10 Jul

Business Optimization with Automation

by Synergy Systems in Engineering & Automation Experts

Synergy’s combustion experts are some of the best in the world. We are more than just boilers, however. We are process experts, optimizing process plants to produce information specifically relevant to the business as a whole. How many products are produced per hour? What percentage of products is produced correctly? What is the average amount of product within a container? All these questions and more can be answered with top level automation equipment optimizing a plant.

Synergy Systems Inc. is a group of automation guys targeting processes with combustion expertise. This effort defines our service to asset reliability. We imagine a plant where each machine has, in a way, its own mind, collecting tremendous amounts of data that can then be used to communicate with other machines and the humans working in the plant. The ability for the Human-Machine-Interface to be easily read by those in the plant is essential. Have the best technology in the world does no good if the data gathered can’t be translated into information.

Information is key in this world. Through a multitude of ever changing media, it seems as if every piece of knowledge known to man is attainable. In our daily lives, this poses a challenge as we try and uncover the facts among massive commentary and rumors. A plant should no operate like that, especially when it doesn’t have to. Having assets that gather numerous sets of data is pointless if it takes operators too long to decipher from that data information that is meaningful to the business.

Business drives the plant. It’s what dictates how, why and where a product is made. Business provides the key performances indicators that establish how well the business is progress toward their goals. Business is what we aim to optimize regardless of the service or solution we provide a client. We aim not only to provide quality equipment that produces accurate data, but equipment that can translate that into information displayed on a fantastic human-machine interface. Depending on where the interface is, different forms of information may need to be displayed. The assets of a plant can extend beyond the control room with the ability to display information relevant to specific levels in a business. The information the plant operator needs will be different than the information the business CEO needs. With each department receiving the accurate information they need, business performance is optimized.

We invite you to ask yourself how you can optimize your own business performance during your next plant upgrade or inspection. We have experts here who would love to assist you with their knowledge and provide you with the greatest pay off.

03 Jul

Happy Birthday Synergy!

by Synergy Systems in Synergy News & Achievements

Tomorrow is the 4^th of July, America’s Independence Day and, like other patriots around the country, we are excited to meet with friends and family, enjoy a good meal and watch firework displays. It’s a day that reminds us of all that makes our country great and helps us better envision a future even more great than our present.

Check out our Energy Patriot pilot program to see how we are trying to promote a vision of an Energy Independent America.

There is more to celebrate today than just the eve of Independence Day. Today, 34 years ago, was the day Synergy Systems Inc. was born. We had a small celebration in our office to commemorate the event, complete with cake.

As if that wasn’t enough reason to celebrate, we hit another milestone this week as one of the top 100 System Integrator Giants of 2013. Based on 2012 data, we are listed 79^th on the list.

The article, published on pages 46 – 56 in the June issue of Control Engineering had some interesting states about the industry of system integration and the 100 giants that define the business. The importance of CSIA (Control System Integrators Association) Certification was clearly seen, as the magazine reported that 57 percent of giants are certified. This is up from 43 percent last year.

In addition, CSIA was among the top affiliations of giants, along with NFPA (Nation Fire Protection Agency) and ISA (The International Society of Automation). We are proud to have all of these as our affiliations as well. In addition, Rockwell Automation brands to the first three places on the list of brands preferred among integrators.

Perhaps brightest of all, was the news that the number of integrators reporting the economy as a challenge to their business fell significantly. Instead, this year the biggest challenge is finding skilled workers to hire. While this is a significant challenge, it is also a sign of progress showing that integrators are looking to hire.

We have a lot to celebrate this holiday weekend. We here at Synergy hope you all have a safe and joyful time with your friends and family. Happy 4^th of July.

26 Jun

The Benefit of Holidays for Plants and Industries

by Synergy Systems in Industry News

Energy Patriot The 4^th of July is almost here and numerous plants will take some down time, or at the very least reduce their operation to the bare essentials, so that employees can celebrate pride in their country with their families. While the 4^th is a great time to set aside political differences and embrace unified pride, it also provides a great time for plants to perform maintenance work on the plant.

An article from Control Engineering specifically points out computer numerical control (CNC) maintenance, noting that scheduled down time provides an opportunity to make sure all equipment is performing optimally and all batteries have enough power in them. A complete memory back up can also be done during this period and is essential if it has been a while since the last backup. We’ve been talking a lot about cyber security this year and one of your best tools to protect yourself is having a backup in place. Then, regardless of what happens, you have something to fall back on.

In addition, the holiday may be the perfect time to perform a boiler assessment to identify areas where production could be improved. While this is something that can be done at any time, holidays tend to provide at least a couple days where demand at a boiler room or plant is relatively low. Since activity is as low as it ever is, an assessment can be carried out with extremely low impact on the overall function of the plant for that day.

