It’s a scary

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but you can defend
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IT TOOLS ELEVATE
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OCTOBER 2014

PROCESS OPTIMIZATION
GAINS INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH

ADVANCES IN FLOW
MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL

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 October 2014 • Volume XXVII • Number 10

Here There
Be Dragons
It’s a scary new world in process
control now, but you can defend your 64
plant against cyber attack.
by William L. Mostia

F E AT U R E S
DISTRIBUTED CONTROL/IT INTEGRATION F L O W

75 / IT Tools Elevate 85 / Advances in Flow

DCS Capabilities Measurement and Control
Fewer rivalries and better collaboration are allowing distrib- Current industrial instrumentation measures more parameters
uted processes to apply more IT-based expertise, software and more accurately. by Leslie Gordon
networking to streamline operations—and maybe even enable
more BYOD—if security can be maintained. by Jim Montague
W E B E X C L U S I V E
2 5 Y E A R S O F C O N T R O L
Can We Learn from Industrial Control Systems/SCADA
80 / Process Optimization Gains Security Incidents? A report from the The EU’s cyber-
security agency ENISA. http://www.controlglobal.com/
Industrial Strength whitepapers/2014/can-we-learn-from-industrial-control-
25 years of progress from white coats toward steel-toed boots. systemsscada-security-incidents-/
by Paul Studebaker

CONTROL (ISSN 1049-5541) is published monthly by PUTMAN Media COMPANY (also publishers of CONTROL DESIGN, CHEMICAL PROCESSING, FOOD PROCESSING, INDUSTRIAL NETWORKING,
PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING, and PLANT SERVICES ), 1501 E. Woodfield Rd., Ste. 400N, Schaumburg, IL 60173. (Phone 630/467-1300; Fax 630/467-1124.) Address all correspondence to Editorial and Executive Offices,
same address. Periodicals Postage Paid at Schaumburg, IL, and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the United States. © Putman Media 2014. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part
without consent of the copyright owner. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CONTROL, P.O. Box 3428, Northbrook, IL 60065-3428. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Qualified-reader subscriptions are accepted from Operating Management in the
control industry at no charge. To apply for qualified-reader subscription, fill in subscription form. To non-qualified subscribers in the Unites States and its possessions, subscriptions are $96.00 per year. Single copies are $15. International subscriptions
are accepted at $200 (Airmail only.) CONTROL assumes no responsibility for validity of claims in items reported. Canada Post International Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 40028661. Canadian Mail Distributor Information:
Frontier/BWI,PO Box 1051,Fort Erie,Ontario, Canada, L2A 5N8.

O C T O B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com 5

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 October 2014 • Volume XXVII • Number 10

D E PA RT M E N T S

9 / Editor’s Page 54 / In Process

Big, Beautiful Data Yokogawa looks at things from the end users’
It’s good to know that someone is doing all point of view; Belden gets into Ethernet and
they can to get a grip on this stuff. wireless; FieldComm Group unites Fieldbus
and HART foundations.
11 / Control Online
A report on a greenfield refinery in Alberta, 62 / Resources
what Formula 1 racing has to do with pro- DAQ tools, techniques and tips online.
cess control, and getting the most out of
your PID. 88 / Ask the Experts
Our experts sort out controller action and
13 / Feedback positioner rules.
Our readers weigh in on people versus
machines and the NERC CIP standards. 91 / Roundup Retired process engineer and busi-
What’s new in process analyzers. ness executive Simon Lam tells the
14 / Other Voices Yokogawa users conference what end
Natural Language for Automation. 92 / Products users expect from their vendors.
Can our opaque and complex systems talk What’s new in the marketplace, plus a
to operators so they can understand? sneak peak at Ultra Electronics’ EOTec
2000 Multi-Node MX Multiplexer.
51 / On the Bus
Wired or Wireless Revisited 95 / Control Talk
For all the recent advances in wireless Tuning Finale
technology, sometimes a wired system still Why are there so many tuning rules, and
makes the most sense. why does everybody think his are the best?

52 / Without Wires 97 / Ad Index

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Circulation aUdited december 2013

Food & Kindred Products............................................ 13.068 Paper & Allied Products................................................. 3,628
Chemicals & Allied Products......................................... 9,940 Rubber & Miscellaneous Plastic Products..................... 3,020
Systems Integrators & Engineering Design Firms.......... 8,111 Miscellaneous Manufacturers........................................ 2,172
Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services................................... 4,268 Stone, Clay, Glass & Concrete Products........................ 1,887
Primary Metal Industries................................................ 4,824 Textile Mill Products...................................................... 1,198
Pharmaceuticals............................................................. 3,818 Tobacco Products.............................................................. 137
Petroleum Refining & Related Industries........................ 3,949 Total Circulation........................................................... 60,020

