EPFL, Spring 2016

1.1 Automation Overview

Definition

Automation (automation, Automation):

1) set of all measures aiming at replacing human work through machines
(e.g. automation is applied science)
2) the technology used for this purpose
(e.g. this company has an automation department)

Automation (automatisation, Automatisierung)

1) replacement of human work through machines
(e.g. the automatisation of the textile factory caused uproar of the workers)
2) replacement of conscious activity by reflexes
(e.g. drill of the sailors allows the automatisation of ship handling)

(Cf electricity and electrification)

Overview Definition Industrial Automation | 2016 2
Automation as a hierarchy of services
5 Planning, Statistics, Finances administration

4 Production planning, orders, purchase enterprise

3 Workflow, order tracking, resources (manufacturing) execution

SCADA =
2 Supervisory Supervisory Control
And Data Acquisition

Group control

Unit control
1
Field

Sensors A V T
& actors
0 Primary technology

Overview Hierarchy Industrial Automation | 2016 3

Automation and living beings

Automation =
Society
the neural system
Enterprise
Trends & History = Brain

Display and react = Cortex

Communication networks = Neurons, spine

Controller = Ganglions

Sensors & Actors = Sensory cells & muscles

Physical plant = Skeleton

Overview Hierarchy Industrial Automation | 2016 4

Automation as a computer network
Internet
DB, Historians,
Operator Workplaces
Optimizers, MES

Plant
Network OPC Server OPC Server OPC Server
Control Network
Controller IEC 61850 station bus

Fieldbus Hart Profinet Protection

HART
mux
& Control

Instruments

Process
Instrumentation LV Substation Power
Power
Electrification Automation Management
generation
Overview Networks Industrial Automation | 2016 5
Expectations
Process Optimisation
• Energy, material and time savings, quality improvement and stabilisation
• Reduction of waste, pollution control
• Compliance with regulations and laws, product tracking
• Increase availability, safety
• Fast response to market
• Connection to management and accounting (SAP™)
-> Acquisition of large number of “process variables”, data mining
Personnel costs reduction
• Simplify interfaces, assist decision
• Require data processing, displays, data base, expert systems
-> Human-Machine-Interface (HMI)
Asset Optimisation (gestion des moyens de production)
• Automation of engineering, commissioning and maintenance
• Software configuration, back-up and versioning
• Life-cycle control, maintenance support
-> Engineering Tools
Overview Expectations Industrial Automation | 2016 6
Data quantity in plants
Power Plant 30 years ago
100 measurement and action variables (called "points")
analog controllers, analog instruments
one central "process controller" for data monitoring and protocol.
Coal-fired power plant today
10'000 points, comprising
8'000 binary and analog measurement points and
2'000 actuation point
1'000 micro-controllers and logic controllers
Nuclear Power Plant
three times more points than in conventional power plants

Electricity distribution network

100’000 - 10’000’000 points
information flow to the operators: ~ 5 kbit/s.
human processing capacity: about 25 bit/s
without computers, 200 engineers (today: 3)
Data reduction and processing is necessary to operate plants

Overview Data Industrial Automation | 2016 7

Contents

1 Introduction
1.1 Automation and its importance
1.2 Examples of automated processes
1.3 Types of plants and controls
1.3.1 Open loop and closed loop control
1.3.2 Continuous processes
1.3.3 Discrete processes
1.3.3 Mixed processes
1.4 Automation hierarchy
1.5 Control System Architecture

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Plant Automation

All automation systems share a common structure

They differ in
• the type of plant controlled,
• quantity of information,
• geographical distribution.

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Automation Systems - World Players
Largest Company Based Major mergers

ABB CH-SE Brown Boveri, ASEA, CE, Alfa-Laval, Elsag-Bailey

Alstom-Schneider-Areva FR-GB Alsthom, GEC, CEGELEC, Telemécanique,..
Emerson US Fisher, Rosemount
General Electric US
Hitachi - Yokogawa JP
Honeywell US
Rockwell Automation US Allen Bradley, Rockwell,..
Invensys UK Foxboro, Siebe, BTR, Triconex, Wonderware…
Siemens DE Plessey, Landis & Gyr, Stäfa Controls, Cerberus,..

€ 80 Mia / year business

(depends on viewpoint),
growing 5 % annually

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Terms

plant: the object of automation

F: site, usine, centrale (électricité)
D: Prozess, Werk, Fabrik, Kraftwerk
E: planta, fabrica, instalación

general contractor: organizes the suppliers of the different components.

turnkey factory: the client only hires consultants to supervise the contractor
increasingly, the general contractor has to pay itself by operating the plant.
increasingly, the suppliers are paid on results….

