Network comes prepackaged
15 Jan 2000
PPCN is Honeywell's prepackaged plant control network for its TotalPlant Solution (TPS) open control system. It is said to provide easier, faster installation than traditional customised implementation. The network links nodes that deliver advanced applications, human interfaces, historians and information capabilities in a secure Windows NT environment. It unifies the process control and information domains and saves costs in three ways: by eliminating the need to design a control network; from the quick and easy installation; and by reduced maintenance and support requirements.
Consisting of an Ethernet local area network with primary domain controller software preinstalled on a TPS system workstation, the basic PPCN supports up to ten TPS nodes, with easy expansion up to 20 nodes.
Honeywell's Hi-Spec Solutions division has also just introduced a `solution set' for effective alarm management on process plants. Part of the company's @sset.MAX family, the alarm management products stem from the Abnormal Situation Management consortium, a group of industrial companies, universities and suppliers that has been researching ways of improving the handling of process upset conditions.