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 EDITOR’S PAGE

Big Beautiful Data

Paul Studebaker

L
Editor in chief
et’s get the buzzwords out of the way: With Early examples of the group’s success are [email protected]
the imminent explosion in the number of rather prosaic. One is to optimize hospi-
inexpensive, often wireless sensors and de- tal nurse scheduling by balancing workload
vices of all kinds connected to the internet (the against factors including expertise, continuity
Internet of Things, or IoT), we will be tasked of care, language and room proximity. Another
(and challenged by our competitors) to make is helping distributors optimize prices to maxi-
use of a tsunami of data to improve plant op- mize both customer loyalty and business mar-
erations. “Big Data” is defined as data coming gins, using what-if analysis and extrapolating
in such large volumes, or so fast, or in such un- results for individual customers over customer
usual forms (images, sounds) that we can’t deal groups based on industry types and real-time,
with it using conventional means. product-specific, financial performance, sea-
So how will we handle it? I was given a sonality and price-response data.
glimpse of the answer to that question at the re- These early examples don’t mean much if
cent Inforum meeting for users of Infor (www. you’re working in a chemical plant, but they do
infor.com) software in New Orleans. Infor has show the company is taking on detailed, appli-
spent the past decade or so acquiring leading cation-specific tasks, and the chemical industry
industrial ERP, HR, CRM, PLM, CMMS— is on the list.
pretty much any software function you might A second Infor think tank called Hook &
need outside of automation—companies and Loop is dedicated to raising the joy of using its
integrating their packages and clients into a software. Founded in 2012, this group of more
software as a service (SaaS) model, whose latest than 80 “talented creatives” including design-
version is called Infor Xi. ers, writers, developers and filmmakers is based
Judging by the cheering during the CEO’s in New York City’s Silicon Alley.
presentation about new features and upgrades, Imagine a hierarchy of software function-
the company has enthusiastic clients, espe- ality starting at the bottom with “useful” (it
cially for its asset management offering. But works) and rising through “reliable” (available
what impressed me the most is its focus on and accurate), “usable” (can be used without
meeting big data head on and its dedication to difficulty) and “convenient” (easy to use, works
building a consumer-style (read Apple-like) af- like we think it should). Most companies—es-
finity among its industrial end users. pecially ones that make software you have to
Infor has taken similar approaches to both use to do your job—would be happy to reach The company is
tasks: Gather a group of the most highly tal- that level, and many users just wish they would.
ented individuals with the right kind of exper- But through Hook & Loop, Infor strives to taking on detailed,
tise, put them in an environment designed to reach higher levels of “pleasurable” (memora-
foster creativity, and turn them loose on the ble experience worth sharing) and ultimately, application-
problems. “meaningful” (has personal significance). A
A new group called Dynamic Science Labs demo showed me they’re well on the way. specific tasks,
has been assembled to focus on infusing ma- It remains to be seen what Infor—and other
chine learning and big data analytics into the software companies—will be able to do to help and the chemical
company’s applications, “bringing data analyt- our process industries take advantage of Big
ics to companies that aren’t large enough to Data, but it’s good to know they’re working on industry is on the
have the capabilities to take advantage of their it and also striving to make it beautiful.
vast amount of data,” say the PR folks. Who list.
wouldn’t see themselves in that mirror?

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A Formula 1 Approach to Your Control System
Mike Phillips, head of the advanced composites division Loop Checking and Field Instrument

Blogs
at McLaren Racing, addressed the attendees at the 2014 Testing Procedure
Yokogawa Users Conference and Exhibition in Houston Loop checking and field instrument
last month, and explained how the lessons his company testing are the last pieces of the puz-
learned at the race track can be applied to running your zle in each project before commis-
process operations. Secret: It’s all about lots of data avail- sioning. Participate in the discussion
able to the right people in real time. www.controlglobal. of best practices. www.controlglobal.
com/articles/2014/yokogawa-users-group-7/ com/blogs/controlling-interests/loop-
checking-and-field-instrument-testing-
procedure/
Securing Your Networks
This white paper addresses the crucial question of how secure your networks are. It The Banks Don’t Get ICS
will help you understand the impact of the skilled worker shortage on manufactur- Cybersecurity Either
ing network security, how to put the proper infrastructure in place, which factors Read the letter Joe Weiss got on Sept.
to consider when implementing virtualization in a manufacturing environment, 11 from a major bank about ICS and its
which needs to satisfy for secure remote access, and where and how the industrial building security. www.controlglobal.
Internet of Things affects an organization’s network security. www.controlglobal. com/blogs/unfettered/the-systems-is-
com/whitepapers/2014/how-secure-is-your-network-data/ really-broken-even-the-banks-dont-
get-ics-cyber-security/

Getting the Most Out of Your PID

This edition of “Control Talk” continues a conversation with ControlGlobal E-News
Sigifredo Nino about using PID to its best advantage. This part Multimedia Alerts
of the conversation covers one of the more challenging unit
operations to control—the distillation column—and the use of White Paper Alerts
a relative gain array to find the right solution. Don’t miss this
conversation with three top experts in loop control. www.con- Go to www.controlglobal.com and
trolglobal.com/articles/2014/distilled-analysis-of-interaction/ follow instructions to register for our
free weekly e-newsletters.
Updated every business day, the Control Global online magazine is available at no charge.
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O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com 11

