarm management that supports NAMUR NA102
When a specific alarm has been suppressed in the UACS, the suppression status can now be displayed in the Human Interface Station (HIS) graphics. By enabling the implementation of alarm management in compliance with NAMUR NA102*3, this can help to improve operational efficiency throughout a plant.
Seamless integration of process and compressor control systems
It is now possible to undertake integration and engineering using a single CENTUM VP project database for the process and compressor control systems. This release of CENTUM VP also enables process and compressor control systems to be connected to a Vnet/IP*5 control network within the same domain. As such, this allows highly seamless system integration and helps to reduce project and maintenance costs.
*1 A duplexing method defined in PROFINET. For a single PROFINET IO device, an application relation (AR) with two PROFINET IO controllers is established (primary AR and backup AR).
*2 This defines the scope of functions possessed by a PROFINET device. There are three incremental classes: CC-A, CC- B, and CC-C.
*3 NAMUR: German process automation user organization; NE107: Specifications for self-diagnosis functions of field devices; NA102: Specifications for procedures for designing alarm management within process control systems.
*4 An application profile for PROFIBUS and PROFINET devices defined by PROFIBUS and PROFINET International.
*5 A control network developed by Yokogawa that offers both high reliability and responsiveness and conforms to the IEC61784-2 communications standard for process industries.
Key Markets
Oil refining, petrochemicals, chemicals, electric power, pulp and paper, gas, pharmaceuticals, food, iron and steel, water supply and wastewater treatment, non-ferrous metals, metal, cement, etc.
Applications
Plant operational monitoring and automatic control.
