TÜV NORD SysTec: First Process Control System Certified According To VGB Guideline

The PMSXpro process control system from KH Automation Projects has passed its assessment according to VGB Guideline 170 with flying colours.
By: TÜV NORD Group
 
Dec. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- Hamburg: The PMSXpro process control system from KH Automation Projects has passed its assessment according to  VGB Guideline 170 with flying colours. The comprehensive inspection and subsequent certification was performed by TÜV NORD SysTec. As an independent and neutral service provider, TÜV NORD SysTec verifies compliance with the VGB Guideline, which many companies demand for their process control technology: such companies include energy providers, the water and sewage treatment sector and also the process industry. "To our knowledge, KH-Automation Projects is the first manufacturer to achieve certification for the complete scope of VGB Guideline 170", says Christoph Rübcke, responsible for the inspection at TÜV NORD SysTec.

Safe and reliable digital process control has been a subject under discussion for a long time now.  Compliance of such technology with the VGB Guideline is an important quality feature which should be audited by a neutral and independent body. "KH-Automation is leading the way, and for the first time we have inspected a control system according to all parts of the Guideline", says Rübcke. "Up to now, manufacturers have only ordered inspections based on some individual sections."

Ever more power plants make use of digital process control systems, both for control and regulation tasks and also for monitoring and documentation purposes. Starting with the smallest sensor and actuator, all information is brought together, recorded centrally, and evaluated. Even large-scale power plants and complex process equipment can be efficiently controlled from a central control room - with only a small team of engineers and technicians. This is the great advantage of this technology. However, one problem is that if a central component of the system fails, large areas of the plant may be brought to a standstill. This is the risk that VGB Guideline 170 is intended to overcome. The Guideline consists of three parts.

Part A describes Measures for avoidance and management of process control failure, for example through redundant design of the system.

Part B of the Guideline defines design standards for process control systems. Here the emphasis is on availability  – the more reliably the system functions, the fewer downtimes occur.  

Part C describes requirements for logically structured, consistent and suitable documentation of the process control system.  

"Following this first complete certification of process control technology according to VGB Guideline 170, we are well equipped to perform similar tasks in the future ", says Dr. Gerhard Dreier, sector manager for conventional power plants at TÜV NORD Group. "Operators ask for certified products in order to avoid the risk of failure. We consider that manufacturers will increasingly have to face this challenge."

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About the TÜV NORD Group
With over 10,000 employees TÜV NORD Group is one of the largest technical service providers in Germany. It also operates in over 70 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The Group owes its leading market position to its technical competence and a broad range of advisory, service, and testing services in the Mobility, Industrial Services, International, Natural Resources and Training and Human Resources fields. TÜV NORD Group is firmly committed to its guiding principle and watchword: "Making our world safer".
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Source:TÜV NORD Group
Email:***@tuv-nord.com Email Verified
Zip:30519
Tags:Certification, Assessment, Vgb Guideline 170, Process Control Technology
Industry:Construction, Engineering
Location:Hannover - Lower Saxony - Germany
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