Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) and SCADA System Course

Course Overview:

This course equips students with both theoretical and practical knowledge on PLC and SCADA systems. Programming, installing, and maintaining these systems is thoroughly taught as well while enhancing safety, flexibility, and efficiency to reduce costs.

This course will cover the basics about PLC, advanced programming, serial data communications and fault tolerance alongside SCADA software and hardware tools. Students will also be prepared for real world situations using simulation, testing and effective upgrading strategies for isolation of problems. 

This course is perfect for engineers and technicians wanting to automate and control processes allowing them to design, maintain and control modern industrial control systems with great effectiveness.

Course Objectives:

PLC/SCADA systems are still both widely misunderstood and widely misapplied. This course, Fundamentals of PLC and SCADA Systems, is designed to provide engineers and technicians with the basic theoretical and practical understanding of PLC and SCADA systems and how this can be applied to optimize their systems in terms of safety, flexibility and costs.

Who Should Attend?

Professionals involved in designing, selecting, sizing, specifying, installing, testing, operating, and maintaining process instrumentation and control systems.

• Automation Engineers
• Chemical Engineers
• Consulting Engineers
• Design Engineers
• Electrical Engineers
• Electricians

Course Outlines:

Basic components of PLC

• Fundamentals principles
• CPU
• Memory
• I/O section and addressing
• Digital I/O modules
• Analog I/O modules

PLC programming

• Ladder logic instructions
• Basic arithmetic instructions
• Matrix logic
• File or block manipulation
• Jump, skips, and subroutines
• PLC instruction sets
• Memory organization
• Input/output addressing
• Duplicate coils
• Timers

Installation Practices

• Interference or noise reduction
• Cable spacing and routing
• Earthing and grounding
• Safety circuits
• Control room requirements and layout

Code quality and maintenance

• Program maintenance
• Change procedures
• Defect detection
• Quality measurement and demonstration

Advanced programming

• Matrix logic
• Multiplexing
• Coding/decoding

Analog control

• Analog inputs
• Signal filtering
• Analog control

Fault tolerance

• Improving system availability
• Hot standby systems
• Cold standby

Serial Data Communications

• RS-232/485 Standards
• Modbus Protocol
• Local Area Networks
• Ethernet
• Token Bus

Safety related systems

• Safety lifecycle
• Systematic failures/rates
• Voting systems
• Software reliability
• Field equipment

Upgrading Strategies

Simulation and testing

• Factory acceptance testing (FAT)
• Transport and reassembly
• Simulation packages
• Physical test panels
• I/O emulation systems

Problem Isolation and Testing

SCADA Hardware

• Field level Instrumentation and control
• Marshalling terminals and RTUs
• Communication System
• Master Stations

SCADA Software

• Communications protocol
• Data objects
• Interchangeability
• Proprietary systems