Yokogawa adds to OpreX Control and Safety System
22/02/2019
Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced that it has developed a software platform that enables software packages to run on general-purpose computers in a redundant configuration, which it has added to its OpreX™ Control and Safety System family. This redundancy software will help to raise the availability of all of the solutions that make up Yokogawa’s OpreX Control category of systems, software and devices. By making a system redundant, high availability can be achieved. The first software packages based on this platform will be released in March. These are the ‘Exaopc OPC interface package’ and the ‘Exapilot operation efficiency improvement package’.At a later date, Yokogawa plans to incorporate this redundancy software into other packages that make up the OpreX Control family to achieve further enhanced availability in plant operations.
Industrial infrastructure depends on having highly reliable systems that will keep running even when a fault occurs. Such systems often have redundant features, such as a hardware control unit with the same functional capabilities, that are ready to take over in the event of a fault in the primary hardware unit. Yokogawa’s CENTUM™ VP Integrated Production Control System, ProSafe™-RS Safety Instrumented System and STARDOM™ Network-Based Control System all achieve high availability and reliability as a result of the use of such redundant hardware.
Manufacturing execution systems (MESs) and other types of application typically run on a general-purpose PC that is not set up for use with another PC in a redundant configuration. To accomplish this, it is necessary to either install some kind of dedicated hardware or add a function to the PC software.
Many Yokogawa customers have expressed an interest in a solution that would enable them to achieve a redundant configuration at a reasonable cost.
Features include:
- High availability: If a fault occurs, this software initiates a transfer of control from the active PC to the standby PC that takes no longer than one second to complete. This is well within the operating parameters of oil, petrochemical, chemical and other process facilities, where the collection of data and the issuance of control commands based on this information typically takes a few seconds or more. Since the data and status information on the two PCs is always synchronised, processing can continue without interruption, even when the system is performing sequential control of multiple tasks. This feature minimises the probability of any loss of data and ensures that there is no interruption in control. The software thus ensures the high availability of the systems that make up a vital part of the industrial infrastructure.
- Long-term operational support with online PC replacement: General-purpose PCs often remain in use for years in plants and only need to be replaced when they grow outmoded or fail. Thanks to the fact that this software enables applications to run in a redundant configuration, an outmoded or defective PC can be replaced while the system is online. It is even possible to operate different PC models in a redundant configuration providing they have been tested and approved by Yokogawa. This will help customers to operate their systems in a stable fashion over long periods of time and improve productivity.
The main target markets will include process industries such as electrical power, water supply and waste water treatment, industrial water, semi-conductors, foods and pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, pulp and paper, oil, petrochemicals and chemicals.
