Using OPC in robust environments seems to be a popular topic for everyone.   In addition to my presentation on using OPC in Mission Critical Applications, there where several end user presentations on this topic.

Joe Scalia of Invensys Triconex gave a great talk on Implementation Considerations for Safety Systems.   I think his opening line sums it up the best “Yes, redundancy matters!”    He detailed the successful test results of a three-tier OPC redundancy project for ExxonMobil, involving their excellent Tricon TMR system, MatrikonOPC Servers for Triconex and the Honeywell Experion PKS.

Bill Finn, of Santee Cooper  had a good example on the use of OPC in the power industry.  He was using a redundant OPC architecture to ensure meeting the EPA required 98% uptime in emissions reporting.   Their implementation made use of the redundancy capability in the MatrikonOPC Data Manager and the OPC redundancy broker.

Harry McKinely of ENGlobal had an example from the oil industry.   This was another redundancy solution using the Honeywell Experion PKS system, OPC Servers for Triconex and Tricons for the burner management system at a Shell site.   It was interesting to see there was also OPC connectivity to their GE Mark VI turbines.