The Solution for Process Control Technology

The operational scope of the first Engineering Base special branch solution for process control technology, Engineering Base Instrumentation, extends over the entire engineering process, starting with plant design and cost estimation, the creation of pipes and instrumentation (P&I) diagrams, the device specification and ordering including detailed engineering as well as the assignment and wiring of machine and plant components. Thus Engineering Base is one of the few systems enabling consistent plant engineering for control and electrotechnical planning based on a common data stock.

Special Branch Solution: Object-Oriented and Database-Driven
Engineering Base Instrumentation special emphasis on flexibility and universal use combined with quick familiarization. Uncompromisingly process-oriented, Engineering Base stores all projecting data in a database and offers comfortable editing via explorer, graphics and tabular access. A unique property is the consistent use of standard Microsoft tools: For the creation and editing of graphic representations, MS Office Visio has been integrated. In addition there are the Microsoft SQL server as reliable database and VBA, a well-known Office product, as programming language for customer-specific solutions.

Branch-specific supplements render Engineering Base, in the manner of an instrumentation tool, a unique offer for plant design in the chemical/pharmaceutical industry, in power plant construction and primary industry and also for other process-oriented industrial sectors. Such supplements comprise e.g. the coupling to the layout program Conval, the possibility to store calculated data directly with the Engineering Base objects in the database as well as the online integration with process engineering, with HMI systems such as WinCC from Siemens and with field bus and control system engineering tools.

A special highlight is the wiring and option: here it is e.g. possible to use Engineering Base to create complete distributor diagrams on the basis of the real time wiring concept using practice-oriented assignment data. The adjustment of the wiring data with the process control loops is effected online and automatically. This is based on the consistent use of the object concept also for connections and wirings, which can thus be arbitrarily represented and edited.

New Standards, New Trends
Engineering Base sets new standards for the support of current industrial standards. For the classification of the device data, one can switch between different classification methods such as eCl@ss, IEC or ISA S.20 while editing the data. Engineering Base Instrumentation follows the specifications set in the respective standards also with respect to the property bars used as defaults.

The representation of current labeling systems of ISA, IEC 61346 or KKS (common in power plant construction) is supported, the IEC 61346 was the basis for the Engineering Base system design.

Using Familiar Working Methods
Engineering Base Instrumentation covers the entire range of requirements for the planning and operation of the PLT technology. For the function-oriented view there is a tree structure that permits staggering of plants and plant sections in any hierarchical depth. The individual tags are then administered within this staggered view. Devices, specifications or loop diagrams are assigned to the individual tags or newly created. All this is effected in a clearly laid out explorer via drag & drop or via context-sensitive popup menus.
Engineering Base Instrumentation gains competitive advantages due to its unlimited structuring possibilities for locations available in a combined product view of the plant resources.
In addition to the explorer view, all of the data can also be edited in list views. These lists can be flexibly adjusted to the respective task by arbitrary column arrangement, sorting and filtering and can be stored as templates. Using handling routines known and familiar from table editing in Office programs, cell contents – e.g. descriptive device attributes – can be quickly transferred by mouse movement or incremented. Especially for the large data volumes to be dealt with in process I&E planning this working method is far superior to editing individual objects (which is of course just as feasible).

Main Objective: The User
All objects managed in the database can be graphically displayed under different aspects. It is up to the user to decide (quite easily via drag & drop) whether a device object leaves traces in a P&I schematic, the loop, a hook-up or in other documents. Engineering Base always knows all representations of an object and offers them for quick navigation to the respective diagrams. When the data for an object is changed, no matter whether the in graphic or the alphanumeric view, Engineering Base at once automatically updates all other representations. The fact that all kind of documents are always up to date is the decisive advantage of data-driven object orientation. For speedy editing of plants, especially in new construction or reconstruction planning, the procedure based on typicals becomes predominant. Here an appropriate template is selected for a new measuring or load point, and all required devices, cables and inputs/outputs of the control system are automatically created or assigned. Engineering Base also automatically creates the pertinent graphic diagrams. There is no way to carry out the planning job faster or more efficiently.

Automatically Up to Date
The editing of the infrastructure and the plant (i.e. cables, field distributors and bus systems) as well as of the central installations, control cabinets, consoles and control systems is at any rate part of the tried and tested core capability of Engineering Base. Here also the depth of the hierarchical structuring is unlimited, and each object can be displayed in its various aspects in different documents. Whether in the circuit diagram, the cabinet layout or the ground plan of the hall, all representations are here also always up to date due to their connection to the central database objects. Terminal diagrams for the distributors or cable assignment lists are created automatically in the background and are likewise always kept up to date without the user having to do anything. The concept is completed by the integration of thematically adjoining systems. Material data and documents are exchanged with SAP, the configuration and signal assignment of the control system are transferred directly and adjusted in case of changes.

Easy Maintenance
There are particular challenges in plant maintenance and operative handling: Here easy handling, rapid availability and clarity of the data are the crucial criteria.
Engineering Base Instrumentation meets these challenges with an appropriate maintenance tool and practice-oriented access options. Thus one sample application permits the tag number oriented access to wiring data via a simple Internet/Intranet page, which may also comprise data from other applications and service providers contained in the Engineering Base database. Here the documentation is accessed online and via the Web as built – without anybody having to operate Engineering Base.

Long-Standing Experience
AUCOTEC AG has been active in the I&E market for 15 years. Prominent names in power generation, the petrochemical and pharmaceutics industries such as RWE, BP, Siemens, MAN, Alstom, ABB, Degussa, Solvay, Honeywell or Schering are development partners and users of Aucoplan, one of the first integrated solutions on the market. It covers all aspects of measuring and control technology and electrical engineering, from pipes and instrumentation diagrams (P&I) via loops and data sheets to cabinet design and cabling. Engineering Base Instrumentation can be viewed as consistent further development for all AUCOPLAN applications.

An excerpt from the list of companies that have already decided in favor of Engineering Base:
Eisenmann Maschinenbau GmbH, Bombardier Transportation Bautzen, DriveCon GmbH, Knoll Maschinenbau GmbH, McLaren Racing Ltd. England, Knappe Engineering&Trading GmbH, Degussa Construction Spanien, Shanghai Packlaeder Co Ltd. China, multitec international GmbH, ABB Automation Technologies AB Schweden, Baoling Electrical Control China, Rexquote Ltd. England, Atlas Elektronik GmbH, Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. USA, Christ Water Technology China, FERAG AG.