Project Topics and Project Ideas

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2010-10-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

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Web Portal

2009-02-23T21:02:00.000-08:00

Web Portal
Abstract:
You can design a web portal. Main Functionalities of a Web Portal are
User / Member Registration:
For Web Portals or normal websites this is a necessary feature. We should give on line membership registration facilities. Some mandatory data need to collect are “First Name,Last Name,email ID,password ,Confirm password etc
Web based Booking Engine:
You can make a generic booking engine which can book the tickets for different items like Hotel Rooms,Tour Plans,Tour Packages,Activities,Film shows / Movies,Books etc. So your members or anonymous users can book these items. The money transaction will be happening through credit cards. To achieve this functionality you need to have a payment gate way interface .Payment gate way is nothing but a secure interface through which credit card transaction is possible. “Asia Pay”,”Bank of China Payment gate way”,”Pay Pal”,”HDFC Payment gateway” are examples. If you can Print a bar code on tickets that would also be nice.For barcode interface i would suggest “Aspose”.You can download a free dll from there site and you can use it. They will provide the sample codes also.
Change Password / Forgot(Reset) Password :
You should need to include this functionality also to the web portal.You
Free SMS Provision:
If you can give some provision to send free sms etc to your users. That will increase your site's popularity. Some websites like indyarocks.com are offering that provision .you can check that also.
Technologies:
Front End:ASP.NET 3.5 -Scalability would be more. You can use PHP ,Java etc too
Back End:SQL Server 2005,Or Oracle,MySQL etc .According to your expertise

RFID Based Automatic Authentication for Organizations

2009-02-20T00:41:00.000-08:00

RFID can be used to provide an easy and efficient way to authenticate people working in an organization. Authentication is necessary to restrict access to data stored in computers. Information stored in a bank’s database contains crucial data about consumers and the bank’s functioning. These data need to be kept securely. Unauthorized access to such information can’t be allowed. As a consequence authentication of personnel having access to such information is necessary.

Presently passwords are used for authentication. In case a person leaves after she has logged in using a password, any unscrupulous person can get access to the data and be in a position to change it. In situations where the passwords have been forgotten or have been changed the access to data is denied causing disruption in work. This can be detrimental to the running of the bank. Since authentication using passwords involves limitations related to human behavior there is a need for a better method for the same. Here is where RFID comes into play.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a method of remotely storing and retrieving data using devices called RFID tags. An RFID tag is a small object, such as an adhesive sticker, that can be attached to or incorporated into a product. RFID tags contain antennae to enable them to receive and respond to radio-frequency queries from an RFID transceiver. In the proposed system authentication of workers will be done with the help of RFID tag provided to them, which will uniquely identify them and give access to information meant only for them. This is an economical alternative to the present system, which will have additional features like

performance monitoring
automatic attendance system
providing mobility of data
improved ATM service.

There is a centralized database having all the information. Readers will be positioned at appropriate places. Only with the tag can a person get access to her domain of information. There will be different levels of privileges for different people ranging from the customer to the manager of the bank.

Hardware requirements

Processor : Pentium IV

Main memory : 128MB

Software requirements

Front End :A web or windows Application in .Net Framework 2.0/3.5

Operating System : Windows 2003 server or above

Database : SQL Server,oracle,MySql etc

Smoke Sensor Using Micro Controller

2009-02-15T05:56:00.000-08:00

You can easily make Smoke Sensor Using Micro Controller.You need a micro controller one smoke sensor and an alarm set up for this.smoke sensor should sent a signal to the micro controller and micro controller can trigger a alarm.

Project Ieas Related to GPS

2009-02-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

GPS-Global Positioning System is very popular nowadays.GPS receivers are now present in mobile phones also.So its very good if you can think about a project which uses this concept.

You can make track the movement of a particular object using GPS.(Only thing is that the object should associated with a GPS receiver.Gps technology was developed by NASA.Its accuracy is really great

Biometric Attendance and Tracking system

2009-02-15T05:46:00.000-08:00

Its Very good to have a Biometric Attendance and Tracking system in many offices were security is also a concern.som biometric identification methods are finger prints,iris Scan,retina scan...The difficult part is making the interface for this.This is just an idea.You may build this more...

Lecture threatre or hall monitor system

2009-02-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

The project is about a lecture threatre monitor system .when a lecture enters the lecture threatre he presses a button that set an electronic circiut device into action after about 10 min the two to entrances into the lecture threatre automatically closes due to a dc motor attached to it controlled by the circuit.the device is connected to a passive infra-red device that checks for the number of students attending the lecture i will like ideas on possible modification n possible lapses in the project

Railway control ststem using microprocessor

2009-02-15T05:41:00.000-08:00

The aim of this project is to demonstrate the incorporation of computer method in railway traffic control to improve, safety, speed of handling the traffic and reliability. Here we employ the microprocessor (Intel 8085) to handle the signaling, track changing and gate operation and to monitoring the traffic. The system starts with the tracking if the train is sensed at the station side or starts with the gate operation (i.e. gate closing and opening) along with the track changing if the train is sensed at the gate side. Once the train arrival is sensed at a distance of about 3 kms the microprocessor performs the gate operation along with the track changing, the identification of the train is done at a distance of 3 kms accordingly the particular operation is performed by the processor.Depending upon the priority of the incoming train, the unengaged track is given for train halting.

