Modbus Prosoft Enhanced Module Configuration

Overview

This section covers aspects of configuring ACM to communicate to Prosoft Enhanced Modules, MVI56E or MVI69E.

Security Options

As of release 7.1.268, ACM does not support the security feature of the enhanced Prosoft module in which an operator ID and password are supplied to log in to the module. Even if additional operators or passwords have not been configured on the device using EAFC Manager, the default log in still requires a password. This feature must be disabled on the Network Server port or serial port that is used for ACM communication.

If the feature is not disabled, any time ACM sends a Modbus message to the module, it will respond with a Modbus exception log entry of “Illegal Data Value”. This is something to look for if communications do not work with a newly installed module.

To disable the feature, start the EAFC Manager software and set the Communications\Local Port Settings to connect to the module. After connected, select the Communications\Login Module and log in with an Administrator operator account.

Next select the On-Line\Operator Database, then click the button to Connect As Administrator. Operator 3 is the Default Administrator.

Select the Authorization Defaults tab then set the Default Operator Number of the port ACM will use to ‘3’. In this example, ACM will connect via Network Server 1.

Next click on the Privilege Waivers box for the same port in order to disable the password requirement.

Enable Option Zero, Password Not Required. Click OK to save.

Back on the Operator Database screen click Apply, then Done. That completes the Security set up for the module. This must be done for every enhanced module in your system that ACM will communicate with.

ACM Configuration

The remainder of this document assumes familiarity with the ACM configuration process and the objects used to define devices, meter, archives, etc. It will step through the process of creating a Prosoft device with one orifice gas meter with hourly EFM collection. The process to create additional meters, or a different type of meter, is the same, only the registers addresses will differ.

Next, create a Modbus Prosoft device in the ACM project and correctly configure the Connection and Device properties. 

On the Device tab, set the Register Set property to "Prosoft Enhanced Register Set". If connecting to the Prosoft module via a network port, enable the Modbus/TCP property.

Archive Collection Tab

Correctly configure the priority and collection intervals, then the Alarm / Event collection.

Non-enhanced modules only have one queue to store both events and alarms. To enable upload of both events and alarms from a non-enhanced module, enable the Process Event Queue property.

Enhanced modules have two separate event and alarm queues. To upload events, enable the Process Event Queue and to upload alarms enable the Process Alarm Queue properties.

To update the Last Read pointer on the module for either events or alarms, enable the corresponding Commit Session property.

Meter Runs Tab

For Meter1, enable the Collect Hourly property, then set the Hourly Record Size and the Extended File Size to match the settings for the meter in the EAFC Manager.

Next, create a Meter object for Meter1.

Meter Object Configuration

On the Meter tab of the Meter object, set the properties as required by the project. Next, enable the Advanced Configuration property, then create a new Meter Configuration object.

Meter Configuration objects can be reused for multiple Modbus Prosoft devices, so give the object a descriptive name, such as including the meter/run number and the meter type. In this example, an Orifice configuration is created for Meter1 and the name chosen is “MVI56E Meter 1 Orifice Configuration”. For any Modbus Prosoft device created that has an orifice meter for Run 1, select this Meter Configuration object for it.

Meter Configuration Object Configuration

The Meter Configuration object is used to define the registers from which to read EFM configuration data during an EFM upload. These are the values that will be mapped to the configuration section of the EFM report. On the Configuration tab of the object, click the Edit Configuration button to show the configuration grid.

For each property to be included in your EFM report, select the Enabled box on the row of the property. Next, configure the other options on the row as needed. EAFC Manager’s Modbus Dictionary can be used to determine the register address to use if reading the value from the field module. If the property is in one register, enter the Modbus register address. If the value is floating point and in two consecutive registers, append the letter ‘F’ to the address, as shown in the example below.

Once the Meter Configuration object is complete for Meter1,  the objects for the other meter runs can be easily created by copying the Meter Configuration object, renaming it, then changing the addresses in the Advanced Configuration grid. On the Prosoft module, each subsequent Meter’s configuration registers are offset from the previous meter by a value of 1000, i.e., all of Meter1’s configuration registers are in the 8000 range, Meter2 in the 9000 range, Meter3 in the 10000 range, etc.

