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Application of HOLLiAS MACS System by ABB in the BASF BPI Project I. Overview German chemical company BASF is one of the top 500 companies in the world and one of the largest chemical manufacturers globally; its sales volume in 2005 was 50.53 billion dollars (according to Forbes statistics). The BPI project (polyisocyanate) is a project invested by BASF China Chemical Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, with a total investment of 240 million yuan and an annual production capacity of 8,000 tons. Polyisocyanate is an excellent curing agent for industrial coatings and paints; it boasts good weather resistance and gloss retention, does not yellow over time, and has high mechanical strength. It is widely used in industries such as automotive, construction, furniture, and plastics. The HOLLiAS MACS control system from Honeywell, used in this BPI project, was the result of more than a year of evaluation by several DCS experts from BASF who studied Honeywell’s capabilities. They assessed it against the standards of the world’s most advanced DCS systems and conducted repeated tests, until they were fully satisfied before deciding to make the purchase. To date, BASF has selected only 5 major automation suppliers (MAVs) from the numerous DCS suppliers both at home and abroad, and Hilscher is the only domestic DCS supplier. The DCS system used in the BPI system is Hallys’ fourth-generation DCS system – the HOLLiAS MACS system. This system utilizes the currently most popular PROFIBUS-DP fieldbus technology. II. Hardware Configuration 2.1 System Scale The system under this project includes nearly 700 I/O hardware measurement points, 20 PROFIBUS-DP communication nodes, and 18 SIS measurement points. The details are as follows: Sensor types include AI (4–20 mA), AO (4–20 mA), DI (NAMUR), DI (Dry), DO (Dry), AI (SIS), and DO (SIS). The number of sensors is 211, 47, 177, 112, 124, 9, and 7 respectively. There are 20 frequency converters, 62 DP communications units, PID controllers, cascade control systems, interlock logic circuits, motors, and batch control programs. The number of these components is 20, 62, 12, 2, 70, and 39 respectively. The system has 2 levels of configuration. 2.2 System Configuration: The DCS system in this project includes 1 engineer station (which can also be used as an operator station), 4 operator stations, and 2 field control stations. The specific configurations are as follows: The engineer stations and operator stations are equipped with DELL Precision 380 workstations, along with dual monitors, mice, and specialized keyboards. One printer is installed at the engineer station, and another printer is installed at one of the operator stations; the two printers are equivalent in status and serve as a redundancy for each other, capable of handling all printing tasks required by the system. Each field control station consists of one main cabinet and several expansion cabinets. The main cabinet is equipped with a redundant pair of controllers, redundant distributed power supply modules, and several I/O modules ； The expansion cabinet is equipped with redundant distributed power modules, as well as several I/O modules. The controller and the I/O module are connected via the PROFIBUS-DP bus. The operator station and the field control station are connected via redundant 100M industrial Ethernet. All signals arriving at the site are equipped with safety barriers, and the safety barriers and I/O modules are installed in a mixed manner. Install the SIS system on the back of cabinet 10-3#. The measurement point allocation for the two field control stations is based on the division of the process plant area. The measurement points of Station 10# are located in process units UNIT20~23, while those of Station 11# are located in process units UNIT24~29. Some MCC devices in this project are connected to the DCS system via the PROFIBUS-DP bus. The system is equipped with a power distribution cabinet to supply power to all DCS system devices as well as field instruments. 2.3 System Configuration Principles: When configuring the HOLLiAS MACS system, the following principles are followed: Redundancy principle: Key components such as controllers, communication buses, networks, and power supplies all utilize 1:1 full redundancy technology to ensure the reliable and stable operation of the system ； Margin principle: For I/O measurement points, hard drives, cabinet space, etc., an appropriate margin is configured as required by the user ； Load principle: Technical parameters such as controller load and processing capacity are configured according to the required load levels ； Completeness principle: The system configuration is a complete DCS control system that meets the requirements specified in the user’s technical specifications as well as those outlined in relevant documents. 2.4 System Features The features of the HOLLiAS MACS system can be summarized as \"three attributes\": reliability, usability, and advancement. The HOLLiAS MACS system ensures its reliability at every stage, including design, component procurement, manufacturing, and testing. The system’s average time between failures, MTBF, is greater than 100,000 hours, while the average time to repair, MTTR, is 99.9%. To date, the system has been successfully implemented in over 2,000 projects, and practice has proven that it is a mature and reliable system. Usability means being easy to use. As a system, without usability, no matter how good it is or how advanced its functions, it is useless if it cannot be used correctly by the users; in fact, it may even lead to worse outcomes (such as incorrect use). The term “usability” here has two meanings: one refers to its ease of use for system maintenance personnel, and the other refers to its ease of use for operators. The term “user-friendly” may seem simple, but achieving