Embedded sensor networks

2009-02-15T05:34:00.000-08:00

A wireless sensor network (WSN) is made of numerous small independent sensor nodes, which consist of a battery, radio, sensors, and a minimal amount of onboard computing power and has wireless communication capabilities among sensor nodes. Application of sensor nodes is quite common in the field of Agricultural monitoring (for climate sensitive crops), structural monitoring etc. However object detection, classification and tracking using WSN is more challenging and involves sensing and recognizing an object that enters the network area by collecting signals (acoustic, magnetic etc.) and processing them not only in real time but also involving restricted power consumption constraints. The real time applications include vehicle tracking, inventory tracking inside factories, military tracking and identification of hostile intrusion vehicles, and automatic tollgate collection based on two wheelers or four wheelers.

Sensor nodes are distributead in an optimized pattern and by taking in to account the limited power sources of sensor nodes, the tracking of object or target with random movement patterns is done by an energy efficient tracking algorithm, called selective activation combined with prediction. Audio signals are used to detect and classify the objects among the known classes. Specific parameters called feature vectors are calculated from the sampled audio signals for various objects and are used to train the classifier for classifying the object to its class. The selection of appropriate classifier and feature vectors proved to be very significant for achieving high accuracy percentage in classification. Thus a highly customized version of classifier and tracking algorithm specifically suitable for WSN is achieved.

The proposed classification and tracking algorithm is implemented in matlab considering vehicles (Light and Heavy Vehicles) as targets and audio signal as signal source. The classification of the target is done along predictive tracking and the energy consumed per unit time in the sensor network is calculated. The overall response of the classifier for varied signals is also tested and accuracy percentages were determined. Thus the project forms a complete solution for implementation of intrusion detection, identification and tracking of targets using wireless sensor network technology.

Pressure Vessel Design: DESIGN OF PRESSURE VESSEL TO CODE SPECIFICATION

2008-03-06T04:49:00.000-08:00

Pressure Vessel Design

DESIGN OF PRESSURE VESSEL TO CODE SPECIFICATION

American, Indian, British, Japanese, German and many other codes are available for design of pressure vessels. However the internationally accepted pressure vessel code is American Society Of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Various codes governing the procedures for the design for fabrication, inspection, testing, and operation of pressure vessels have been developed, partly as a safety measure. These procedure furnish standards by which, any state can be assured of the safety of the pressure vessel installed within its boundaries. The code used for unfired pressure vessel is section 8 of the ASME boiler and pressure vessel code. It is usually necessary that the pressure vessel equipment be designed to a specific code in order to obtain insurances on the plant in which the vessel is to be used. Regardless of the method of design, pressure vessels within the limits of the ASME code specifications are usually checked against the specifications.

DEVELOPMENT AND SCOPE OF ASME CODE

In 1911, American society of mechanical engineers, established a committee to formulate standard specifications for the construction of steam boilers and other pressure vessels. This committee reviewed the existing Massachusetts and Ohio rules and conducted an extensive survey among superintends of inspecting departments, Engineers, fabricators and boiler operators. A number of preliminary reports were issued and revised. A final draft was prepared in 1914 and was approved as a code and copyrighted in 1915.
The introduction to the code started that public hearings on the code should be held every two years. In 1918, a revised edition of the ASME code was issued in 1924,the code was revised with the addition of the new section 8, which represented a new code for unfired pressure vessels.

THE API-ASME CODE

In 1931 a joint API-ASME committee on unfired pressure vessels was appointed to prepare a code for safe practice in the design, construction, inspection and repair of unfired pressure vessels.

SELECTION OF THE TYPE OF VESSEL

The first step in the design of any vessel is the selection of the type best suited for the particular service in question. The factors influencing this choice are:

1. The operating temperature and pressure.
2. Function and location of the vessel.
3. Nature of the fluid.
4. Necessary volume for storage or capacity for processing.
It is possible to indicate some generalities in the existing use of the common type of vessels. For storage of fluids at atmospheric pressure, cylindrical tanks with flat bottoms and conical roofs are commonly used. Spheres or spheroids are employed for pressure storage where the volume required is large. For smaller volume under pressure cylindrical tanks with formed heads are more economical

TYPE OF VESSELS
OPEN VESSELS

Open vessels are commonly used as urge tanks between operations , as vats for batch operations where materials may be mixed and blended as setting tanks, decanters, chemical reactors, reservoirs and s on. Obviously this type of vessel is cheaper than covered or closed vessel of the same capacity and construction. The decision as to whether or not open vessels may be used depends upon the fluid to be handled and the operation.

CLOSED VESSELS

Combustible fluids, fluids emitting toxic or obnoxious fumes and gases must not be stored in closed vessels. Dangerous chemicals such as caustic are less hazardous if stored in closed vessel. The combustible nature of petroleum and its products associates the use of closed vessels and tanks throughout the petroleum and petrochemical industries. Tanks used for the storage of crude oils and petroleum products and generally designed and constructed as per API specification for weld a silo storage tanks.

