I have TPS SYSTEM consist of 5 GUSes (Dell GX1,running Windows NT operating system ), HPM , HM and SMM.

I contact with Honeywell inc. to get an offer to upgrade it to Experion PKS stations.

Honeywell offered me the following :

1- SW upgrades for all my plant TPS system at current release( TPN from Rel 610 to Rel 682 , TPS-GUS from Rel 203 to Rel 420 ).

2- 5 new Experion Stations (to replace existing 5 GUS stations)

3- 1 new Redundant (ESVT) Experion server.

4- The FTE infrastructure (2 FTE Switches) to connect the new nodes.

5- 1 Cabinet (to install the servers and switches) equipped with KVM for user interface.

6- 1 year SESP.

I want to Know every point in this offer and if this offer is Good or i must upgrade to another system.

 

> 1- SW upgrades for all my plant TPS system at current release (TPN from Rel 610 to Rel 682 , TPS-GUS from Rel 203 to Rel 420). <

RELEASE 682 IS LATEST IN TPS. THIS RELEASE UPGRADE IS FOR TPS. ONLINE UPGRADE IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT SHUTDOWN.

> 2- 5 new Experion Stations (to replace existing 5 GUS stations) <

EXPERION STATIONS ARE SAME AS GUS, WITH ADDITIONAL EXPERION CLIENT SOFTWARE (IF ORDERED) WHICH WILL GIVE YOU HTML WINDOWS BASED GRAPHICS MUCH BETTER THAN GUS GRAPHICS. WINDOWS INTERFACE AND USER-FRIENDLY OPERATION. LCN GRAPHICS & HTML (EXPERION) GRAPHICS WILL CO-EXIST. THIS WILL ENABLE THE OPERATORS FOR A SMOOTH TRANSITION FROM TPS TO EPKS.

BACKUP OF HM AND TPS CAN BE OBTAINED IN EMULATED DISKS LIKE GUS AS BEFORE.

> 3- 1 new Redundant (ESVT) Experion server. <

EXTENDED HISTORISATION CAPABILITIES BEYOND HM. VERY EASY OPEN INTERFACE TO MIS/ERP NETWORK VIA OPC/ODBC etc. (LICENSED OPTION)
C300 READY SYSTEM. ONCE THE SERVERS ARE IN PLACE, EXPANSION/ADD-ONS/MIGRATION IN FUTURE CAN BE DONE WITH C300 VERY EASILY.
TPS AND C300 CAN CO-EXIST.

THIS IS THE FIRST STEP TO A GRADUAL MIGRATION PLAN. OPERATIONS TEAM WILL GET USED TO THE NEW EPKS GRAPHICS GRADUALLY.

> 4- The FTE infrastructure (2 FTE Switches) to connect the new nodes. <

FTE NETWORK IS ESSENTIAL FOR ESVT-EST. DETERMINISTIC NETWORK WITH COMMERCIAL HARDWARE. EASY & EXTENDED DIAGNOSTICS. C300 AND SM WORK ON FTE SO NO SEPARATE NETWORKING REQUIRED IN FUTURE. EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE IS SUFFICIENT.

> 5- 1 Cabinet (to install the servers and switches) equipped with KVM for user interface. <

NETWORKING CABINET LIKE LCN CABINET.

> 6- 1 year SESP. <

THIS IS A CONTRACT OFFERING BY HONEYWELL. IT IS BENEFICIAL SINCE ALL S/W UPGRADES ARE GIVEN UNDER THIS CONTRACT AT NO EXTRA COST. PLEASE CLARIFY WITH HONEYWELL.

>I want to Know every point in this offer and if this offer is Good or i must upgrade to another system. <

AN UPGRADE TO ANOTHER SYSTEM IS A HIGH RISK OPTION, SINCE IT WILL TAKE A LONG SHUTDOWN TIME. RIP-N-REPLACE PROJECT WILL INVOLVE A LOT OF HARDWARE/MARSHALING RELATED CHALLENGES.

LOGIC MIGRATION FROM TPS (HPM,SMM,AM) IS A VERY BIG TASK, SINCE THE OTHER VENDOR MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RECREATE THE TPS LOGICS IN TIME.

THIS OPTION CAN BE EASILY DONE ONLINE WITHOUT SHUTDOWN. TPS SOFTWARE RELEASE UPGRADE FROM R610 TO R680 IS DONE ONLINE. NEW STATION HOOK-UP CAN BE TAKEN ONE BY ONE WITHOUT IMPACT ON OPERATIONS.
THE UPGRADE WILL BE DONE SEAMLESSLY AND OPERATORS WILL HAVE EASY TIME OF TRANSITION SINCE EPKS-TPS WILL COEXIST.

THIS UPGRADE IS UNDOUBTEDLY A FAVORABLE OPTION.

HOWEVER IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC DOUBTS PLZ ASK.

 

I think this offer is not for migration project from TPS to EPKS. It should be for upgrade your TPN/LCN (may include your UCN network)from R.610 to R.682. and your GUS station. New EPKS station h/w required since your existing GUS h/w may not be compatible with GUS software 420.

