research facilities :: industrial instrumentation process lab

The BCIT Industrial Instrumentation Process Laboratory is located adjacent to the BCIT Internet Engineering Laboratory at the BCIT Technology Centre. This facility houses a fully operational distillation column, evaporator and power boiler. Process control equipment includes Emerson DeltaV and Provox DCS, F&P MC5000 controllers, Foxboro IA DCS, Rockwell PLC-5s, Groupe Schnieder 984 and Quantum PLCs. Elsewhere on campus is a pulp stock digester, brownstock washer and Lumber kiln using Honeywell TDC 3000 DCS, BaileyNet90 DCS and GE/Fanuc Series 90/70, Series 90/30 PLCs with Genius I/O. All are available for research testing of industrial control systems in fully realistic industrial settings.

The ability to create variety of complex control processes is key feature of BCIT’s industrial laboratory facilities. For example, the following industrial processes are available for control and security research:

• A highly-instrumented glycol evaporator and complementary distillation column presents challenging control problems for any control design strategy.  The analog and digital instrumentation feed into multiple DCS and PLC control platforms to provide the flexibility to adapt and modify control configuration easily. The close proximity of Honeywell, Foxoboro IA and Fisher Provox and DeltaV DCS, as well as Modicon Quantum and Rockwell PLCs provide an excellent test bed for interfacing multiple vendor equipment with ease. Multiple computer stations and an array of interfacing options allow users to create custom equipment configurations with a minimum of difficulty.
  
  
• Four vapour/liquid heat exchangers monitored with state-of-the-art Foundation Fieldbus instrumentation and final control equipment. These can be controlled using either the installed Fisher Delta V control system or stand alone controllers (such as the F&P MC-5000), PC-based advanced control software (such as Brainwave), programmable logic controllers (such as Rockwell’s PLC-5s or Modicon Quantum PLCs) or other user-specified control equipment. This facility has proved invaluable in the development of commercially successful predictive/adaptive advanced control software by highlighting design flaws that were undetectable with computer simulation models.  
  
  
• A fully functional batch pulp digester with supporting instrumentation and control equipment. This facility, used in the training of pulp and paper technology students and for industry-sponsored training, is readily adaptable and configurable. The batch digesting process is controlled entirely by a Honeywell TDC 3000 DCS which obtains critical process information from a variety of measurement transmitters including mass flow, pH as well as the more common temperature and pressure. An advanced control algorithm provides the opportunity to experiment with and develop optimum digesting parameters.
  
  
• Chemical Blending / Reaction Process - this unique chemical blending line is yet another example of the diversity of process and equipment readily accessible for research and development purposes. Instrumented with conductivity and pH measurement transmitters as well as flow devices this chemical reaction line can be controlled by either a DCS or PLC system. 

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