CYLINDRICAL VESSEL WITH FLAT BOTTOMS AND CONICAL OR DOMED ROOFS

The most economical design for a closed vessel operating of atmospheric pressure is the vertical cylindrical tank with a conical roof and a flat bottom resting directly on the bearing soil of the foundation composed by sand, gravel or crushed rock. In case where it is desirable to use a gravity feed, the tank is raised above the ground, and the flat bottom may be supported by columns and wooden joints or steel beams.

CYLINDRICAL VESSELS WITH FORMED ENDS
Closed cylindrical vessels with formed heads on both sides used where the vapour pressure of the stored liquid may dictate a stronger design , codes are developed through the efforts of the American petroleum institute and the ASME to govern the design of such vessels . These vessels are usually less than 12 feet in diameter. If a large quantity of liquid is to be stored, a battery of vessels may be used.

SPHERICAL AND MODIFIED SPHERICAL VESSELS

Storage containers of large volumes under moderate pressure are usually fabricated in the shape of a sphere or spheroid. Capacities and pressures used in this type of vessel vary greatly for a given mass; the spherical type of tank is more economical for large volume, low pressure storage operation..

VERTICAL Vs HORIZONTAL VESSELS

In general functional requirements determine whether the vessel shall be vertical or horizontal. e.g.: distilling columns, packed towers which utilize gravity require vertical installation.
Heat exchangers and storage vessels are either horizontal or vertical. If the vessel to be installed outdoor wind loads etc are to be calculated to prevent overturning, thus horizontal is more economical. However floor space, ground area and maintenance requirements should be considered.

VESSELS OPERATING AT LOW TEMPERATURE RANGES

Pressure vessels constructed in such a manner that a sudden change of section producing a notch effect is present, are usually not recommended for low temperature range operations. The reasons are that, they may create a state of stress such that the material will be incapable of releasing high localized stress by plastic deformation. So the material used for low temperature operations are tested for notch ductility.
Carbon steels can be used down to 60 C. notch ductility is controlled in such materials through proper composition steel making practice, fabrication practice and heat treatment. They have an increased manganese carbon ratio. Aluminum is usually added to promote fine grain size and to improve notch ductility.
Ductility of certain materials including carbon and low alloy steels is considerably diminished when the operating temperature is reduced below certain critical value. This critical value is usually described as the transient temperature. It depends up on the material, method of manufacture, previous treatment and stress system present. Below transition temperature fracture may take place in a brittle manner with little or no deformation, whereas at temperatures above the transition temperature, fracture occurs only after considerable plastic strain or deformation.

VESSELS OPERATING AT ELAVATED TEMPERATURES

Embitterment of carbon and alloy steel may occur due to service at elevated temperatures. In most instances brittleness is manifest only when the material is cooled to room temperature. This is inhibited by the addition of molybdenum and also improve tensile and creep properties. Two main criteria in selecting steel for elevated temperatures are metallurgical strength and stability. Carbon steels are reduced in their strength properties due to rise in temperature and are liable to creep. So the use of carbon steel is generally limited to 500 c.
The SA-283 steels cannot be used in applications with temperatures over 340 C .The SA-285 steels cannot be used for services with temperatures over 482 C. However both SA-285 and SA-212 steels have very low allowable stress, at the higher temperatures.

MATERIAL SPECIFICATION

Plain carbon and alloy steel plates are usually used where service conditions permit because of the lesser cost and greater availability of these steels. Such steels may be fabricated by fusion welding and oxygen cutting if the carbon content does not exceed .35%. Vessels may be fabricated of plate steels meeting the specifications of SA-7,SA-113 grade c and SA-283 grade A,B,C and D provided that

1. The operating temperature is between –28 and 360 C.
2. The plate thickness does not exceed 1.5 cm.
3. The vessels do not contain lethal liquids and gases.
4. The steel is manufactured by the electric furnace or open hearth process.
5. The material is not used for unfired steam boilers.

One of the most widely used steel for general purpose in the construction of pressure vessels is SA-283, grade C. This steel has good ductility and forms welds and machines easily. It is also one of the most economical steel suitable for pressure vessels. However its use is limited to vessels with plate thickness not exceeding 1.5 cm.
For vessels having shells of greater thickness, SA-285 grade C is most widely used in moderate pressure applications. In the case of high pressure or large diameter vessels, a high strength steel may be used to advantage to reduce the wall thickness. SA –212, grade B is well suit for such applications and requires a shell thickness of only 79% of that required by SA-285, grade C. This steel also is fabricated but is more expensive than other steels.
Now many new series of materials like low alloy, high alloy steels, high temperature and low temperature materials are available which can be selected to suit the requirements of every individual need of the process industry
The important materials generally accepted for the construction of pressure vessels are indicated here. Metals used are generally divided into 3 groups as

A) Low cost: - Cast iron, cast carbon and low alloy steel, wrought carbon and low alloy steel.
B) Medium cost: - high alloy steel (12% chromium and above) aluminum, nickel, copper and their alloys, lead.
C) High cost: - platinum, tantalum, zirconium, titanium silver.

Materials mentioned in b and c group are sometime used in the form of cladding or bonding for materials in group a. Non metallic linings such as plastics, rubber etc can also be used.

