Control Systems

The Fitch Company has implemented numerous plant BOP (balance of plant) control systems at plants. This includes new plants and BOP consolidation in existing facilities. The ability to provided a flexible BOP system that can communicate to multiple third-party systems has proven to be a tremendous benefit to the end user. The resulting common operator displays for the entire plant provide ease of plant operation while allowing the operator to make well-educated production decisions.

The Fitch Company has designed, manufactured, software configured numerous compressed natural gas, liquified natural gas control systems for installation in numerous locations in the Northeastern United States and Canada. This includes service and remote support for all installed systems.

The control platforms utilized include Emerson Controlwave and Allen Bradley CompactLogix. Most of these installations are installed in the outdoor environment.

The Fitch Company has extensive experience with plant-wide control system installations and replacements. These installations have been for greenfield plants and retrofit applications in existing plants.

In retrofit applications, The Fitch Company identifies and labels all existing field terminations to the current control system. Prior to the outage, we will also tag every field device and create a punch list of current problems to allow plant maintenance personnel adequate time to correct any known problems.

The Fitch Company has executed these projects with multiple DCS and PLC supplier systems. We are able to design, software configure, fabricate, test and ship these systems in a turnkey arrangement when desired.

Samples of our larger plant-wide control systems have been completed for biomass boilers, recovery boilers, biofuel facilities, and food production facilities.

Many industrial facilities are dealing with old legacy Burner Management Systems. Recent Natural Gas availability and cost-effectiveness have led many plants to convert from various oil fuels to dual fuel (oil/gas) or solely to natural gas. In some instances, we have recommended that the plant continues to use dual fuel capability. This suggestion has been proven wise in the Northeastern United States given the natural gas price’s volatility.

Fitch Solution:
Our solution uses Rockwell’s various platforms for BMS systems including ControlLogix and CompactLogix. We have supplied BLRBAC compliant SIL II rated systems (for pulp and paper recovery boilers) in multiple facilities. Our delivered systems include BMS systems for power boilers and package boilers.

Our unique ability to field engineer retrofit applications has given us a competitive advantage in challenging applications. Human-machine interface options for The Fitch Company BMS’s are numerous.

The Fitch Company has completed numerous process control system installations for biofuels facilities. This includes pilot plant facilities in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire (currently under construction). The Pennsylvania facility included Fitch Company supply of Instrumentation, intelligent motor control center, and process control system. The Fitch Company is currently the lead electrical/control system designer for the New Hampshire facility.

In addition, The Fitch Company has completed plantwide DCS systems for two new BioDiesel Facilities. One of these is currently in operation in Houston, Texas and the other is in Port Neches, Texas. The BioDiesel process design was provided by others. The Fitch Company was chosen through a competitive process for providing the plantwide process control systems for these projects. The Houston, Texas control system included a Wonderware Intouch HMI (Human Machine Interface) and an Allen Bradley redundant ControlLogix PLC system with associated input/output modules. The Port Neches, Texas control system was executed utilizing an Emerson DeltaV DCS system. The Fitch Company engineering services provided for the project included:

• Process Control System hardware design
• Process Control System fabrication, testing, and shipping
• System HMI Software development
• PLC software configuration
• System Startup and checkout
• Remote System troubleshooting via dial-up connection
• Ongoing technical support

The Fitch Company has extensive process control system depth. Our ability to complete projects from the power system to the instrument control loops to software configuration enabled us to be a key member of the startup team for these facilities.

SNCR and SCR Control System Development
The Fitch Company has worked on an OEM capacity for control system design, fabrication and delivery with the technology developed by CCA Combustion systems. These systems have been installed on boilers and stationary diesel generators throughout the United States.

With the myriad of control systems on the market today, it is difficult to sort through all the different protocols, architectures, and technologies that are available and move forward with control system upgrades in a thorough and efficient manner. Often there is no “one perfect solution” that fits all the unique challenges of your situation, your process, or your plant.

The Fitch Company can help make sense of all the choices. Our engineers have collective experience on nearly every major control system used for industrial applications today and in the past decade. Our control system evaluation methods will take the guesswork out of the selection process and put some objectivity into what has historically been a very subjective decision.

So if you are contemplating an upgrade or perhaps jumping into the PLC or DCS world for the first time, we can help you identify which system or systems will best fit your needs. Our control system evaluation techniques will take the guesswork out of the selection process and put some objectivity into what has historically been a very subjective decision.

Our approach is to work with clients to determine what features are important and relevant to the particular control system opportunity they are wrestling with. We’ll collaborate with mill engineers and technicians to develop the “must have” and “want to have” criteria for the evaluation. Based on our experience, we’ll provide a preliminary evaluation of four to six possible vendors that will take into account available technologies, mill experience, vendor support, and process suitability. This step usually involves half-day general presentations from each of the vendors.

To proceed to the next step, The Fitch Company will help you evaluate a specific opportunity for control system implementation or upgrade. This step is much more comprehensive and involves the following:

• Develop conceptual system design and generic architecture
• Develop a preliminary bid specification
• Solicit bids from (typically) three vendors
• Coordinate site visits by each vendor
• Evaluate the submitted bids against client criteria
• Compare and contrast the vendor bids
• Report on findings and make recommendations

This process will give you a clear understanding of the alternatives available for a system installation and/or upgrade as well as a preliminary cost analysis. So if you are contemplating an upgrade or perhaps jumping into the PLC or DCS world for the first time, we can help you identify which system or systems will best fit your needs.