Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1986

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Electrical Engineering

Major Professor

Robert E. Bodenheimer

Abstract

The use of computers in the industrial world for data acquisition and control of the production process is rapidly increasing. These industrial automation systems are usually many distributed computers, each controlling a separate process. Using a communication network, a host computer transmits commands and collects data from each distributed controller. The organization of data flow on this network and the varying rate, amount, and type of data from each distributed controller require an efficient and intelligent communication strategy. Also, effective recovery from error conditions and the need to change the data requirements of a particular controller pose problems for the host communications control function. A communication control package to meet these requirements was developed during the Winter and Spring of 1986.

The host communications task and distributed computer system are applied to the automation of a tank farm storage area at a petroleum refinery. This system includes a gasoline blender controller, various process function controllers, and numerous tank gauging transmitters. The host communication control task gathers data continuously from these devices as well as transmitting commands and requesting data on operator command. Automatic error logging and recovery from network failures are designed into the system. Configuration of the data structures for each controller and tuning of the data flow on the network allow changing the host computer system to fit the expansion needs in the refinery. Test data is included to demonstrate the communication response of a typically loaded network.

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