Vessels with formed heads are commonly fabricated from low carbon steel wherever corrosion and temperature considerations will permit its use because of the low cost, high strength, ease of fabrication and general availability of mild steel. Low and high alloy steel and nonferrous metals are used for special service.

Steels commonly used fall into two general classifications.

1) Steel specified by ASME code.
2) Structural grade steels, some of which permitted by the ASME

CLOSURES FOR PRESSURE VESSELS

All formed heads are fabricated from single circular flat plate by spinning or by drawing with dies in a press. Although the cost of heads formed from flat, plates involves additional cost of forming, the use of formed heads as closures usually more economical than the use of flat plates as closures except for small diameters.
A variety of formed heads are used for closing the ends of cylindrical vessels. These include flanged only heads, flanged and shallow dished, Toro spherical, elliptical, hemispherical and conical shaped heads. For spherical purposes flat plates are used to close a vessel opening, however flat heads are rarely used for large vessels.
For pressures not covered by the ASME code, the vessels are often equipped with standard dished heads, whereas vessels that require code construction are usually equipped with standard dished heads whereas vessels that require code construction are usually equipped with either the ASME dished or elliptical dished heads. The most common shape for the closure of pressure vessels is the elliptical dish. Most chemical and petrochemical processing equipments such as distilling columns, disrobers, absorbers, scrubbers , heat exchangers, pressure-surge tanks and separators are essentially cylindrical closed vessels with formed ends of one type or the other.
As mentioned above , the most common types of closures for vessels under internal pressure are the elliptical dished head( ellipsoidal head) with a major to minor axis ratio equal to 2.0:1.0 and the Toro spherical head in which the knuckle radius is equal to 6% or more of the inside crown radius(ASME standard dished head)

HEAT RECOVERY STEAM GENERATOR(HRSG )

2007-11-06T05:45:00.000-08:00

Heat Recovery Steam Generator is a horizontal, natural circulation, single drum, dual pressure, unfired, water boiler. It is designed to generate steam quantities as furnished in operating parameters at main steam stop value, under specified modes of operation. Water temperature is 151.3 degree Celsius for HP and 150.2 c for LP.
The HRSG unit having following sections. HP section, LP section, condensate pre heater section.
HP section input steam temperature is 520 degree Celsius; feed water temperature is 151 degree Celsius. In LP section input steam temperature is 200 degree Celsius; feed water temperature is 150.2 degree Celsius.

HRSG consists of following components

a) HP, LP, super heater and components
b) HP, LP, evaporator and components
c) HP economizer and components
d) Condensate pre-heater and components
e) Attemperator
f) Expansion joints
g) Steel chimney
h) Stack closer damper

A. 1) HP super-heater and component
HP super-heater is the first heat transfer surface arranged in the direction of gas flow. HP super-heater is constructed of modules consisting of fin tubes. The HP super-heater is designed for single pass flow on the gas side and multi-pass flow on the tube side. Interconnection of the modules will be multiple 180 degree Celsius bent tubes of similar material as header.
A.2) LP super-heater and components
It is the fourth heat transfer surface arranged in the direction of gas flow. LP super-heater is constructed of modules consisting of finned tubes, welded to top and bottom headers, two rows per module. It is designed for a single pass flow on the gas side and multiple flow on the tube side.
B.1) HP evaporator and component circulation system.
HP evaporator is the second that transfer surface arranged in the direction of gas flow. In the direction system the heated feed water from the economizer goes to the steam drum. The boiler water from the steam drum flows to the common feed headers.
B.2) LP evaporator and component circulation system
LP evaporator is the fifth heat transfer surface arranged in the direction of gas flow. In the circulation system the heated feed water system from LP economizer goes to the economizer.
C.1) HP economizer and components
HP economizer-2 is the third and HP economizer-1 is the sixth heat transfer surface arranged in the direction of gas flow. The HP economizer is constructed of modules consisting of spiral finned tubes welded to the top and bottom headers, two rows per module.
D) Condensate pre-heater
Condensate pre-heater (CPH) is the eighth and final heat transfer surface arranged in the direction of the gas flow. CPH is constructed of modules, consisting of spiral finned tubes welded to the top and bottom headers, two rows per module.
E) Attemperator
Spray at temperature is utilized to control the HP steam temperature to 520 degree Celsius. For this application inter stage attemperator is used after the HP super-heater. The attemption piping is furnished and will be designed with an internal sleeve for the first 3mts.
F) Expansion joints
One expansion joint at HRSG inlet and one more at chimney are provided to take care of expansions.
G) Chimneys
The Gas turbine exhaust gases, after passing through all the heat transfer surfaces are discharged into the atmosphere at the safe height through a 70 mt high steel chamber.

FEED WATER

In boiler water is continually circulated and drawn out as super heated steam. This water circulation is done through feed water system.
HPBFP
High pressure boiler feed pump is for feed water to the HP section.
b) LPBFP
Low pressure boiler feed pump is for feed water to the LP section.
c) CPHRP
Condensate preheater and recirculation pump, condensate preheater is the final heat transfer surface arranged in the direction of heat flow. CPH is constructed of modules consisting of spiral finned tubes welded to the top and bottom headers, two rows (max) per module.
Recirculation pump is for recirculating the feed water. Steam water mixture generated in the evaporated tubes, due to the heat transfer from the gas turbine exhaust, flow back to the drum to the riser tubes, the saturated steam is separated by the centrifugal separator and final scrubbers placed inside the drum. The separated boiler water is recirculated through the down comers, common feeders, individual feeders, evaporator tubes and risers. The saturated steam is flow to the LP super heater where necessary super heat is added.

