Open automation demonstrator for the chemical industry

Synergies of O-PAS™, a standard of The Open Group, MTP and NOA

Abstract

This article describes the endeavour of BASF as end user of automation systems and various partners providing solutions in the area of process control to create a demonstrator which makes use of currently developed concepts and emerging standards. The demonstrator was shown for the first time during the NAMUR general assembly in November 2019. An overview of relevant open automation initiatives is followed by a chapter on the realization of different components of the upcoming Open Process Automation Standard™ (O-PAS, a standard of The Open Group). We then describe how the Module Type Package (MTP) technology creates high synergies with O-PAS in the design and engineering phase before showing how NAMUR Open Architecture (NOA) use cases can be realized on this infrastructure. Finally, the article gives a summary on the aforementioned synergies of the different parts and an outlook for the coming years.