EMERSONTest Platform for Automation System

Abstract

There are different automation systems to control processes in industry. One of them is 

DeltaV, which is a product from Emerson Process Management. Recently, Sandvik 

Coromant, bought the DeltaV automation system for using it in production. To increase 

the knowledge about DeltaV at Sandvik Coromant a project was initiated with the aim to 

create a test platform and a course compendium for self learning. This thesis describes 

how the test platform was developed and its functionality

Testplattform för styrsystemet DeltaV 

Examensarbete vid Skolan för Elektro- och Systemteknik 

Sammanfattning 

För att styra processer i industrin finns det olika styrsystem. Ett av dessa är DeltaV, som 

är en produkt från Emerson Process Management. Nyligen köpte Sandvik Coromant 

styrsystemet DeltaV för att använda det i sin produktion. För att öka kunskapen om 

DeltaV på Sandvik Coromant initierades ett projekt: Att utforma en test plattform och ett 

kurskompendium för självlärning. Denna uppsats beskriver hur tesplattformen har 

utvecklats och dess funktionalitet. 

Foreword

This report presents a Master’s project at the School of Electrical Engineering at the 

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. 

The project has been performed at Sandvik Coromant in Västberga, Sweden. I want to 

thank Sandvik Coromant for accepting me and Stefan Hedberg and Patrik Schütt for 

their support throughout the project. I would also like to thank my supervisor, Professor 

Håkan Hjalmarsson, at the School of Electrical Engineering, KTH, for his support. 

I have performed this project in collaboration with Daniel Engdahl, who also is a member 

of this project

Chapter 1 

Introduction 

Sandvik Coromant is the world's leading manufacturer of cutting tools for the 

metalworking industry. Advanced production processes require advanced automation 

systems for the control. 

Production processes normally consist of a number of devices like valves, engines, 

sensors, transmitters and controllers. These devices are controlled and monitored from 

an automation system. 

Sandvik Coromant has recently bought a new automation system, DeltaV, which is a 

product from Emerson Process Management. To increase the knowledge about the 

automation system at Sandvik Coromant, a project was initiated with the aim to create a 

test platform and a course compendium for self learning. 

This chapter describes the problem to be solved, the background to the automation 

system DeltaV and gives the outline for the rest of the report. 

1.1 Problem 

In the following subsections the problem is described. 

1.1.1 Task 

The task in this project was to create a portable test platform for an educational purpose 

for one of the automation systems, DeltaV from Emerson Process Management, that is 

used at Sandvik Coromant. Along with the test platform, there should also be a course 

compendium that describes how to learn DeltaV by using the test platform. The test 

platform and the course compendium should together work as selflearning tools for the 

personell at Sandvik Coromant. The platform should be small enough to be portable, so 

that it can be brought to people who needs to learn DeltaV, independently of where they 

are stationed. 

Since the purpose of the task was not to learn how the production processes work, there 

was not any requirement that the test platform should be similar to any process where 

DeltaV is used at Sandvik Coromant. The only required similarity between the test 

platform and the production processes at Sandvik Coromant was supposed to be that 

similar measurement equipment was used.

1.1.2 Purpose 

The DeltaV automation system has been used at Sandvik Coromant for two years. The 

purpose of creating a test platform was to increase the knowledge of the automation 

system among the personnel. 

Since production processes are in general very costly to interrupt, a test platform was 

needed to experiment with the functions of DeltaV. With the test platform the personnel 

at Sandvik Coromant should be able to learn more about the automation system on their 

own by testing how to control a physical process. The test platform along with the course 

compendium should work as a selflearning tool. 

1.1.3 Previous work 

This is the first test platform and also the first course for DeltaV that has been developed 

at Sandvik Coromant. The manufacturer of DeltaV, Emerson Process Management, 

provides DeltaV courses. However, these courses do not come with a portable test 

platform. 

1.1.4 Description of the problem 

The desire from Sandvik Coromant was to have a physical process, a software with 

control algorithms for controlling the physical process and a course compendium on how 

to learn DeltaV. 

The requirement on the hardware in the physical process was that it should at least 

include basically the same equipment as the production processes that are controlled 

with DeltaV; relays, fuses, pressure transmitter, proximity sensors etc. Naturally, the 

hardware should also include the automation system, DeltaV. The platform should be 

small enough to be portable. 

The requirement on the software part was similarly that it should at least include some 

similar algorithms as the software for the real production processes includes. It was also 

required that the software should include an operator interface in which an operator can 

get the relevant information about the process; alarms indicating that something is 

wrong, diagrams, an illustration of the process where the operator can follow what 

happens etc. 