STEAM TURBO GENERATOR

Steam turbines are devices which convert the energy stored in steam into rotational mechanical energy. These machines are widely used for the generation of electricity in a number of different cycles
CONDENSER
The condenser is used in both reflux and distillation procedures as to cool and condense vapors. The condenser action is such that the steam passing through the pipes is cooled using a number of fans and sprays of water for steam recovery.
DEAERATOR
Deaerator is the apparatus used for removal of air from condensed steam coming from condenser. This process is for avoiding corrosion of the boiler.
CHEMICAL DOSING
The process of adding chemicals to the water pumped from the reservoir. this process is done for making the pH value of the water 7.
DEMINERALISATION WATER SYSTEM.
Demineralization of the feed water is done for removing minerals present in the water. This avoids corrosion of the boiler due to dissolved minerals present in the feed water.
COOLING WATER SYSTEM
Due to prolonged usage the moving parts of the plant tend to heat up. This can sabotage the working of the plant. Therefore a cooling water system is used to maintain the temperature of the plant at an acceptable level.
EFFLUENT TREATMENT PLANT (ETP)
Effluent maybe present in water after power generation. This contaminated water cannot be released into environment without proper treatment. So an ETP is used to remove effluents that are harmful.
WS POSE
Work station based processors operated supervisory environment
1) Introduction
In distributed digital control system environment, it is all the more important that operator has all the processor information at a single point’s POSE FULL fills this requirement.
Work station based man machine interface is system of computers with real; time software with associated specials and general hardware components. This system of computers is integrated with date high way down stream (the procontrol P bus or IP BUS) through special interface. This permits the realization or an integrated control and monitoring system. This environment provide the following function-
a) Supervision of plant process
b) Processing of plant information
c) Representation/presentation of plant information
d) Analysis’s of plant event
e) Operator dialogue
f) CRT/keyboard based control of the plant
g) Long time storage of data for analysis of plant performance
h) Monitoring of plant performance by periodic calculation
These functions are realized through a variety of displaced and logs which works around a process data base and historical data. The operated is guided through a hierarchal menu display set, to select the required function/ picture. Additionally, the operator has access to a series of help display.
2. System characteristics
The main characteristics of the system are:
a) High speed 64 bit computer system is at the heart or the system.
b) Standard computer systems are used to control planes of varying size and complexity.
c) Windows NT as operating system.
d) A set or structured software products, combination of which means customer requirements.
e) Function keyboards of operation or the plant.
f) Windows for four windows and simultaneous view of process using pictures, trends, X-Y plots, bars on all these windows.
g) Network wide printing
3) Redundancy Features
Following are redundancy features:
a) All control and monitoring function are available on all the six operator work stations mounted on the control desk. Therefore in the event or failure of any workstation another workstation on the control desk control be used to perform the same functions.
b) Failure or anyone workstation will not affect the other workstations.
c) Two server stations are provided. In case of failure of one server, all the workstations will continue to work through the others.
d) Failure or any workstation will result in only one CRT being disabled.
e) Each printer can be associated with any workstation. Logs can be directed to any printer by the operator.
4) System constitution
System configuration
The workstation based MMI system for kayamkulam CCPP project is made of two server stations, residing on P42v bus. The two server stations are connected through an Ethernet to six workstation.
Thus we have a distributed configuration of computer system to cater the modular growth, logical distribution or tasks, increased reliability and more choice in configuring the individual operator workstations.
Turbine Control System
-General description
-Start up procedure
-Speed control
-Remote speed indication
-Proactive devices
-Over speed trip test
-Testing of stop values
-Bypass control
-Automatic turbine tester
-Main stop & control values
-Lubrication system
1) General description
The combined cycle plant comprises two gas turbine generators each with a dedicated dual-pressure heat recovery steam turbine generator. A dedicated main system bypass control a dedicated induction steam bypass control is provided for each steam generator.
These permits operation of a single gas turbine generator in a conjunction with a single
HRSG.
The first cylinder is supplied with steam from the HRSG via two combined main stop and control values. Steam from the LP reheat recovery steam generators passes to cross around pipes between the two cylinders via two combined induction steam stop and control values.

HARDWARE

The hardware components can be classified into the following functional groups.

1. Server work station / Engineering station.

The station consists of a DEC ALPHA 1000A 5/333 server. This computer has 21064A 64 bit RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) processor working at 333MHZ speed and 192 Mb memories, with Windows NT server operating system. The server is connected to operator work stations though an Ethernet. On the other side it connects to the protocol bus through a VME cage. The VME cage consist an CPU, and interface cards to protocol bus and to the server computer.
One of the functions of this station is signal conditioning and preprocessing. It picks signal from the process filters out only those signals are required, and checks from validity of these signals. If the signals are valid formation is passed on to the operator work stations.
It also does long term storage and retrieval, long term logs and supervisory functions using optical disc media. The server stores all database configurations and log formats in its hard disc.
The server work station is also called as Engineers station. The engineers station comprises of a color display terminal, an ASCII key board and mouse. The various functions of an engineer can perform from this terminal include creation of new pictures, editing old ones, changing the characteristics of the database elements etc. the key board along with mouse is used by the engineer to configure parameters of the data base and other parameters of the system like composition of logs, displays etc. he can continuously monitor the functions of the plant like an operator.

