Process
Plant
Automation
Concept
in
India,
Mental
Block
and
Misgivings
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During
the
recent
survey
of
small
to
medium
sized
process
plants
in
India
especially
those
were
built
during
80’s
and
early
90’s
it
is
my
firm
opinion
that
with
a
little
bit
fore-sightedness
on
the
part
of
the
plant
owners
a
lot
more
problems
faced
by
them
on
today
would
have
been
solved
had
they
went
with
rudimental
plant
automation
system
at
that
time. Now
because
of
open
market,
post
WTO
regime,
and
severe
competition
Indian
manufacturer
finds
it
increasingly
difficult
time
to
deliver
quality
goods
at
international
competitive
prices.
But
this
is
not
true
with
major
plant
complexes
i.e.
oil
refinery,
fertilizer
complex
or
petrochemical
complex
etc
where
plant
automation
level
remains
one
of
the
best
in
the
contemporary
world
scenario.
Obviously
the
most
neglected
sectors
are
small
to
medium
size
plants
that
suffer
today
due
to
initial
shortage
of
funds
and
lack
of
proper
advice
or
due
to
lack
of
vision.
My
areas
of
concerns
and
concentration
is
for
these
type
of
plants
where
a
lot
of
advisory
or
counseling
roles
are
required
to
introduce
cost
effective
,
appropriate
and
right
automation
system.
For
this
only
an
experienced
professional
with
good
engineering
consultancy
background
with
wide
exposure
to
various
types
of
plant
operating
in
India
and
abroad
can
offer
right
advice
to
plant
owners. Consequently most of such plants continue to suffer and some of the ills are as follows:
Elsewhere
in
the
world
plant
automation
concept
has
become
part
of
the
basic
consideration
but
in
India
we
see
tremendous
mental
block
on
the
part
of
the
owner
to
spend
on
plant
automation
system.
Prevailing
belief
is
that
automation
never
works
in
India
so
why
to
spend
on
this
account.
But
this
is
far
from
truth.
There
are
plenty
of
plants
in
India
whether
small,
medium
or
big
complex,
if
plant
management
is
keen
in
maintaining
the
degree
of
automation
to
a
greater
level,
higher
profitability
is
the
end
result. With
the
revolutionary
development
of
modern
science
and
technology
and
the
free
flow
of
products
available
in
India
there
is
no
reason
why
automation
concept
can‘t
be
implemented
into
the
plant
however
small
it
may
be. It
is
true
that
implementation
of
incremental
automation
demands
a
bit
of
investment
but
it
is
a
fact
that
within
no
time
such
cost
are
recovered
if
proper
cost
analysis
is
made. Proper
selection
of
instruments
coupled
with
good
engineering
practice
goes
a
big
way
for
the
success
of
any
type
of
plant
automation.
This
is
very
important
since
system
/instrument
specification
must
be
elaborate
without
leaving
any
scope
for
ambiguity. As
far
as
instrumentation
products
are
concerned
it
is
better
to
go
for
field
proven
products
at
relatively
higher
cost
rather
than
selecting
only
cheaper
version
after
all
products
are
supposed
to
work
under
harsh
industrial
environment
under
specified
conditions. It
is
high
time
that
obsession
with
such
mental
block
must
have
to
be
removed
so
that
plant
can
run
efficiently
and
the
final
product
becomes
globally
accepted
and
competitive
too. There
are
plenty
of
cases
where
process
plants
are
running
with
hardly
any
instruments
at
all.
Only
instruments
known
to
them
is
pressure
gauge
and
temperature
gauge
and
level
gauge.
What
happens
with
these
sorts
of
cases
that
there
is
always
a
mental
block
on
the
part
of
the
plant
owners
not
to
go
for
automation
since
union
people
will
object
to
any
changes
to
prevailing
status
coupled
with
negative
attitude
that
prevails
on
Indian
psyche. With
present
day
concept
automation
is
supposed
to
work
like
faithful
slaves.
It
is
imperative
on
the
part
of
plant
owners
to
come
to
terms
with
present
day
development
and
encouragement
must
be
given
to
go
for
appropriate
automation. Now
the
problem
remains
what
is
appropriate
automation.
This
is
nothing
but
the
degree
of
automation
that
can
lead
to
the
improvement
of
quality
and
productivity
of
the
end
product
at
a
cost
within
the
approved
budget
of
plant
management.