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Four distinct businesses

primary technology automation equipment engineering & maintenance

(mechanical, electrical) (control & command) commissioning & disposal

offered by different companies

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Life-phases of a Plant (Example: Rail Vehicle)

Manufacturers
Equipment Design control air conditioning brakes
(développement, Entwicklung)
Equipment Production
(production, Herstellung)
car body design by assembler
Assembler (ensemblier)
Engineering
Sleeping Wagon XL5000
(bureau d’étude, Projektierung)
Commissioning
(mise en service, Inbetriebnahme) Start on service
Client, Service
brakes
Maintenance replacement
(entretien, Unterhalt) brakes

Out of service
Recycling
(Recyclage, Wiederverwertung)

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Research and Development

The components and tools are developped

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Design

From the customer’s requirement specs to the system design

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Programming and engineering

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Factory Acceptance Test
The client verifies that the system is ready

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Commissioning on site
hard work …

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EPFL, Spring 2016

1.2 Examples of Automated Plants

Examples of Automated Plants

1 Introduction
1.1 Automation and its importance
1.2 Applications of automation
1.3 Types of Plants and Control
1.3.1 Open Loop and Closed Loop Control
1.3.2 Continuous processes
1.3.2 Discrete processes
1.3.3 Mixed processes
1.4 Automation hierarchy
1.5 Control System Architecture

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Cars

today: 50..100 ECU (electronic control units)

critical new applications:

brake-by-wire, steer-by-wire (“X-by-wire”) increased safety ?
extreme price squeezing
¼ of the cost is electronics, tendency increasing
http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/advanced-cars/this-car-runs-on-code
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Mercedes CL 600 drive-by-wire

 ABS, EPS, Airbag, GPS, Track, Distance keeper, parking help, …

 The control system reacts in 0,005s, a human driver in 0,2 .. 20 seconds.
 Automatic cars can reduce accidents and traffic jams.
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BMW 7
 90% of the functions of a car rely on software
 40% of the costs stem from the electronics
 70 computers
 2000 measuring points
 6 data networks
 200 km wiring

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Rail vehicles
more than 20 interconnected computers on a locomotive

radio link vehicle control unit

display unit

VCU VCU
DU DU
TCU TCU

SBB 460
brakes diagnostics traction control unit energy signaling

Benefits: reduce operation costs, faster diagnostics, better energy management,

automatic train control.

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Airplanes

“avionics”:
• flight control (safe flight envelope, autopilot, “engineer”)
• flight management
• flight recording (black boxes, turbine supervision)
• diagnostics
• “fly-by-wire”

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Airbus A380 – Data network

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Space shuttle Discovery (one engine)

Without computers no space shuttle…

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Manufacturing

e.g., manufacturing motor parts for cars

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Robots

extension limited to 2-3 m,

frequent reprogramming for new tasks, tool changes.
simple embedded computer, hierarchical control

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Flexible Automation

numerous conveyors, robots, CNC machines, paint shops, logistics.

Download from production management, connection to administration

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Pharmaceutical Industry

Inventory
Recipe management
Packaging
Sampling
Tracking & tracing
Comply with government rules:

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Warehouses
extreme dependency on the
availability of the control
system

Connection to
* supply chain management,
* order fulfilment
* customer relationship and
* commercial accounting (SAP)

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Printing machines

tasks of control system:

motor control (synchronisation of the printing cylinders)
ink and water control
paper web control (reelstands (Rollenwechsler, bobines), web tension, emergency knife)
interface to operator (commands, alarms)
production preparation and statistics - up to the press room
very high requirements on availability: two hours delay and the production is lost.
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Oil & Gas, petrochemicals

"upstream": from the earth to the refinery

down-sea control

special requirement: high pressure, saltwater, inaccessibility

explosive environment with gas.

distribution
special requirement: environmental protection

"downstream": from the oil to derived products

special requirement: extreme, explosive environment

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Chemical industry

logistics,
local control of reactors

e.g. LONZA

Characterized by batches of products, reuse of production reactors for different

product types (after cleaning).

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Process Industry
Process Industry = industries de transformation, Verfahrenstechnik
(one of the many meanings of “process”)

Cement

Pulp & Paper

Metals and Minerals
Glass production
Chemical ….

Continuous flow of materials, often 24 hours a day

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Cement Works
The rotating oven is the
heart of the cement
process: the grinded kiln
is burnt and comes
out as chunks later
reduced to powder.

Control tasks: Oven

rotation and
temperature control
fuel supply, silos,
transport belts,
grinding mills,
pollution monitoring,
quality supervision,
filler stations,...

