Where does Process Control sit in the engineering firmament: with the Electrical Instrumentation and Control [EI & C] department, with the software writers or with the process engineers?
The answer is you need the skills of all three groups, but at different stages in the lifecycle of the
project. It is a very big but because getting the sequence wrong almost guarantees the outcome will
be at best poor and at worst, a disaster.
CARBON can provide you with complete lifecycle management of a Process Control System. One of our skills is found in our ability to translate the needs of one group into the actions of another.
Definition Phase led by Process Engineering and supported by EI&C
Testing Phase 1 at a supplier’s works [Factory Acceptance Test] are led by Process Engineering and supported software writers and EI&C. Involved are the client team after the first round of verification to check process mapping delivery and their expected results and allowing unexpected challenges to the system to check robustness.
Testing Phase 2 when installed at the user site [Site Acceptance Test] are again led by Process Engineering and supported software writers and EI&C. We then use the FAT to ensure the software meets the required functionality on site. The first round testing is to be carried without process fluids, repeated with inert fluids and finally moved onto process fluids.