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Product category: Mid-range and Large PLCs
News Release from: Schneider Electric | Subject: Quantum programmable controllers
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 27 March 2001

PLCs play role in offshore gas station

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Quantum programmable controllers from Modicon are playing a central role in the £9 million upgrade project recently implemented at the Conoco's Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering Station

Quantum programmable controllers from Modicon, a brand of Schneider Electric, are playing a central role in the £9 million upgrade project recently implemented at the Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering Station (LOGGS) of major international petrochemical company, Conoco The highly successful project was a joint operation involving end-user, Conoco; main subcontractor, Brown and Root Limited; systems integrator, Excel Industrial Systems Limited; and principal equipment supplier, Schneider Electric

The LOGGS field comprises a main platform complex, five central bridge-linked platforms, eleven satellite gas-producing platforms, and five subsea developments feeding into the main complex.

Production processing is performed in the central complex before gas is piped onshore.

Each satellite platform is provided with a hot-standby Quantum PLC with dual-cabling remote I/O for field device control and interfacing.

Most of the remaining new PLC systems on the main complex, which is a normally manned installation, use a single-channel processor and single I/O configuration.

A Modbus Plus network, incorporating both fibre and copper, with network repeater modules, is implemented for the five central bridge-linked platforms.

Quantum PLCs from the Modicon brand of Schneider Electric were chosen for this prestigious project because of their proven ability to communicate with the selected Honeywell SCAN3000 SCADA system using high-speed peer-to-peer Modbus Plus networking capabilities which incorporate dual-cable redundancy.

Other important factors in the choice of Quantum PLCs were the proven reliability of the previous-generation Modicon 984A, B-80 series and 800 series I/O systems already in place on Conoco's LOGGS, and the new IEC61131 CONCEPT programming facilities which made it easy to port application programs from existing redundant hardware systems to the new PLCs.

Design, programming and installation of the Quantum systems were carried out by Excel Industrial Systems, and the company was also responsible for configuration of the bridge multiplexers and modems used to provide dual serial communication links with the unmanned satellite platforms.

Additionally, Excel handled the configuration of hot-standby PLCs, and provided customer-specific training to complement the training courses offered by Schneider Electric.

Commenting on the success of the project, Andy Hedron, Conoco's Project Manager, said, "The way this project was set up, with a fully integrated team, has significantly cut both time scales and costs, compared with traditional methods of project management.".

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