Installing the latest PLC, networking, and operator interface technologies proved to be a successful mix for Lafarge Canada's Kamloops plant

Deep in the scenic interior of British Columbia is one of the smallest of the Lafarge Group's 100 cement-manufacturing facilities worldwide. Automation with products and services from GE Fanuc has enabled this leading cement manufacturer's Kamloops plant to maintain its performance throughout its 25-year history. A recent upgrade of the facility's PLC, networking, and operator interfaces provides the communications capabilities that enable this remote facility to stay as connected - and efficient - as its larger, more centrally located counterparts.

Strong foundation Located about 250 miles east of Vancouver and 400 miles west of Calgary, Lafarge Canada's Kamloops plant was built in 1970 to service the southern interior of British Columbia. After the completion of two big hydroelectric dam projects, for which the Kamloops plant supplied all the cement, this facility began producing more specialty cements to support the building boom in the northwestern United States. As a small plant with a solid reputation for quality, the Kamloops plant was able to customize its product more easily than larger facilities.

To maintain their edge, the Kamloops electrical department built upon its solid automation infrastructure over the years. The facility progressed from hard-wired static logic modules to GE Fanuc Series 6 PLCs running on GE Fanuc's Genius peer-to-peer communications and using Genius I/O, an intelligent distributed I/O system that combines I/O monitoring and diagnostic messaging capability.

As the cement facility and its automation processes expanded, the ever-increasing quantity of Genius network traffic took its toll in reduced networking speed.

Motivated by the need for increased networking capability and speed, the Kamloops facility recently upgraded its Series 6 PLCs to GE Fanuc Series 90-70 PLCs. This allowed the plant to network all of its control automation - four Series 90-70 PLCs, four smaller Series 90-30 PLCs, 10 GE Fanuc CIMPLICITY HMI stations, and more than 3,000 digital and analog I/O points - via an Ethernet network.

The Ethernet network now in place at Lafarge Kamloops is a combination of the type of Ethernet system found in a standard office environment and a wireless industrial Ethernet system for the remote rail silo and crusher locations. All the HMI computers run on 100-megabit Ethernet connected via a 24-port switch in the electrical room located one floor below the control room.

The I/O information collected by the powerful Series 90-70 PLCs is communicated via 10-megabit Ethernet, representing a 100-fold improvement over the speed that Kamloops was able to achieve using its original peer-to-peer network. Now, all HMI and PLC programming communications are sent via Ethernet, and the original Genius network, which was left in place, is free to do what it was meant to do - provide fast, reliable peer-to-peer communications among PLCs.

The Ethernet network also enables the electrical department to edit and monitor the PLC programs concurrently with the operation of the CIMPLICITY HMI software, increasing the speed and effectiveness of troubleshooting. PLC programming and monitoring can now be done from any location on the Ethernet LAN (Local Area Network), including remotely via dial-up modem. Remote programming and monitoring is achieved using a standard Windows-NT RAS (Remote Access Service) connection.

Window into the process Using GE Fanuc's CIMPLICITY Windows-based HMI, employees at the Kamloops facility - from raw mill and kiln operators to executives at any of Lafarge's offices worldwide - have access to Kamloops' production data instantaneously and simultaneously.

The advantages of a Windows-based HMI system like CIMPLICITY are numerous. These packages show, among other things, graphical representations of equipment, process flow, and trending. Alarm functions, for example, offer automatic responses, ranging from alerting operators with messages on a screen to paging the appropriate staff. When combined with the ability to check equipment status and adjust settings from a remote location, these features have proven to be very valuable for a small, far-removed facility like Kamloops.

The Kamloops electrical department has several options for remote access of their monitor and control systems. PocketView palm-sized PCs, which are hardware and software bundled products that use a wireless Ethernet link to connect to an HMI server, can display CIMPLICITY screens and data in real time.

Maintenance personnel, quality technicians, data entry staff and others who move from area to area within the plant can view plant processes, enter information, and change setpoints where they are working - without returning to a stationary terminal. For workers at areas distant from the central control room building, such as the laboratory, milling circuit, loading silos, and remote reclaiming equipment, this capability provides greater efficiency, resulting in operations expenses being reduced.

Future enhancements at Kamloops will allow information to be accessed from anywhere in the world via the Internet. CIMPLICITY's WebView options enable users to view CIMPLICITY information in standard Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape web browsers. "If a problem arises when no one is at the plant, I can log on to my computer at home, look at what is happening in the plant, and troubleshoot the problem in a matter of minutes from my home computer," said Mike Bartram, electrical and systems supervisor for the Lafarge Kamloops Plant.

This ability to troubleshoot problems remotely and immediately has saved the Kamloops plant substantially in terms of potential downtime. For example, a kiln circuit can shut down within only a few minutes, which can affect other parts of the process. Now systems departments can catch and fix a problem like this remotely before it has the potential to shut down production completely.

Paving the way to benefits The most recent automation upgrades at Lafarge Canada's Kamloops facility - to the Series 90-70 PLCs running on an Ethernet network and the installation of the Windows-NT version of CIMPLICITY HMI - provide all the speed, efficiency, and access capabilities the plant will need for some time. The integration of information and automation provides increased production rates and reduced production costs from the quarry to shipping, as decision making is based on current data.

Immediate access to production information from any location enhances efficiency and can reduce downtime by identifying and troubleshooting problem areas before they spread to other processes. Cement quality is improved through continuous analysis and control of raw materials, temperatures, and time. The graphical, user-friendly CIMPLICITY HMI package also reduces programming and maintenance costs.

In keeping with Lafarge's commitment to protecting the environment, environmental displays and alarms programmed into CIMPLICITY HMI enable engineers to identify and correct problem areas. Data required for government reports in areas such as kiln stack emissions can be gathered by the data-logging features of CIMPLICITY HMI.

Upgrading with the latest GE Fanuc PLCs not only brought Lafarge the increased networking speed and capabilities they needed, but also provided them with substantial cost savings when compared with the purchase of an entirely new automation infrastructure.

GE Fanuc's trade-in program enabled Lafarge Kamloops to save about 50% in the up-front costs of replacing the Series 6 with the Series 90-70 PLCs controlling the kiln and handling areas. The ability to use the existing Series 6 I/O with the new Series 90-70 PLCs enabled the electrical department to keep downtime to a minimum. In fact, the changeover took place during normal maintenance activities. As a result, no unscheduled downtime was incurred, allowing production to resume without delay.

Strong relationship As technology continues to advance rapidly, manufacturers need service and support more than ever to help their customers keep pace. If a cement manufacturing operation is located hundreds of miles from anywhere, dependable 24/7 service and support becomes that much more crucial. "We chose GE Fanuc not only because their products are so reliable, but also because of the outstanding service and support we have received from them during the years," Bartram says. "For example, if there is a problem with the plant's PLC or SCADA system, we need technical help immediately - not 12 hours or two days down the road - to get the plant running again. We know we'll get this service from GE Fanuc."

Built on such a strong foundation, Lafarge's Kamloops Plant is well-positioned for success for years to come.