Cost/
benefit
analysis
should
be
pursued
with
utmost
sincerity
in
order
to
arrive
at
right
decision. There are misgivings amongst plant personnel to distinguish between measurement and controls. An instrument works satisfactorily with specific input conditions but if a few parameters on input conditions change drastically the instrument is bound to show wrong or erroneous indication and there is nothing abnormality on such matters. Right
selection
of
instrument
type
is
relatively
easier
than
right
selection
of
control
system.
This
is
because
control
system
works
on
closed
loop
basis
and
each
and
every
element
within
the
control
loops
must
work
properly.
But
control
system
can
be
simple
or
complex
type.
As
the
control
system
tends
to
become
complex
lot
more
analysis
and
studies
are
required
to
settle
for
a
right
configuration
of
control
system.
If
control
system
fails,
it
is
because
of
imperfect
analysis
of
the
control
loop
during
design
and
checking
stages
and
improper
selection
of
various
elements
of
control
loops.
It
is
essential
that
instrumentation
engineers
and
process
engineers
must
work
hand
in
hand
to
understand
each
other’s
problem
very
closely
to
arrive
at
right
strategy
of
control
system. Also
tuning
of
control
loops
for
specific
load
is
another
factor
that
plays
major
role
also.
Only
experienced
person
with
thorough
exposure
to
handling
various
types
of
plants
is
capable
of
understanding
the
finesse
of
such
complex
nature.
But
most
of
the
cases
due
importance
/
attention
is
not
given
and
plant
control
system
continue
to
suffer
perpetually. For
the
successful
operation
of
control
system,
right
design
of
final
control
element
is
very
important.
But
without
caring
for
what
is
final
control
element
people
have
the
tendency
to
advise
that
every
thing
is
done
by
software.
Since
for
most
of
the
cases
final
control
elements
are
various
types
of
control
valves
how
I
/
P
converter
works
within
the
control
loops
and
why
instrument
air
is
required
for
smooth
operation
of
the
final
control
element
needs
to
be
understood
by
plant
personnel. For
a
running
plant
safety
concept
and
practices
must
be
well
understood
and
practiced.
However
I
have
seen
very
few
plant
people
who
have
clear
concepts
as
to
how
to
handle
electronics
/
electrical
devices
in
hazardous
areas
without
sacrificing
safe
practices
Intrinsically
safe
concept
design
and
flame
proof
/
explosion
proof
enclosure
are
the
two
concepts
which
are
to
be
followed
for
working
in
hazardous
areas.
But
there
are
total
mix-
ups
and
confusions
as
to
what
practices
are
required
when
working
on
IS
concepts
and
when
working
with
flameproof
enclosures
in
hazardous
areas.
Clear
definition
of
hazardous
area
classification
traceable
to
international
standards
must
be
known
to
each
and
every
plant
personnel
to
avoid
prevailing
confusion
and
unsafe
practices. One
more
observation
is
that
plant
people
is
enthusiastic
enough
to
issue
enquiry
without
giving
any
details
of
the
same.
For
example
a
typical
enquiry
comes
like
that
we
have
got
a
boiler
and
automation
is
to
be
introduced
please
submit
your
proposal
within
a
few
days.
This
sort
of
tendency
on
the
part
of
the
plant
people
is
not
welcome.
Enquiry
making
is
also
a
specialized
job.
.
Any
enquiry
of
this
sort
of
requirements
must
contain
the
followings:
Another
observation
is
that
there
are
cases
when
the
so-called
expert
consulting
engineers
tend
to
over-specify
for
a
requirement
for
which
it
is
not
appropriate.
An
engineer
without
cost
concept
is
not
a
good
engineer.
Objective
should
be
to
optimize
the
specification
so
that
the
intended
requirement
is
met
without
sacrificing
safety
or
the
good
engineering
practice.
It
is
to
be
noted
that
over-specification
leads
to
increase
of
cost
to
the
client
without
any
tangible
benefit. Finally
it
is
regular
training
and
retraining
of
the
people
that
can
minimize
the
problems
associated
with
either
design,
execution
or
running
of
the
plant
for
achieving
higher
efficiency. To
conclude
it
is
my
firm
conviction
that
enough
scope
is
available
for
instrumentation
and
control
system
professionals
to
apply
themselves
for
giving
right
advices
to
small
and
medium
sector
process
plant
industries
to
introduce
appropriate
automation
concepts
either
on
incremental
level
or
on
package
basis
for
the
benefit
of
the
plant
directly
and
the
country
in
the
long
run. |