Switzerland leading
in Europe
(Holcim, Jura, …)
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Building Automation
basics: fire, intrusion, climate, energy management
HVAC = Heat, Ventilation and Cooling

visitors, meeting rooms, catering,….

low price tag

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Automation of Building Groups

EPFL

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Airports
large building automation system:
fire,
security access,
energy,
lighting,
air conditioning,
communications,
traffic control

movie
luggage control in
Zurich-Airport
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Traffic control
fire
intrusion
energy
water
ventilation
pollution monitoring
cameras
light control
traffic jams prevention,....

1985, Tunnel Letten near Zurich

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Harbours
from ship planning
to crane manipulation
and stock control

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Water treatment

(fresh and waste water)

manage pumps, tanks, chemical composition, filters, movers, quality...

auxiliaries: methane electricity generation

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Desalination plants

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Power plants
Hydro
- river
- dams
- storage dams
Thermo
- coal
- gas
- atom
- solar
- waste
Alternative
- wind tasks:
- photo-voltaic fuel supply
primary process control (steam, wind)
personal, plant and neighbourhood safety
monitoring environmental impact
electricity generation (voltage/frequency)
energy distribution (substation)
24 / 365 availability
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Wind farms and energy storage

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Solar farms: 3000 mirrors or panels to control

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Substations

protection (Lines, transformers, generators) very high speed response

control (remote or local) to guarantee power flow, safe operation (interlocking)
measurement (local and remote), electricity bill, power flow in grid

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Power transmission network
International
Control Center Substation
SS (Unterstation , sous-station)

National
Control Center

SS

Regional
Control Center
Regional Control Center

SS PP
SS Power Plant
switchyard, PP
PP Centrale,
SY postes HT SS Kraftwerk
Schaltfeld Substation PP SY

Huge number of "points" (power plants, transformers, breakers, substations)

2km to 2000 km apart.
All time-critical operations executed locally in the substations and power generation units.

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Railways electricity network

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Pipelines

particularities: long-range communication system, safety, explosive environment

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Application summary
Power generation hydro, coal, gas, oil, shale, nuclear, wind, solar
Transmission electricity, gas, oil
Distribution electricity, water
Process paper, food, pharmaceutical,
metal production and processing, glass, cement,
chemical, refinery, oil & gas
Manufacturing computer aided manufacturing (CIM)
flexible fabrication, appliances, automotive, aircrafts

Storage silos, elevator, harbor, retail houses,

deposits, luggage handling
Building heat, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC)
access control, fire, energy supply, tunnels,
parking lots, highways,....
Transportation rolling stock, street cars, sub-urban trains,
busses, trolley busses, cars,
ships, airplanes, rockets, satellites,...

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Assessment

• Name applications and indicate at least one task for the control system.

• How are the plant types in this presentation ordered ?

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EPFL, Spring 2016

1.3 Plant Categories

1.3 Contents

1 Introduction
1.1 Automation and its importance
1.2 Applications of automation
1.3 Plants and controls
1.3.1 Open loop and closed loop control
1.3.2 Continuous processes
1.3.3 Discrete processes
1.3.3 Mixed processes
1.4 Automation hierarchy
1.5 Control system architecture

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Plant types

• Diverse applications, but principles are always the same.

• A few basic types of plants

• Control system hardware and software shared by most

applications.

• Distinction depends on point of view, domain-specific

vocabulary and marketing.

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 Control Tasks
measure - command - control
mesure - commande - régulation - conduite
messen - steuern - regeln - leiten

control: el conjunto de medidas que permiten influenciar el estado de un

proceso para un propósito dado

Conduite: l'ensemble des mesures qui permettent d'influencer l'état

d'un processus dans un but fixé.
Leiten - die Gesamtheit aller Massnahmen, die einen im Sinne festgelegter
Ziele erwünschten Ablauf eines Prozesse bewirken (DIN 19222)

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 Open loop and closed loop
open loop:
3 temperature
2 4 on
1 5
/off temperature is imprecise,
depends on ambient temperature and
cooking quantity
but time of heating can be modulated.

closed loop:
180
140
200
120 220 + higher temperature closely controlled,
- /lower requires measurement of the output
variable (temperature)

temperature sensor

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 Open loop and closed loop
open-loop control / command closed-loop control / regulation
(commande / pilotage, Steuerung, ) (régulation, Regelung)

keywords: sequential / combinatorial, keywords: feedback, analog variables,

binary variables, discrete processes, continuous processes, "process control"
"batch control", "manufacturing"
set-point (solicited)
valeur de consigne control variable
Sollwert, (analog)
binary
output controller output
sequencer + plant
plant
-
error
clock (deviation) plant
plant state
display state
display
measurement measurement
process value
(valeur mesurée,
Istwert)

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 Traditional allocation of function of computers in control systems

open-loop functions closed-loop functions

Data acquisition and pre-processing Protection and interlocking*

Sequential control Regulation

Data transfer between plant and operator Process-driven sequential control

Display the plant state Process optimization algorithms

Logging and history recording

the control system acts directly
Simulation and training and autonomously on the plant

Interlocking*: prevent dangerous actions,

such as all lights on green at a crossing
(interbloquage, Verriegelung, enclavamiento)
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Discrete and continuous plants

discrete control continuous control

(binary) (analogue)
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 Continuous plants
Examples: drives, ovens, chemical reactors
x y
F(p)

States described by continuous (analog) variables

(temperature, voltage, speed,...)