true user-friendliness is not easy. Here are a few examples: For maintenance personnel, system usability refers to both the usability of hardware and software. Hardware usability includes features such as hot-swappable modules, the absence of jumpers, zero-wiring (modules are connected to each other using pairs of redundant buses), fault tolerance (as long as a module is inserted correctly, there will be no problems; connectors for connections between modules, signal lines, and power lines all come in different shapes), intelligent operation diagnostics, and rapid fault location (for instance, if there is a problem with a certain component of the system, maintenance personnel can quickly identify it using the system’s diagnostic tools, without or with minimal need to check each component individually). Additionally, there is the aspect of local independence – repairing one module should not affect other modules ； The usability of the software includes a user-friendly interface, a popular WINDOWS-style design, a standardized and modular organization of the software, extensive online help information, and the BASF ToolKits configuration standards (which specify dozens of control modules that must be used in the configuration; more details on ToolKits will be provided later). Regarding ease of use for operators, it mainly involves a unified interface: the operation panel, device symbols, material colors, and even fonts and the number of decimal places are all subject to standard specifications ； Since their managers and even some of the operators may be foreign nationals, while the regular workers are Chinese, the operation interface supports multiple languages that can be switched between at any time ； The system should also have comprehensive online help and operation guides. In this way, their maintenance staff and operators can directly maintain the systems and carry out production operations with little or no training required. Advancement can be described in many different ways from various perspectives, and we can summarize it into the following aspects: 1. Standardization, which includes standardization in hardware design and production, standardization in software development, as well as standardization of product performance, interfaces, and features. For example: The control algorithm configuration complies with the IEC61131-3 standard ； 2. Openness: open systems that support interfaces such as OPC and ODBC, an open network architecture (industrial Ethernet), etc., as well as the provision of a WEB interface ； 3. Intelligence, such as configuration wizard functions and automatic generation of cross-referenced system information (freeing users from tedious manual labor) ； 4. Provision of advanced functions: in addition to traditional control and monitoring, the system offers a variety of advanced control modules and dedicated control modules, as well as interfaces for calling system functions, along with batch control capabilities ； 5. Adoption of new technologies, such as bus technology, support for ActiveX controls and VBA, application of object-oriented technology, and surface-mount processing for hardware. III. Software Configuration The software configuration for this project was developed in accordance with the application requirements of BASF’s configuration standard package ToolKits; that is, the functions and tools provided by the HOLLiAS MACS system software platform are utilized to meet the application requirements of BASF’s configuration standard package. Software configuration has the following characteristics: · All operations are centered around the “panel” ； · Application of object-oriented thinking ； · Use of multilingual functions ； · Multi-screen operation ； · Rich self-diagnosis functions – convenient for maintenance ； · Human-machine interfaces such as flowcharts and control loops suitable for industry characteristics ； · Powerful reporting capabilities ； · Rich alarm query options, full log search functionality ； 3.1 All operations are centered around the “panel.” Different types of instruments have distinct operation panels, through which all monitoring and control functions related to those instruments are carried out. For ease of description, a switch valve is used as an example here. On a valve’s panel, it is possible to see all the status information related to that valve: open feedback status, quality of the open feedback signal, forced and simulated values for the open feedback signal; closed feedback status, quality of the closed feedback signal, forced and simulated values for the closed feedback signal; status of the on/off command, actual command status; display and settings for timing related to switching; manual control of the valve’s opening and closing, automatic control of the valve’s opening and closing, as well as the ability to switch between manual and automatic mode. It can also be connected to the flowchart page where the valve is located, the master view page that contains this flowchart page, and the interlock logic diagram for that valve; if there are multiple interlock logic diagrams, a selection box will appear. It can also be connected to the trend group screen, the operation group screen, and the adjustment screen associated with that valve (which includes diagnostic information such as the quality status of the address (AI), as well as information regarding disconnections, short circuits, upper voltage limits, and lower voltage limits) ； Alarm and confirmation messages, including high-high, high, low, low-low limits as well as dead zones for the four limits ； Engineer assistance information, such as wiring diagrams for tag numbers and manuals for devices like instruments, modules, safety barriers, etc.); operator assistance information (user guides for panels, etc.). 