wilamowski-b-m-irwin-j-d-industrial-communication-systems-2011

25
Process Automation
Alois Zoitl
Vienna University
of Technology
Wilfried Lepuschitz
Vienna University
of Technology
25.1 Introduction.....................................................................................25-1
25.2 Structures and Models of Batch Manufacturing Systems........25-3
Process Model. •. Physical Model. •. Procedural Control Model. •. .
Equipment Entities. •. Recipes. •. Classification of Process
Cells. •. Tasks and Functions of a Batch Management and Operation
System. •. Integration of Batch Management and Operation System
with Other Information Systems
25.3 Currently Applied Communication Systems..............................25-8
25.4 Upcoming Requirements of Distributed Process
Automation..................................................................................25-8
25.5 Industrial Ethernet as the “Silver Bullet” for Future
Process Automation Communication Needs........................... 25-10
References.................................................................................................. 25-11
25.1 Introduction
The expression “process automation” confronts us with two meaningful words: process and automation.
Usually the following definition is presented in the technical literature, e.g., [POL94], for a process:
A process represents the entirety of consecutive interacting activities within a system to transform,
store or transport material, energy or information.
This definition covers not only processes encountered in technical domains but also nontechnical
ones such as business processes. Therefore, the technical literature provides us with a definition for a
technical process as follows:
A technical process is a process, whose physical values are measured and influenced by technical
means.
The word automation is derived from the ancient Greek word automatos meaning “self moving, self
thinking.” Automation implicates the usage of artificial instruments to enable the automatic execution
of a process. With respect to the technical domain, it means equipping an installation with certain
machines and instruments to ensure its automatic job execution.
Process automation therefore refers to the automation of processes, including also nontechnical ones.
In the case of technical processes, it involves three coupled kind of systems:
• A technical system (a technical product or installation) with an executed technical process
• A data processing and communication system with an executed information process
• Operator personnel that guide and observe the job execution and react in the case of exceptions
or system errors
25-1
© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC