Integrates process technology into the overall control system:
The chemical processing industry is characterized by large plants with a variety of different systems as well as highly complex processes with high energy and resource consumption. Despite sustained growth, the chemical industry, as a supplier of raw materials for various sectors of the consumer goods industry, but also as a producer of chemical products, is facing strong competitive and price pressures. Additional challenges come in the form of an increasing trend towards production of smaller lot sizes and the necessity to respond more flexibly to market needs.
With inherent system openness, the Beckhoff control platform is ideally suited to automate existing plants and connect with legacy infrastructure. The high performance, scalability and modularity of the automation components enable universal usage in plants of every size. Because all process control functions are handled in software, flexible production changes and small production lots can be economically accommodated with short changeover times. For example, the integration of measurement functions through software and hardware modules helps track energy consumption with high accuracy as the first step to optimize systems and increase plant availability. Integrated condition monitoring technology makes it possible to implement predictive maintenance in plants, preventing production downtime as a result. Networked solutions in line with Industrie 4.0 concepts are essential to successfully increase productivity and strengthen competitiveness in a rapidly changing market, just as connectivity has become a key enabler in discrete automation. Consistent digitization of all processes ensures added transparency, on the basis of which increased production efficiency and cost reductions can be achieved along the entire value creation chain. The high-level connectivity of PC-based control, from horizontal and vertical communication to cloud connections, enables system-spanning data collection and storage as a prerequisite for central diagnostics and plant optimization. With TwinCAT IoT and TwinCAT Analytics, Beckhoff provides leading-edge software tools for cloud connectivity and for data analysis.
The integration of automation and process technology on one platform allows the processing of signals from both hazardous and non-hazardous zones. For new plants, explosion protection can be integrated directly into the overall control system architecture; for existing plants, the PC-based Beckhoff controller can be easily extended or integrated into third-party systems. Beckhoff also covers all common standards in the industry by embedding process technology interfaces for protocols such as NAMUR, HART and FDT/DTM.