Page 172 - CW E-Magazine (30-7-2024)

Special Report Special Report

Plug-and-produce modular automation: the catalyst needs of different applications by add-
HMI Process ing new or altered functionality. Proto-
Control
for chemical plants to embrace IoT and Industry 4.0 typing or testing of new processes is
Archive MTP History similarly diffi cult. Requiring hours or
or decades, large-scale automa- supply chains, driven by factors such as AXEL HALLER days of programming and testing slows
the pace of innovation and hinders the
tion systems have been essential political tension, terrorism, and natural Global Industry Business Manager Diagnoses Controller
Ffor production line control, but disasters. This situation has presented for Chemicals and Life Sciences ability to bring new or improved pro-
ducts to market in short timescales that
their lack of fl exibility often hinders opportunities to innovate and improve ABB customers increasingly demand.
chemical plants from quickly adapting stability, addressing dramatic price
to changing market demands. The fl uctuations and unpredictable supply meanwhile grappling with an ongoing Scaling up can be a similarly slow
paper explores how standardised ‘plug- patterns, and ultimately enhancing the skills shortage, triggered by the retire- and costly process, often requiring
and-produce’ modular automation availability of both fi nished products ment of many experienced engineers signifi cant investment in new infra-
solutions can enable producers to fully and raw materials. who are leaving the industry, taking structure and extended periods of plant
leverage the advantages of the Internet decades of know-how and practical downtime to accommodate major up-
of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0. Driving sustainability and agility in expertise with them. In common with
the chemical industry several other industrial sectors, this is grades or expansion. From a safety and
The chemical industry faces some Refl ecting the global pressure on accompanied by a shortage of young risk management perspective, mean-
tough challenges against a rapidly organisations to commit to greater cir- engineering talent with the skills, rele- while, it is often more diffi cult to quickly
identify, isolate, and remediate safety
changing technological, economic, and cularity and sustainability across the vant experience and enthusiasm to risks in large conventional automation
geopolitical landscape. supply chain, chemical companies are pursue career opportunities in process Source: ABB
now demonstrating their compliance control and automation. As a result of demand. Manufacturing plants can all plant operation – is conventionally systems. Routine maintenance or repair
Competition has never been keener, with stringent regulations in areas such this skills drain and a shrinking work- struggle to ramp production up or down overseen by a large-scale automation of conventional systems can also call
with customers demanding higher qua- as carbon emissions reduction, waste force, chemical producers – in common quickly and adapt lines to deliver new system. These large, monolithic sys- for shutting down a production line or
lity, more customised products, shorter management, and effi cient resource with many other large industrial organi- products. In particular, it is diffi cult for tems are effectively bespoke solutions entire plant, impacting on productivity
delivery times and lower prices. In a utilisation. In tandem, industrial organi- sations – are now increasingly reliant plants to maintain effi ciency and profi t- that have been designed and imple- and profi tability.
period of ongoing uncertainty follow- sations are aligning with advanced on hiring in EPC (Engineering, Pro- ability as customer demand grows for mented to meet a specifi c production
ing the global pandemic and ongoing regulatory and safety standards, neces- curement, Construction) contractors to small batch sizes, sometimes as small need. Their inherent design, however, The move to modular automation
confl ict in several world regions, vola- sitating investment in cutting-edge manage tasks that would formerly have as one unit. This market trend toward means that the conventional automa- To address these challenges, chemi-
tility in the cost of energy and raw mate- equipment, procedures, and training been resourced in-house. ultra-customisation is typifi ed in fi ne tion systems that underpin them often cal producers are now seeking a more
rials puts further pressure on organi- to protect staff and ensure compliance and specialty chemical production, as lack the fl exibility to adapt quickly to agile, effi cient and future-proof alter-
sations’ cost management, operating with current legislation. Adapting to market demands well as the pharmaceutical industry, new or changed production require- native to decades-old plant automation
margins and overall profi tability. Against this backdrop, one of the which is increasingly characterised by ments. methodologies as a central part of their
Navigating skills gaps and workforce biggest challenges faced by the chemi- short-run production, runs driven by digitalisation strategies.
These uncertainties have highligh- evolution cal industry is synchronising produc- the rise of personalised medicines. It is diffi cult to customise large-
ted the need for greater resilience in The process control industry is tion capacity to fast-evolving customer scale automation systems to meet the The concept of ‘modularisation’ is
Collectively, these pressures have
Orchestration layer exposed the limitations of conventional
process automation systems that have
Engineering & Maintenance Operations Supervisory control enabled and managed production line
Plant control for decades. Today’s large-scale
Operator chemical plants typically prioritise the
effi cient production of specifi c dedica-
ted products. As such they are optimised
Module layer for rapid, high-yield production with
MTP MTP AC 700F Controller MTP 3rd Party PLC large batch sizes in the range of tens
Controller
Engineering & Maintenance PLC of thousands of tonnes or more, where
Module product changes are infrequent during
Owner the life of the plant.

In this environment, control over a
MTP: Modular Type Package
Source: ABB large number of processes – and over- Source: ABB

172 Chemical Weekly July 30, 2024 Chemical Weekly July 30, 2024 173

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