MEDICAL OXYGEN GENERATION PLANT AUTOMATION WITH MESSUNG'S NX-ERA SERIES

Historically, hospitals have relied on cylinders and liquid oxygen tanks for their oxygen supply needs. Since the 1970s, onsite oxygen generators have become the preferred source for hospitals that want uninterrupted oxygen supply, and want control of their oxygen needs and usage.

The recent Covid-19 pandemic and the acute shortage of medical oxygen experienced by India has only made the need for sustainable, controllable and reliable oxygen generation plants more urgent and important. Medical facilities have to build their own onsite oxygen generators to cater to their patients.

THE CUSTOMER:

Our customer provides turnkey solution including a compact oxygen plant and a cylinder filling station. Available in various capacities and oxygen concentrations, they provide full autonomy to produce oxygen at hospitals& covid centres, on a continuous basis.

KEY FEATURES OF THE OXYGEN PLANT:

Ø  Turnkey containerized or skid mounted solution

Ø  On-site oxygen production at 93 to 95+% purity

Ø  Ready to use for hospital & covid centre

Ø  Commercial use after filling of cylinder by using HP Compressor

Ø  Production of an oxygen back up supply

Ø  Centralized autonomous production of oxygen cylinders for local use

KEY SOLUTION GOALS:

1. To monitor and control the feeding and flow of Medical Oxygen Plant

2. To develop a logic to measure Pressures, Temperatures and Oxygen Analysers at various stages of process and control the flow by operating the SOVs in Auto and Manual mode in programming software Master Tool IEC XE 3.31 for XP325.

3. To measure flow and calculate the total flow of air supplied at inlet and Oxygen obtained at outlet side of the process.

4. To develop a logic to raise alarms, generate reports and trends in HMI.

5. To display the measure values of pressures, temperatures and oxygen levels, timers sequence values etc. and alarms, reports, trends on HMI.

6. To send emails of critical alarms and enable the users to access all HMI screens at any remote place through smartphone or PC over internet.

THE SOLUTION:

Messung engineers studied the plant and its requirements, and came up with a solution consisting of

·         -    XP325 PLC controller

·        - XM-Pro MOD-AI-4 (analog input module)

·         -10 inches HMI

 

THE HEART OF THE SYSTEM: NX-ERA XPRESS

NX-ERA Xpress is a powerful mini PLC(Programmable Logic Controller) developed by Messung, leading micro PLC manufacturer. NX-ERA Xpress brings you world-class technology for entry-level applications - at a cost-effective price.

Packed with advanced features, NX-ERA Xpress micro PLC delivers high-speed processing power in a compact design with embedded I/O. The micro PLC system can be easily expanded through CANopen using the Remote I/O Modules - a great advantage for OEMs with needs of small, scalable applications.

NX-ERA Xpress Highlights:

·         High density I/O both Digital & Analog

·         Programming by Codesys® - IEC 61131 based software

·         Ethernet Port - TCP/IP, Modbus TCP/IP

·         Inbuilt Webserver

·         Industry 4.0 ready - OPC-UA, MQTT features

·         RS-485 port with Modbus RTU Master protocol

·         CANopen Master/Slave protocol

·         SCADA and HMI interfaces available

·         Built in HTML web server

 

BENEFITS FOR THE CUSTOMER

Remote IO System on a MODBUS Network: provides access to sensor-level data in difficult-to-reach areas. This ensures smoother operation of system components while streamlining device replacement and machine maintenance – again saving costs and improving efficiency.

Cloud connectivity

Conformal Coating: ensures integrity even in harsh environments

Access HMI from any location through mobile, laptop etc.: anytime, anywhere accessibility and control

Process Alarms shall be received on Email/Text messages: to enable faster responses and decision making

Programming and configuration environment based on IEC 61131-3 standard: the global standard in programming languages for programmable controllers

Designed to meet the specific demands of Industry 4.0 

THE OUTCOME:

Ø  Due to full automation,all systems are designed for un-attended operation and automatic Oxygen demand adjustment

 Ø  The design and Instrumentation make the plant very compact, assembly on skids, prefabricated supplied from factory 

Ø  Start-up time to get Oxygen purity is negligible. So, these units can be switched ON & OFF as per Oxygen demand changes 

Ø  High reliabilityfor continuous and steady operation with constant Oxygen purity. Plant availability time is better than 90 - 95% always 

Ø  The only utilities required are cooling water andelectrical power. So cost of electricity consumed is the cost of Oxygen production