Client: BUNGE
Year: 2025
Area: Control system modernisation and migration
Subsector: OILSEEDS AND VEGETABLE OILS

Scope

Migration of the control system of a Bunge plant from the old Schneider Quantum and Premium PLCs to Siemens PCS 7: around 4,000 I/O signals, more than 50 drives and starters replaced, new motor current signals, as-built documentation of the installation and a one-month shutdown with 49 people on site.

~4,000I/O signals within the migration scope
100%of the plant’s loads rewired
50+drives and starters replaced
49people on site at the same time during the one-month shutdown

From the old PLCs to PCS 7

The plant was controlled by Schneider Quantum and Premium PLCs. The project replaced those PLCs with a Siemens PCS 7 distributed control system, with a scope of approximately 4,000 input and output signals.

Migration of control from the Schneider Quantum and Premium PLCs to Siemens PCS 7
Rewiring of 100% of the plant’s loads
Replacement of more than 50 drives and starters
Addition of motor current signals
As-built documentation of the installation: updated records of the plant’s real condition

MIESA’s scope: a complete turnkey project

MIESA delivered the project on a turnkey basis, from start to finish, with its own resources:

As-built survey of the existing installation
Construction of the cabinets in our workshop
On-site installation
Programming of the new PCS 7 system
24/7 support during start-up
Maintenance of the installation, which we still carry out today

Motor current monitoring

The project also added motor current signals, measured with Rogowski coils on the motor feeders, so that this information is available in the control system.

Target architecture

The new system is based on Siemens PCS 7 with distributed I/O in the plant’s two areas: 20 ET 200SP HA stations and 12 ET 200iSP PN stations, the latter in the extraction area.

Preparation

16 ET 200SP HA stations

Extraction

4 ET 200SP HA stations
12 ET 200iSP PN stations

Organising the work: the 2025 shutdown

The project totalled around 26,300 working hours and was delivered in less than a year. The on-site intervention was concentrated in a one-month shutdown, during which installation, programming, testing and commissioning were carried out at the same time; that month does not include the prior preparation or the engineering and programming done at our facilities.

01
Before the shutdown
Field data collection and pre-installation of cable trays and cables, so everything is ready for the shutdown.
4,694 h13 people
02
Engineering and workshop at MIESA
Programming, engineering, drafting and manufacturing at our facilities, in parallel with pre-installation.
12,569 h14 people + workshop
03
During the shutdown
A one-month shutdown: installation, programming, testing and commissioning at once, with engineers and instrument technicians on site.
9,081 h49 people on site

Hours by discipline: programming 10,828 h (41%), installation 7,997 h (30%), engineering 6,926 h (26%) and workshop 592 h (2%).

Simulation with SIMIT and operator training

Before working on site we used SIMIT to test the programming of the new system. The same model was used as an OTS (Operator Training System), so that operators could learn to run the plant with the new control system before commissioning.

See the SIMIT simulation and OTS project →