complex processes visualised in a way that is thorough and well thought through

The inspection system with its two servers (standby and duty) and three clients was the first to begin operation with zenon back in 2003. Later the same year the galvanising plant, which also had two servers (duty and standby) plus 18 clients, was visualised. ArcelorMittal Bremen uses both Simatic S5 and Simatic S7 PLCs, which are linked either via an H1 bus or TCP/IP. The galvanising plant, comprising eight projects plus an umbrel­la project, is visualised on more than 250 displays containing approx. 33,200 variables. The team at ArcelorMittal Bremen has defined the visualisation of the strip cleaning, the zinc stripping device and the data from the process control system as projects. There were further projects for secondary systems such as water circuits, ventilation flaps, a temper pass agent conditioning system, a project for the waste water system plus the overall gal­vanising plant, and a mini diagnostic tool. Other projects are the central control module for switching control, the visualisation of error messages, and the inspection system. The visualisation now provides the operator with an extremely detailed view of all the components in the system at all times. This applies across the board, from the production sequence in the infeed and con­tinuous tracing of the coils (strip rolls) to the plant and transfer to the high-bay warehouse. All the requisite target and actual data for each coil is always available such as, for instance, which components (welded sheet metals) it contains. At a more de­tailed level, the user or maintenance engineer can also organise the display of the flushing circuits or even the speed of the in­dividual brushes in the pre-cleaning or main cleaning cycles. At the same time target and actual values are shown at all manner of different locations in the systems, for instance values for the degree of temper rolling (percentage thickness reduction of the sheet). Values can also be adjusted following the input diagno­sis. For example: in zinc stripping, if the coating is too high or too low, then the pressure target values must be corrected in order to control the amount of zinc on the metal sheets. The whole system is extremely carefully thought out, with finishing touches like a built-in Wiki for operators. A Wiki is a public-ac­cess page or website that can be modified by any user or visitor, or by a pre-defined set of users or visitors. “Wiki” is a term de­rived from the Hawaiian word meaning “quick” - a place where information is made available and updated quickly. The best-known Wiki is the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia. “Since the systems and the visualisation software are both extensive and complex, we believe there is a need to provide a knowledgebase for staff to ensure that everyone can obtain information about the system components and the processes at any point in the system”, explains Josef Vallant. The Wiki encompasses not only background information and basic explanations, but also news, for instance on all aspects of waste water disposal.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 619