2. Operator work station.

The operator work station is a DEC ALPHA XL433 with a 21064A, 64 bit processor, running at 433MHZ speed, 64 MB memory and windows NT operating system.
The work station performs all of the tasks associated with the operator’s dialog with the control system. All the software components for the storage, presentation, processing and control of the process are executed on this.
The computer system also includes the various storage devices like hard disc, floppy disc. Many operator work stations may be residing on same Ethernet. In the multiple operating work stations participating in the system, the process data base in all the individual operator work stations and the sever is in format and content, and are updated constantly using the information received from the P42 bus. The various operator communication devices are connected to the different operator work stations, according to the needs of the process and the control strategy. Any changes made from one of the operator work stations are transmitted through the Ethernet to the other nodes.

3. Information output devices.

These are the devices which are used for presenting the various logs, displays, alarms etc, and include CRTs and printers

4. Operator interface devices.

These devices are used by the operator for communicating with the computer or control systems. These consist of color display monitors, an ASCII keyboard, a functional keyboard and mouse. The color display monitors are the basic display devices for the various process related displays. The functional key board is used by the operator to issue control commands and commands to change display, control the plant processes (VPC) etc. ASCII keyboard is used only at the time of booting the system.
The mouse is used for selecting and item, menu etc.

5. MMI software.

A number of software components are executed on the computer system for realizing the various functions of this subsystem. The operating system for the system executes the task necessary for scheduling of the tasks in the computer, management of resource of the computer, processing inputs from the operator and monitoring of the computer system components working. The features of windows NT operating system has been exploited to give user friendly environment to the operator and for simultaneous viewing of various pictures, trends bars etc on different windows. The windows sizes are flexible and four windows are allowed at a time on the screen.
Some of powerful features of windows NT operating system are
a) It offers strong capabilities in the areas of both interrupt management and input/output management.
b) It runs many programs at the same time, switching rapidly between them to perform multi tasking.
c) Further more a single program can perform tasks simultaneously by dividing itself into threads. Threads execute independently, like other programs, but several threads can share the resources and global data of a program.
d) It uses sophisticated memory management of virtual addresses.
e) Built in support for sharing printers, files across networks.
System software is a set of programs which provides the basics services of the system like data acquisition, storage and retrieval of data from the data base, software control of printers and other resources etc. these software are developed using MS VC++
6. Standard application software
These are programs designed to execute along with the system software. These includes plant schematic picture, VPC pictures, assignment of logs, data base lists etc.
The other software components can be broadly classified
1. Display functions.
The software modules under this group are concerned with the display and output information on the color monitors used by operator. Various displays are
a). Alarm display-provides the facility for alarming those messages which have been allocated to the alarm display function. Each message is allocated a color, according to its priority level, and a flashing symbol for the operator to acknowledge.
b). Group display-The group display function allows grouping of analog and binary values for display in alpha numeric form. Grouping may represent some plant function areas, with each message occupying a single line.
c). Bar chart display- Provides an overview of a group of eight analog values in form of horizontal bar. The bar allows quick comparison between various values, or each value to its individual set limits.
d). Trend curve display- shows the behavior of six analog variables in relation to time. The dynamic behavior of values can be used to optimize the plant operation or to recognize plant disturbances.
e). Profile display- Shows several process values of the same measuring range in form of vertical bars. Process values limits are additionally superimposed on the bars of horizontal lines to indicate deviations from alarm levels.
f). Plant schematic display- Shows the part of a plant or process in graphic form together with the related process control system analog and binary values. The binary values are generally represented as dynamic symbols and analog values are generally represented as dynamic values in alpha numeric form.
2. Print or log functions.
These functions are for recording the process data and any information derived from them analysis and reference. These functions are also alternatively called logging functions. Logs can also be viewed on the screen. So of the automatic logs like post trip logs get printed on printers assigned for them. The various logs possible in the MMI computers are
Alarm log- Continuously register event of the plant in chronological order. Events are reported from status charges, alarms, analog limits, signal malfunction and operator actions. Special symbols indicate priority levels.
Post trip log- Allows the grouping of binary values which relate to a particular plant component. When a disturbance occurs in the component area the log is automatically triggered. It shows in tabular form the course of changes in the values for a pre defined time before and after the trip.
Trend log- The trend log is configured to a group of a number of analog points which are pointed out critically in tabular form. The point cycle time and number of cycles are configurable. The log can be automatically or manually triggered.
The plant status log-The plant status log is a kind of group log meant for current or calculated binary or analog values. Two variations are possible, one with current value and other with values in predetermined times steps.
Log of current alarms-The log of current alarms produces a list of all analog and binary alarms on the system at the time of log request.
Log of distributed signals- The log of distributed analog and binary signals produces a list of all analog signals which are distributed in the system at the time of log request.
Points out of scan log- The points out of scan log records, on demand all analog and binary values which are specified by an input or output address but which are not included in the data acquisition process.
Log of stimulated signals- The log of simulated signals produces a list of all binary and binary simulated for the system at the time of log request.
Operator action log- This log gives information about the drives operated by the operator during the last shift.

