Agreed with Youssef. Be careful using BCMD. Use XCMD whenever possible. It's called eXternal for a reason. BCOMMAND is a parameter customized to be used by the batch system, XCMD on steroids.
I did a quick test running a phase with manual phase control and aborting by writiing 10 to BCMD and it does work fine. Batch server didn't mind the remote command and keeps track of the phase state.
Adrian, is the CIMUSER account on the DeltaV app station a local or domain account? I would actually try setting up BOTH a local and domain CIMUSER on the DV App station with matching passwords. Use OPCWatchit to test whether local\CIMUSER and domain\CIMUSER on DV App station gets the callbacks.
Thats the first leg of the journey.
Next, through OPCWatchit, see if local\CIMUSER and domain\CIMUSER can write to DeltaV OPC server tags. If you hav set up CIMUSER in DeltaV Usermanager as a domain account, only domain\CIMUSER will suceed. IF you set up CIMUSER as a local account in User Manager (no domain or app station as domain) then only local\CIMUSER will succeed. I have had more luck with the former, but bottom line was both the local and domain accounts needed to exist.
Thats the second leg of the journey.
Next, I would set up OPC Mirror to run as domain\CIMUSER. You can also try local\CIMUSER.
You need to be logged in into Emerson Domain to download the Group display tool.
Warm Regards,
Ashish
Make sure you consider the Plant-wide solutions track when setting your personal agenda for Emerson Exchange 2014.
By now you have noticed the organization of Emerson Exchange tracks this year into the 4 main categories: Solve and Support, Measure and Analyze, Operate and Manager, plus Final Control and Regulate.
Hopefully you have seen a 5th category titled Plant-wide solutions. The Plant-wide solutions track was added to cover not just PlantWeb solutions but also papers on enabling technologies that cut across an enterprise. The track was defined as the following:
For sure, you should check out the 3 finalists for the PlantWeb Excellence award this year. Plus you will find some good papers in this track which didn’t naturally fit into the 4 main categories above including DeltaV. There are a variety of topics in this track that may interest such as:
Again, make sure you consider the Plant-wide solutions track when setting your personal agenda for Emerson Exchange 2014.
I assume you mean you tried to load the PI Excel Add-in on a DeltaV node? Why did this not work? (What errors did you get?)
In 2006, I wrote a batch file to perform this task (we didn't have the PI tools).
The principle is to
1. Create a piconfig commandfile.
2. Run piconfig with the commandfile as input.
3. Return a .csv as output.
The command file should look like this:
@prom n
@table piarc
@mode list
@istru tag, starttime, endtime, count, mode
@output %Out%
@echo data
@ostru value, status, time, tag
@ostru ...
%Tag%, "%Startdate% %Starttime%", "%Enddate% %Endtime%", %Count%, %Mode%
@exit
where
%Out% = Output file path/name (remove quotes)
%Tag% = tagname
%Startdate% = starting date formatted correctly
%Starttime% = starting time formatted correctly
%Enddate% = Ending date formatted correctly
%Endtime% = Ending time formatted correctly
%Count% = maximum number of expected records
%Mode%= retrieval mode, I suggest Comp
Then run piconfig through batch script on your historian, using the command file as input.:
piconfig -remote -node %NodeName% -port 5450 -username %Username%<%InputFile%
where
%NodeName% = PI historian name
%Username% = PI User
%InputFile% = Command File Name
I would refer to the PIConfig documentation for specifics. The output file should list the record fields as comma-separated values per the ostru.
Greg McMillan
ISA Fellow
He shared with me that this 4th edition is nearly a 1000 pages long and is a complete rewrite of the 1994 3rd edition. Greg noted that a lot has happened and he has learned a lot in the last 20 years. The book shows how lambda tuning and external reset feedback (e.g. DeltaV Dynamic Reset Limit) can be used to overcome challenges associated with lag-dominance, cascade control, slow valves, interactions, nonlinearities, resonance, and valve position control.
This book will be available this fall and I will update the post when it is available for ordering. If you are interested in knowing when it will be available follow Greg in Twitter and/or connect with him in LinkedIn and he’ll share the news with you.
Here is the current draft of the preface from the book to better understand the scope of the changes:
Most plants depend entirely upon PID control. Even plants with model predictive control still depend on the PID to deal with valve nonlinearities and provide fast control of flows and pressures. Yet most of the capability of the PID is not effectively used due to disagreements as to PID tuning rules and a lack of guidance on how to meet different objectives and deal with process and automation system dynamics. This book seeks to provide an intensive and extensive view of what is needed to get the most out of the PID based on 44 years of experience in applying PID control in the process industry. New tools for analyzing and tuning loops offer automatic identification of loop dynamics, PID settings, and statistics on variability. This book seeks to take advantage of the new ability of tools today to know the dynamics and choose tuning rules and factors to free up the individual to focus more on selecting PID options and setting parameters to meet the challenges and objectives of the application.