Input/output relation: transfer function, described by differential equations

Conditions necessary for control:

• Reversible: output can be brought back to previous value by acting on input
• Monotone: increasing input causes output to react monotonically

Principal control task: regulation

(maintain the state on a determined level or trajectory)

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 Discrete plants
Examples: lifts, robots, …
b
init c+d
2 3 4
a e
c + ¬d
1 e

7 6 5

States are well-defined and non-overlapping, abrupt transitions, caused by events

Mainly reversible, but not monotone:

removal of stimulus does not imply previous state

Described by Finite State Machines, Petri Nets, state transition tables,

Grafcet or Sequential Flow Charts.

Principal control task: command

(control state transitions)
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 Continuous and batch processes
Continuous process
(processus continus, kontinuierliche Prozesse)

continuous flow of material or energy

e.g. motor control, cement, glass, paper production,
rolling mill for wires, plate or profiles,
newspaper printing: 23 m/s, steel wire 90 m/s

Main task: regulation

Batch process
(processus de charge (par lots), Stückgutprozesse)

discrete processes with handling of individual elements

e.g. Numerical Controlled machine, packing machines,
Bottle-filling, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and chemical processes.

Main task: command

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Mixed plants

In reality, all plants consist of discrete and of continuous processes.

Example 1: Motor control of a cable-car with speed control and stop at stations
Example 2: A bottle-filling line is in principle a continuous process, but each step
consists of a sequence of operations

All parts must de described individually.

Processes can be described as continuous within a discrete state or as non-

linear, continuous process.

Example: Time-triggered set-point of an oven temperature.

Mixed plants are the normal case.

All processes have some continuous and some discrete behavior

- a question of point of view.

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Depends on industrial process
Automotive Manufacturing
Electronics
Machinery
Textiles
discrete
Pharmaceuticals
Fine Chemical
Food & Beverage
Metals & Mining
Water & Waste

continuous Pulp & Paper

Vehicles
Petrochemicals
Oil & Gas
Electrical Power source: ARC

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 The main categories in industry
industry distinguishes the following categories of applications:

"process control": continuous processes, associated with fluxes,

e.g. sewage water treatment, petrochemical process, cement…

"batch control": semi-continuous processes, associated with individual products,

e.g. fine chemicals, pharmaceutical, brewery…

"manufacturing": also called “factory automation”

discrete processes, associated with transformation of parts,
e.g. automobile industry, bottle-filling, packaging

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Assessment: which answers are correct ?
1. open loop control is only used
when the plant can produce indefinitely
when the plant is operated in on/off mode
when the operator can supervise the plant
2. closed loop control is needed when
the plant is insufficiently known
the plant is subject to perturbations
the plant cannot be described by differential equations
3. the main task of a controller in a continuous process is:
to keep the output always at the same value
to keep the output within a certain range
to bring the output to a specific value in a function of time
4. the main task of a controller in a discrete process is:
to issue commands depending on the state
to maintain constant speed of production
to measure the state and present it to the operator
5. which of the following is a consistent plant categorization:
open loop – continuous – closed loop
discrete - continuous - hybrid
process - manufacturing- batch Industrial Automation | 2016 68
Assessment: which answers are correct ?
1. open loop control is only used
when the plant can produce indefinitely
when the plant is operated in on/off mode
when the operator can supervise the plant
2. closed loop control is needed when
the plant is insufficiently known
the plant is subject to perturbations
the plant cannot be described by differential equations
3. the main task of a controller in a continuous process is:
to keep the output always at the same value
to keep the output within a certain range
to bring the output to a specific value in a function of time
4. the main task of a controller in a discrete process is:
to issue commands depending on the state
to maintain constant speed of production
to measure the state and present it to the operator
5. which of the following is a consistent plant categorization:
open loop – continuous – closed loop
discrete - continuous - hybrid
process - manufacturing- batch Industrial Automation | 2016 69
Fill in the grid
(continuous)
batch manufacturing
process
hydro power plant
car factory
paper mill
container harbor
luggage transport
electrical substation
printing machine
locomotive
water treatment
building automation
petrochemical plant
pharmaceutical

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Next week:
Plant architecture, hierarchies and a glimpse
into control…

See you then!

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