PTM/ICG2000 Computers in industrial control

A Computers in Industrial Control

A.1 Introduction
Most industrial plants need some form of control system to ensure safe and economical operation. Figure A.1(a) is a
representation of a typical installation, consisting of a plant connected to a control system. This acts to translate the
commands of the human operator into required actions, and to display the plant status back to the operator. In most
cases the operator will be part of the control system. If an alarm light comes on saying ‘Low oil level’ the operator
will be expected to add more oil.

Human Commands Information

being
Instructions
Commands Information

Control Computer
Data Computer Data
system
in out

Actuators Sensors Signals Signals

To Plant from
Plant Actuators sensors

(a) (b) (c)

Figure A.1: (a) a simple view of a control system; (b) a simple overview of a computer; (c) the computer as part of
a control system

In a modern control environment a computer will form part of the control system. A computer is a device that
performs predetermined operations on input data to produce output data, and as such can be represented by Figure
A.1(b). Figure A.1 may be redrawn with a computer providing the control block, as in Figure A.1(c). The input data
will be the plant states/signals and the output data are control actions to the plant and status displays to the operator.

There are important differences between a conventional computer and an industrial computer. A conventional
computer of Figure A.2(a) takes data usually from a keyboard and outputs data to a VDU screen or printer. The data
being manipulated will generally be characters or numbers.

VDU
screen

Keyboard Computer

Printer

(a)

Digital inputs Digital outputs

From operator To operator display
controls and Computer and plant
plant sensors actuators
Analogue inputs Analogue outputs

(b)

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PTM/ICG2000 Computers in industrial control

Figure A.2 The difference between commercial and industrial computers: (a) commercial computer; (b) industrial
control computer
The control computer of Figure A.2(b) is very different. Its inputs come from a vast number of devices. Although
some of these are numeric (flows, temperature and similar analogue signals) most will be single-bit, on/off, digital
signals.

There will also be a similarly large amount of digital and analogue output signals. The keyboard, VDU and printer
may exist, but they are not necessary, and their functions will probably be different to those on a normal desktop or
mainframe computer.

Another important difference is the speed requirement. In general, computer control is done in real time, i.e. the
computer has to respond to random events as they occur. The operator expects a motor to start (and more
importantly to stop!) within a fraction of a second of the button being pressed. Although commercial computing
needs fast computers, it is unlikely that the difference between 1s and 2s computation time for a spreadsheet would
be noticed by the user. Such a difference would be unacceptable for industrial control.

A.2 Areas of computer application

Large and complex industrial processes can be simplified by considering them to be composed of many small sub-
processes. These sub-processes can generally be considered to fall into three distinct areas.

A.2.1 Monitoring subsystems

These:
• display process state to the operator and draw attention to abnormal or fault conditions;
• Keep records of the consumption of energy and materials for accounting purposes;
• Produce an event/alarm log for historical maintenance analysis.

A.2.2 Sequencing subsystems

These are processes that follow a pre-determined sequence (of operations), for example the start-up of a gas-fired
burner or a batch process.

Figure A.3 Sequencing system (batch process)

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A.2.3 Closed loop control subsystems

In many analogue systems, a variable such as temperature, flow or pressure is required to be kept at some preset
value or made to follow some other signal.

control
signal Affects
Desired error Control Actuator Plant
or strategy Controlled
setpoint signal

Sensor

Figure A.4 A closed loop control system

Here, the computer may be configured for:

• Supervisory control (Figure A.5) – the computer provides the set-point to some analogue or digital
controller.
• Direct digital control (Figure A.6) – the computer itself performs the control function

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Figure A.5 Process with digital supervisory control

Figure A.6 Process with direct digital control

A.2.3.1 Supervisory control

Several control loops may be identified in Figure A.5. Each loop is being controlled by an analogue or digital
controller. Several transmitters measuring specific plant parameters may also be identified. In digital supervisory
control, the signal from each transmitter is sent to the computer’s input as well as to the controllers. Now most
controllers have a remote set-point option. Under direction from the (software) program, the outputs from the
computer manipulate these set-points. The computer also performs monitoring functions as mentioned above.

It can be seen that if the computer fails, the system continues to operate at its last set point and can be switched to
manual mode. Also because the local controllers handle the dynamics of the loop, the computer does not have to be
very fast.

A.2.3.2 Direct digital control (Figure A.6)

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PTM/ICG2000 Computers in industrial control

All local controllers and indicators have been removed. The transmitters send their signals only to the computer. The
computer reads all these inputs and calculates new outputs, and manipulates the actuators directly. All this happens,
in addition to monitoring functions, for each of the loops controlled many times a second.
Many more complex control techniques can be implemented when the computer has direct control of the actuator.
This should provide significant improvement in performance over the analogue (local) controller. However, if the
computer fails, the entire process is completely uncontrolled. This could be disastrous. Also, accomplishing all the
tasks associated with controlling each loop, as well as storing and displaying information and interfacing with the
operator, requires a very fast, expensive minicomputer

Figure A.7 Process with distributed computer control

A.2.3.3 Distributed computer control (Figure A.7)

Distributed computer control combines the best of supervisory control and direct digital control. It appears, at first
glance, to be very similar to supervisory control. Each loop has its own transducer, transmitter, indicator/controller,
and actuator. However, the indicator/controller is a powerful microcomputer. The complex calculation and modeling
control schemes possible in the minicomputer of Figure A.6 (DDC) can be done by the single-loop microcomputer
controller. It may also have the ability to change its own control equation to provide optimum performance without
intervention from the main computer or the operator. This is called self-tuning.

