Electric Power and Steam Generation
Utility Plant

Ash Removal System Controls
Lansing, Michigan

Overview

Located near downtown Lansing, Michigan, this plant was constructed in the early 1920's and has since undergone several rebuilding and expansion projects. The Eckert Station includes six electric generating units ranging from 41 megawatts (MW) capacity to 77 MW. The six units are capable of generating a total of 351 MW of electricity. The BWL entered the thermal energy business in 1919 when it bought the steam distribution and production facilities of the Michigan Power Company. Through the 1950's, production facilities were added to keep pace with an expanding service area. Today the Moore's Park Steam Plant uses low cost coal to generate up to 660,000 lbs/hr of steam, which is distributed to its customers through nearly 14 miles of steam line.

Situation

• Plant was equipped with older, manually operated Push-Button / Selector Switch Controls and Annunciator Panels for Fly Ash and Bottom Ash Recovery Operations. These components were becoming obsolete, un-reliable, and inefficient for the operators to use.
  
• Alarm Notification was not centralized and did not store or acknowledge alarms securely
  
• Inconvenient Line Change-over tasks were required by the operators took up extra time
  
• Lack of System Monitoring at Local or Remote Stations and no Web-based / LAN displays
  
• Had no way to integrate existing Ash Handling Controls into balance of plant operations
  

New Solution

• Design, fabricate, and support the installation of an Allen-Bradley Control Logix PLC Platform
  
• Design and implement a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System based on Rockwell Automation’s RS View SE Software and Industrial PC Monitors
  
• Design HMI & System Monitoring Screens that are familiar to Plant Operations
  
• Develop and deploy Local, Remote, and Web-based (Intranet) Support access to the system
  
• Develop database to store historic operational data and “new condition” events
  
• Work closely with LBW&L Plant Personnel to connect PLC / HMI / Data to existing Plant Network
  

Results

• Central and Distributed Alarm Display Screens and Acknowledgement
  
• Networked Operator Interface Displays for HMI / SCADA functions
  
• Familiar and Standard off-the-shelf PLC & HMI Controls from Local Supply & Support channels
  
• Compatibility for future plant control additions and expansion of control and monitoring
  
• Schedule and run Ash removal as needed—saving energy and wear on pipes and valves

Hansen Balk
Commercial Metal Heat Treating & Hardening Services
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Overview

Founded and located in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1955, Hansen Balk started business in a 1,600 square foot building with three furnaces. Today they occupy 80,000 square feet with over sixty (60) operating furnaces, including the largest installation of vacuum heat treating equipment in North America.

The combination of diverse equipment and expertise provides a broad range of atmosphere and vacuum heat treating processes to fit the specific requirements of different materials and applications. Industries served include: Automotive; Aerospace; Medical Instruments; Tool & Die; Machine Tool Building; Die Casting; Plastic Molding; Oil & Gas Exploration; Heavy Truck; and Military applications.

Situation

• Inherent to the Heat Treating industry is a voracious appetite for Electric & Gas Energy Supply
  
• Hansen-Balk has a large potential connected kW Demand on a 13-month Ratchet Billing Rate
  
• Plant was equipped with mostly Manually Operated Electric Furnaces from 300kW to 600kW
  
• Original Andover EMS System installed in 1993 was obsolete; Replacement parts are unavailable
  
• Hansen Balk customer’s parts cannot be marked, altered, or labeled for tracking & accountability; Paperwork system was cumbersome and unreliable; Parts & Orders were getting lost in process
  
• Gas Furnaces used paper chart recorders for Atmosphere (Carbon) and Temperature Records which were expensive to operate and maintain; Provided minimal customer documentation

Solution

• Re-use existing network wiring installation from obsolete Andover EMS system for a new Allen-Bradley and RSView32 based Control Logix PLC system, using Profibus Adapters, Digital & Analog Flex I/O modules. This retrofit helped to minimize system upgrade costs and change-over time
  
• Develop and deploy a networked, camera-based system for operators to check-in all customer parts on Digital Images / PC Storage, eliminating paperwork, bar codes, & documentation
  
• Provided a flexible system architecture to handle the existing EMS/Load Shed requirements with capabilities for easy expansion when adding plant floor manufacturing data retrieval & monitoring

Results

• Peak Electrical Demand kW was kept in check, resulting in significant savings on utility bills.
  
