Industrial Automation: Learn the current and leading-edge research on SCADA security

By Vikalp Joshi

Automation is a process to perform controlled activities with minimal human assistance. A lot of research is being carried out in this field. Students are also opting for research and studies in automation. The objective of this book is to explain the role of industrial automation. This book will help engineering students to understand the basic concepts of industrial automation. The unique feature of this book is the inclusion of multiple-choice questions to help prepare students for competitive exams and interviews. Automation has grown into a vast field and this book will be helpful to understand it comprehensively.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BPB Online LLP
• Release date: Jul 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9789388176781

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

SCADA in Industrial Automation

Objectives

You will be able to understand:

Introduction and classification of Automation

Benefits of automation system

Role of SCADA in Automation industry

SCADA Architectures

SCADA Generations

Regulatory Function in SCADA

1.1 Automation

Automation is a process to accomplish a specific task by a machine in the particular time period without any human intervention. It is a self-governing execution of a function by a device or the system which was previously carried out by a human. The Automation (automatic control) is useful in numerous process control systems for operating equipment such as a machine, a variable frequency drive (VFD), AC, DC and the servo motors in the manufacturing plants, to control the heater, boiler, compressor, and actuators in chemical process plant, switching in electrical transmission lines, telephone networks, regulation and stabilization of ships, flying machine, radar and missile system in space program and other applications with minimal human intervention. Automation involves the following:

Capture the measurement and control command for particular operation

Transmute specific command into controlling action for particular operation

It is analogous to an ear, eye, brain and hand, working together in a human body. In the progressing world, automation grows to be more powerful, intelligent, adaptable, reliable, and more responsive. The reason behind increase in the demand of automation, is high industrial efficiency, security and low power consumption. Automation includes the combination of the instrumentation, electrical, electronics, and computer systems to monitor and control the process.

The Production systems are dividing into two groups:

Automation Manufacturing systems

Computerization of the manufacturing and maintenance systems

In the current automation industries, these two groups overlap towards the certain extent because an automation manufacturing systems functioning on the plant. These are often executed by the computer control systems and linked to the computerization manufacturing maintenance systems.

1.1.1 Automation Manufacturing Systems

The Automation manufacturing systems are used to develop the final product from raw material. The systems perform multitasking operations such as handling, assembling, coating, printing, raw material handling, and many more. In highly automated manufacturing systems, virtually there is no human interaction.

The Prime Objective of automation manufacturing systems includes:

Transfer of raw material and manufacturing product into several different types of operation units

The system is used to do material processing using the industrialized robots

Automatic material control and packing systems

Automatic inspection for quality purpose with high resolution sensors and cameras

Types of Automation

Mainly, three types of automations are involved in the automation manufacturing systems which are as follows:

Fixed automation

Programmable automation

Flexible automation

1     Fixed Automation

In fixed automation, the sequence of operation process is fixed and programmed by the system configuration and each process control operation is performed serially. Generally, the process control operations involve the linear, translational and rotational motion, or a basic combination of the two or three. For example, in a bottle manufacturing company, the whole process is in sequence of operations like melting, coating, printing, and so on. These operations are fixed and handled by the machines.

The features of fixed automation are as follows:

Simple structure and easy installation

Initial investment of assembly machine is very high

Variations of production rates with respect to quality of the final product

Uncompromising in the acceptance of the product variety

2     Programmable Automation

In programmable automation, machines are used which are capable of changing or modifying the series of the operations, according to the configurations of the final product. The order of execution is monitored by application software which consists of a set of commands to be understood by the system. The program for production machine is created or modified according to the configuration of the final product.

The features of programmable automation are as follows:

Preliminary cost of general purpose device is high

Lesser production rate in comparison with the fixed automation

Suppleness to deal with the deviations and changes in the product pattern

Most appropriate for the batch production

The programmable automation production systems are used to produce low and medium amount and size of the final products. The final products are typically made in batches or chain of operations. According to program instructions, the process of control system may be modified with the set of the device instructions which are resembled to the final product.

Fig. 1.1 Demand of automations (in percentage) in the industries

3     Flexible Automation

Increase in the demand of automation in the manufacturing sector, increased need of modification, thus the modified version of the programmable automation comes into the role as Flexible automation. A flexible automation enables the user to produce a variety of final products without changing the machine tools and programming software. Flexible automation reduces time taken in tool changing and reprogramming the software.

The features of flexible automation are as follows:

Time taken to change the machine tools has reduced

Continuous production of the final products

Suppleness to deal with final product design deviations

1.1.2 Computerization of Manufacturing Maintenance System

The objective of introducing automation in any engineering field is to reduce the manual and clerical effort to accomplish the particular task or process. Almost all present manufacturing support systems are realized by computer systems. The computerized manufacturing maintenance system also reduces cost of human labor. It enables the user to design and simulate the product using advance system software. The computerized manufacturing maintenance system combines many functions in one system which operates all over the enterprise.

Fig. 1.2 shows the block diagram with major factors which affect the plant operations. In a process control industry, the fabrication activities which take place in the plant can be illustrated by the information processing activities, such as manufacturing planning and control product design and sales.

Fig. 1.2 Factors affecting the manufacturing maintenance system

The process plant activities consists of the processing, assembly, material handling, and quality control operations which are executed on the product in the plant. These operations are initiated with the raw material and come with the final.

1.1.3 Classification of Automation

Automation provides high quality products with a wide range of volume and reliability. This leads to an increase in the demand of automotive systems which are capable to handle multiple tasks without human intervention. The classification of Automation depends on the applications and requirements of the process plant. Fig. 1.3 shows the classifications of automation based on the application:

Fig. 1.3 Classification of automation

The demand of automation is increased in every field of industry. SCADA, PLC, and DCS are heart of Oil, Rubber, Chemical, Packing, and Robotics industries. The process plant associated with the various types of sensors and actuators is known as ‘Field Instrumentation device (FID)’. FID monitors and controls the process parameters. FID has the ability to sense the parameters of the process and convert the electrical signal into necessary control action.

Fig. 1.4 Block diagram of industrial automation

Fig. 1.4 shows a block diagram of industrial automation. The output signal of the field instruments device is connected to the input module of PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers), which is connected to the SCADA monitoring system. The user can see the graphical representation of process components and series operation on the computer screen of SCADA. According the to requirement of final product, the set point (S.P)of the process can be changed by a user. A PLC receives the measured input signal from FID and provides the output based on user program and sets the value.

1.1.4 Automation Functions

The automation functions vary with the management level of company. Table 1.1 shows the automation function for the type of company.

Table 1.1 Automation Function

1.1.5 Benefits of Automation System

There are several benefits of automation systems, a few of them are as follows:

1) Increase in labor productivity: Automation increases the efficiency of production, production amount, and employment productivity. This turns into larger output per hour.

2) Reduce labor cost: Automation in process plant reduces the labor cost due to less human intervention. Automation based machines have high initial installation cost, however, once installed, it reduces the labor cost.

3) Moderate labor shortages: There are general shortages of labors in developed countries. To overcome these difficulties, automation based system is a better substitute for any process