The requirement on the course compendium was that a person who reads it should be 

able to replicate the control software that was developed in this project. Persons taking 

the course will have the original software as a key, which they should only use if they 

experience significant problems. 

Hence, to meet all requirement from Sandvik Coromant, the finished platform and 

additional educational material should include the following: 

• The DeltaV System with controller cards, I/O cards and fieldbus cards. 

• Devices that are more or less the same as in the production processes at 

Sandvik Coromant where DeltaV is used, for instance proximity sensors or 

pressure transmitters. 

• A software control system containing similar algorithms as the production 

processes at Sandvik Coromant, for instance it might be of great relevance to 

use a PID controller. 

• An operator interface illustration that follows the physical process. The operator 

environment should also contain an alarm list. 

• A course compendium with both general information about functions in DeltaV 

and instructions on how to create the same control system as the one which was 

developed in this project. 

1.1.5 Aim 

The aim of this project was to make a test platform along with a course compendium. 

The test platform should be portable so that it can be brought to people for education in 

DeltaV regardless of where the persons are stationed. This education should give a 

general knowledge on how to use DeltaV and after completing this course the engineers 

should be able to implement simple control systems.

1.2 DeltaV-a DCS automation system 

In industry there are different automation systems; some that are more basic and some 

that are more advanced. This section will give an introduction to automation systems in 

general and the specific automation system, DeltaV, that this project concerns. Figure 

1.1 shows the hardware of the DeltaV automation system.

DeltaV is a DCS automation system. DCS is short for Distributed Control System and it 

is and automation system that has evolved from PLC.[1] 

PLC is short for Programmable Logic Controller. Originally PLC systems replaced old 

automation systems that included many relays. PLC systems did then include only 

discrete signals and when DCS was new, the difference between the two automation 

systems was that DCS also included analog signals. However, today PLC includes both 

analog and discrete signals and the difference between PLC and DCS is vague. Newer 

designs look similar both in hardware and in software.[2] 

The DeltaV automation system consists of one hardware part and one software part. In 

the following subsections both parts willl be explained. 

1.2.1 Controller, I/O and fieldbus cards 

The hardware consists of controller cards, I/O cards and fieldbus cards. 

In the controller a CPU is located and it is in the controller that the program containg 

information on how to control the process is stored. This program is downloaded to the 

controller from a workstation. The I/O cards and the fieldbus cards are capable of 

sending or/and receiving signals to and from the devices. Hence, the I/O cards and 

fieldbus cards send the signals that they get from the devices to the controller and the 

signals that they get from the controller to the devices. The controller also sends 

information to an operator interface, so that the operator of the process can monitor it. 

Figure 1.2 shows an overview of the connections for an automation system.

Figure 1.2. Overview of the connections for an automation system. A device is connected to an I/O card 

or a fieldbus card. The controller communicates with the I/O cards and the fieldbus cards and is connected 

to a workstation. The program is downloaded from a workstation to the controller. 

Figure 1.3. The network is reduced when using a fieldbus. Fieldbus cards allow communication in both 

directions and the wiring is much less when using fieldbus cards. 

In this project three fieldbus cards are used; Foundation Fieldbus, Profibus and ASInterface. Foundation Fieldbus and Profibus handle analogue signals and AS-i only 

handles discrete signals. 

The communication technology for all three fieldbus cards follows a standard model 

called OSI (Open Systems Interconnection). An OSI model divides the functions of a 

protocol into several layers. Each layer uses only the functions of the next layer, and 

only exports functionality to the preceding layer. The main feature of the OSI-model is in 

the interface between layers which dictates the specifications on how one layer interacts 

with another. This enables that a layer written by one manufacturer can operate with a 

layer from another. The OSI model contains seven layers, but the fieldbus model is only 

based on three major layers (layers 1,2 and 7 in the OSI-model). [3]

AS-Interface (AS-i) 

AS-i is the most simple fieldbus. It is designed for connecting binary devices. 

The OSI-model consists of three layers; Transmission Control, Execution Control and 

Application Layer Interface. 

The Transmission Control includes the wiring of the field devices and other components 

in the process. This layer receives messages and encodes them to physical signals. 

The signals which are in NRZ code (non-return-to-zero code) are encoded using 

Manchester II coding and then implemented with APM coding. 