The 1st edition in 1984 focused on the tuning methods prevalent at the time with the objective of minimizing the peak and integrated error from unmeasured load disturbances at the process input. Tuning techniques to minimize these errors were aggressive. In practice the PID gain was cut in half to provide more robustness (e.g. gain margin increased from 2 to 4). While minimizing these errors is still important for preventing activation of safety instrumentation systems, relief devices, preventing environment violations, and preventing off-spec product in columns, crystallizers, evaporators, and reactors, there are many other considerations. The book has been almost completely rewritten in the 4th edition to meet other objectives such as minimizing overshoot in the setpoint response, minimizing the propagation of oscillations due to interactions and resonance, maximization of variability absorption for surge tank level, and maximizing the coordination of loop responses to reduce transients in the material and energy balances. Also provided is the recognition of when measurement, valve, and variable frequency drive (VFD) dynamics and resolution limits present a problem and the use of PID tuning and options to minimize the consequences until the source of the problem is fixed. Tuning is not meant to be a cover up but a symptom of a system problem. Dynamics and tuning and can be used to find how to improve the equipment, piping, measurement, PID, valve, or VFD design and installation.
The 4th edition is exceptionally long because the topic is so huge and practical expertise that plays such a key role in the success largely remains in the brains of senior specialists, consultants and technologists. The principles, simple algebraic equations, recommendations, examples, test results, and key points presented seek to make the information more accessible. While some of the foundation is derived from the frequency domain, the details and understanding is based on relationships are detailed in the time domain since this is what is seen on trend recordings and can deal with discontinuities from analyzers and valve backlash and stick-slip. The analysis in the time domain is more consistent with the thought process of practitioners opening up a dialog between process control, operations and process design. This is not to discount the value of frequency domain analysis and power spectrums available in new tools that can build upon what is learned in university courses on control theory.
If I had to pick chapters to read first, I would recommend Chapters 1-3 to provide the basis and overview of the total solution. Subsequent chapters provide more of the details for a spectrum of application considerations, problems and solutions. The appendices provide significant technical support.
Chapter 1 starts out with the basics and provides an overview of tuning rules that are representative of the more than 100 rules documented in the book PI and PID Controller Tuning Rules by O’Dwyer. The 4th edition seeks to show how many of these rules converge to provide the same PID gain and reset time with slightly different factors when the objective is the minimization of errors from load disturbances. The author apologizes if a favorite tuning method is not shown. The important point is that the loop should be tuned and the egos behind particular rules should take a back seat to the solution. A good practitioner will get good results by adjusting factors and using PID features. The 4th edition seeks to document the practical expertise that is more important than the rule. Test results are used in most of the chapters to explore, discover and verify concepts.
Chapter 2 offers a comprehensive overview of the total system solution. A unified methodology is presented to tie together the whole solution. Chapter 3 provides simple equations to estimate the effect of tuning settings on peak and integrated errors for load response and the ability to get to a new setpoint quickly. The relationships between tuning and performance seen in the equations are more important than the actual use of the equations to predict particular values.
The effect of process and mechanical design is analyzed in Chapter 4 and the effect of automation system components are extensively discussed including tables of typical dynamics in Chapters 5-7. The effect of disturbances, nonlinearities and interactions are detailed in Chapters 8-10. The book concludes with a discussion in Chapters 11-15 of how to get the most out of cascade control, advanced regulatory control, process control improvement, auto tuners and adaptive control, and batch optimization.
Greg leads a Mentoring Engineers discussion group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community. Consider joining and participating!
Dear All,
We've recently purchased Emerson's quad monitor workstations and are attempting to pull up more than four face plates per workstation. To my understanding the user can only pin four face plates at one time. If a new face plate is opened, the newly opened faceplate will close one of the pinned face plates. We now have a lot of open real estate with the quad monitors and our operators would like to take advantage of this.
Has anybody worked on or developed such requirements?
If so, please kindly inform and share the details. I have searched the forum as best I could. Please forgive me if this question has already been addressed.
Thank you very much for your help and support.
Thankyou for the information i knew i had seen it somewhere was just looking in the wrong places.
Have you tried to open a telnet link to the controller and look in the hardware event logs?
One of the most proven ways to measure flow rate is through differential pressure measurement. By creating an obstruction in the flow of fluid, a difference in pressure is created upstream and downstream of the obstruction. In this 3:12 educational YouTube video, How Differential Pressure Flow Works, Emerson’s Rosemount Measurement team illustrates how differential pressure (DP) flow technology works and how an integrated design improves installation and ongoing maintenance.
