How Modular Automation Is Helping to Create the Chemical Process Control Systems of the Future

The need for chemical producers to enhance the agility of their production processes is calling for a new breed of process control system that can help them to embrace change. Standardized "plug-and-produce" modular automation solutions are helping to create dynamic automation solutions that can adapt quickly to meet changing needs, both today and into the future.

As part of an industry estimated to be worth more than $5.2tn, the world’s chemical producers are facing an increasing array of challenges that are calling for it to rethink its conventional approaches to production and process control.
 
A key challenge is the rising focus on sustainability. Producers are increasingly being expected to find ways to minimize their carbon emissions and reduce their ecological footprint through the development and implementation of eco-friendlier production techniques, more efficient recycling of chemicals, and waste reduction.
 
Unpredictable material costs and disruptions to supply chains are also having an impact, especially when it comes to the feedstocks and energy that are crucial to chemical production processes. The fluctuating prices of oil and gas can significantly impact production expenses and profitability.
 
Added to this is escalating regulatory scrutiny, with governments worldwide tightening regulations to control emissions and ensure the safe handling of chemicals. Compliance with these regulations can be resource, time and cost-intensive, demanding substantial investment in new technologies and infrastructure, as well as keeping a closer eye on the performance of existing production processes.
 
The highly competitive nature of the chemical industry, coupled with growing demands for customization and faster delivery times is also calling for companies to be able to adapt quickly, either by ramping their processes up or down or rapidly developing new products. Advances in digital technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and IoT are offering growing opportunities to achieve new levels of production agility but utilizing them also brings its own set of challenges, including the need to be able to integrate them into existing process control architectures.
 
Another pressing concern is the industry’s rising skills shortage. Difficulties in attracting and retaining skilled workers means that engineering teams are becoming increasingly stretched, compelling producers to find new ways of utilizing their existing people more effectively, including through the greater use of automation and digital technologies. 

Changing demands call for a changed approach

Meeting these challenges calls for a radical departure from the monolithic automation systems that have traditionally been used to manage and control plants. In these systems, a master controller is used to execute custom-built source code to manage sequencing, motion and I/O throughout the production line. As such systems are typically designed and optimized for a particular plant layout, product range and ideal throughput, they offer limited scope for accommodating future changes.
 
While suited for conventional large-scale, mass production of single products where demand cycles are either constant or highly predictable, these systems lack the flexibility needed to cope with the growing raft of challenges facing today’s producers, especially when it comes to meeting the demands for faster, more flexible production. With an increasing trend towards customization, there is a need for producers to shift from lines geared for mass production towards ones designed for smaller batch production.
 
With systems designed for specific plants or processes, it can also be difficult to replicate them across other sites, presenting potential issues for companies operating from multiple locations. In particular, as both systems and the expertise to support them will likely end up differing from site to site, it can be complicated to achieve a consistent company-wide benchmark for areas such as quality, cost and energy consumption.  
 
This necessarily entails a rethink in the design of process control systems in two ways. Firstly, there is a need to move away from traditional centralized architectures towards new concepts that enable a fast response to changes in production that will ensure maximum efficiency without incurring maximum cost.
 
Secondly, in making this move, there is the opportunity to consider how best to integrate the opportunities offered by Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies that can be used to optimize both process and worker performance and transform plant maintenance and operation.

Many of the challenges facing chemical producers identified at the outset of this article are being addressed by designers incorporating new technologies backed up by edge and cloud computing that are offering expanded possibilities for enhanced interaction with production plant.
 
Examples include the use of advanced sensors and analytics to optimize energy use and minimize waste products to address the industry's environmental responsibilities and cost-saving imperatives. This focus on sustainability is not only reducing the industry's ecological footprint but also enhancing its economic viability and helping to ensure regulatory compliance through improved monitoring and reporting.
 
Advanced control algorithms are also helping to make the decisions needed to deliver higher product quality and consistency, reducing the variability that can occur with manual processes, as well as enhancing production efficiency, allowing companies to respond more nimbly to market demands and outpace their competitors.
 
Meanwhile, as the impact of skills gaps becomes more pronounced, a range of new solutions are being developed with intuitive interfaces and smart diagnostics, from smart handheld devices to AR headsets, that can be used to augment the performance of engineering teams whether they are in the control room or performing maintenance in the field.

The solution is modular

The modular automation concept offers the solution to achieving the flexibility needed to achieve dynamic and flexible process control systems capable of meeting both current and future production challenges.
 
The concept breaks the system into blocks, where discrete processes are equipped with their own intelligence which is then fed back into the central controller.
 
As control functions are distributed to smaller, less powerful and less costly controllers handling each of the modules, the central controller doesn’t have to be as powerful as one used in a conventional monolithic arrangement.
 
As each module is effectively acting as a plant within a plant, processes can operate semi-autonomously, allowing changes or optimizations to be made without completely rewriting the code for the entire process. Existing parts of a process can be adapted or removed, or new parts added without affecting the other modules around it or compromising the process in any way.
 
