A Microservice-Based Architecture Approach for the Automation of Modular Process Plants

Actual trends, such as highly volatile markets and shorter product lifecycles, in the process industries require new approaches for the control of process plants. These changes are tackled by the approach of modular process plants. Modular process plants promise a shorter time-to-market and a high flexibility regarding the products produced herein. To achieve these advantages, beside the mechanical modularization also the control systems of such plants need to change. Current process control systems are not able to fulfill all requirements of modulariz ation. Therefore, known approaches from information technology are adapted for the automation of modular process plants. Beside service-oriented architectures, the Microservice approach is of current interest in the information technology domain. This approach is presented in this contribution, and the suitability of Microservices as an architecture for modular process automation is analyzed. Furthermore, a Microservice-based approach for the control of modular process plants is presented.