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Valesul: SoftPLC Allows Information Management
Valesul Aluminio is a private company that has been active since 1982 in the
primary aluminum and transformation alloy markets producing ingots, billet,
bars and plates. Valesul produces over 83,000 tons/year,
or 9% of the Brazilian production of primary aluminum, supplying about half
of the national demand.
Valesul is very concerned with the environment, and performs measurement and
control of effluents stricter than that required by law. The originally installed
system was capable of cleaning the effluent gases generated during the aluminum
production process, which was a big reason why Valesul was the first aluminum
producer in Brazil to earn ISO 9002 status. The original system consisted
of a PLC-2/20 with 4 racks of I/O and a Synoptic operator control panel. However,
the control system did not allow system managers the ability to obtain process
data.
Therefore, Valesul decided to replace the original system with one more versatile
and with better communications and expandability. Many controller and I/O
options were reviewed. The selected solution was a SoftPLC Processor with
Profibus I/O from Siemens. The factors that influenced the decision toward
SoftPLC were cost, the ability to convert the existing PLC-2 logic, and the
ability to use a distributed I/O network which also reduced total system cost.
The new system included the a Pentium 100MHz based SoftPLC Processor with a
ProfibusDP interface card, controlling 600 I/O points. An Intellution SCADA
system was connected via a serial link to provide the management information
desired.
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