The principle of Manchester encoding is that every bit period has one transition in the 

middle of the period. A positive transition represents a logic one and a negative 

transition represents a logic zero. Transitions that are not in the middle of the bit period 

do not carry any useful information. These transitions only have the purpose to set the 

signal in the state where the mid-bit transition can take place. 

With APM, pulses are created; a positive pulse is created at a low to high edge and a 

negative pulse is created at a high to low edge. In figure 1.4 the coding principle for both 

manchester encoding and APM is shown. [4][5] 

Figure 1.4. Illustration of the principle for the Manchester encoding and APM encoding. The data is coded 

to Manchester code so that a transition occurs in the middle of every bit period. A positive transition 

represents a logic one and a negative transition represents a logic zero. Transitions that are not in the 

middle of the bit period do not carry any useful information. These transitions only have the purpose to set 

the signal in the state where the mid-bit transition can take place. 

The Execution Control is of Master/Slave characteristic. The AS-i card works as the 

network master. The master automatically controls all communication over the AS-i 

cable. The master interrogates all the available AS-i addresses and repeats the process. 

The Application Layer Interface makes it possible to download the DI and DO functions 

to the controller. This enables communication between the controller and the devices. [6] 

Foundation Fieldbus 

The Foundation Fieldbus card used in this project is H1. As compared to another 

foundation fieldbus card H2, the H1 network is a lower speed and lower cost network 

than H2. 

The communication for foundation fieldbus follows the OSI model with three layers; 

Physical Layer, Communication Stack and User Application. 

The Physical Layer includes the wiring of the field devices and other components in the 

process. This layer gets encoded messages from the next layers and converts them into 

physical signals. The signals are encoded using the Manchester Biphase-L technique. 

In manchester Biphase-L code a positive transition in the middle of a bit period 

represents a logic zero and a negative transition in the middle of a bit period represents 

a logic one, see figure 1.5. 

Figure 1.5. Encoding with Manchester Biphase-L technique. In manchester Biphase-L code a positive 

transition in the middle of a bit period represents a logic zero and a negative transition n the middle of a bit 

period represents a logic one [5] 

The Communication Stack is the layer that manages communication between a device 

and a host or the communication between two devices. 

In foundation fieldbus communication with H1, the H1 card works as a Link Active 

Scheduler (LAS). A LAS is a deterministic, centralized bus scheduler that maintains a list 

of transmission times for all the data buffers in all the devices that need to transmit in 

cyclical fashion. [7] Field devices may also have Link Master capabilities and would in 

the case that the H1 card fails, work as LAS. The H1 card is the only primary Link 

Master allowed on the fieldbus segment. No other Link Master is allowed on the

segment or unpredictable results can occur. DeltaV supports one backup Link Master 

device on each fieldbus segment.[8] 

The communication between LAS and publishers and subscribers can be scheduled or 

unscheduled. 

Scheduled communication-The LAS maintains a list of transmit times for all data buffers 

in all connected devices. When it is time for a device to transmit its data, the LAS sends 

a CD (Compel Data) to that device. The device publishes (sends) data to all devices on 

the fieldbus. The devices which are configured to receive the data are called 

subscribers. 

Unscheduled communication- These transmissions are done with PN (Probe Node) or 

PT (Pass Token) and take place between transmissions of scheduled messages. The 

LAS sends a PN (Probe Node) message to see whether any device changes have been 

made. The changes are added to a live list. It is possible for a device to transmit 

unscheduled messages after it has received a PT (Pass Token) from the LAS. 

The User Application is a standard user application defined by Fieldbus Foundation. 

This layer is not defined by the OSI-model. [9] 

Profibus 

The Profibus that is used in the test platform is Profibus DP (Decentralized Periphery). 

Profibus DP is the most common Profibus. 

The OSI-model for Profibus communication consists of three layers; 

The Physical Layer defines the physical transmission characteristics. The signals are 

sent using UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter). With UART, data are 

transmitted as streams of characters. Every character starts with a start bit (a 0) and 

ends with a stop bit (a 1). The start bit allows the receiver to recoginize the start of a 

new character and the stop bit makes sure that there will be a transition at the start of 

the stop bit. [10] 

The Communication Stack is a communication layer which defines the Bus Access 

Protocoll. In a Profibus DP system the communication type is master/slave and both 

multi-master and mono-master systems are possible. The protocoll used is Media Acces 

Control (MAC), which specifies the procedure when a station is permitted to transmit 

data on the bus. The MAC must ensure that only one station has the right to transmit 

data at a time. 