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CT1410_full page ads.indd 12 10/7/14 6:10 PM
 G N I K A E P S YL L A C I N H C E T FEEDBACK
IN MEMORY OF JULIE CAPPELLETTI-LANGE,
VICE PRESIDENT 1984-2012
1501 E. WOODFIELD ROAD, SUITE 400N
SCHAUMBURG, ILLINOIS 60173
editorial team Who Do You Trust? People or Machines? In fairness to NERC, and what looks
Editor in Chief: PAUL STUDEBAKER In the “Ask the Experts” department to be an overall thought to increase FUD
[email protected] in Control’s August 2014 issue, “The over actual reporting, it seems that you
Executive Editor: JIM MONTAGUE Proper Role of Automation?” (p. 54, must have stumbled into the “NERC
[email protected]
www.controlglobal.com/articles/2014/ CIPS” [sic] SDT meeting on CIP-005-5.
Senior Managing Editor, Digital Media: KATHERINE BONFANTE
what-is-the-proper-role-of-automation/), That standard is actually focused solely
[email protected]
Béla Lipták references the 1979 TMI on boundary control systems.
Managing Editor: NANCY BARTELS
and the 2009 Air France 447 accidents If you are interested in NERC CIP
nbar [email protected]
to propose adding additional critical standards, you may
Senior Technical Editor: DAN HEBERT
control and safety systems, or modify- want to start by
dheber [email protected] STANDARDIZATION

ing current systems to prevent operator reading the pro-

REIGNS IN SAFETY

IN A CRISIS

Senior Technical Editor: LESLIE GORDON

ARE MACHINES
BETTER THAN
HUMANS?

action that overrides the safety function posed standards

PREVENT
TANK FARM
OVERFILL

[email protected] HAZARDS

(OSC). that the SDT has The

Contributing Editor: JOHN REZABEK Long
Columnists: BÉLA LIPTÁK, GREG MCMILLAN, The root cause of these and many put out for draft on Greenfield
IAN VERHAPPEN, STAN WEINER other accidents was incorrect or in- the updated ver-
North West Redwater
Partnership’s all-new
refinery is building
its path to lasting

Editorial Assistant: LORI GOLDBERG consistent, redundant information pre- sion 5.1, available
profitability on the
latest innovations
in process control.

design & production team sented to the digital control system and at NERC’s website.

AUGUST 2014
VP, Creative Services: STEVE HERNER operator. The solution was to correct/ You’ll first notice CT1408_01_CVR.indd 1 7/30/14 4:31 PM

[email protected] improve the sensor design/installation, that there are a lot more standards than
Art Director: BRIAN HERTEL and improve operator training and man- simply CIP-005-5, including some you
bher [email protected] agement oversight. may want to also look into, such as CIP-
Senior Production Manager: ANETTA GAUTHIER As there are many applications in 007-5, CIP-010-5, etc. Those deal with
[email protected]
the hydrocarbon processing, power and the systems themselves, including con-
publishing team transportation industries that have no figuration, hardening and other crucial
Group Publisher/VP Content: KEITH LARSON safe failure mode, and that digital plat- activities.
[email protected] forms (BPCS, SIS, etc.) can and have Posting that the utility industry is
Midwest/Southeast Regional Sales Manager: GREG ZAMIN failed unpredictably (outputs on, off, cy- not taking security seriously when only
[email protected] cling, etc.), I would not trust such sys- looking at a single standard really stinks
630/551-2500, Fax: 630/551-2600 tems to override operator action. When of poor research and reporting. For full
Western Regional Sales Manager: LAURA MARTINEZ the digital device fails to increase/de- disclosure, I do work for a utility, and
310/607-0125, Fax: 310/607-0168 crease level, cooling, speed, etc., should we have many staff members associated
lmar [email protected] not the operator have the ability to take with CIP activities, both at the compli-
Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Regional Sales Manager: DAVE FISHER manual control? ance and drafting level.
508/543-5172, Fax 508/543-3061 The fundamental question is “What To say utilities do not value security is
[email protected]
or whom do you trust—the operator or like saying McDonalds doesn’t value its
Classifieds Manager: LORI GOLDBERG
the machine?” If the machine, are we french fries. It is where money is made
[email protected]
not trusting another human to correctly and people are served; if the power isn’t
Subscriptions/Circulation: JERRY CLARK, JACK JONES program the machine to always take on, there is no money to be made (and
888/64 4-1803
corrective action? With the introduc- fines of up to $1 million per day to be
executive team tion of artificial intelligence controlling paid). Companies are very serious about
President & CEO: JOHN M. CAPPELLETTI all sorts of vehicles, each of us will soon security, and have been putting major
VP, Circulation: JERRY CLARK face this question. upward pressure on the few manufac-
VP, CFO: RICK KASPER
turers of equipment out there to mod-
foster reprints J. TROY MARTEL ernize. Until then, we can minimize at-
Corporate Account Executive: JILL KALETHA SAFE OPER ATING SYSTEMS INC.
tack footprints, take things completely
866-879-914 4 x 168, Fax 219-561-2033
[email protected]
Consider All the NERC CIP Standards off line, air gap and take other standard
[This comment is in response to Joe Weiss’ risk mitigation measures that compose
FINALIST JESSE H. NEAL AWARD, 2013 “Unfettered” blog post, “NERC CIP and any good company’s layered security ap-
JESSE H. NEAL AWARD WINNER
ELEVEN ASBPE EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS Keeping Lights On—Are They the Same?” proaches.
THIRTY ASBPE EXCELLENCE IN GRAPHICS AWARDS (www.controlglobal.com/blogs/unfettered/
ASBPE 2009 MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR FINALIST
FOUR OZZIE AWARDS FOR GRAPHICS EXCELLENCE nerc-cips-and-keeping-lights-on-are-they- W. DORING
[email protected]
the-same).]