Example Export of this object.

Archive Object

On the Meter Runs tab of the device object, create a new Archive Object for the Hourly Archive property.  Set the new Archive Object to be Periodic with a period of 60.

Create a new Field Configuration object for the Archive’s Field Configuration property.

Archive Field Configuration Object

The Archive Field Configuration object defines the fields that are in the EFM flow record, or other record type, returned by the device. Each field in the EFM record must have a corresponding entry in the Archive Field Configuration Object, even if you do not need the value in your report, so that ACM can correctly parse the values from the record. This configuration will match the Archive Configuration in EAFC Manager for the same meter.

Archive Field Configuration objects are reusable for multiple meters and devices. If all of your archives are configured the same on all of your Prosoft modules or on the meters of one module, you can reuse the object for each.

Before getting to the details of configuring the Archive Field Object, the archives on the Prosoft module must be configured so as to be compatible with ACM.

Prosoft Archive Configuration

The Archives on the Prosoft module must be configured to correctly have fields that are compatible for use with ACM. ACM does not support all of the accumulator types that the Prosoft module provides so the archive will need to include the accumulators that are supported. As of this writing, the default archive configuration in EAFC Manager includes accumulators that are not supported by ACM, namely the non-resettable index start and end accumulators.

To be compatible with ACM, the Prosoft archive will need to contain the resettable accumulator values for Net Volume, Energy, and optionally Mass and Gross Volume.

On the Meter Configuration dialog in EAFC Manager, click the Resettable Accum button. On the Accumulators dialog, set one of the entries to be Energy.

Click Done then back on the Meter Configuration dialog, click Archive Config.

The record size and fields of the archive record is up to the customer based upon project specification. This document will cover how to correctly get the Volume, Energy, and optionally Mass into the record.

The Net Volume accumulator is by default already included in the record at offsets 8 and 10, with the Totalizer being the whole part of the number and the Residue being the fractional part of the number.

Depending upon the record size you choose, you may have several non-resettable accumulators beginning at offset 36. These accumulators are not compatible with ACM and may be removed from the record if your project specification does not require them.

On the right side of the dialog, set the Dictionary Section drop down to Meter Accumulators. Scroll down in the list on the right to the Resettable Accumulators register section. The resettable accumulators listed will be in the same order as configured earlier. This example will show how to add Energy to the archive record.

1. Select an empty slot in the archive record in the left pane.
2. Select the totalizer accumulator for Energy from the dictionary list on the right.
3. Click Insert Item.
4. Repeat above steps to insert the residue accumulator for Energy.

Optionally, you can repeat the process to add Gross Volume or Mass.

Configuring the Archive Field Configuration Object

Now that the archive is defined on the Prosoft module, the Archive Field Configuration object in ACM can be configured to match.

On the Field Configuration tab of the Archive Field object, click the Edit Configuration button. For each field defined in the archive in EAFC Manager, you will need to add the corresponding field record in this object. Each field in the archive must be included even if the field will not be used in reporting or if the field is an empty slot, i.e. <available>. The Position property must be correct and match the order in EAFC Manager.

Example Export of this object.

Combining Totalizer and Residue

Since the Prosoft has separate totalizer and residue fields for accumulators, ACM must be configured correctly to indicate these fields should be combined into one value. This is as simple as setting the Field Identifier property for both fields to be the same ID in the Archive Field Configuration Object. As show below, using the Tabular View, for Volume, both the totalizer field and the residue field have their Field Identifiers set to "Volume Record – Volume". Also note the data types of the two fields. The same configuration applies to the other accumulator fields.

Gas Analysis Download

The ACM Prosoft module supports downloading gas analysis values to a Prosoft enhanced module. For guidance on using ACM to write gas analysis data to the module, refer to the Gas Analysis Writes section of the user guide.

The following GC values are supported for download:

• Methane
• N2
• CO2
• Ethane
• Propane
• H2O
• H2S
• H2
• CO
• O2
• IButane
• nButane
• iPentane
• nPentane
• Hexane
• Heptane
• Octane
• Nonane
• Decane
• Helium
• Argon
• Neo-Pentane
• Heating Value
• Specific Gravity