The
launch of ABB's Symphony Plus distributed control system (DCS) is a
continuation of its tradition of power generation software, and a significant
step in the evolution of this technology. Key customer benefits of the new system
are focusing on improving plant productivity and energy efficiency, as well as
enhanced operational security, plant safety and lower total cost of ownership.
"One thing that comes with power of integration is the
absolutely essential topic of preserving the value of intellectual assets, the
control algorithms and engineering that has gone into a system," says Peter
Terwiesch, chief technology officer for ABB. "Continuing the Harmony tradition for power
generation software, we are using the flexibility that comes with the power of
integration to continue a path where it can evolve."
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Symphony Plus is the latest generation of ABB's Symphony family of control systems and represents one of the largest installed bases of distributed control systems (DCS) in the world. Many are operating in the power generation and water sectors.
"With the launch of Symphony Plus, we take the Symphony success story to the next level, ushering in a new era of total plant automation that is simple, scalable, seamless and secure," says Franz-Josef Mengede, head of ABB's power generation business. "It helps balance performance objectives like asset availability, operational reliability and production efficiency with business goals like asset life extension, carbon reduction and regulatory compliance, thereby providing plant owners with an essential tool for achieving sustainable and profitable growth."
Symphony Plus meets a broad spectrum of plant configurations and applications, especially in the power and water industries. It is flexible and scalable, designed to serve the needs of small and server-less applications as well as large multi-system, multi-server architectures. It supports the seamless integration of field devices, process and turbine automation systems, electrical and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) solutions as well as business and maintenance systems. Symphony Plus provides users with a secure, reliable control environment and built-in security features that prevent unauthorized system access.
The extension of its life cycle commitment to the Symphony Harmony and Symphony Melody range of control systems is part of the company's "evolution without obsolescence" approach. This is based on introducing new technology while protecting the long-term investment of customers by ensuring that each new generation not only offers enhanced benefits, but is also fully compatible with its predecessor. ABB's commitment to continue investing in the development of the Symphony product range enables customers to effectively manage life cycle requirements and at the same time, lower their total cost of ownership.
Symphony is specifically designed to meet the needs of power generation applications and complete automation of power generation units. Its scalable architecture that can be server-less for small applications, but scale up to meet a broad range of application and process requirements for control and I/O, electrical and device integration. By adopting IEC 61850, ABB enables easy interface of electrical equipment for substation automation and process plants. Symphony includes IEC 61850 and Modbus TCP control modules that integrate electrical equipment with the automation system and its applications.