ABB's Optimize IT Dynamic Solutions software allows process engineers to examine production activity and predicted results before taking action in the physical plant.
It has long been the desire of many process engineers to design a model of their entire process, run trials and make any necessary adjustments in their computers - without disrupting production.
Now the solution is available. ABB's Optimize IT Dynamic Solutions, part of ABB's suite of advanced process control (APC) software tools, is used to develop mathematical models of a wide range of industrial processes.
Creating process scenarios using drag-and-drop technology
Dynamic Solutions is not the first software that lets engineers run test scenarios to achieve a desirable processing result. But previous model-generating programs were difficult to use and expensive. Dynamic Solutions makes the technology economically feasible and easy to use for engineers in many different industries.
"Users can develop a model of their process by dragging and dropping graphical objects on their pcs," says Ramasamy Selvaraj, project manager for Dynamic Solutions Development at ABB corporate research center, Wickliffe, USA. "Then they simply add, move or delete objects to try out a different scenario."
The software includes an intuitive graphical editor, which allows users to design flowsheets of processes. Also included is a library of ready-made models containing all the typical components of various industries, making user-specific model design a whole lot easier.
One model for different applications
Once a model has been developed it can be used for several purposes, for example increasing plant efficiency, cutting production costs or finding the best way to recover the process after a stoppage.
Industries operating with inconsistent feedstock - e.g. refining, chemical and pharmaceuticals industries - can develop a model that lets them re-establish production of high-quality products after a feed change in the shortest possible time.
The same model can then be used to make the process more resistant to changing external phenomena such as air humidity, which may affect the moisture level in powder production, for example.
Other applications include evaluation of plant instrumentation, for example, checking if pressure transmitters require calibration. The software can even display unmeasured process variables, giving the engineer additional insight into how the process is operating.
"Dynamic Solutions is particularly useful for regulated processes," continues Selvaraj. "Increased understanding of the process based on scientific principles, and evaluation of model scenarios instead of proving it by running the actual plant can dramatically reduce the time and cost of re-certification."
Best productivity-increasing product
Dynamic Solutions offers engineers process knowledge that they could otherwise only acquire by taking down production, changing parameters and trying again. The software eliminates all these costly operations.
Dynamic Solutions was recognized as one of best productivity-improving products of 2003 at the NorTech Innovation awards on June 4, 2003.
"To us, this is proof that Dynamic Solutions is appreciated by customers and the control system community alike," concludes Selvaraj.
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© Press Release 2005
