ABB Totalflow protocol

The AUTOSOL Communication Manager^® (ACM) OPC Server works to communicate to ABB Totalflow driver in its native protocol for the completion of mission-critical operations, ensuring the safety of both people and the environment. Employees, such as control room engineers and SCADA managers, can use ACM to deploy a request for data in the field through an ABB Totalflow protocol. That data is then fed back into the control room through its common protocol, Object Link and Embedding for Process Control (OPC), as ACM is an OPC server.

ABB Totalflow is primarily used for measurement applications – or the retrieval of archived flow volume records that represent a custody transfer of an oil or gas product from a supplier to the purchaser. The protocol is one of many that ACM is compatible with to help make SCADA environments more manageable and more organized to ensure organized operation through a Human Machine Interface (HMI). HMI software is typically an OPC client application which can request data from the OPC server — or ACM.

The ACM OPC server works with ABB’s Totalflow protocol to give you instantaneous values from the field

ABB Totalflow protocol retrieves information from the field that holds current value process data. The commanded data from ACM is an instantaneous value, such as current temperature or pressure, giving companies a look at what is happening in their fields at that exact moment. This permits a SCADA environment to keep its operators fully informed of the line’s current state, and ensuring a rapid response time to any alarms or alerts.

In this chain of communication, ACM’s polling engine serves as the master, demanding a response from the protocol, to deliver field data back through the ACM. As a master, ACM will always request communication from ABB Totalflow. ACM also works with the protocol to retrieve historical record data used by measurement departments in a way that is uniform in OPC and SCADA environments. This information is vital to companies’ operations, as it includes hourly records, daily records, alarm records, event records and trend data.

It is data such as this that ensures operations can run smoothly, accurately and efficiently in the most crucial industrial executions.

Extending ABB Totalflow

Getting data from devices using ABB Totalflow protocol can be extended to IIoT devices at the edge using AUTOSOL’s edge-based polling, eACM. Once eACM collects real-time data from any of the thousands of devices that support Modbus/TCP, eACM will publish to a MQTT Sparkplug B broker so that data can be further dispersed to a variety of applications.

AUTOSOL Communication Manager (ACM) extends companies’ SCADA systems abilities

For more than 35 years, AUTOSOL (Automation Solutions) has been building custom drivers to ensure the efficient and reliable transfer of commands, programs, data and information between control systems and endpoint SCADA devices like PLCs. ACM speaks to devices in their native protocols to enable communication between incompatible devices, making it easy to add PLCs, including ABB Totalflow, to a SCADA system and ensuring information is consistently being communicated.

Because ACM isn’t dedicated to one specific protocol, companies’ various devices are able to interact. Companies will reap the benefits the ABB Totalflow offers while saving costs associated with having to update an entire SCADA system to devices that speak the ABB Totalflow protocol.

Combining the flexibility of AUTOSOL’s ACM and custom drivers means companies are not obligated to construct and update a SCADA system with one brand and its protocols. As a leader in the industry, AUTOSOL takes communication between devices seriously. With our leading products and equipment your ABB Totalflow will be able to transmit and receive data from all other SCADA devices.

For other additional details, please read our release notes and features supported from our list of supported protocols here. 

Reach out today to learn how AUTOSOL’s suite of software works in conjunction with ABB’s Totalflow protocol to get the critical pipeline field data you need.