Challenge
A vendor with global presence and more efficiency
We needed a vendor with a global presence and we felt Siemens Industry offerings would be an asset to our boiler manufacturer’s growing international market. We were no longer getting the results we needed as an OEM from the system we had being using. In going with Siemens we hoped to be more efficient and do more with less.
Application:
Biomass Boiler System
Description:
The application is for a biomass and hybrid fuel-fired steam
and hot water boiler, from 6 to 2,500 bhp and pressures to
450 psi. The control system is heating, monitoring and
analyzing the water. It generates alarms, charts performance
and offers remote diagnostics to monitor the boiler’s efficiency.
Key Business Activity:
Major supplier of gas, oil & wood fired boilers, along with boiler room peripherals.
Solution
We used Siemens S7-1200 PLC, Comfort Panel HMI, Industrial Microbox PC, and G120 Drives over Profinet.
For the configuration and programming of these devices we used the TIA Portal. We felt the S7-1200 PLC and Comfort Panel HMIs offered a lot of functionality for the price. In addition the TIA Portal allowed us to configure and program these devices in one environment.
Features in the TIA Portal that addressed the project challenges:
- Integration: An integrated engineering framework allows for the networking and configuration of PLC and HMI components in one environment. Easy navigation and drag and drop between the programs have saved us significant development time.
- Reusability: The Libraries feature in the software lets us build parts of the program (Devices, blocks, HMI screens, tags, etc.) and then share them with other applications by simply dropping them in. We are an OEM, but much of what we build is custom, so those libraries and the ability to reuse them are very helpful.
- Scalability: The scalable solution allows us to upgrade to the next product level without having to reengineer the program. We are looking for a more diverse product line, and Siemens offers us a multitude of solutions and the scalability we need.
