Reducing plant downtime

摘要

The word downtime might as well be a curse word in the asphalt production industry. As any operator will say, unplanned plant shutdowns can end up costing a producer heavily in lost production, not to mention a line of unhappy truck drivers and asphalt customers. The key is to get ahead of the problem and spot issues before they skyrocket in severity. Fortunately, some asphalt plant manufacturers offer plant control add-ons that streamline the process and make operators' lives easier, they also sound the alarm on potential problems that could grind production to an abrupt stop if not addressed. Many plant control upgrades will pay for themselves just by preventing a single unplanned shutdown. Human machine interface (HMI) controls replace manual switches with a programmable logic controller (PLC)-based system. These feature a monitor and mouse or touchscreen, providing one of the easiest ways to clean a control house, ensure fast troubleshooting and streamline information. Asphalt plants often have dozens or even hundreds of switch wires. An HMI can help reduce the number of wires to just a few paired with a communication cable.