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loop integrity and instrument calibrationare normally time-consuming activities.The use of AMS Suite during this periodmade it possible to stay within the timelimits for starting up the plant.

With more than 2,500 fieldbusinstruments and over 500 FIELDVUEdigital valve controllers, it is believed tobe the largest Foundation fieldbusinstallation in Germany and thiscombination of automation andpredictive diagnostics is expected to growas the plant and its requirements evolve.

Emerson personnel conducted on-the-job training prior to instrumentcommissioning and startup. As a result,Ticona personnel had a goodunderstanding of the control system and field devices that they would beresponsible for before the plant wentinto full operation.

AcceptanceOnce the predictive maintenance solutionhad been introduced, it became obviousthat the daily use of the fieldbustechnology and the diagnostic capabilityof AMS would improve maintenancework practices and reduce the exposureof individuals to difficult-to-accesslocations. At that point,the digital systembecame readily acceptedby the team.

Today, AMS Suite is anintegral part of the dailywork routine at Ticona.Traditionally,maintenance personnelwould have to go out

Automation and predictivediagnostics combine to reduceroute maintenance needs

When Ticona GmbH wasforced to relocate oneof its manufacturingfacilities in order toprovide land for a new

runway at Frankfurt InternationalAirport, the decision was made toupgrade from the existing analogueautomation system to digital control.

A subsidiary of US-based CelaneseCorporation, Ticona produces polymersunder the brand name of Hostaform,which is used in the production of plasticsfor the automotive, medical, andcommunications industries.

Following evaluation of a variety ofcontrol technologies, Ticona engineersselected Emerson’s DeltaV automationsystem, and Emerson representatives inGermany worked out an automationstrategy in cooperation with the Ticonaproject team.

The new plant, which was completedin 2012, utilises two separate DeltaVsystems to control both continuous andsemi-batch chemical processes. The totaldevice signal tag (DST) count is about23,000, including a significant number ofDeltaV SIS signals.

Each system has a dedicated AMS Suitepredictive maintenance softwarepackage that provides maintenancepersonnel with access to diagnostic dataproduced by around 2,500 smart fieldinstruments and more than 500 digitalvalve controllers via the Foundationfieldbus communications protocol.

This combination was found to beespecially useful during thecommissioning phase, where checking

into the plant on a regular basis to checkon equipment. Now, however, when adevice alert is raised, the first thing thatneeds to be done is to look at the assetmanagement monitor and manysituations can be diagnosed from this,without having to leave the controlroom. Frequently, it is not necessary to gointo the field at all, avoiding the risks thatthis can involve.

The main focus is now on saving timein troubleshooting potential problemsand improving worker safety in this Zone 1 plant. AMS Suite makes thispossible by enabling personnel to checkout abnormal conditions without everleaving the control room, saving an houror two of technician time every day – anestimated 400 hours per year on routinemaintenance.

The next step will be to prioritise theimportance of each piece of fieldequipment to the overall productionprocess so that the diagnostics can beapplied to optimise maintenance on themost critical devices. In time, the plantintends to use the data to drive predictivemaintenance, as well. Even greatersavings are expected when AMS Suitesoftware starts to be used proactively.

Up to 400 hours per year of routine maintenance has been eliminatedand safety has been enhanced, following an automation upgrade at arelocated Ticona plant. Thorsten Fleck, automation leader at CelaneseCorp explains more.

Reprinted from February 2014

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE