Yokogawa Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6841) announces that Yokogawa and Shell have jointly developed  Platform for Advanced Control and Estimation R5.03 and will release it on June 2 as a solution under the  OpreXTM Asset Operations and Optimization family. 

Platform for Advanced Control and Estimation is a software suite that brings together Shell's advanced plant  process control technology and Yokogawa's real-time control technology to help customers improve productivity  by increasing product yield and reducing energy consumption. This version upgrade supports Open Platform  Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA)*, the latest version of a communication standard that  improves plant systems interoperability and security, and provides the basis for digital transformation to help  customers transition to industrial autonomy. 

* OPC is the interoperability standard for the secure and reliable exchange of data in the industrial automation space and in  other industries. OPC UA is recognized as a communication standard for Industry 4.0, benefitting from high security and  scalability without hardware or OS dependence.

Development Background 

Advanced process control (APC) systems improve product yield and reduce energy consumption by maintaining  temperature, flow rate, pressure, and other process values within a set range and keeping them as close as possible  to their optimal set points. Such systems are increasingly used in facilities such as oil refineries, petrochemical  plants, chemical plants, and LNG trains.  

Yokogawa's Platform for Advanced Control and Estimation suite delivers the following functionalities: 

∙ Multivariable model predictive control (the control of multiple variables based on predictions  made using models of the dynamic characteristics of plant responses) 

∙ Soft sensing for estimating quality in real-time based on temperature, flow rate, pressure, and  other process values 

∙ Customization of calculations 

Yokogawa has continued to enhance this suite in response to changing customer requirements. The release of  version R5.03 meets urgent industry needs for enhanced plant systems interoperability and security. 

Enhancements 

1. Feature expansion
2. A) Support for OPC UA 

Version 5.03 conforms to OPC UA, the latest version of the OPC communication standard. OPC is  the prevailing data exchange standard in the industrial automation field. Support of the latest OPC  version enables users to securely exchange data with OPC UA devices and work with data from a  wider range of sources. 

1. B) Addition of new Base Layer Control (BLC) model 

A new BLC model that employs proportional integral differential (PID) control logic has been added. This model uses the PID parameters of a distributed control system (DCS) to represent the dynamics  of a PID loop. This improves control by reducing mismatches with the process described by the BLC  model.

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1. C) Expansion of Shed Logic to Event Logic 

Shed Logic is a function that customizes how applications operate. It gives users the freedom to  customize the behavior of their applications to suit the operating conditions of a plant. Shed Logic is  now called Event Logic, with expanded functionalities that eliminate the need for custom code and  enable event-based processing for measurement validation, model change, etc. 

2. Improvement of maintenance features
3. A) Design-Time advisor 

This function verifies the parameter values for applications, processors, and variables that have been  set using Design-Time and displays a warning message for any invalid parameter settings. By making  it easier to identify and correct configuration errors, this helps to improve applications. 

1. B) Automatic trend scaling 

The scale of the trend pen (upper and lower limits of the trend display) can now be adjusted  automatically. This feature reduces the time and effort required for setting the trend scale. 

1. C) Visualization of OPC performance data 

It is now possible to view OPC performance metrics such as read time when accessing data from an  OPC data access/unified architecture (DA/UA) server. In addition, a list can be displayed that shows  all accessible OPC items. This feature makes the diagnosis of OPC DA/UA access easier. 

3. Improvement of execution speed and robustness

Applications are more robust and run faster. Also, lab updates take significantly less time to perform and are  more robust.  

Major Applications 

Advanced control of continuous plant processes in the oil, petrochemical, chemical, gas, and other