The idea of vendor-neutral industrial control systems built on open standards that allow for interoperability among hardware and software components has been swirling within the industrial automation industry for the past 12 years, but progress toward this objective to date has now reached a transition point. Open process automation systems have been demonstrated in commercial operations, the first commercially available open process automation system has been launched and support for such systems seems to have reached a “critical mass,” where accelerated adoption is likely.
The effort was born out of calls for standards-based control systems from ExxonMobil (Spring, Tex.; www.exxonmobil.com) in 2014, and has been organized around The Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF; part of The Open Group; San Francisco, Calif.; www.opengroup.org), a multi-industry consortium of end-users, equipment suppliers, consultants and academics that spearheaded the development of the O-PAS™ Standard. O-PAS defines an open, interoperable and secure architecture for industrial process automation systems, and serves as a “standard of standards” for incorporating existing standards and developing new ones where needed.
The shift in thinking about open process automation frameworks “reflects increased confidence in the underlying architecture and greater institutional engagement beyond engineering teams,” says OPAF. “We are at a transition point — from exploration to viability — not a finish line.”
The vision of purpose-built, multi-vendor process automation solutions has focused on benefits such as maximizing design flexibility, ability to adapt over time and ability to build vendor-agnostic systems that are tailored to exact requirements. It has also been driven by business needs, such as cost reductions and simplification.
Recent developments, many discussed at the February ARC Industry Leadership Forum (www.arcweb.com) event in Orlando, have made those benefits more accessible. “Open, standards-based process automation has been demonstrated in real-world processing environments, and others are now learning from those projects,” says Brad Mozisek, Business Manager – Digital Integration in the Americas at Wood plc (Aberdeen, U.K.; www.woodplc.com). Wood acts as a vendor-independent systems integrator for the first commercial process automation system, offered by the Coalition for Open Process Automation (COPA; www.copacontrol.com). The COPA control system is a fully integrated, production-ready platform that simplifies deployment and management of open control architectures. The system provides components and software optionality from several suppliers, including Inductive Automation, Phoenix Contact, R. Stahl, Codesys and others.
Meanwhile, ExxonMobil continues its leadership role in open process automation. Following its successful deployment of a control system based on OPA standards at a resins-finishing facility in Louisiana, ExxonMobil is now deploying an open process automation system at a chemicals tank-storage terminal in Louisiana. Others are following with their own projects. For example, Reliance Industries Ltd. (Mumbai, India; www.ril.com) has moved into the second phase of an OPA project and has plans to deploy it commercially in 2027. Shell, Aramco, BASF and others are also working on projects related to open process automation.
For more coverage of the ARC Industry Forum event, visit: www.chemengonline.com.■
Scott Jenkins, senior editor