In the spirit of American pride, consider also looking for way in which your energy use can be optimized. Those who take great strides to lower the electrical load and pollution generated by their plant are recognized by Synergy as Energy Patriots. In the past, we have awarded plants with an Energy Patriot pin for their achievements. The Energy Patriot Pilot program is not just about the conservation of energy, but about reducing energy demand as a whole so that a day may come when America is energy independent.

19 Jun

CSIA Certification Progress

by Synergy Systems in Synergy News & Achievements

The Control System Integrators Association demands a high standard of quality from those they certify. We have been discovering the true complexity of the certification standards as we move further along on our path to certification.

While we have our marketing and technical writing personnel working every day to optimize our policies to CSIA’s standards, it is truly a group effort. Engineers and project managers are consistently consulted as we move beyond background policies to procedures that detail the quality work we provide our clients.

Our biggest challenge is working on achieving quality standards intended for companies larger than ours. While being smaller may make obtaining CSIA Certification and greater feat, it is far from impossible. We are moving into the last stretch of improvements to our business, verifying the high standards we expect out of our engineers comply with the standards of the Control System Integrators Association.

CSIA operates on the idea that technical proficiency alone is not enough to guarantee quality book. A control integrator should also have excellent business and management skills. To that end, they demand high standards in the following areas.

Human Resource Management
Marketing and Business Development
Financial Management
Project Management
System Development Lifecycle
Service and Support

The road the CSIA Certification may not be an easy one, but it is worth the effort to ensure our clients continue to receive the highest quality service. We believe that any small integrator can put in the effort it takes to receive this high quality certification and continue to optimize our business in order to do so. When it comes to our business, it is more than just providing quality to our clients today. We want to make sure we are constantly seeking improvement so we can also ensure quality throughout the future.

12 Jun

An Artifact of B&W Legacy

by Synergy Systems in Industry News

Our technical writer, Susie Sentevski, happened to be at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio this weekend. While there, she got a look inside Steamship William G. Mather. The freighter was built in 1925. While viewing the restored vessel, she happened upon the ship’s boiler, built by our ally Babcock and Wilcox.

She took the above picture of the B&W boiler in ship. The museum has great pride in the vessel, as the website proclaims the freighter “the ship that built Cleveland.”

“It seemed only natural to find B&W a part of what is widely considered an engineering triumph,” said Susie.
She was happy for the opportunity to discuss B&W’s legacy in the shipping industry with her friend, whose career involves working on ships.

The boiler of Steamship William G. Mather has gone through some changes since it was first installed. The original coal-fired boiler was replaced by a B&W oil fueled boiler in 1954. In 1964, the ship became the first Great Lakes vessel to have fully automated boiler controls. So successful was the modification, that other ships began to do the same to their controls. The increase in safety and efficiency were not to be passed up.

The ship was designated a historic landmark in 1995 by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

05 Jun

The Numbers behind Safety, Efficiency & Reliability

by Synergy Systems with 0 Comment in Engineering & Automation Experts

We are always ready to discuss how our various solutions and services save clients time, money and resources. The fact that our work is often customization to client demands gives us a significant edge in the control systems industry. Perhaps even more impressive are the numbers behind all we have to offer. From average savings to return on investment, our solutions boast substantial benefits.

Boiler Optimization and Burner Management
Improved controls result in reduced air and fuel flows, allowing for an improved boiler turn down ratio. Synergy clients see a return on investment within a year. By year two, the savings is significant.

Economizer Solutions
Our economizer solutions provide the fastest return on investment. Often ROI takes little more than six months and increases the efficiency of a boiler by 3 percent. This is achieved through the economizer’s purpose of recovering waste heat and cooling the temperature in the stack. For every 40 degree drop in temperature, clients see a one percent increase in efficiency.

Combustion Air and Burner Management Solutions
When there is unnecessary oxygen in the stack, the combustion formula in a boiler is inefficient and may be wasting energy and fuel. For every 15 percent decrease of oxygen in the stack, fuel efficiency is improved by 1 percent.

Water System Solutions
Operational constraints can create parasitic electrical loads that waste money. With a variable frequency drive, of VFD, adjustments can be made based on demand, saving money overall. Most clients see immediate savings in electrical cost and receive return on their investment in less than a year. VFDs can also be used to control air flow and result in similar savings.

The above are some of our most popular solutions, and with such rapid return on investment, it’s not hard to understand why. Significant improvements can be made in plant efficiency that translates quickly into monetary savings. If you are curious about how much you have the potential to save, have one of our experts perform and boiler evaluation. Uncover the hidden savings in your plant.

29 May

NFPA 85 Committee Welcomes Synergy’s Own as new Principal Subject Expert

by Synergy Systems in Synergy News & Achievements

Synergy Vice-President, Marc Hunter, has recently become a part of The Committee of NFPA 85 Boiler and Combustion Systems Hazards Code. He is a Principal Subject Expert on the committee and participates in votes that determine the standards of NFPA 85.