The video opens describing the two key components in measuring flow rate using differential pressure—the primary element and the secondary element. The primary element, placed in the pipe, is what creates the obstruction in the line to produce the difference in pressure across it. The secondary element or transmitter takes the measurements from the primary element, converts the measurement into useful quantitative values, and transmits the value to the control system.
Primary elements come in many varieties including traditional orifice plates, cone, venture, nozzle, and wedge designs.
Two additional methods we highlighted in earlier blog posts include the Rosemount Annubar averaging pitot tube and the Rosemount conditioning orifice plate.
From an installation standpoint, integrating the primary and secondary elements removes the need for impulse piping and the maintenance associated with it. This piping is also a potential source for leaks which might pose safety and environmental issues depending on the fluid being measured. The video explains how the primary and secondary elements are integrated.
For advanced multivariable transmitters, compensated mass flow calculations can be performed through the measurement of static and differential pressure as well as process temperature.
More educational videos can be found on the Rosemount Measurement YouTube channel. You can also connect and interact with flow measurement experts in the Flow track of the Emerson Exchange 365 community.
Matt,
I tried something similar to what you have suggested. It works,
Thanks for the support.
Manik
Your suggestion about embedding the PHV's seems like it might be a viable option for us, however we would really like to be able to keep the "events" section of the PHV e-charts.
We already have several trend pages made. Do you know of any way to embed the ".phve" file itself?
I discovered the joys of the PCSD dynamos/faceplates and the interpretation of the AO block indications earlier this year. It's not easy to get a consistent interface for operators with the various CSD, CSR and AO module types.
All I know is that AO/OUT value represents the mA value to the field 100%= 20mA always.
When inc to close is enabled, AO/CAS_IN is the invert of AO/OUT.
Intuitively I would always want the %output value shown to the operator to represent the % of maximum of the control signal, whether that be %open for a control valve, %max speed for a VSD, %max heat demand for a heater etc...
I believe PCSD gives this if you have an IO_READBACK signal configured assuming the feedback 100% value represents %maximum control. Unfortunately if you don't have a configured feedback signal it reflects the output signal which in the case of an increase to close valve represents the %minimum (closed) value, which for me isn't intuitively correct.
For additional confusion the PCSD loop faceplates dynamically alters the source parameter used for the output indication based on the SUB_FPDT parameter of the module instance, which has different values for the various controller module types.
I'd suggest that the PCSD faceplates and dynamos in their admirable attempt to be all things to all men have become over complex and confused in their implementation and application.
Hi,
Out of curiosity, I tried out the approach gamella has suggested in one module.... It works really fine with the use of BG blocks. A clean solution.....
Thanks for sharing this method on the forum.
I had left the BG block IN as "0" considering both PID's in same range, & PID output is connected to CAS_IN. Backcalculations were connected from BG to PID as well.
As Matt has correctly indicated, 'the question is what happens to the the non-selected Loop'. In this case, since the BG block is in LO mode, the respective PID goes to IMAN & hence tracks the CTLSL block back calculation.
The only issue is, if operator wants to keep both loops working & compare the outputs before switching. With a calc block (option 3), it is really easy to customise this by controlling the cascade handshake statuses. But can also be achieved by removing the backcalculations from BG to PID blocks.
(Last time when I implemented this, the requirement was that operator can only switch when this difference is less than 3%. Until then he can still monitor both loops, as they continue to generate outputs like in a automatic override control.) PID coming out of tracking (LO) to AUTO can also have bump on the output, if SP-PV tracking is disabled to mantain SP.
Best Regards,
Amod.
I would be cautious of creating more than 3 copies of the faceplates without some additional controls. The update popup pictures utility in operate configure will search through all the faceplates and replicate the ones that are required. If you have more than the standard amount of faceplates (3 copies) you may need to create some vb script to replace this function so all the faceplate copies are updated.
Unless you do this you may end up with out of date faceplates. example faceplatex is updated. You run update popup pictures and faceplatex1, faceplatex2 and faceplatex3 are updated automatically. Faceplatex4, faceplatex5 and faceplatex6 will still have the old configuration.
Thanks Youssef for the tip on the remote client diagnostics i wasn't aware of that.
I have been doing this via the event charts but was looking for a more permanent and easily accessable option.
Cheers
Hi All,
We upgraded to version 12.3.1 a few months ago, not sure if related, but have just started getting this message when trying to open AMS.
"licencing is unable to connect to licence server"
We have been using AMS since the upgrade but now cannot open it. Has anyone seen this issue?
Regards
Tony
