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PCS7 as DCS

Created by: S K Rewliya at: 5/15/2008 10:03 AM (6 Replies)

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5/15/2008 10:03 AM	Rate (0)
S K Rewliya Posts: 13 Rating: (1)	Dear All i have following questions related to the DCS/PCS7:- 1.What is the architecture of DCS i.e. How do we define a DCS? 2. What's the main difference between DCS & PLC? 3.How can we say that PCS7 is a DCS ( as many customers stillhave some hesitation to accept PCS7 as DCS)??? 4.If point 3 is convinced what are the advantage of PCS7 over other DCS like Honeywell ,Yokogawa etc.????? I hope all the above questions wont bother you much. Waiting to get some supporting documents favouring PCS7 as DCS. Regards SKR
S K Rewliya Posts: 13 Rating: (1)
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5/15/2008 10:51 AM	Rate (0)
April Posts: 1776 Rating: (95)	Hi, all informations on PCS 7 you will get with the link https://as.khe.siemens.com/index.aspx?nr=2537 also see the presales informations on the right side
April Posts: 1776 Rating: (95)
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5/15/2008 10:54 AM	Rate (0)
burnett Posts: 64 Rating: (8)	Hello Rewliya, I'm anwsering to your questions with my views, of course thesemay vary with others. 1.What is the architecture of DCS i.e. How do we define a DCS? DCS is Distributed Control System,traditionally this meantin stead of 1 central processing unit there are several distributed to control your process. One could argue that having 4 PLC's communicating with eachother is allso a DCS. Some say that in order to be a pure DCS you don't need to create programming to communicate between distributed controllers, there are systems that comply to this, but even then there are limits. A DCS is allso expected to have its own visualisation and needs no programming to link variables from the control to the visualisation, which is I think one of the main features 2. What's the main difference between DCS & PLC? A PLC does need extra programming to link variables from control to variables in the visualisation 3.How can we say that PCS7 is a DCS ( as many customers stillhave some hesitation to accept PCS7 as DCS)??? As I have stated in my earlier views distributed control and automatic linking variables to visualisation is what makes PCS-7 a DCS. Butit doesn'tautomatically connect controllers to freely use variableswithin your programm,you still needconnecting programmingto linkcontrollers to eachother. This can be used to argue that PCS-7 is not a DCS, but this goes for a lot of other DCSes allso. 4.If point 3 is convinced what are the advantage of PCS7 over other DCS like Honeywell ,Yokogawa etc.????? Every system has it's applications, there are allways better solutions for certain problems in different systems.In order to determain the advantages you would have to look at several aspects. - What process is it for. - Does the system have a library for the application you want to use - What are the costs. - Can you use a standard. - How much support is in the area for the system. - How old is the system (how close is it to becoming obsolete) - Does it support the instrumentation. I personally like the batch application and the easy way to create the control with a spreadsheet using processobjects. It has an easy safety matrix programm to create solutions for safety area's. But other manufacturers have simular applications. I'm sorry but its not that simple . Kind regards, Burnett p.s. opinions may vary, if anyone has something to add please do.
burnett Posts: 64 Rating: (8)
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5/15/2008 11:30 AM	Rate (0)
dchartier Grandmaster Joined: 9/27/2006 Last visit: 1/2/2025 Posts: 12321 Rating: (2697)	Hello Rewliya; There have been a few discussions on the same issues recently on the web (for one, you could follow the evolution of this long-standingthread at http://www.control.com/thread.php?id=1026233104). The problem is, distinctions are blurring between the worlds of DCS and PLC. There was a time when it was easy to discuss a process and determine, by its control requirements, in terms of area distribution, number of IO points, number of control loops, quality of monitoring and communications needs, whether a DCS or a PLC would do the job. There was never a need to strictly define a DCS compared to a PLC, everybody "knew" by their functions where they would be best applied. Now, huge chemical companies like DuPont for example, who have been using ABB DCSs for years, are now introducing PCS7 boxes in their plants, because of the extra flexibility of the "new" equipment when facing strict modern requirements (ISA-95 being one). You couldstudy the following document, from the ARC advisory group, analysing the hardware and software constituents of PCS7, including their integration into MES and ERP softwares, and discussing PCS7 as it were a de facto DCS system: http://pcs.khe.siemens.com/efiles/pcs7/support/marktstudien/SIMATICPCS7WPFinal_en.pdf The siemens Process Automation portal, which gives access to all technical and marketing documentation on PCS7, can be found here: https://pcs.khe.siemens.com/index.aspx?nr=2122 Hope this helps, Daniel Chartier

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5/15/2008 12:49 PM	Rate (0)
S K Rewliya Posts: 13 Rating: (1)	Dear April/Burnett/Dchartier Thanks a lot for your answers. I ll go through the attched links and will come back to you guys for further clarification. With Regards SKR
S K Rewliya Posts: 13 Rating: (1)
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5/15/2008 2:03 PM	Rate (0)
cabreytj Silver Member Joined: 5/18/2006 Last visit: 10/21/2020 Posts: 170 Rating: (64)	The link in dchartiers' replay for Siemens Marketing and Technical docuementation contains one document that I believe gives an excellent description of what characteristics make a system a PLC, a DCS, or a hybird of both. The Document is DCS or PLC? Seven Questions to Help You Select the Best Solution. cabreytj

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7/24/2008 5:26 PM	Rate (0)
etronmac Posts: 7 Rating: (1)	I am not sure if this is the right place for this post, but here goes. I am currently providing support for an Ethanol plant. I was asked if I could put in a DCS system. The plant is currently operational and I have not dealt with DCS systems before. I was told it would be a Siemens DCS. It will need to integrate with multiple PLC vendors. I do not have any more information. I have read the link on the previous post. What other questions should I ask. Thank you, etronmac
etronmac Posts: 7 Rating: (1)
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