O C T O B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com 13

CT1410_13_Feedback.indd 13 10/6/14 5:45 PM

 Other Voices

The Case for Using Natural Language

William M. Hawkins

A
Process Automation Hall of Fame (2008)
[email protected] utomation continues to expand into man- The principle reason why procedures be-
ufacturing processes, driven by the need come opaque is that they’re designed by clever
for more production with reduced costs. (not to say overly inventive) engineers and pro-
As it expands, it grows in complexity as the grammers, who are focused on getting the job
technology available for process equipment done without considering the need for a clear
and control becomes more complex and cost- human interface. The result is inscrutable logic
effective. As complexity grows, the process be- encoded into procedures that are not readable
comes more hidden from the operators, who by ordinary mortals, assuming that most people
are supposed to deal with unforeseen problems don’t know a database from first base.
as they arise. Change is required in the way that proce-
The problems associated with opaque au- dures are designed, but people don’t want to
tomation are already with us. The most com- change if what they have works. They have
mon way to obscure a process is with a flood to be shown that what they think works really
of alarms, so good work is being done in the isn’t working, and that can get expensive. Some
alarm management field. Early fly-by-wire air- towns don’t install a traffic light until someone
craft flew into terrain when the pilots were un- is killed at the intersection.
able to correct what the automation was doing One reason that procedures are encoded is
because they didn’t understand what was going efficiency of computation. Years ago, program-
on. The investigators blamed the crashes on mers resorted to assembly language programs
opaque automation. to save expensive memory and speed up slow
A continuous process doesn’t have much au- applications. Today’s computers have several
tomation aside from its alarms and interlocks. orders of magnitude more memory and speed.
The emphasis is on making the measurements Tomorrow’s computers could make today’s look
of the state of the process available to operators, ridiculous, especially if quantum weirdness
while those measurements are held to setpoints can be tamed. Efficiency of computation is not
by controllers. This is changing as ways to ap- an issue with automation-scale applications.
ply procedural control are being developed. It’s Another factor that complicates procedures
not that continuous processes don’t have pro- is the number of translations that must occur
cedures—the standard operating procedures between the user’s requirements and the func-
manual for a process is full of them. Only re- tioning machine. An engineer must under-
cently has the procedural control developed for stand what the user wants, which requires an
batch processes been considered for use with engineer who has worked as a user. A program-
An operator who continuous processes. mer must understand what the engineer wants,
Automating process procedures can easily but it is more difficult to find programmers who
has no idea what lead to opaque automation when the proce- understand anything but getting code to work
dure can go in different directions, depending in a computer. The problem must be reduced
will happen next on alarms and changes in the process. An oper- to mathematics and branching tests.
ator who has no idea what will happen next has The U.S. FDA requires a paper-laden trail
has a limited ability a limited ability to keep the process out of trou- through the V-model (Figure 1) to assure that
ble. The process equivalent of flight into terrain software will do what the user required. Users
to keep the process often leads to a fire and possible explosions in a aren’t always good at defining exactly what they
chemical process. Discrete processes suffer loss want (“I’ll know it when I see it”), which leads
out of trouble. of production when part of a machine breaks, to multiple iterations of the V-model until the
and the debris falls into a gearbox. result looks like what the user wants. However,

14 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_14_16_OtherVoices.indd 14 10/7/14 5:49 PM

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CT1410_full page ads.indd 15 10/7/14 6:10 PM
 Other Voices

Operation of instructing the equipment, inter-

Concepts of and preting its status, and responding to
operations Verification
maintenance
and exceptions (alarms and alerts). All