• Paperless Parts Tracking reduced part check-in costs and part tracking headaches
  
• Operator Interface Displays provide real-time HMI / SCADA, Alarms, and Acknowledgement
  
• Paperless Virtual Chart Recorders for Trending and Documenting Jobs / Batches for customers
  
• Familiar and standard off-the-shelf PLC Controls & HMI Software with Local Supply & Support
  
• Compatibility for various future plant equipment additions, control, monitoring, and reporting

Schenker Integrated Logistics
Sites in Ontario

Control Dynamics, Inc. has developed a high-speed conveyor sortation applications using Entivity VLC software. The requirements of identifying, tracking and diverting cartons at up to 600fpm can be very demanding on a control system. TrueSort® easily handles the situation using the VLC, Interbus I/O and some custom developed OPC applications.

The most recent installation of TrueSort® is an order fulfillment application in a distribution warehouse located in Mississauga, Ontario. The sortation conveyor runs at 230 fpm, has 11 diverts and can sort cartons in excess of 85 cartons per minute.

To facilitate picking products from the pallet rack system, an IBM AS/400 computer generates a barcode label. The label tells the picking operator the location and quantity of cartons required for each order. As the operator places each carton on the conveyor, they attach a label at the top of the box.

The conveyor system moves cartons to the sortation area through two multi-line merges. Scanners from Accusort read the top label and the SCC product label on the carton sides. The system sends barcode information to the AS/400 to confirm that the correct cartons were picked for the order and to get a shipping destination for each carton. Typically, the AS/400 responds to the destination request in less than .25 seconds. After TrueSort® delivers the carton to the correct destination, it sends a message to the AS/400 confirming the delivery.

Fast Program Scan Time & Deterministic I/O

To maintain a high level of accuracy in delivering cartons to their proper destination, TrueSort® analyzes carton length and gap between cartons at each photoelectric sensor in the system. According to Mike Bridle, Principal Engineer of Control Dynamics, "The fast and deterministic logic solve time, coupled with the similar characteristics of the Phoenix Contact Interbus Inline I/O, helps us keep system costs down by allowing us to connect incremental encoders directly to discrete I/O instead of high speed encoder modules. Even though our logic solve time is fixed at 2ms, the VLC actually solves in less than .2ms and it scans the Interbus I/O every 2-3ms. This high speed allows us to realize about 1" of tracking resolution while running at speeds in excess of 600fpm."

Large Data Storage

Unlike PLCs, the data storage capabilities of the VLC are virtually limitless. Bridgle continued, "We are able to define multi-dimensional arrays for keeping track of carton tracking information. This allows us to retain and display historical carton information for several thousand cartons." This feature is very helpful in troubleshooting carton routine issues. Storage of the label, tracking data, host computer destination, and carton sizing and routing decisions for each carton lets the operator see exactly what happened.

OPC Connectivity

A critical function of TrueSort® is to communicate to the AS/400 and display large amounts of information to the operator in an organized way. Without being able to get information into and out of TrueSort® in a fast and efficient manner, the system would not function. Using the VLC connectivity through OPC, Control Dynamics wrote their own OPC client applications. They created a transaction management system, called TrueComm, that lets the AS/400 communicate directly with the VLC through an Ethernet network.

They also developed a Data Grid capable of displaying OPC data in a scrolling window. This lets them display large amounts of array data. The scrolling nature of the grid allows Control Dynamics to configure the software for different sized systems without having to redraw the operator interface screens for each project.

For more information on how Control Dynamics can help solve your application, contact us via our web site or call (616) 896-2008.

Hudsonville Ice Cream
Holland, Michigan

Hudsonville Ice Cream Company made its first batch of ice cream in 1926 with a commitment to quality and variety. A lot has changed in our world since then except for our love of this tasty treat, and of Hudsonville’s commitment and spirit to making the best food products possible. In 2003, the company made the decision to move operations from the Burnips, MI plant location where they had been since 1948, to a new “state-of-the-art” facility in Holland, MI. They called on the expertise of several local contractors to help make this move in the same spirit and tradition of innovation of the founders.

MDE Corporation was chosen to develop a turn-key system to monitor and control Raw Materials; Product Processing, Blending, Batching; and Cleaning of Trucks, Tanks, Vessels and Piping used in these processes. MDE called upon Control Dynamics Inc. (CDI) to design and implement the electrical controls for these important functions of the new plant. CDI used Allen-Bradley’s PLC’s, Motor Controls, RSView32 HMI, and CDI’s own Virtual Chart Documentation software to provide many complex automation control solutions, including:

• Raw Milk Flow and Batching
• Pasteurization
• Flavoring
• Product Filling and Routing
• Continuous Freezer Control

Finally, all of the process components and pipes needed to be sanitized using Control Dynamics’ Clean-In-Place (CIP) controls and electronic record keeping system.

Control Dynamics believes in the same spirit that drives the Hudsonville Ice Cream Company. We have a 20-year tradition of providing the type of quality and service that our customers expect for their business. But that’s probably not what we’ll be thinking of the next time we are enjoying a delicious helping of Hudsonville Ice Cream!

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