Hampton, NH.. Better control strategies, more accurate performance data, and cost-effective and smooth installation, that's what MOST (MTL Open System Technologies) and Advanced Boiler Control Services (ABCS) were able to deliver to the Guide Corporation plant in Anderson, Indiana.Guide Corporation is a leading manufacturer of exterior automotive lighting systems, for example, headlights and signal lights. The company is continuously introducing new technologies, including advanced front lighting systems for greater nighttime driving safety, high intensity headlights that produce more light than halogen lamps while consuming less power, and LED lamps that produce brighter light with faster response times.
At their Anderson Indiana plant they were looking to replace an aging, proprietary DCS (Distributed Control System) with a solution that offered better control strategies. They also required fast and cost-effective installation plus redundancy to ensure maximum plant uptime. "The old DCS control system was used to operate the two boilers at this facility," according to Philip G. Moore, Senior Plant Engineer for Guide. The Guide power plant provides process/heating steam and compressed air to the factory.
The two boilers are natural gas fired, balance draft, saturated steam units with a combined capacity of 400,000 PPH. Additionally, there are two reverse osmosis boiler water treatment systems, three multi-stage air compressors and miscellaneous pressure and flow control loops.MOST and ABCS worked together to devise a Matrix-based solution for Guide.
"Advanced Boiler did an excellent job in their research and proposal to Guide for the recommended change to the Matrix system," said Moore. " The change has been nearly seamless with no interruption of service to our plant and a very smooth adaptation of our operators to the new system." ABCS is a full service provider of turnkey installation and start-up services for any level of control. ABCS has extensive boiler control expertise and experience. ABCS felt the Matrix control system was a perfect fit for this application.
Matrix delivered:• reduced system installation costs with I/O mounted in the process - cutting wiring costs and making installation easy• maximum flexibility for ABCS to develop control strategies and for Guide to use them• superior redundancy with instantaneous switchover to a backup controller when necessary• an open architecture for integrating third party devices over Modbus Ethernet TCP/IP"The new Matrix system is functioning flawlessly and the powerhouse operators have no complaints about the control system or operation," said Moore. "The change to the new controls was easy and ABCS complied with every request to work with our personnel and train them."
About Advanced Boiler Control Services
Established in 1986, Advanced Boiler Control Services has gradually transformed from maintenance and repair services company into a full service organization capable of providing the finest turnkey installation and start-up services for any level of control. While maintaining its core customer plants, the company’s field-service organization has expanded to serving most areas in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Advanced Boiler Control Services has the experience and knowledge to assure that safety and code requirements are just as important as functionality and cost decision making for all organizations requiring our services.
For more information about Advanced Boiler Control Services, contact Rob Burrink at 708-429-7066 or visit our web site: www.advblr.com .
About MTL Open System Technologies (MOST)
MOST is the leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of open hardware and software technology-based components for the process automation market. MOST products are targeted at the OEMs and systems integrators in the process automation market, including the following industries: oil and gas, chemicals and petrochemicals, water and waste water, cement, pulp and paper, power generation and electrical distribution, food and beverage. MOST Controllers, with their simultaneous support of function block programming and IEC 61131-3 programming, are an ideal solution for those process applications that have considered using a PLC.
For more information about MOST and its open system building blocks, visit our web site at www.mtl-inst.com or contact MTL at 1-800-835-7075.