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), 2005

validation
Project System that remains is to define the lan-
Requirements
definition and verification guage to be used for communication
architecture and validation
between “supervisors” and “workers.”
Integration,
Perhaps you’ve seen the cartoon of a
Detailed test and Project physics professor at his chalkboard
design verification test and
integration with an incomprehensible series of
terms in an equation followed by a
IMPLEMENTATION balloon containing the words, “Now
a miracle occurs.”
Natural languages and language
Time
processors can be developed, but the
The V-Model users will have to drive that develop-
ment. System vendors profit from all of
Figure 1: In the V-model software development process, the horizontal and vertical that translation and opacity.
axes represents time or project completeness (left-to-right) and level of abstraction If the equipment functions are given
(coarsest-grain abstraction uppermost), respectively. names like Bob and Ray, then a “super-
visor” running a procedure can ask Bob
that may change when the user tries to pieces of process equipment as a hu- for its status. If it’s OK, ask Bob to set
use it, and discovers flaws in the hu- man that’s been automated by a com- up its function with specific setpoints.
man interface. puter, sort of like a robot. Consider the If there are no exceptions from Bob, tell
The situation today is not unlike the control computer in such a set to be it to start its function and report back
early days of telegraphy when a user a “worker” that communicates with a when done. Meanwhile, deal with ex-
drafted a message and took it to a tele- “supervisor.” This is, of course, the way ceptions as they occur. At the same
graph office. A telegrapher, who knew things were done in those halcyon days time, Ray (and others) can be told to do
how to get the message to its destina- before computers. something else, which may be condi-
tion, translated it to Morse code. The The control for a set of equipment tional on what Bob is doing. Bob and
receiving telegrapher decoded it, and must be designed to accept commands Ray may even need to talk to each other.
gave it to a messenger who took it to from a supervisor, to reply with sta- The trick is that all of these “conver-
the recipient. Then the telephone was tus, and to initiate communication for sations” are done in human-readable
invented, and most of that structure alarms and events. The commands, natural language. A human interface
went away. The sender could deliver status and alarms are all related to the must make it possible to see where the
the message to the receiver directly. function of the equipment. They have process is in the procedure and what
Well, “directly” if you don’t count wir- no relation to the product being made. might happen next. If the “supervisor”
ing, switching, trunk lines and central These concepts were laid out by ISA-88 predicts that it’s losing control of the
offices that made it possible. Obsolete in 1995, although not in these words. process, it can request that the operator
Pony Express riders could say “I told The equipment controller can re- take control. The operator can mash
you so” to the telegraphers. duce the number of alarms from the the shutdown button or talk directly
equipment if it knows the state of the to Bob and Ray to resolve the problem.
Natural Language Should Be the Norm process, or it can just report a red, yellow Control can then be returned to the
First, it’s necessary to stop thinking of or green status. If the status isn’t green, “supervisor” at a point in the procedure
controlled process equipment as com- the operator must examine detailed dis- where it’s safe to resume.
puter peripherals. Process equipment plays to find out why the equipment is If the idea of human-readable proce-
is designed and purchased to provide not functioning correctly. If the equip- dures and control conversations seems
process functions, such as mixing, dis- ment knows that it’s not being used, impossible, take out your smartphone
tilling, heating, machining, assembly then it can suppress the alarms that are and ask its assistant.
and packaging. The equipment is inert associated with normal functions. [For more, see the book, Automat-
until it’s controlled by a human, or auto- Given process functions with ing Manufacturing Operations, the
mated by a computer or other machine. these capabilities, procedures for a Penultimate Approach, William M.
Now it’s possible to think of a set of “supervisor” can be written in terms Hawkins, Momentum Press, 2013.]

16 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_14_16_OtherVoices.indd 16 10/7/14 5:50 PM

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CT1410_full page ads.indd 18 10/7/14 6:11 PM

 AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO OCTOBE R 2014

INSIDE...
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HART
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CT1409_Hart.indd 9/24/14
9/23/14 11:19
1:44 PM
AM
 Add wireless to your plant.

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CT1409_Hart.indd 2 9/24/14 11:19 AM

 HART and WirelessHART ?
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CT1409_Hart.indd 4 9/24/14 11:20 AM

 Welcome
EYEBROW

HART – Unlocking the Value of Data

H
ART technology continues to value. It merely enables actionable data to
flourish worldwide in the digital get in the right hands of people making
age as reflected by our member- decisions. In the age of digital intelligence
ship growth and increased number of and big data, the integration of this data
registered devices. Now more than 320 and visualization in context with the
members make up the HART eco-system assets and operation enables better deci-
in the process automation industry. Reg- sions to be made. To meet this goal we
istration of HART products has doubled need to collaborate with other technology
over last year, which further confirms providers and member solutions to deliver
adoption by our users as they demand actionable intelligence to the user to inte-
products they can count on to take full advantage of grate across the enterprise.
the technical capability and interoperability of the As we move ahead, we have a great opportunity
HART Protocol. to unify technologies and continue to improve
Contributing to the growth are the power- how we deliver and integrate this valuable infor-
ful advances in the technology, which open new mation to the user. A landmark step toward this
markets and help users share data in new places. unification has recently been accomplished with
WirelessHART is the first interoperable wireless the approval of our members to create the new
communication standard for the process indus- entity, FieldComm Group.
tries, and now HART-IP delivers HART data at FieldComm Group will include technologies from
the speed of Ethernet to enable ease of putting HART, Foundation Fieldbus and FDI, and not only
large amounts of data in the hands of decision will support and build on these technologies indi-
makers within the enterprise. vidually, but also will harmonize global standards
More than 50% of respondents to a recent Con- and integration strategies for the future. Working
RT trol magazine survey report that they either have cooperatively with industry leading organizations,
or will have wireless communication installed and FieldComm Group will provide a strategic service to
running at their facility, with the majority of them the industry for years to come.
using WirelessHART technology. They see the FieldComm Group is an unprecedented opportu-
cost benefits of using wireless to add new mea- nity to leverage the best available technologies and
surements quickly to comply with ever-changing develop a single future vision for the process auto-
safety, regulatory and operational improvements mation industry worldwide. I have the privilege of
requirements, as well as to provide access to intel- leading this new organization and am excited about
ligent device data and analytics. the opportunity to work together with distinguished
W! Both of these HART Protocol capabilities are leaders and technologies around the globe to inte-
featured in this supplement with supporting docu- grate valuable process intelligence from devices to
mentation of their value to users through their own improve the operations of our users.
words and application stories. Here are real-world As we move ahead, there is much more value to
examples of the substantial and positive impact that be derived from data and improvement in ways to
HART technology has on plant reliability as well capture it, and this will be our primary goal. I hope
as improved maintenance and plant operations. In you appreciate the real-life experiences within this
addition, Dow Chemical, the 2013 HART Plant of supplement and the technological enhancements pro-
the Year Award recipient, tells its experience creating vided by our member companies to encourage and
an asset management program that uses information excite you about the possibilities for the future.
from HART-enabled devices to significantly improve
plant reliability and reduce unplanned shutdowns. Ted Masters, President and CEO
Yet the technology alone is not the driver of the HART Communication Foundation
T For more on HART ® , WirelessHART® and HART-IP ™ go to www.hartcomm.org or www.controlglobal.com.
HART®, WirelessHART® and HART-IP TMare trademarks of the HART Communication Foundation.

