DCS Retrofit

Elipse Software offers solutions to upgrade the technology behind your DCS-based operations and management processes. They extend the life of these systems while keeping your existing control hardware, I/O, and field networks.

DCSs (Distributed Control Systems) have a robust, reliable control structure, but their computing components often become obsolete quickly, especially servers, operator stations, operating systems, HMIs, and historians.

Plant managers with obsolete DCSs usually face the following problems:

• Connectivity limitations, which require many gateways and countless data conversion processes
• No replacement parts for dedicated workstations
• No migration path to PC-based platforms
• Upgrade options on the market that require large investments and full replacement of the supervisory platform

We offer solutions for the following platforms:

• Alstom ALSPA
• ABB Advant

Benefits

• IT upgrade: modernizes servers and operator stations while keeping field controllers and networks, reducing upgrade costs
• Virtualization: supports different levels of native redundancy to match each company’s IT policy
• Synchronized database: unifies and synchronizes the database automatically whenever the process changes
• Parallel operation: keeps production running during the upgrade
• Unlimited connectivity: connects to many other systems and protocols, such as OPC
• Local support: technical support from a team with complete command of the solution

Architecture and Features

The solution is built on virtualized components. One VM runs the DCS configuration software, and other VMs handle data structuring and collection (Elipse E3), power systems (Elipse Power), PIMS (EPM), and graphical interface and web access (Elipse E3).

The data structuring and collection servers perform the following tasks:

• Database synchronization: keeps the DCS database synchronized with the Elipse E3 tag and object database
• Native communication: provides a real-time communication driver for the controllers
• Structured templates: organizes control data and assets to mirror how information is represented in the DCS and in field devices

The graphical interface and web servers communicate with the data servers and centralize access from the operator stations. Substation operation screens monitored by Elipse Power can also be unified on these servers, making operation easier by sharing tasks across operators and stations.

The asset structure is synchronized automatically with Elipse Plant Manager, so KPIs and reports can be extracted by asset type rather than by individual tags. Using objects in the historian also makes it easier to generate comparative reports or reports covering multiple instances of the same device.