Decentralizing control functions allows more data to be gathered from each individual module, optimizing specific parts of the production line instead of consolidating it all at a central point. This results in greater agility and flexibility to adapt production lines to accommodate product variations or changes in production volume. Moving from a monolithic to a modular automation system can reduce downtime by 50%, decrease capital expenditure for automation engineering by 50%, and lower life cycle management costs by 20%. Time to market can also be decreased by up to 40%, with products able to be rolled out much more quickly as the time needed to put new production processes into action is reduced.

Ensuring interoperability

It has long been realized by automation manufacturers, including ABB, that proprietary systems offering little, or no interoperability would severely hamper the capabilities of process control systems and their ability to adapt to changing circumstances by stifling innovation and tying customers into specific systems.
 
For this reason, collaboration and transparency have been key drivers in the development of both automation technology and the standardization needed to enable maximum interoperability. Today’s modular automation technologies are based on VDI/VDE/NAMUR 2658, which standardizes the framework of interoperability between the MTPs that form the layers in the system between each individual module and the central controller above it.
 
The MTP contains all of the information necessary for the module to be integrated into the automation system, including archive, human-machine interface (HMI), process control, history, and safety.
 
Adhering to the VDI/VDE/NAMUR 2658 standard ensures that any module can be integrated into any automation system, allowing complete interoperability across multiple system vendors and product ranges. This benefit makes modular automation compelling, as OEMs and customers are not confined to existing systems but instead given the freedom to enjoy the benefits of a truly agnostic automation environment.

Another benefit of the modular approach is the ability to respond more quickly to changes in demand, whether in terms of quantity or products. The ability to create MTP blocks for specific applications facilitates ramping up and down production without affecting other modules. As such, a key benefit of modular automation is the ability to number up or number down to meet changing production demands. Compared to scaling, which typically involves adjusting an existing process to increase or reduce its capacity, numbering literally entails adding or reducing a production unit according to what’s needed. As well as increased flexibility, this approach helps to reduce the risk and disruption of ramping production, as production can be maintained while new systems are added.
 

Evolving the role of the DCS

While Distributed Control Systems have provided a proven and longstanding way of handling the functions needed to keep plants running safely and efficiently, there is a growing need for them to be able to adapt to handle the changing requirements of industrial users. In particular, users now expect that systems will be able to become more dynamic to unlock the possibilities offered by an expanding range of technologies that help deliver the next generation of process control systems.
 
The opportunities available through modular automation change the role of the DCS from that of a centralized, complex system to one that is more flexible, scalable, and user-friendly and is better suited to the dynamic needs of modern industrial processes. In effect, the role of the DCS evolves to become a process orchestration system, managing tasks and processes such as initiating the production process, collecting feedback on operational performance, handling information, and returning commands for each module. By enabling each module to anticipate the actions of other modules, the process orchestration system ensures all parts of the process are working together to achieve optimal production.
 
This approach is what has made the concept of plug and produce possible. Now a new module can be dropped into existing process and be able to function seamlessly within the wider automation architecture, with the MTP performing a similar role to that of a driver installed on a PC. As well as speeding up implementation, this approach also makes it easier to duplicate operations across multiple sites and establish consistent best practices.

Unlocking new possibilities

For chemical producers, the possibilities offered by the 'plug-and-produce' model offer an attractive route to accelerating time-to-market, boosting uptime and cutting production costs. Furthermore, by enabling manufacturers to swiftly adapt and number up or down their processes and systems to meet customer and market demands, it offers a way of streamlining the introduction of new products and adjusting production capacity with minimal engineering effort.
 
By adopting standardized modules and interfaces, modular automation enables plants to achieve greater engineering efficiencies, leading to cost reductions. Processes can be designed and tested without the need for actual hardware, and maintenance becomes more straightforward and cost-effective, as individual modules can be serviced without taking the entire system offline.
 
Moreover, modular automation supports a granular approach to data collection, allowing for the optimization of individual production line components. It also aligns with 'cybersecure by design' strategies, providing compartmentalized security safeguards that can contain cyber threats more effectively than monolithic systems, potentially without halting production.
 
This modular approach is particularly suited to the specialized requirements of fine chemical production, with its small volumes, short production runs, or parallel production of multiple products in limited quantities. It provides a more standardized, off-the-shelf alternative to traditional monolithic systems, helping chemical companies address workforce shortages and reduce reliance on expensive Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) services for automation system design, implementation, and maintenance.
 
The chemical industry is on the cusp of a technological revolution, with modular automation and the Internet of Things (IoT) converging to offer unprecedented real-time data and automation capabilities. Modular automation, combined with IoT, is not only transforming plant design and fabrication but also providing cost-effective solutions that simplify engineering, increase production flexibility, and help chemical producers seize new market opportunities.
 
IoT sensors are enabling real-time process monitoring, predictive maintenance, supply chain optimization, energy conservation, and remote monitoring and control, all of which enhance product quality, safety, plant efficiency and environmental compliance.

Setting the formula for the process control systems of the future

In conclusion, the integration of IoT with modular automation is catalyzing a transformation in the chemical industry, enhancing safety, efficiency, product quality, and environmental sustainability. As the industry faces current and future challenges, these technologies are together poised to create the chemical process control systems of the future that will unlock new potential for enhanced production and performance.