Emerson Exchange 365

DeltaV Interface to another computer

Hello DeltaV community,

I have a question regarding interfacing to external systems. We are installing an analyzer here at our plant, that comes with its own computer that has the software, data., etc.Is there a way to interface with this computer and poll tags from it into the DeltaV? I believe it is a sql server database but I could be wrong. Generally speaking, what are my options to pull data from another computer into a DeltaV system? Trying to set up an interface such that i can display & use of this data in the DeltaV.

Thanks in advance!

imh301

• 14 Mar 2018 3:22 PM
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4 Replies

• Youssef.El-Bahtimy

  

  • 14 Mar 2018 4:59 PM

  DeltaV does not have any native capability to extract data from a SQL database as a client. Typically, the manufacturer of analytical equipment provides an integration method such as an OPC Server, Modbus, Ethernet IP, or some other serial communication protocol as part of their system offering, targeting the major industrial protocols.
  If the analytical system has an OPC DA Classic server, then purchase a OPC bridging client to read from the instrument and write to DeltaV's OPC server which then communicates to the running control modules in the controller, or vice versa. This is probably the least expensive and least complicated method, but may not be the most robust (unless you employ redundant OPC client and server with failover). If the device only provides OPC UA server, then finding a bridging client becomes more difficult.
  
  If the system has a Modbus, Ethernet IP, or some other serial communication method available, then a DeltaV EIOC can be used to read/write to the device via one of these protocols. The EIOC appears as I/O to DeltaV. There are also redundancy options available for this method, but are generally considered to be more robust than OPC, mainly because they are hosted by single purpose appliances rather than a Windows server (though with OPC UA this paradigm shifts). Using an EIOC is a bit more complicated than OPC, in my opinion.
  
  There are other 'bridging clients' out there that can indeed read from a SQL data base and write to DeltaV's OPC server but I have not used these personally.

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• John Rezabek

  

  • 14 Mar 2018 5:15 PM

  I can't help you "roll your own" but you could ask your analyzer specifier / purchaser to specify that the analyzer PC is provided with a serial port and all the services to function as a Modbus slave. I agree with Mr. Bahtimy that this is best left to the vendor - chances are they have done so for other customers. My personal preference is Modbus RTU through a serial card for a relatively uncomplicated analyzer. As I recall the serial cards are licensed per card, and then each "dataset" you configure is a DST. A gas chromatograph might have three datasets, one for concentration data (results), one for alarms (discretes) and one for things like "time of analysis". Cheap and robust compared to OPC Mirror in my experience.

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• Jiye Yuan

  

  • 15 Mar 2018 2:46 PM

  Normally, Analyzer system as a stand alone system, they should have one or more interfaces to talk to outside, e.g. OPC, MODBUS, ProfiBUS and so on. You may want to check out with the vendor.
  
  Even the system doesn't come with a communication function, we still have at least solutions. There are many 3rd party interface providers out there. The only problem you will have is which vendor and which kind of interface you like most. But the first thing is have the authority from the analyzer system vendor to update their system hardware and software. Otherwise, you may lose the warranty.

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• imh301

  

  • 28 Jun 2018 6:21 PM

  In reply to Youssef.El-Bahtimy:

  Sorry for the late response . Yes I did speak with Vendor. He said Modbus (TCP or RTU) will work as he has option cards for both. On our end we may go with a VIM (EIOCs are just a little out of price range). But we are still in discussions and evaluating best option for this interface. Vendor said OPC is another option (not sure if UA only), and it would be best for them too as then there is little work required on their end and all the data is already available. No one on our team is very familiar with setting up an OPC interface so are gravitating toward VIM. But if it is easy enough and inexpensive, then we need to look into. Robust and consistency is important in this application however so we may have to go with VIM. But can you tell where I could learn more about setting up an OPC interface- is it along the lines of installing OPCRemote and configuring DCOM etc? We had to go through all those steps once i recall, when we set up a mimic system and it was talking over opc to the DeltaV Server. But in this case the DeltaV is the client.
  Thanks.

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