A new automation system reduces troubleshooting and reporting time while providing mobile and enterprise-wide communication

At Blue Circle Cement's Atlanta plant, the days of time-consuming manual data collection and shot-in-the-dark troubleshooting are fast becoming a memory as the entire operation is becoming networked and automated. Using a mix of Ethernet-networked GE Fanuc Series 90-30 PLCs and CIMPLICITY industrial automation software, Blue Circle is embracing modern-day monitoring and control capabilities, increasing its efficiency, and enabling enterprise-wide communications.

Solid reasons for change Originally built in 1963, with a second kiln line added in 1967, Blue Circle endured several years of an outdated and increasingly obsolete system of mercury relay switches and loop controllers before Automation Manager Filiberto Morales met the hard facts head on and was required to bring the plant into the new millennium. With the plant already operating near capacity, producing 625,000 tons of clinker and 795,000 tons of cement annually, Morales was challenged to justify a new system.

Without an integrated control system, Blue Circle usually spent one to two hours pinpointing a problem at an average cost of $3,000 per hour in lost production - not to mention untold quantities of manpower and frustration. Beyond targeting production improvements, Morales had other goals, including automating the collection and distribution of the plant's process data.

While Blue Circle was equipped with some accumulators in the control room, its system of data entry was still predominantly manual. Even after the Atlanta plant's first computer installation in the early 1990s, operators were still required to spend about two out of every 24 hours of the work day logging production rates and failure information, resulting in a yearly total of more than 700 hours - nearly one month out of the year.

"Our existing system had simply reached the end of its lifecycle," Morales said. "Parts and qualified service were becoming increasingly scarce. We had to make a change, but we had to do it wisely."

A new mix of automation Situated on 47 acres, Blue Circle's Atlanta plant is a somewhat unusual operation in that it has no onsite raw material resources. Instead, the operation receives shipments of limestone, gypsum, and other raw materials via truck and rail car. Primary and secondary crushers condition the raw materials, which are then ground in a raw mill to obtain the raw meal that is placed in a kiln and burned at 1,800 F at a rate of 50 to 70 tph. The clinker is then ground again into final mixes, including Colored Masonry, Colored Portland, Grouting, Masonry Cements, Special Cements, and Types I, II, and III.

Before Morales selected the components that would comprise the plant's new automation system, he spent six months evaluating the entire manufacturing operation. With 10 years in the cement industry, Morales knew the Atlanta facility was ready for a change.

With virtually no documentation to support the plant's existing equipment and control system, Morales began compiling a list of equipment, including I/O, and established parameters for logic, process control, engineering, and other related areas. He then qualified the available system solutions based on their importance to the operation, cost, return on investment, and projected maintenance costs over a 10-year period.

"I wanted to be as objective as possible in the selection of the system, so we weren't predisposed to a particular vendor for any reason other than the performance of their products," Morales recalled. "In the end, the GE Fanuc automation system scored best in terms of our parameters and our priorities."

Open system architecture Enlisting the services of experienced integrator Engineered Software Products (ESP) of Lawrenceville, Ga., Blue Circle has successfully automated two finish mills, a kiln, a raw mill, and a crushing area. The company is in the process of automating a second raw mill, a loadout system, a tire-burning management system, and a power monitoring system.

Each automated area of the operation employs a Series 90-30 PLC that feeds I/O data to a pair of redundant CIMPLICITY software servers in the main control room via a dedicated Ethernet TCP/IP network using fiber optics to maximize reliability. Currently monitoring approximately 2,300 I/O points, CIMPLICITY provides a graphical interface with comprehensive diagnostics, well-defined alarms, and control of stop/start on all devices, as well as an interface for manual data entry when necessary.

Using CIMPLICITY's SQL option, Blue Circle can log the I/O data - such as motor and valve control, material flows, air and water flows, and temperatures - to a Microsoft SQL Server. A front-end Access reporting program configured by ESP and fed by the SQL Server automatically generates the plant's numerous daily alarm, pollution, and quality reports, virtually eliminating manual collection and compilation of report data.

"The CIMPLICITY/SQL/Access combination has significantly changed our data collection and reporting process, allowing us to focus more attention on the production process and the quality of our products," Morales said. "Add to that the PLCs and graphical CIMPLICITY screens, and instantly we're seeing a significant impact on our troubleshooting capabilities. Now we can immediately identify, down to the point, the exact location of a fault. In the past, we lost a lot of time searching."

Designed as an open system based on Microsoft technologies and standards, CIMPLICITY reduces integration efforts and the chance for errors during installation and configuration of the database. "CIMPLICITY's ability to interface with Microsoft SQL gives us an open platform from which we can extract data and configure reports as needed," noted Grib Murphy, ESP principal. "It's really the key to the entire system."

Access anytime, anywhere To complement the system's functionality, ESP installed a web server connected to the CIMPLICITY server via a dedicated Ethernet LAN (local area network), which allows Blue Circle to share real-time process information and graphics screens with its corporate headquarters in England over the company's intranet. The only software required to access the data is a web browser.

"Using the system's web capabilities, anyone with access to our company intranet can view CIMPLICITY screens, review process information, and print reports without having to install additional software," Morales explains. "It also allows our corporate office to manage our operation without having to make frequent and costly overseas trips."

In addition to Blue Circle's intranet capabilities, Morales also plans to add CIMPLICITY PocketView to the mix for mobile automation. PocketView is a hardware- and software-bundled product that uses a wireless link to connect to the CIMPLICITY server, displaying screens and data on a palmtop computer for operators and maintenance personnel who move from area to area within a plant.

Blend of benefits From issuing the purchase order to starting up the first finish mill, implementation time was just 11 weeks. The second finish mill required only nine weeks from start to finish. According to Morales, startup of the second finish mill was so simple that Blue Circle personnel did it themselves.

While startup time was minimal, the resulting benefits of the new automation system have been extensive. Blue Circle's Atlanta plant has achieved significant cost savings by using a PLC-based control system. The days of manual data entry and the concurrent loss of nearly one month of work time annually are a thing of the past now that the plant's Microsoft SQL Server and Access products are working in conjunction with CIMPLICITY's SQL option.

As Morales pointed out, "Using standardized software tools to collect and analyze our plant data, versus the more expensive and complicated packaged solutions, further increases the savings. With the GE Fanuc system and its efficiency over the Ethernet network, we've created a solid automation foundation with open features that will allow us to continue to grow and add new functionality."