I don't see you need ESVT, FTE and the cabinet if you are still in TPS system. You may need them if you have EPKS system to be integrated to your TPS system.

It is a big job to migrate TPS to EPKS system. It's like your migrate TPS to Yokogawa, Delta-V or other system. If you plan to migrate TPS to EPKS, it is better you have engineer that understand both system very well.

 

> I think this offer is not for migration project from TPS to EPKS.
---- snip ----
> New EPKS station h/w required since your existing GUS h/w may not be compatible with GUS software 420. <

COMPATIBLE HARDWARE IS CONSIDERED BY DEFAULT IN UPGRADES.

> I don't see you need ESVT, FTE and the cabinet if you are still in TPS system. You may need them if you have EPKS system to be integrated to your TPS system. <

ESVT & FTE IS REQUIRED FOR EST TO WORK. SINCE EST NEED ESVT FOR HISTORY TRENDS. FTE IS REQUIRED FOR COMMUNICATIONS OF EST TO ESVT. TPS AND LCN WILL REMAIN IN PLACE, ONLY THE HMI/SUPERVISORY NODES WILL BE UPGRADED. ALTHOUGH C300/C200 MAY NOT BE PRESENT AS OF NOW, BUT THE BASIC HARDWARE OF SERVERS AND NETWORKING IS ESSENTIAL.
WITHOUT WHICH THERE IS NO BENEFIT IN UPGRADE.

> It is a big job to migrate TPS to EPKS system.
---- snip ----
> If you plan to migrate TPS to EPKS, it is better you have engineer that understand both system very well. <

TRUE. BUT IT IS NOT THAT BIG TASK. IF YOU HAVE HPM IN PLACE, THE ONLY THING YOU NEED TO ADD IS C300, COZ THE PMIO ARE SUPPORTED IN C300. MARSHALING REMAINS AS IT IS.

THE ONLY CAREFUL JOB IS MIGRATION OF LOGICS FROM HPM TO C300.
FOR THIS YOU NEED TO HAVE TEAM OF OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE TOGETHER.

SUCH JOBS HAVE BEEN DONE EFFICIENTLY BY HONEYWELL, IN MY KNOWLEDGE.

 

This upgradation job is not a big deal as we have done it at our site without any probs. but there is no need of redundancy in ESVT COZ U can see the trends by HM.

 

I have upgraded my LCN and GUS station in my plant and I can still use all of existing H/W including all GUS stations in TPN 68X and EST/GUS software. The H/W change only done in several PMIO chip, Honeywell upgraded the firmware. From this I learned that TPN upgrade not always required H/W upgrade.

EST has two connections, one connects to TPN network through LCNP card+MAU and the other to EPKS (FTE network) through FTE+CAT5/6 cable. If you just have TPN network, you can disable your FTE. It impacts nothing to your EST/GUS station.

I don't see any reason why we should have ESVT for saving TPS historical data. Historical data will save in HM and if you need longer data, you can use PHD. ESVT is used to gateway TPS and EPKS network (not for saving data), but if I don't have EPKS network why I should have the gateway.

I am not sure it is not a big task migrating TPS to EPKS. C300 is fully compatible with PMIO, Series C I/O and FIM. But it is not the big part of TPS EPKS migration project. It is so easy to connect PMIO to C300, but other brand like Delta-V and Foxboro are compatible with PMIO too. They can connect PMIO to their system as easy as Honeywell. But the big part of migrating TPS to EPKS, how we translate data from TPS format to EPKS format. It cannot be done automatically, we must read all CL program, EB file, NCF file, Area database, GUS picture, etc from TPS. Then we develop manually CM, SCM, recipe, HMI display, etc in EPKS system. They are the same works if we migrate TPS to other DCS brand like Delta-V, Foxboro, Yokogawa, etc.
This job is not easy. Honeywell should develop such a tool that make this works easy and efficient.

However, since TPS and EPKS belongs to Honeywell. Migrating TPS to EPKS is more recommended than to another brand, but I notice that the engineers involved in the project are key persons to run the project successfully.

We cannot just copy and paste what Honeywell manual books say. Understanding TPS and EPKS will help you to decide the best migration way and select what parts offered you need effectively. It will be very cost effective to the project.

 

Thanks alot for that useful information.

One question that will remain in my mind. can i used both HPM and C300 with the Experion PKS system ?

 

Thanks for that information.

What are you mean by PHD?

 

PHD Means Process History Database. It is the Honeywell Plant-Wide historian node. This work with oracle database and uses many compression algorithms for compression. this uses Interfaces named RDI (Real Time Interface) that conect from Source System (Often DCS).

If you want collect History from Experion this comunication is OPC-Based

If you want collect History from TPS/LCN this comunication is LxS-Based

Furthermore. PHD can be used like Bridge between DCS and Enterprise Network. This is important if you want connect the Plant Control System and Information Systems (ERP, Like SAP).

 

EPKS cannot utilize HPM as its controller. It occupies C300/C200. HPM is for TPS system. Integration between TPS and EPKS is possible through ESVT, serial communication, OPC, etc.

 

Can I ask for manual of Experion system?

 

I searched for Experion KPS Station manual and i didn't found it.

Can i asked for any manual for that System.