Emerson Extends Ovation® Turbine Control And Monitoring With Integrated Machinery Protection And Prediction
Emerson Process Management announces that it has integrated machinery protection and prediction of critical mechanical equipment into its Ovation® expert control system. This new capability directly supports power generators' drive for improved plant availability and performance by providing machinery health feedback to operators and simplifying the integration from days to minutes.
As turbines, generators, boiler feedpumps and other mechanical equipment deteriorate, plant performance and efficiency decrease, while the risk of unplanned outages increases. When plant operators have visibility into the performance of their critical generating assets, they can take action before failures occur, avoiding costly plant shutdown as well as the potential for equipment damage and personnel injury.
In traditional control systems, integrating machinery protection can be complex and expensive, requiring Modbus and system expertise as well as specific machinery knowledge. Typical machinery protection systems can require more than 2,000 steps and up to five days to complete the integration process. With this many steps, network issues, additional testing time and nuisance alarms are easily introduced. Until now, the barriers to undertaking integration have been prohibitive, even though the payback from better information for operators is significant.
Emerson's integrated machinery protection and prediction solution, a key component of the PlantWeb® digital plant architecture, easily connects to the Ovation control system in three simple steps that take less than ten minutes. Asset parameters such as vibration values and sensor health are scanned, selected and imported into the Ovation database from AMS™ Suite predictive maintenance software and the CSI 6500 Machinery Health® Monitor. After import, Ovation turbine graphics, alarm screens and plant control strategies are automatically populated with this machinery health data.
Integration into Ovation operator workstations also includes templates for vibration bar graphs, vibration values and highlighted graphical elements, enabling displays to come alive with valuable machinery health information.
Designed specifically to meet the unique challenges of the power industry, Ovation offers features that multi-purpose control systems simply don't have including fully coordinated boiler-turbine control, automated startup and shutdown sequencing, specialty turbine interface cards, built-in security features and embedded advanced control applications, among others, that can dramatically improve plant reliability and efficiency. With the integration of machinery protection and prediction, Ovation further strengthens its position as the leading control system for the global power generation industry.
"The benefits of combining process information and machinery health have long been understood, but this is the first time the two have been integrated automatically and so extensively for engineering, operations, and maintenance personnel," said Craig Llewellyn, president of Emerson's Asset Optimization division. "This is particularly important in the power generation industry, in which the consequences of equipment failure and unplanned outages are so significant."
Emerson also provides PlantWeb Services to help users design, install, and implement machinery protection and prediction. With these new capabilities, Ovation provides an integrated solution for process control, process safety, machinery protection and prediction.
About Emerson Process Management
Emerson Process Management, an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their power, production, processing and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, water and wastewater treatment, mining and metals, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Its brands include PlantWeb®, Syncade™, Fisher®, Rosemount®, Micro Motion®, Daniel®, DeltaV™, Ovation®, and AMS™ Suite. For more information, visit www.emersonprocess.com.
About Emerson
Emerson, based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Emerson's sales in fiscal 2009 were $20.9B. The company is ranked 94th on the Fortune 500 list of America's largest companies. For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.
With Emerson's integrated machinery protection and prediction solution, asset parameters such as vibration values and sensor health are scanned, selected and imported into the Ovation® database from AMS™ Suite predictive maintenance software and the CSI 6500 Machinery Health® Monitor. After import, Ovation turbine graphics, alarm screens and plant control strategies are automatically populated with this machinery health data.
SOURCE: Emerson Process Management, Power & Water Solutions