Hence, the requirements on the MAC protocol are that the following should be 

accomplished: 

• During communication between master stations it must be ensured that each of 

these masters gets sufficient time to execute its communication tasks within a 

precisely defined time interval. 

• Cyclic, real time data transmission is to be implemented as fast and as simple as 

possible for communication between a master and its slaves. [11] 

The multi-master system manages communication by having a token that is sent 

between the masters. When a master has the token, it can communicate with its slaves, 

see figure 1.6. [12] 

Figure 1.6. The multi-master communication of Profibus. The multi-master system manages 

communication by having a token that is sent between the masters. When a master has the token, it can 

communicate with the slaves. 

The User Layer is defined as a standard user layer. [13] 

1.2.2 Description of the Software tools in DeltaV 

The automation system has many different software applications. For this process the 

applications that have been used are: A tool for organizing the database, a tool for 

creating control modules and an animation tool for creating operator interfaces. 

The Database 

A database contains controllers, I/O and fieldbus cards in the system and control 

modules. 

The Control Modules 

In DeltaV the control of the system can be organized in control modules. A control 

module can be very simple and contain only one or two input parameters. It can also be 

more complex with for instance PID-control. 

There are several types of control modules. Which one is used depends on its purpose. 

The most important control modules are; 

• Function Block Diagrams (FBD) 

An FBD is always necessary to be able to send signals from the computer to the 

process or get signals from the process to the computer. An FBD consists of, as 

the name tells us, function blocks. A function block can be an input block, for 

instance it can contain a signal from a temperature transmitter. If this signal value 

should be shown on the operator interface, there must be a reference from the 

module containing this block to the operator interface. For each signal, only one 

input/output block can be used. It is possible to get the signal at another place, for 

instance in a different control module, by referring to it. Other function blocks are, 

for instance, multipliers and PID blocks. 

• Sequential Function Charts (SFC) 

An SFC is a control module for determining the sequence of execution. A SFC 

consists of a bipartite graph (two states are always separated by a transition). In a 

State, actions can be permormed. This means that parameter values can be set, 

for instance a light connected to a relay that gets a signal from the automation 

system can be switched on. Transitions contains the conditions that need to be 

fulfilled for the process to change states. In an SFC references are made to the 

FBDs. For instance, if it is desired to have a transition when the pressure is above 

1200 mbar, there must be a reference to the input block in the specific FBD that 

gets an input from the pressure transmitter. 

The Operator Interface 

The tool for creating an operator interface is object based. It contains images of valves, 

engines, fire etc. The objects can be animated which makes it possible to create an 

operator environment in which the operator can easily get an impression of the state of 

the process. 

1.3 Report Outline 

This report is arranged as follows: 

Chapter 2 - The platform and the course material presents how the hardware as well as 

the software for the test platform have been developed. 

Chapter 3 - Results presents the result, i.e. the finished test platform. 

Chapter 4 - Conclusions presents the conclusions of this project. The chapter also 

presents a few suggestions on how the test platform can be improved.

Chapter 2 

The platform and the course material 

The following chapter will present the platform and the system design; firstly the devices 

that are present and how the physical process works and secondly the course material. 

2.1 The system design 

When choosing the system design the requirements presented in Section 1.2.4 were 

first 

and foremost taken into account. When considering the purpose of the test platform an 

addition was made to the requirements: 

• To make a process that is easy to understand, but that is adequately advanced 

for using advanced control tools in DeltaV. 

With these requirements a system design was developed. The principle of the process is 

briefly described below. Figure 2.1 illustrates of the principle of the process. 

A pressure tank with a needle valve is filled half way up with water. When the control 

system starts, air flows into a tank through a mass flow controller and the pressure in the 

tank is controlled to stabilize around ~1500 mbar. 

When the pressure has been held around 1500 mbar for a specified time a pneumatic 

valve will open and tap out water into an open tank that is placed below the pressure 

tank. The valve will stay open until a level sensor indicates that the tank is full. 

When the open tank is full a heating plate will start to heat up the water. The 

temperature is controlled with on/off controlling to ~35 ºC. 

To continue the process the open tank has to be removed, emptied and put back in 

place. This will restart the process. This can be repeated until the pressure tank is 

empty. 

• Buttons 

The button device consists of one red button with red light and one green button 

with green light. The buttons can also be lit. 

Devices connected to Foundation Fieldbus

• Pressure transmitter 

A pressure transmitter measures and transmits the pressure value. 

• Temperature transmitter 

A temperature transmitter measures and transmits the temperature. 

Devices connected to Profibus

• Mass Flow Controller 

A mass flow controller controls the inflow of gas from one place to another. 

