Control in cement, mining etc!

Process control system expanded for cement, mining and related industries

The Siemens Industry Automation Division has added a host of new functions to Version 8.0 of its Cemat process control system for the cement, mining and related industries. Certain functional details of previous versions, such as the maintenance and service management system, have also been further developed for Cemat V8.0. Innovational highlights are the additional operating modes for plants, device groups and individual units, as well as the monitoring of process values, such as accumulated pressure and flow rates. The user can also now put together curve groups very easily.

Compared to previous versions, one of the innovations of Cemat V8.0 is, for example, that the "Quick Trend" display can be configured directly from the process screen. This makes it much easier to activate curve groups for display and evaluation purposes. The user adds the desired analog value into the graphic display of a plot with a simple mouse click. Previously, the values had to be laboriously determined in the measured value archives.

Cemat V8.0 also offers the operator more operating mode options. In addition to complete groups, he or she can now disconnect individual loads within a group – for example as part of an energy management concept. The variants "No interlocks", "Specific interlocks only" and "Safety interlocks only" can now be easily configured for manual operation. Previously, these special interlocks had to be painstakingly programmed. Without additional programming time, the plant operator now receives the relevant infromation, such as which interlocks are currently active, from the configuration alone. The new additional operating mode "Out of Service" is used for unavailable devices and units which are, for example, undergoing maintenance.

With Cemat V8.0, the user can now also use speed monitors in addition to process value such as accumulated pressure or flow rate, as the return information "Drive is on". This increases the quality of the information about the proper functioning of the drive. Message blocks, measured values and process feedback messages can now be assigned not just to groups but directly to individual drives. The Cemat Object Browser is also new. It enables all the objects in the entire plant to be identified and displayed in a specific operating mode, for example "In simulation". New block icons also simplify operation of the system. For example, block icons in inconspicuous colors indicate a fault-free state, and more conspicuous icons draw the operator's attention directly to important information.

As with the previous versions, Cemat is based on Simatic PCS 7, and offers all the performance features and functions of this process control system, such as APC (Advanced Process Library) and "Alarm Control". Cemat V8.0 is based on the latest version 8.0 of Simatic PCS 7.