Advertising supplement to CONTROL S-5

CT1409_Hart.indd 5 9/24/14 11:20 AM

 hart-Ip delivers the data

HART Assimilates
Universal Standard
HART-IP delivers HART data to high-level applications
via Internet Protocol.

I
ndustrial use of Ethernet and TCP/IP is growing device diagnostics, device status information, con-
rapidly, outpacing conventional industrial com- trol valve signatures, level echo curves, etc.) map-
munications protocols, according to a 2013 IMS ping right onto IPv4 and IPv6 — the most standard
Research study, because it runs on widely available and interface in the industry. It comes down to three
standard physical and wireless media, and is often eas- things: simplicity, scalability and ease of use.”
ier to integrate with office and information systems. So Today, vendors and users are beginning to
it’s no surprise that many fieldbus specifications have implement and appreciate the power of HART-
adopted corresponding industrial Ethernet protocols. IP. Much of that power derives from the fact that
In 2012, the HART Communication Foundation HART-enabled devices are already dominant in
officially added a HART over Internet protocol most process plants. HART began as, and remains,
(HART-IP) capability to the HART Protocol, a a straightforward and relatively simple technol-
specification for transmitting the HART Proto- ogy that provides low-cost, highly capable digital
col over the increasingly common IP using either communications. Ease of use and compatibility
Transmission Communication Protocol (TCP) or with existing 4-20 mA systems, combined with the
User Datagram Protocol (UDP). benefits of remote device configuration and diag-
In practical terms, the existing HART proto- nostics, contribute to the technology’s status as the
col can now run over an IP-based connection, so standard for smart instrument communication (see
the standard Ethernet infrastructure that is used sidebar, HART Basics).
today in most control systems is now able to run “From its first version, the HART standard has
the HART application layer and protocol over the been easy. HART took that first version and main-
same Ethernet and TCP/IP layer. Through HART- tained, upgraded, improved and added to it,” says
IP, third-party packages such as asset management, Bob Karschnia, vice president, Emerson Smart
control and historian systems can access informa- Wireless. “HART begat HART 5, HART 7 and
tion from, for example, multiplexers and Wire- WirelessHART. Now HART-IP is the next evolu-
lessHART gateways, without data mapping. tion. Everyone’s excited.”
“Before HART-IP, you had three options for inte-
grating HART data. You could use HART I/O and The Impact of IP
controllers, HART multiplexers or serial interfac- HART-IP primarily serves as a high-bandwidth
es,” says Vibhor Tandon, product marketing man- connection between host applications (e.g., process
ager, OneWireless, Honeywell. Tandon’s experience automation systems, plant asset management sys-
includes 10 years working with HART technology tems, data historians, CMMS, etc.), HART-enabled
and the HART Communication Foundation. “You I/O (e.g., multiplexers, remote I/O, gateways) and
have issues with capacity, scalability and complex- HART-IP-enabled instrumentation. It combines the
ity. Larger systems take a lot of data mapping. ubiquitous IP network infrastructure and the HART
“With HART-IP, you don’t need hardware con- network and application layers. As a result, plant
verters or interface boxes with their limited num- personnel can use infrastructure they have already
ber of serial ports. Using Ethernet, you have all the deployed and understand, such as Ethernet and Wi-
HART data (for example all process variables, Fi, to provide HART-compatible system connectivity