Control function (Video Process Control)

The Video Process Control (VPC) function through the CRT display involves the display of various pictures, identification of control elements and issue of the control commands.
The commands are issued with dedicated keys on the operators function key board. All the functions can be performed from either the plant schematic displays, process pictures or the control displays which are representative of the conventional operator’s push button panels. Selection of control elements can be done based on physical positioning in case of VPC group pictures or by pointing in case of plant schematic. Actual operation is done by using FKB keys. The operation can also be initiated by using mouse, by clicking the mouse button after placing the cursor on the rise or lower buttons.
Supervisory functions
The supervisory calculation and reporting functions required for effective maintenance and operation by the plant supervisor are implemented in the server. The logs available are maintenance logs, hourly logs, daily logs, monthly logs, shift logs etc. These logs can be printed on any of the printers.
Hourly / Daily logs- These logs consist of accumulated, average, calculated values and minimum or maximum values which are recorded over defined time periods. These logs are triggered automatically at the end of the day and at the end of the month respectively.
Shift log- The shift log consists of hourly values for some calculated or accumulated values and instantaneous values as at the end of the shift. This log is triggered automatically at the end of the shift.
Historical trend log- Historical trend log prints out select long term historical data in tabular form. These data can be directly scanned analog values which can be stored by long term storage function.
System scope
Scope of supply
This section gives an overview of the equipment and services proposed for man-machine interface. The proposed equipment is ideally configured to meet the plant requirements. The scope of supply of the process computer system hardware for the plant can be subdivided into the following parts.
Alpha client-server computer systems.
Computer peripherals.
Operator / Engineer Interface Devices.
This included in the scope of supply in the interval power distribution between computer and peripherals as well as the cables for all data connection between the central computer and the peripherals.
Hardware components
Six operator work stations each comprising of the following:- 64 bit, DEC ALPHA with 64 MB memory and windows NT operating system.
Computer peripheral on work stations consists of:-
One floppy drive 1.44 MB 3.5’
One hard disc 1.05 GB
One CD – ROM drive
One 21’ color monitor
One operator function keyboard
One mouse
Two server work stations each comprising of the following:-
64 bit, DEC ALPHA server with 192 MB memory and windows NT operating system and SQL server support.
Computer peripheral and engineer’s interface on server:-
- One floppy drive 1.44 MB 3.5’
One hard disc 6 GB
One CD – ROM drive
One read or write optical disc drive
One 21’ color monitor
One operator function keyboard
One mouse
Interface devices are common for all work stations and engineers’ stations. it comprising of
four logging printers (dot matrix)
two ink jet printers (color)
System functions
The following functions are envisaged and will be performed in the system.
Data acquisition and processing
Analog input
Binary input
Analog output
Binary output
Displays
Plant schematics
VPC group pictures
Unfulfilled criteria
Warm displays
Group displays
Bar charts
Trend curves
Profile displays
The actual number of pictures will be as per approved.
Video Process Control
Video process control function for control of groups /drives is similar to conventional console configuration.
Functions can be performed by means of dedicated push buttons on the function keyboard. For certain functions, the numeric keypad on the function keyboard will be used in conjunction with other push buttons.
Engineer’s Functions
Maintenance of data base is performed through a keyboard and a mouse in conjunction with the color monitor, as and when used for editing purposes.
Online assignment of parameters to system functions (parameters of logs and display pictures).
The ALPHA server has its process data base organized as relational database management (RDBMS) with SQL server residing on it. Queries can be done on database by the user using simple SQL.
Creation of new plant schematic pictures editing of standard pictures etc. can be done using an offline package called picture editor. All pictures in WSPOSE system are created using this editor.
Database modifications can be done using an online package called database editor. The engineer can edit /configure the plant database using this package.
Project Engineering
The following are the steps in the Engineering of work station based MMI system.
Specification of I /O lists with the associated parameters. This is generated as per a procontrol-P system Engineering.
Configuration of sketches for plant schematics /video process control.
Configuration of data for individual display and video process control functions.
Operator Interface-Overview
Operator screen
When the operator work station is switched on, after the initialization routines are completed, the operator’s screen is presented on the screen. This screen has a title, a menu bar, a tool bar and the picture area. With the help of these menu and tool options, the operator can call-up pictures on this display. The pictures are presented in the picture area. The operator can access the menu and tool options using the mouse and ASCII keyboard. The operator continues his dialog with the MMI system through a set of commands with information from the system being presented on different types of pictures.
Menu
The menu gives the MMI application a windows look and feel. The grouping of functions, placement of the menu elements are like any other standard windows application.
File
This element is like ‘file’ menu in any windows application. It has commands for printing, previewing before a print for opening a pictures and for log-out /exit from the program.
Close
This element closes the picture being currently displayed.
View
The view menu is like the view menu in any windows application. It has commands to zoom-out or out of pictures and also to return to the just previous picture.
Display
This menu provides for an exhaustive list of all kinds of displays from which the operator can choose. The actual method of calling up the required picture is discussed in a later paragraph.
Logs
This menu item provides an exhaustive list of logs from which the operator can choose. Ex: post-trip logs, trend logs etc.
Definition
It provides a connection to the database editor for viewing /changing configuration in the database.
Keyboard
