Control.com - Nerds in Control

I am trying to choose between Matrikon and Expertunes software packages for loop optimizing and alarm management.

Does anyone have experience with these products enough to provide me with a positive/negative type of comparison?

ExperTune has a good tuning tool, but their control loop performance assessment package is very "data hungry" and could overload your OPC server. They don't have their own alarm management software - the resell TIPS'. So you will have to deal with two vendors.

Matrikon has a very complex tuning tool, called TaiJi. It automatically step tests your process - not sure how comfortable you'll be with that.

You might also want to check out PAS's offerings. They are the leader in alarm management and have good alarm management software. They have loop tuning and performance assessment software too.

If you have to cover many different situations (self-regulating/integrating processes, liquid level – setpoint changes/disturbances – controller action tight/smooth/with minimum resource consumption) and need results fast and with ease look at TOPAS (http://www.act-control.com – under “Tools”).

First let me say that I have not used the Expertune packages.

The Matrikon alarm management and loop optimising packages are quite capable, but like all of these packages take some time to set up properly and also maintain. Don't forget about maintenance because without it users will gradually lose confidence. Also you need the resources to deal with alarm management and control loop issues. It's no good seeing problems but not having the time to do anything about them.

I am pretty sure that the loop software does not explicitly need automated step tests to make recommendations on tuning and it definitely does not require it for performance monitoring. I suspect the Expertune package is stronger in the tuning department because that is what the package was originally designed to do. Matrikon is good for connectivity.

Remember loop performance issues do not necessarily indicate tuning issues but could also indicate plant or valve issues. We used Protune for tuning and Matrikon for performance monitoring as he Matrikon package did not support the PID algorithm type we were using. An ongoing programme of performance monitoring AND action will put you in a better position than most.

The Matrikon alarm monitoring package is the most complete I've seen, although I'm a year or so out of date.

No system is perfect. Define your requirements first. Look at your work processes and organisation and how the product would integrate with that. Look at the algorithms used for control and whether the product supports them without hand cranking results to fit. Look at the interface to the control system what data is coming out? What format is it? How are you going to connect to the control system? Are there possible security issues? Where are your users? Can they get at the results easily and do some ad-hoc analysis for further investigation of problems highlighted.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

David

I agree with the advice below. Definitely make sure to get a demo, and define your requirements. Also, consider the following:

* Are services and training included, or do they cost extra?

* How many users? Will you need client software on each computer?

* What is the experience with your particular DCS?

* What is the extent of the diagnostics? Sensors, valves, controls, tuning, etc?

* How does it handle loops and units that are out of service?

* Can it be customized?

ExperTune's PlantTriage has something called Active Model Capture. It automatically finds process models using routine setpoint changes and other bumps from the operator, no matter when they occur. The results are saved in history. This make tuning go much faster.

I suggest looking at the tools via a web conference so you can see for yourself what is complex and what is not.

In terms of Matrikon's products, Tai-Ji PID is a simple and easy to use tool that can tune multiple loops under closed loop conditions which is inherently safer than open loop testing. TaiJi PID is part of the Control Performance Monitoring Suite which includes PID/APC monitoring and APC step testing/modeling capabilities. Similarly, the Alarm Management offering is extensible into configuration tracking and equipment monitoring.

Both of these software packages have an integrated web interface.

I suggest ask vendors for refences and customer names. Include the DCS type in your request. The customers will tell their experiences with different vendors... GIB

I suggest TriSolutions,

http://www.trisolutions.com.br/index.php?idioma=en&site=0& amp;menu=0

TriSolutions associates services supplying with software development in industrial process modeling, optimization and advanced control.

Atte.

Rodrigo
www.das.ufsc.br/~rodrigog

You can also look into PAS at http://www.pas.com/ who have an integrated Loop Monitoring & Alarm Management application.

Subhrendu Malakar