DCS Retrofit

Elipse Software offers you solutions for upgrading the technology in your DCS-based operational and management processes, in order to extend these systems’ lifespan and maintain their control hardware, I/Os, and field networks. In many cases, although DCSs (Distributed Control Systems) feature a very robust, reliable control structure, they can nonetheless grow into a rather quick computing obsolescence, especially with their servers, operational stations, operating systems, HMIs, and historians.

Plant managers with obsolete DCSs usually face the following issues:

• Connectivity issues, which lead to using a great number of gateways and countless processes of data conversion;
• No replacement parts for dedicates workstations;
• No migration available for PC-based platforms;
• The upgrade solutions available in the market require large investments and the whole supervisory’s platform replacement.

We offer solutions for the following platforms:

• Alstom ALSPA;
• ABB Advant.

• Technological upgrade of IT structure (Servers and Operational Stations): keeps controllers and networks in the field, reduces costs pertaining system upgrades;
• Allows virtualization with different levels of native redundancy, meeting each company’s IT policy;
• Database is always automatically unified and synchronized, according to the editions made to the process;
• Parallel operation while upgrading: production doesn’t come to a halt anymore;
• Unlimited connectivity, which allows you to connect to several other systems and protocols, such as OPC;
• Local tech support with complete mastery in the solution.

Based in virtualized components, the solution comprises a VM with the DCS’s settings software, and other VMs responsible for data structuring and collection (Elipse E3), energy (Elipse Power), PIMS (EPM), graphical interface, and web (Elipse E3).

The data structuring and collection servers perform the following tasks:

• Synchronism between the DCS’s database and the Elipse E3’s tags and objects database;
• Native, real-time communication driver for the controllers;
• Structured control data templates and assets: information is represented both in the DCS and in the physical devices in the field.

The graphical interface and web servers communicate with the data servers and concentrate accesses of the operational stations. The substation’s operational screens, monitored by Elipse Power, can also be unified in these servers, thus facilitating the system’s operation by sharing tasks between operators and stations.

The assets’ structure is synchronized automatically with Elipse Plant Manager, allowing indicators and reports to be extracted based on datatype and not on individual tags. When objects are used in the historian, comparative reports, or reports including several instances of devices, are retrieved more easily.