It provides a picture of the function keyboard on the screen so that the operator can, with the help of the mouse, operate it like a physical keyboard. Control functions will not be available in this case.
Users
Add new users, change passwords etc. Available only when user has logged in as administrator.
Window
Like window commands of any window application. Allows to tile up pictures and lists of all pictures currently open in different windows.
Help
It provides help to operator.
Tools
Tools further enhance the user-friendliness. Many often used commands are configured as tool bar buttons. This eliminates the need of having to navigate through menus and sub-menus. Pictures and too tips are present on the tool bar buttons which give an intuitive feel for the operator to operate them. Many of them are again an element of commonality with other windows applications.
Features
Pictures are the basic mechanism through which the operator gets information from the system. This information includes feedbacks for the control commands issued by the operator. The graphical nature of the picture elements enables information to be presented in a variety of formats like bars, numbers, shapes, colored text lines etc.
Pictures are freely configurable by the user. However, some pictures are standard while others are fully user configurable. So pictures like a bar chart display are configurable. So pictures like a bar chart display are usually invariant across projects. Such pictures are designed once and stored for use across projects. These are called ‘standard pictures’ and are stored in a directory named ‘user/ standard’. Some standard pictures are also generated online through program. A VPC group picture will not exist as a picture, but is synthesized from the group configuration on being called upon the screen. Log formats are also basically standard pictures.
The other pictures which are particular to a project are stored in the directory PLNTSCH under the project directory.
However, all pictures are created using the same editor program and are generically the same.
Any picture consists of three parts- the static part, the dynamic part and targets.
Static part is the part of the picture which does not change after the pictures has been called upon the screen in relation to the actual /process condition, where as those elements or parts which change depending upon the current plant condition are called dynamic parts. For example, a string like ID FAN-A may be written beside a symbol for a fan to give it a designation. This is a static part. The fan symbol itself maybe green in color when the ID FAN is standstill and red in color when the ID FAN is running. That is dynamic part.
Some elements of a picture which though not changing dynamically, may refer to variables being picked from the plant database and are unknown while being placed in the picture are also treated as dynamic elements. Typical examples are address, description, KKS, limit values, engineering unit etc, of a process variable. Dynamic elements can be defined in a picture to represent integer values, real values, Boolean values, text or an equipment or controllable element such as pump etc. An element may be defined to display different shapes depending on the status of the process object it represents. For example,
A shape for pump ON in a certain color
Another shape for pump in OFF condition in another color.
Analog and binary values can be represented in a variety of colors to indicate their current states and quality of the signals. These color combinations are configurable by the user
The foreground and background color for any element in a picture can be specified. Shapes can also be programmed to flash when the object they represent is in a certain state. Values to be included in the bar curve and group displays can be defined online quickly and conveniently. To display these signals, the base picture is used while applying these specified signals on that base picture.
Targets are active areas in a picture. By clicking on these pictures certain actions can be invoked. These actions can be:
Display another picture
Start /stop a log
Select an element for control
Targets are also defined using the picture editor.
Description
General layout of a picture:
Header:- Each picture has eight target at the top which common for all picture of that project. They are represented as eight buttons in the toolbar area. There are eight other picture dependent targets at the bottom. There are a minimum users can further configure targets of their choice freely at convenient locations on the pictures.
Picture area:- The actual picture to be displayed is presented in this area. This represents 774*442 panels on display of 800*600 resolutions. Latest three alarms are always available at the bottom position of the screen.
Login
On the operator work stations the operator task will be automatically started up and the initial welcome screen will be displayed. The dialog for logging in to the system will also be displayed. The operator logs in with his name and password. He can also log into the system with the administrator pass word if he wants to do administrator level tasks. The operator can then display different pictures control the plant, print out logs etc.
A user can log out from the operator task by choosing the command ‘log out’ from the file menu. The initial screen will again be presented.
Picture call up
There are many ways to call up pictures. It is possible for operator to use an FKB or a mouse. It is possible that the picture call up from both FKB and mouse.
Call up using FKB:- There are 65 direct call up buttons on the FKB. Each button can be assigned to a particular picture of any type. Pressing any direct call up button, the assigned picture will be displayed.
Pictures of a particular type can be called up by pressing the generic display buttons. They are grouped under the ‘DISPLAY’ category. In this, after the generic button is pressed, a number has to be entered. Then the picture with that number is presented on the display. For example, after ‘Plant group’ is pressed followed by ‘3’ and ‘E’ on numeric group, the third plant status group will be displayed.
For every picture, we can have four linked pictures. These are ‘Previous Picture’, ‘Next Picture’, ‘First Picture’ and ‘Last Picture’. In case of standard pictures like bar chart displays, the first picture will be group1; last group will be the maximum possible group number. Next picture will be numerically the next group (not exceeding the maximum) and the previous picture will be the numerically previous group. In case of plant schematic, they will be configured on the editor. It is to be noted that these four links are always to pictures of the same type. By pressing the four keys corresponding to the above links, that picture can be called.