3.2 Application of object-oriented concepts: Nowadays, the concept of object orientation has been gradually incorporated into the design of DCS systems. In system configuration, the object-oriented approach is also fully applied: what the operator sees is not a single instrument tag number; instead, what they see is an instrument device, such as a pump. What is presented to the operator or maintenance staff is not just commands to turn it on or off, operation feedback, remote or local signals, communication signals, current signals, and the quality status of these signals, but rather the status and quality of a series of signals related to that pump, as well as a range of operations and actions associated with that device. During configuration, we do not need to deal with each measurement point individually; instead, we configure just the pump device, and connect the relevant I/O channel signals to the corresponding input or output terminals of that device. 3.3 The system supports multi-language functionality; it allows for display in multiple languages, with the ability to switch between them online without the need to exit the system. The range of language support includes all languages supported by the Windows operating system. The implementation process is as follows: during system configuration, it is possible to use any language for configuration; this language is referred to as the \"local language\". After the system is compiled, a \"resource table\" is generated, which contains all the words and phrases used in the configuration. One can use any text editor to create a \"dictionary\", that is, a list of words or phrases with their corresponding translations. The system then uses this dictionary to carry out language translation. It should be noted that these so-called translation tasks are carried out in the background by computers, and operators are not aware of their existence. 3.4 Multi-screen operation: Multi-screen refers to the configuration of 2 or more displays on one operator station, allowing the operator to perform tasks on multiple screens without having to take their hand off the mouse. The multi-screen setup allows operators to monitor more screens and perform more operations at the same time, facilitating easier operation. Save labor and improve work efficiency. The operator can use the mouse to move automatically between the two displays, and can use the screen switch keys on the keyboard to switch between them. Another advantage of multiple screens is that it saves on investment, as there is no need to invest in hardware for an operator station or in software. 3.5、Rich self-diagnosis functions and electronic maintenance guidance – The user-friendly maintenance system provides extensive self-diagnosis information to facilitate maintenance. It features self-diagnosis capabilities at the I/O channel level, from the system level down to the module level. The system provides a vivid “system operation status diagram” whose graphical layout matches that of the actual cabinet exactly; it is rich in information, facilitating maintenance. The system provides electronic wiring diagrams. The system provides an electronic maintenance guidebook. 3.6 The human-machine interface system diagrams, such as flowcharts and control loops suitable for the characteristics of the industry, are organized in a two-level structure, that is, they consist of a main overview diagram (main menu) and sub-overview diagrams (secondary sub-menus). The main overview displays general information on the flowcharts of various process units, such as the tank farm unit and the reactor unit ； The sub-summary displays general information on the various flowcharts within a subgroup; for example, there are several flowcharts in a reactor group. 3.7、Rich alarm query options; full log search functionality by alarm category: high-high limit, high limit, low-low limit, low limit ； Digital, analog ； region ； System alarms, process alarms ； By name ； By date and time ； Query lists for signal short circuits, open circuits, exceeding the upper range limit, exceeding the lower range limit, etc. The status icon of the alarm signal shows: alarm occurred, unconfirmed and still present; alarm occurred, confirmed and still present; alarm occurred, unconfirmed and no longer present; alarm occurred, confirmed and no longer present, etc. Display of information such as the cause of the alarm, the time it occurred, the time it was confirmed, the time it disappeared, the reason for confirmation, and the person who confirmed it. Detailed logs: operator station name, time, personnel, tag number, operation result. All log categories can be queried by operator station name, time, personnel, or tag number. IV. Conclusion This project involves small to medium-sized chemical processing units; the number of measurement points is relatively low, yet the control logic is highly complex, and the requirements for process control are extremely strict. In addition, BASF has specific requirements for the system (the BASF ToolKits standards). Therefore, high requirements are placed on control systems: not only must the system hardware be able to operate stably and reliably over the long term, but the software must also be configured and programmed in accordance with user specifications. The HOLLiAS MACS system from HollySys features mature hardware and reliable operation ； The software is highly functional, featuring various programming interfaces, and is fully capable of meeting the stringent requirements of BASF’s BPI project for DCS systems. To date, the project has been in operation at the site for over 3 months, running stably with excellent performance, which has won praise from users. It has also changed the perception of foreign counterparts toward domestic DCS systems, setting a precedent for such systems to enter the international market. (Author: Zhou Jian, Senior Project Manager in the chemical industry at Hollyland Corporation, **Model Worker of the Ministry of Information Industry)