HSE research, published in their book 'Out of
Control', shows that 60% of all process industry accidents can be
traced back to errors in the design and specification. Too many
companies fail to specify what the control system is supposed to do.
Following the IEE guidelines for the documentation of computer
software (for real time and interactive systems) from project
inception to commissioning and subsequent support avoids many of
the pit falls in control system software development.
A basic process control system (BPCS) can be a proprietary
distributed control system (DCS); or programmable logic controllers
(PLCs) or a combination of both linked to management information
systems in the office environment. It invariably forms part of a
supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system so that
monitoring 24 hours a day in various plant locations either on site
or remotely. Which ever of these systems you require we can help
you design, build, configure and support them. Part of that
assistance will focus on process safety, using an overall approach
that follows BS EN 61508 and IEC 61511 standards to design in
process safety at all levels to reduce the need for safety
instrumented systems. But if you do need a safety instrumented
system we can also help you design that. (
BS EN 61508/IEC 61511/UKOOA Guidelines )
The integration of the process control systems with the office
systems brings new risks to the control system as most office
systems have wide spread access to the Internet - with its risk of
hackers and viruses as well as spyware and worms. We have
experience of designing system architectures to reduce
significantly the risk of your control systems being attacked.
With our partner company MCH Konsulting we can provide ABACUS4 a process control and SCADA
system which runs under the Linux
Operating system on industrial PC hardware using a large range
of industrial process I/O subsystems. Its use of Linux Operating
System allows the SCADA package to utilise virtual private networks
for monitoring remote systems, and contributes to the protection
from viral, spyware and worm attack. Within the ABACUS4 package there is an option
for a maintenance database linked directly to the main control and
SCADA software.