Engineers at a major American biotechnology company needed to archive data generated by their plant bioreactors. The plan was to route all the data through the plants primary DCS, a Moore APACS, and into a Wonderware IndustrialSQL process historian.
The senior automation engineer had prior knowledge of OPC but had never integrated it. Because OPC is an open connectivity standard, it enables communication infrastructures to exchange and communicate data among different types of systems, regardless of vendor. The engineer decided to contact Matrikon to access their products and support for his project.
The bioreactors were controlled by Applikon 1030 Process Controllers and to connect to these, the engineer opted for Matrikon’s off-the-shelf solution, OPC Genie. OPC Genie enabled the engineer to configure his own OPC Server without programming. Matrikon’s OPC Server for Moore APACS was also integrated to interface with the Moore DCS. With both OPC servers configured, Matrikon’s OPC Data Manager (ODM) was used to enable communication between the bioreactors and the Moore DCS. ODM acts as a double-headed client that facilitates the exchange of data between two or more OPC servers.
A Matrikon service engineer traveled to the facility to help a plant engineer get started with the OPC technology, and to help make the implementation go smoothly. Upon completion of the project, data from two of the plant’s 50-litre bioreactors was being archived in their Wonderware IndustrialSQL process historian.
A similar project was undertaken connecting one of the plant’s centrifuges, controlled by an Allen-Bradley SLC 505 PLC, to the Moore APACS and, from there, to the Wonderware IndustialSQL process historian. More info