“Now, more than ever, our clients are assured they get a compliant solution and a superior level of safety in our control systems and boiler optimization,” said Hunter.

Hunter insist he is just happy to be considered, but the rest of us here at Synergy know the committee is lucky to have his 20 years of automation experience there to guide the committee on votes. His experiences on the committee will undoubtedly further our commitment and expertise in our core values of safety, reliability and efficiency.

NFPA-85 Combustion-systems-hazards-code — Marc Hunter proudly displays his certificate naming him a Principal Subject Expert for the NFPA 85 Committee.

More about NFPA 85 (from http://www.nfpa.org )

Document Scope:

1.1* Scope. This code shall apply to single burner boilers, multiple burner boilers, stokers, and atmospheric fluidized-bed boilers with a fuel input rating of 3.7 MWt (12.5 million Btu/hr) or greater, to pulverized fuel systems, to fired or unfired steam generators used to recover heat from combustion turbines [heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs)], and to other combustion turbine exhaust systems.

1.1.1 This code shall cover design, installation, operation, maintenance, and training.

1.1.2 This code shall cover strength of the structure, operation and maintenance procedures, combustion and draft control equipment, safety interlocks, alarms, trips, and other related controls that are essential to safe equipment operation.

1.1.3 Coordination of the design and operating procedures of the boiler furnace or HRSG system and any flue gas cleanup systems downstream of the post-combustion gas passes shall be required. Such coordination shall include requirements for ensuring a continuous flow path from the combustion air inlet through the stack.

24 May

Data vs. Information: a growing Synergy

by Synergy Systems in Synergy News & Achievements

Synergy Systems Services Include

These days, there is nothing our state-of-the-art technology can’t measure. From the amount of electricity being used per hour in a plant to the amount of product being created within a day, nothing is beyond measurement. While the data we can gather is remarkable, translating it into useful information that can be used at every level in a plant can be difficult.

To this end, we have updated our website to reflect three of our growing services aimed at turning data into information, improving the overall process of the plant and defining the specific information needed in all levels of a plant.

The following services are growing areas of Synergy Systems Inc.

Asset Reliability: We imagine a process system with tangible assets that have the ability to collect a variety of data and easily resent it as information relevant to workers in every level of a plant.
Business Performance: Since business performance is often dependent on the human element of a plant and worker’s ability to make fast decisions, we strive to design HMI which takes this human element into consideration. We strive to create HMI that makes it easy to read and react to information about the plant or process.
Key Performance Indicators: Key Performance Indicators, also known as KPI, are specific measure of performance chosen by a business in order to maintain progress toward a goal.

These three services together create the most optimized system for safety, reliability and efficiency. Intelligent technology is able to gather enormous amounts of data and present to those at different levels of a plant the specific information they need.

We are proud to be growing our expertise into these areas and furthering our commitment to the creation of safe, reliable and efficient plants.

15 May

Securely One Step Ahead

by Synergy Systems in Engineering & Automation Experts

This photo, “Computer Security” is copyright (c) 2014 Intel Free Press and made available under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Hackers take all shapes and sizes. Some are as big as the government fears, working for terrorist organizations with the goal of crippling countries or corporations. Others are just looking for personal gain or personal entertainment, tinkering with expensive computer technology to do so. We have posted a few blogs this year talked about cyber security. As more and more information emerges about the vulnerability of industrial control systems, we have seen the necessity to examine our own security measures in order to provide our clients total and complete protection from hackers. It is time that we stay one step ahead of the hackers.

The past few years have seen industry systems hacked in record numbers. While this is a new problem, it stands to reason that any system that has the potential to be hacked should have some serious protection. Think about the two most common personal computer operating systems – Windows and iOS. Most hackers targeted Windows, allowing the iOS system to maintain a reputation of cyber security. However, one of the reasons why Microsoft was so popular for viruses and hackers was simply because more people had a Windows operating system, providing hackers a larger target. Today, even Apple is not immune to security pitfalls. The only way to ensure the operations controlled through any computerized program remain secure is to have optimal cyber security as well.

Cyber security needs to move on from simply protecting the information on personal computers. We now live in a world where we have to ask ourselves, what would happen if someone hacked into an energy plant? What damage could someone cause by hacking into a food processing plant?

We pride ourselves with our ability to provide safe operating systems for our clients using our SORA system. Even so, we are constantly looking for new ways to improve our security system. Hackers will always be looking for ways to break through the current security systems. This only means that we need to strive to stay one step ahead of them.

08 May

Can You See Your Control Panel in This Image? We Can Help

by Synergy Systems with 0 Comment in Engineering & Automation Experts

Imagine how many different tasks, measurements and alarms are on this control panel our vice-president saw on a recent trip to Chile. All this can be consolidated into one screen. More than simply saving space, the redundant safety measures and accurate real-time measurements of today’s latest technologies save a plant precious time and money.