Emulation of control-in-the-field - Testing field control system with Foundation Fieldbus

The emulation of control logic is an important element of the dynamic tests of a process plant. However, decentralised control logic can rarely be emulated because of the limited availability of the necessary technology. This often leads to higher costs because application faults can only be recognised and corrected during the commissioning phase. This article presents a modular, object-oriented approach to the emulation of functional blocks of decentralised control logic. The holistic dynamic testing of the control logic may considerably improve the quality of the automation functions.