HMI Upgrade Explanation

EPS has developed a system upgrade which replaces an existing IDS HMI for turbines running Rustronic RP2 control systems.

Early Rustronic IDS HMI desk top PC’s operate on Windows v3.11 with Wonderware HMI software v5.6. Unfortunately these products are no longer supported by either the control system OEM or the original suppliers of the HMI application software.

The weaknesses of these Early IDS systems are:

  • The current Windows operating system v3.11 and Wonderware HMI software v5.6 are no longer supported.
  • The desktop PC hardware is also now obsolete. In the event of hardware failure it is unlikely that replacement parts could be sourced quickly. This would mean a hardware failure would require a new PC to be purchased. The Wonderware HMI software v5.6 is 16 bit software. It would therefore be incompatible with a modern PC.

The above issues mean that in the event of a PC failure, the gas turbine package may be shutdown for several days. As the HMI is the primary source of running information for the LM1600, it is critical that it operates reliably and is supportable.

Many companies performing internal audits on critical systems, which are vital to their company’s function have identified the HMI as a vunerable area. They have concluded that failure of the HMI could incurr significant financial penalties through loss of production.

As a result of numerous enquiries EPS has invested and developed a direct replacement to existing HMI’s with a product which benefits from enhanced software functionality, with hardware that is readily supportable.

The immediate benefits include:

  • Enhanced visual graphics allow improved system detail.
  • Improved HMI remote access, allowing quicker data retrieval and analysis for turbine support teams dialling into the host HMI from different locations.
  • Improved data trending tools. The advances in recent years of PC processing performance and memory capacity now allow data to be stored and trended for an unlimited period of time. This makes historic trending a much more proactive tool for fault diagnosis and system monitoring.
  • Alarm messaging is improved. Summary and historic tools allow improved inspection of system events. Alarm initiation, acceptance and clearance events are stored on the PC. This data can be stored and reviewed for an unlimited period of time.
  • As a part of a system upgrade, EPS would include a continuous program of system improvement as software and hardware develops. This ensures that the original problem of obsolesence does not occur again.
  • This HMI upgrade is designed to replace the current HMI. As such, there are no changes to the control system functionality. For this reason there are no control system integrity issues.

Further information is available from EPS which includes project costs, system enhancements and customer feedback on systems already installed and commissioned.

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