Enhancements to core product in control and safety system family of solutions allow quick system upgrades and improve productivity

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced that it has added new functions to the CENTUM VP integrated production control system, and released it as CENTUM VP R6.06 on July 17th. CENTUM VP is the core product in the OpreXTM Control and Safety System family of solutions. It is widely used for monitoring and control of plant operations in various sectors including oil and gas, petrochemicals and chemicals,

The enhancements to CENTUM VP R6.06 include the addition of support for Windows Server 2016, a modification that enables FCS programs to be upgraded with minimal interruption to operations, and the addition of a function to the Automation Design Suite (AD Suite) integrated engineering environment that allows minor modifications to be made to applications software during witness inspections. (This is in addition to the bulk editing function already provided with AD Suite.) This improves engineering efficiency and helps customers improve productivity.

CENTUM VP provides an optimum operation, monitoring, and engineering environment for the entire plant lifecycle, from initial design, engineering, installation of systems and equipment, and start-up to full operation, maintenance, renovation, modification, and end of service. Yokogawa has continued to enhance this system to ensure optimal performance. As full backwards compatibility is assured, users always have the option of updating their system to make full use of the latest technologies.

Although FCS software is usually upgraded when plants are periodically shut down for large-scale shutdown maintenance (SDM), some of our customers have indicated that they would like to be able to choose when to perform these upgrades. Therefore, a function has been added that enables these upgrades to be performed while the FCS is operating. The functionality of the AD Suite engineering tool has also been improved. Combined with the control system virtualisation platform that was released last year, this helps to improve system maintenance and reduces the risk of project delays.

Work that would normally have to wait several years until the SDM period can now be done at a time of the customer’s own choosing. This is possible because of modifications to the CENTUM VP software that enable a smoother switchover between the dual-redundant control-side and standby-side CPU modules. This both improves uptime and allows users to freely choose when to install upgrades. In addition, Yokogawa has enhanced its support organisation to ensure that its customers receive all necessary technical support with their system maintenance activities. With this new version of CENTUM VP, downtime is eliminated, productivity is enhanced, and users are able to take advantage of the latest control technologies.

Originally developed by Yokogawa for use with CENTUM VP R6.01, the AD