Devices connected to Discrete Out

• Relays 

A relay is a device that can control other devices with on and off. 

 Devices connected to relays 

 Light bulb 

 Heat plate 

• Valve Island 

A Valve Island is a device with several electrically controlled valves. The valves 

are normally closed, but they open when they receive a signal from the controller. 

Devices connected to Discrete In

• Capacitive Proximity Sensor (Level Transmitter) 

A capacitive proximity sensor is used for detecting objects that are proximal to the 

sensor. 

Other objects in the test platform

• Pressure tank 

A pressure tank was constructed for the test platform. It is designed to be able to 

handle a pressure of 10 bar and to contain both water and air. It has four 

connections; one that can be connected to the mass flow controller, one that can 

be connected to the pressure transmitter, one that can be connected to the 

needle valve and one that can be connected to a pneumatic valve. It also has one 

inflow so that it can be filled with water. 

• Open tank 

The open tank is a much less advanced tank than the pressure tank. It is open 

and therefore it must not be able to handle any pressure and it does not have any 

connections. It is metallic so that it can be detected by an inductive proximity 

sensor. 

• Pneumatic Valve 

A pneumatic valve is normally closed, but opens if it is exposed to pressurized air. 

• Compressor / Pressurized air media 

Depending on where the platform is used a compressor or pressurized air media 

is used. A compressor is used when there is no pressurized air media available. 

Since a compressor has a high sound level and in addition is heavy to carry it is 

only meant to be used when there is no other option.

Detailed description of the Physical Process 

1. DeltaV controller, I/O and 

fieldbus cards 

2. Pressure transmitter 

3. Mass Flow Controller 

4. Valve island 

5. Inductive Proximity Sensor 

6. Capacitive Proximity Sensor 

7. Temperature Transmitter 

8. Push buttons 

9. Relays 

10. Heat plate 

11. Light bulb 

12. Pressure tank 

13. Needle valve 

14. Pneumatic valve 

15. Open tank

As mentioned the physical process is a process with no actual purpose. The only 

purpose is to have a physical process to follow while learning how to use DeltaV. In the 

previous subsection all devices and other things in the physical process were described. 

This section will instead focus on how the devices are used to create a functional 

automated process. 

Figure 2.2 illlustrates how the objects in the process are connected. 

Before starting the process, the pressure tank is partly filled with water and the open 

tank is empty. On the button device the red light is on. A compressor that is not included 

in the control should be switched on by the operator. (The compressor could as 

mentioned above be exchanged with pressurized air media). The compressor exposes 

the valve island with pressurized air. 

The process is started by pressing a green button. This button exists both in the 

operator interface and physically on the test platform. When the button is pressed the 

green light on the button device will be switched on and the red light which indicates that 

the process is off will be switched off. The valve island will open the valve that is 

connected to the mass flow controller. The Mass Flow Controller will then be exposed to 

pressurized air. 

The mass flow controller will control the pressure in the pressure tank so that it stabilizes 

at approximately 1500 bar. The control is done with the software with PID control. How 

the PID parameters are set, is described in the Subsection 2.2.2.1. 

When the pressure in the pressure tank has been between 1400 mbar and 1600 mbar 

for one minute, the inductive sensor signals that the open tank is in its place below the 

pressure tank and the capacitive signals that it is not already filled with water, the valve 

island will open the valve that is connected to the pneumatic valve. When the pneumatic 

valve is exposed to the pressurized air from the valve island, it will open and water will 

flow out from the pressure tank. 

The valve on the valve island that is connected to the pneumatic valve will be open until 

the capacitive sensor indicates that the water level is high. The pneumatic valve will 

close when it does no longer get pressurized air from the valve on the valve island. 

If the water temperature is less than 35 C, the heat plate starts heating. The heater will 

only start if there is a tank filled with water on it. 

When the water temperature has reached 35 C, the heating will stop. For the process 

to go on, the open tank has to be removed, and put back. This will bring the process 

back to the state when the pressure in the tank is controlled to be between 1400 and 

1600 mbar. From that state it will continue and the process can go on until the pressure 

tank is empty. 

If the open tank would not have been emptied when the water temperature was higher 

than 35 C, the heating would have started all over again when the temperature is below 

35 C. The heating will always start when the open tank is in place and filled with cold 

water, unless the red button (the emergency button) has been pressed. 

The red button can be pressed at any time in the process and the process will enter its 

standby state. In the stand by state everything is off except for the red light on the button 

device which is on.