With distributed control, system status can be monitored and operation directed from a central supervisory station.
Microcomputers control each loop. Failure of any element in the system (controller, network communications, or
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PTM/ICG2000 Computers in industrial control

supervisory control) will not bring the entire process to a halt. In addition, sophisticated graphics, diagnostics, and
report generation for hundreds of loops can be done with the supervisory computer since it does not constantly have
to monitor and control each loop.
Distributed control is discussed in more detail in the next section.

A.3 Distributed Computer Control

A.3.1 Stratification of control tasks

As mentioned earlier, process control systems may be very large. The task of managing and controlling such a
system is achieved by a structure in which responsibility is delegated to several computers (refer Figure A.7).

The machines (computers) form a hierarchical structure (resembling a tree) and the control tasks are split between
them. Figure A.8 shows a hierarchy split into four control levels.

Level 3
LANS such Mainframes
as Ethernet Gateway

Proprietary Level 2
Networks Supervosory minicomputers

8 Level 1
4 5 6 7
1 2 3 PLCs

Level 0
Plant devices

(a)
Ethernet
Pulpit
PLC VAX

PLC PLC PLC

(b) Gas Furnace Power
burners system

Figure A.8 Control hierarchy: (a) a company-wide network; (b) a real system

Several control tasks may be identified, particular control tasks being associated with each control level. These tasks
include regulation, supervision, measurement, protection, and on/off control.

The computers that are at different control levels are connected via communication lines (twisted pair, coaxial cable
or fibre optic cable) for:
• receiving input data from transducers;
• issue control signals; and
• interact with operator and print reports.

Such distributed systems offer many advantages:

• modularity – resulting tree is conceptually simple, and as such is easy to design, commission, maintain
and modify/expand;
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PTM/ICG2000 Computers in industrial control

• system integrity – a correctly designed system will be, for short periods, fault tolerant and can cope in
a limited mode with the failure of individual stations;
• increased performance – lower level machines take the work off higher level machines. In Figure
A.8(b), the pulpit PLC issues broad commands to the lower level PLCs, and concerns itself mainly
with data gathering for the VAX system. The lower level machines concern themselves with running
the plant and monitoring for alarm conditions, passing any information the operator should be aware of
back to the pulpit PLC for display on VDU screens.

A.3.1.1 Computer tasks

Seven independent computer tasks can be identified:

• process instrumentation
• process regulation
• acquisition of measurement data
• process supervision
• protection and process safety
• on/off process control
• set-point process control (governing/tracking)

A.3.2 Control levels

Five independent levels of control are recognized in computer controlled process control:
• Level 0 – actual plant level (process hardware, transducers, drives, etc.)
• Level 1 – process controller level (PLCs and other controllers and computers directly controlling the plant)
• Level 2 – data acquisition, remote terminal unit, direct digital control
• Level 3 – supervisory control or process control center (minicomputers)
• Level 4 – management control or dispatching center (mainframes)

Figure A.10 is a representation of the control levels.

A.3.2.1 Tasks of the various control levels

A.3.2.1.1 Level 1

• Logic and protection functions

• Control of basic process units
• Coordination of a few basic process units
• Calculation of complex process variables from given process signals

I/O hardware requiremets:

• Analogue and digital I/O circuits
• Serial bus connection
• Standard serial interface to RTU

A.3.2.1.2 Level 2

• Control of process variables

• Communication with controller, complex process instruments, other RTUs and superimposed digital
computer

I/O hardware requirements:

• Analogue/digital I/O circuits
• Standard interface to controller
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• Communication interface

LEVEL 4 Data presentation Management

and control Control

Operator’s console
Supervisory
process data access Supervisory
LEVEL 3 and control Control

LEVEL 2 Data acquisition

DDC; RTU

LEVEL 1 Process controller

Process instrumentation

Signal transducers and drives

LEVEL 0
Process hardware

Connection of control levels through coded or bus digital signals.

Connection of control levels through digital or analogue signals transmitted in

series (hardwired or simple RS232 links).

Figure A.10 Distributed control levels

A.3.2.1.3 Level 3

• Optimising functions
• Process data issuing
• Data logging
• Engineering calculations
• Account issuance
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• Program compilation
• Data supervision
• Front-end processing towards level 4 system
I/O requirements
• Communication interface
• Operators console interface
• Standard data bus

A.3.2.1.4 Level 4

• Optimise overall system performance

• Account issuance
• Off-line programs (simulation and modelling)
• Program compilation

I/O requirements
• Standard communication interface
• Operator’s console interface
• Peripheral devices interface

A.4 Requirements for industrial control

Industrial control has rather different requirements than other applications (e.g. commercial). Input/output and speed
requirements have already been mentioned. These and other requirements for the industrial control computer are
summarised below:

1. They should be designed to survive in an industrial environment with all that this implies for temperature, dirt
and poor-quality mains supply.
2. They should be capable of dealing with bit-form digital input/output signals at the usual voltages encountered in
industry (24V DC to 240V AC) plus analogue input/output signals. The expansion of the I/O should be simple
and straightforward.
3. The programming language should be understandable by maintenance staff who may have no extensive
computer training. Programming changes should be easy to perform in a constantly changing plant.
4. It must be possible to monitor the plant operation whilst it is running to assist fault finding. It should be
appreciated that most faults will be in external equipment such as plant-mounted limit switches, actuators and
sensors, and it should be possible to observe the action of these from the control computer.
5. The system should operate sufficiently fast for realtime control.
6. The user should be protected from computer jargon.
7. Safety must be a prime consideration.