S-6 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

CT1409_Hart.indd 6 9/24/14 11:20 AM

 hart-ip delivers the data

and integration of all available HART information — HART Host HART Host
not just the primary variable. System HART Host System
(Client) (Serial Client)
People often refer to “Ethernet” when they are System
(Client)
really using shorthand for not only the physical
HART Serial to
layer of a network known as Ethernet, but also TCP or UDP
for the suite of protocols and network structure converter
defined by the seven-layer Open Systems Intercon- Switch
nect (OSI) Reference Model (see sidebar, The OSI
Model and TCP/IP). This model was developed
by the International Standards Organization and HART Device HART Device HART Device
(server)
adopted in 1983 as a common reference for the UDP and/or
(server) (server)
Gateway MUX
development of data communication standards. It TCP
•••
does not attempt to define an implementation, but
Field Field
rather it serves as a structural aide to understand- Device Device
Field
ing “what must be done” and “what goes where.” Field
Device
Device
Field Field
What we commonly call “Ethernet” is really just Device Device
layers 1 and 2 of the seven-layer stack. Field Field
Device Device
HART-IP is an application protocol. It defines
rules for organizing and interpreting data and
Field
is essentially a messaging structure that is inde- Device
Field
pendent of the underlying physical layer. HART Device
enables communication with smart process
instrumentation and controls, and supports both Figure 1: In a typical HART architecture, a HART device
wired and wireless network topologies. The TCP/ (server) may be a stand-alone field device, a gateway con-
IP communication transport extends the appli- nected to WirelessHART field devices, or an I/O system con-
cable physical layers to those that support TCP/ nected to traditional 4-20mA HART-enabled field devices. De-
IP communication. Possible physical layers include vices such as a serial-to-HART-IP converter are also possible.
Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b/g),
RS232 using PPP-, 4G- and 4G-LTE-enabled smart computer, mass flowmeter or sophisticated level
phones and even SCADA OPS over VSAT. device connected using standard Cat-5 cable. With
power-over-Ethernet (POE), no separate power
General Architecture for HART-IP wiring is required. High-performance types of
The general architecture may include different these devices that include a lot of process and
device types (Figure 1). A HART device (server) device information could even have a web browser
may be a standalone field device, a WirelessHART interface for quick and easy setup.
gateway connected to WirelessHART field devices, Likewise, a HART-enabled system can use stan-
or an I/O system connected to traditional 4-20 dard HART commands to access HART informa-
mA HART-enabled field devices. Devices such as a tion from any and all devices connected to it using
serial-to-HART-IP converter are also possible. a HART-IP-enabled multiplexer, I/O or Wire-
The HART client implements information ex- lessHART gateway. This is done by simply connect-
change with a remote device. The client builds a ing the system and the HART-IP-enabled device
HART request with information sent by the user using the installed plant IP infrastructure. Mapping
application to the client interface. The request is then of Modbus registers and other tasks are eliminated.
sent to UDP or TCP port of the server. The server HART-IP standardizes the entire path from field
response will be returned via the same transport device to asset management. “We have the HART,
(UDP or TCP) as the request. The basic message for- the tools, the knowledge. We can add Profibus,
mat includes a header to describe the content of the Profinet, DCS integration, and the 4-20 mA stays
HART-IP payload and the Token-Passing Data-Link the same. No protocol switching, no tunneling.
Layer PDU format message (Figure 2). Seamless,” says Gerrit Lohmann, manager, product
A HART field device implementing HART-IP, group Remote Systems, Pepperl+Fuchs. “HART-IP
for example, might be a process analyzer, flow keeps the seamless capability and extends it to the

Advertising supplement to CONTROL S-7

CT1409_Hart.indd 7 9/24/14 11:20 AM

 HART-IP DELIVERS THE DATA

Token-passing data-link layer frame format integrating HART, and just using it for configura- C
tion in the field. “What makes HART-IP exciting
E
Delimiter Address Expansion Command Byte Count [Data] Check byte
is, they don’t have to go out to the device,” says
Jeff Dobos, president, ProComSol. “If they have
access to the gateway, they have access to the de- A
Message
header HART pass-through PDU vice, without interfacing with control or through
the control system. This is great for maintenance,
Figure 2: The basic message format includes a header to data logging or alarms.”
describe the content of the HART-IP payload and the HART “Now you have a clear infrastructure to connect T
pass-through Protocol Data Unit (PDU) using the Token- your tools by Ethernet or wireless LAN for device as- t
Passing Data-Link Layer frame format. set management,” says Frank Fengler, head of device
integration management, ABB. For example, “If you v
Internet. You have all the same mechanisms, now have a HART topology using a wireless gateway- a
with fast communication. You don’t have to use it to-backbone Ethernet and then connect to tools for
for field devices, but it’s needed for backbone com- device management, now you can use a single tool to
munications and multiplexers.” access all devices with one network.”
w
“The case for using HART-IP for asset manage-
THIRD-PARTY SYSTEMS: THE KILLER APP ment is clear,” says Amit Ajmeri, consultant, asset
Today, HART-IP’s killer application is streamlining management solutions, Yokogawa. “We support
access to HART data for asset management. His- HART-IP for asset management. You can bring data
torian and control systems are in the pipeline, and over Modbus-TCP for determinism and use HART-
it’s expected that ready access to HART data on IP to bring the data from different vendor transmit-
IP, through WirelessHART and without hardware ters and multiplexers for asset management.”
limitations, will lead to as-yet-unheard-of applica- With HART-IP users can expect easier access to
tions in widely distributed sensor networks (pervasive all the HART data in field devices to allow asset
sensing) and the industrial Internet of Things (IoT). management systems to work smarter. “Advanced
Without HART-IP to get data from an instru- diagnostic platforms have to be able to deal with
ment or multiplexer into an asset management so many alarms,” says Jim Shields, marketing
system, you need a communication link, often manager, calibration, Fluke. “Software can use this
with proprietary standards, one for each kind of data to analyze the alarms so only the needed in-
instrument or multiplexer. “With HART-IP, there’s formation is presented. Today, maintenance people
one common protocol. You don’t have to worry have to look at them, and there are so many, they
about different drivers for different multiplexers. often just turn them off.”
That makes it easier to implement the asset man- HART-IP connectivity is coming to historian and
agement package,” says Emerson’s Karschnia. process control systems, in part to simplify connec-
That complexity has kept many users from tivity, but also to access more information. “Smart

