Alexander Shcharansky and Boris Shcharansky of Continuous Control Solutions, a solution provider at the marcus evans Petrochemical & Refining Summit 2013, on why it is best not to rely on black-box providers for turbo machinery control. Interview with: Alexander Shcharansky, President, and Boris Shcharansky, VP - Sales, Continuous Control Solutions

1. I n t e r v i e w w i t h : A l e x a n d e r
Shcharansky, President, and Boris
S h c h a r a n s k y , V P - S a l e s ,
Continuous Control Solutions
Plant operators and maintenance
managers in the petrochemical and
refining industry are beginning to
understand that relying on black-box
providers of turbo machinery control
systems forces customers to become
heavily reliant on a third-party
automation contractor for such a critical
area of process control, say Alexander
Shcharansky, President, and Boris
Shchar ansk y , VP - Sales, o f
Continuous Control Solutions.
Instead of relying on the black-box
solution, customers now have the ability
to achieve market-leading turbo
machinery control solutions in their
choice of PLC or DCS hardware.
Continuous Control Solutions (CCS) is a
solutions provider at the marcus evans
Petrochemical & Refining Summit
2013 in Austin, Texas, July 15-16.
What should be a top priority for
executives in this industry today?
Alexander Shcharansky: They need to
increase efficiency and decrease cost in
the entire process, through automation.
Also, they must make sure that the
lifetime maintenance of their facilities
and equipment are as low as possible,
without compromising on efficiency.
How could they achieve this? What
obstacles do they face?
Boris Shcharansky: Automation of turbo
machinery began with what we call
“black-box” controller s. Turbo
machinery control companies created
both proprietary hardware and
software; each time the control system
needs servicing, spare parts or repair,
only the provider of the proprietary
hardware could provide such services.
Customers were forced to rely on a
single provider, aside from overall plant
automation systems such as DCS or
SCADA, for turbo machinery control.
With the development of ultra-fast
scanning PLC and DCS systems today,
this reliance on a third-party, “black-
box” provider is coming to an end.
Could you tell us more about the
options that CCS provides?
Boris Shcharansky: CCS engineers all
previously came from black-box
providers of turbo machinery control,
meaning they have the unique
experiences of knowing the ins and outs
of black-box control systems.
Since its inceptions, CCS has focused on
creating what we call a “hardware-
independent” turbo machinery control
solution; instead of forcing a customer
to rely on a proprietary controller, CCS
instead has chosen to develop its
patented algorithms into control
applications available on any IEC61131-
compliant hardware platform, which
includes most PLC and DCS systems
available on the market.
Now, whatever PLC or DCS the
customer prefers, CCS will integrate the
turbo machinery control with that
preferred hardware, integrating
seamlessly with existing HMI and
operating screens.
Customers continue to receive hardware
servicing and support from local
suppliers of PLC or DCS hardware, such
as Honeywell, Yokogawa or Allen
Bradley.
Does this also help extend the
lifetime of assets?
Alexander Shcharansk y: Some
proprietary black box hardware
providers phase out their hardware
every ten years. This means facilities
have to purchase new control systems,
when Honeywell or Yokogawa, for
example, still support and provide spare
parts for 25-30 years after introducing a
controller into the market. Black-box
providers of turbo machinery control are
simply too small to handle the lifetime
servicing of their controllers. At the
most, they will service systems up to
ten years before declaring a hardware
platform obsolete and forcing customers
to upgrade to the latest, greatest and
most expensive black-box platform.
With a CCS solution on an open
hardware platform, as long as the DCS
or PLC supplier supports the installed
hardware, there is no immediate need
for upgrade or replacement due to
obsoleteness of the hardware. This, by
itself, will extend the lifetime of control
hardware. More importantly, with a CCS
solution, the turbo machinery control
system can have common spares with
the existing process control systems,
lowering lifetime OPEX and CAPEX
spending as a result.
In short, the industry in general, and
turbo machinery control in particular,
are moving fast towards providing fully-
integrated, plant-wide automation
solutions without the need to rely on
third-party, black-box providers of
proprietary hardware and control
systems.
They must
make sure that
the lifetime
maintenance of
their facilities
and equipment
are as low
as possible
Exploring Alternatives to Black-Box Turbo Machinery Control

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About the Petrochemical & Refining Summit 2013
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About Continuous Control Solutions
CONTINUOUS CONTROL SOLUTIONS (CCS) provides the next generation of control technology and solutions inclusive of design,
implementation and commissioning of control systems for industrial TURBO MACHINERY control applications. CCS provides turbo
machinery control solutions to the Oil and Gas, Chemical, Petrochemical, Metallurgy and Power Generation Industries worldwide.
www.ccsia.com
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