СТА 1/2010

DEVELOPMENT/ Railway Transport 64 Automated system for measuring the fuel level in a tank By Vladimir Grinevich, Pyotr Zamorin, Alla Viontsek, Vladimir Petrov and Victor Yunyushin The article presents an automated system for measuring the volume and weight of fuel in a tank. The system is installed in modern diesel locomotives and special rolling stock. The article provides description of its operation. The system accuracy, which is determined by a margin of 0.65%, meets the requirements of JSC Russian Railways as to the fuel weight measurement. DEVELOPMENT/ Machine building 70 Comprehensive upgrade of the automatic system of the LEST 1200 saturating machine By Igor Savin and Gennadiy Babakin The article describes the software hardware complex of the LEST 1200 saturating machine. The software hardware complex is designed for continuous monitoring and control of saturation, drying and cutting of the glass fillers into sheets in order to give them the physical mechanical and technological properties required for the production of dielectric fiber glass reinforced plastics. The article provides a brief description and technical characteristics of the equipment, architecture and purpose of the hardware and software. Also, the operator interface is briefly reviewed. HARDWARE/ Industrial Controllers 80 FX3G: a new controller in the FX compact family PLCs By Sergey Zubov The article presents a new series of the inexpensive single block controllers from Mitsubishi Electric for the middle level automation tasks. SOFTWARE/ Modeling 82 Virtual design of process control system By Andrey Litvinov, Leonid Zvolsky, Evgeniy Masyutin and Artyom Kodolov The article offers a fast method for designing process control systems based on the virtual simulation of the engineering activities which, in normal practice, are performed by the engineers when designing, coding, assembling, adjusting and handing over the automation systems to the client. The reduction of implementation time is achieved due to formalization of the data exchange processes between the system and the control object as well as the generation of the corresponding base from which — when performing the real project — the close solutions are chosen and adapted to the real control object in a relatively short time. STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION 88 Criteria for choosing the SIL 3 level components for the distributed control systems and safety instrumented systems in accordance wit the IEC standards. Part 3 By Glizente Landrini The article describes the selection criteria for the components to be used in the distributed control systems and various safety systems for SIL 2 and SIL 3 applications as recommended in the IEC 61508 and 61511 standards. Also included are examples on how these criteria are used. ENGINEER'S NOTEBOOK 96 The pointing devices: evolution in progress By Sergey Dronov The article demonstrates — with an example of the NSI products — the designs of the modern pointing devices. Their advantages and disadvantages are briefly discussed in the context of industrial applications. 98 Increase of accuracy by means of multiple measurements. Part 2 By Victor Denisenko The factors limiting an increase of accuracy by means of averaging the results of multiple measurements are analyzed. Formulas and graphs for estimating the limits of increase of accuracy in the presence of typical sources of an error are given. SHOWROOM 103 SYSTEM INTEGRATION PROJECTS IN BRIEF 109 NEWS 14, 43, 68, 78, 95 DVD ROM IN THIS ISSUE ICONICS REVIEW/ Embedded Systems 8 Graphical tools of the PC/104 Plus products By Aleksei Sorokin The article describes the specific features of embedded systems designed in accordance with PC/104 standards, with emphasis on the organization of graphical input and output in such systems. Also compared and discussed are the main video interfaces for the embedded solutions. The article presents a new FASTWEL VIM301 video processor module developed in PC/104 Plus format and designed for heavy duty operation, e.g. transport. REVIEW/ Hardware 16 AdvantiX: two years. The flight is normal By Sergey Dronov The article reviews the current computer industry trends and particularly the industrial PC segment. Also, a description of a modern FASTWEL AdvantiX product line is provided. Besides, the article shows examples of how the equipment is used at the customers' facilities in various industries in Russia. SYSTEM INTEGRATION/ Extractive Industry 30 Control of the mine conveyor transport at Production Association Belaruskali By Vyacheslav Poruchnik, Evgeniy Taleiko and Aleksandr Talyukin The article presents the control system of a branched conveyor transport of mines utilizing Siemens equipment. The article shows the system architecture, describes the principles of operation and capabilities and reviews the development prospects. The system has been introduced and is now in operation in the mines at RUP PA Belaruskali. 36 Ore quality monitoring at an ore dressing plant By Danil Karanin, Aleksandr Nagarev and Aleksandr Shishkin The article describes the ore quality monitoring at an ore dressing plant. The system operates in automatic mode and generates data for the records management and technological metering of ore and metals. The goal of the system is to significantly improve operability and reliability of incoming information on the ore quality and enable the personnel to receive such information in an easy to use form. SYSTEM INTEGRATION/ Construction Materials Industry 40 Experience in designing the software hardware complex to control the thermal processes in the production of ceramic bricks By Sergey Vitkovsky, Vladislav Dubinsky and Yurii Stakhursky The article covers the architecture, basic functions and technical characteristics of the software hardware complex to control the thermal processes in the production of ceramic bricks. SYSTEM INTEGRATION/ Buildings Automation 46 Multimedia dispatch system of the Data Processing Center of the Moscow City Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund By Gennadiy Gladyshev, Yurii Efimov and Anton Pribylov The article presents the dispatch system of the Data Processing Center of the Moscow City Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund. The system was developed by GK ANTREL Avtomatizatsiya and brought into operation. The project described here offers a promising solution for typical problems in developing and operating the data processing centers. It is a fast progressing trend in the information support of big companies. SYSTEM INTEGRATION/ Food Industry 50 Design of the process control system for the production and packaging of margarine By Sergey Vorobiev The article describes the design of the process control system for the production and packaging of margarine. The project was carried out during modernization of the margarine production facility at OJSC Fat Production Plant (Saratov). A brand new level of process control was achieved. DEVELOPMENT/ Food Industry 56 Austrian bakers rely on the innovative, fast and efficient PLC technology In 2005, Fischer Brot, an Austrian bakery, considerably expanded their production capacities. They built a new plant incorporating the most up to date process equipment. The process control system is based on the high performance PLCs from VIPA which provide a reliable performance of the tasks allotted and demonstrate the excellent compatibility with the Siemens software products. DEVELOPMENT/ Atomic Energy 60 Analysis of the hardware software communications of the radiation safety monitoring equipment with NPP LAN By Aleksei Bulavin The article focuses on the design concepts and basic technical characteristics of the data gateway of the radiation safety monitoring equipment. The gateway was developed by CJSC ROSsvyazsistema and is currently in use in the local area networks of the nuclear power plants. СТА 1/2010 www.cta.ru 112 TABLE OF CONTENTS CTA 1/2010 © СТА-ПРЕСС