HART BASICS systems, and in doing so, provides users with a uniquely back-
The HART Protocol is used in various modes to communicate ward-compatible solution. The process variable continues to
information to/from smart field instruments and central be transmitted by the 4-20 mA analog signal, and additional
control or monitoring systems. In most applications, HART information pertaining to other variables, parameters, device
digital information is communicated simultaneously with the configuration, calibration and device diagnostics can be trans-
traditional 4-20 mA analog signal. The process variable is mitted digitally at the same time. Thus, a wealth of additional
transmitted continuously on the 4-20 mA, while additional information related to plant operation is available to central
measurements, calculated values, device configuration, control or monitoring systems through HART communication.
diagnostics and device status information are sent by HART The HART Communication Protocol is the industry stan-
digital communication on the same wires. This field proven dard (IEC; China GB/T) for digitally enhanced 4-20 mA field
technology uses the same physical signaling as caller ID does communication. The enhanced communications capability
on a telephone line. of intelligent field instruments employing the HART protocol
Unlike other digital communication technologies, the offers significantly greater functionality and improved perfor-
HART protocol maintains compatibility with existing 4-20 mA mance over traditional 4-20 mA analog devices.

S-8 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

CT1409_Hart.indd 8 9/24/14 11:21 AM

 Coupling communications.
Enabling multivariables.
Accessing diagnostics.

The HART loop is an intrinsic safety barrier

that transmits up to 4 HART process
variables from a single smart device with no
additional process penetrations or wiring.

www.pepperl-fuchs.us

CT1409_Hart.indd 9 9/24/14 11:21 AM

 HART-IP delivers the data
OSI Model
Data unit Layers
devices offer secondary and tertiary and quaternary
information, and HART-IP access allows you to Application
Data
Network process to application
collect this data,” says Glenn Gardener, business unit
Presentation

Host Layers
manager, process tools, Fluke. “Plant historian com- Data
Data representation & encryption
panies will probably be getting requests.”
Session
You’ll probably find HART-IP in your next Data
Interhost communication
DCS, especially if you demand it. “Honeywell is
Transport
building it into their systems now,” says Emerson’s Segments End-to-end
Karschnia. “It’s the simplest interface to work connections and reliability
with in DCS and AMS. We’re testing it in AMS, Network
and it’s logical to put it in the DCS.” Packets Path determination &

Media Layers
logical addressing (IP)
Field Connectivity: The Sleeper App Data link
Frames
Physical addressing (MAC & LLC)
Most experts who are enthusiastic about HART-IP
Physical
at the system level don’t see a lot of need for it at
Bits Media, signal and binary
the device level, where there’s little need for its high transmission
speed or the relative cost and complexity of TCP/IP.
But others see opportunity for HART-IP in the The OSI Model and TCP/IP
field. “HART-IP won’t change the workflow in In the traditional OSI model, the functions of communi-
the medium term. People will continue measuring cation are divided into layers, with each layer handling
directly, with HART-IP on the back end of a gateway precisely defined tasks. For example, Layer 1 of this model
or multiplexer,” says Fluke’s Gardener. “But if OEMs is the physical layer and defines the physical transmission
start issuing HART-IP-compatible transmitters with characteristics. Layer 2 is the data link layer and defines the
an Ethernet port, instead of direct communication at bus access protocol. Layer 7 is the application layer and de-
the screw terminals or with a loop sensor, we’ll have fines the application functions (this is the layer that defines
another option for how to connect.” how device data is to be interpreted).

Above and Beyond: The Future Apps Regarding security, Karschnia says we can rely
When information becomes available on IP, we on industry best practices to be secure. “On wire-
can start imagining it being accessed by busi- less, data is encrypted from the devices to the gate-
ness applications and even via the Internet from ways then re-encrypted via SSH for transmission.
around the world. So do the vendors. “I sit on the SSH is an Internet banking system. We just use
Internet of Things board with Cisco,” says Emer- what’s available today,” he says. “That’s the way
son’s Karschnia. “In our industry’s situation, the of the future, leveraging Internet best practices.”
ability to translate from the existing installed base This was the intent with HART-IP from the
to Internet protocol, which HART-IP does, is criti- beginning. By design, HART-IP does not specify
cal. It allows it to go across the globe.” what security to use but rather requires use of
Systems to do this are already available. “Our industry best practices.
product allows configuration,” says ProComSol’s There’s work to do, but the potential for HART
Dobos. “I assign an IP address to a WirelessHART to be the default protocol for bringing field device
gateway, and anyone in the world can access information all the way to business systems is
device information on that gateway’s wireless solid. “Man, does it simplify how to get informa-
network by downloading it. Just having that con- tion into a system. EAM, ERP — IBM is trying to
nection — that ability to access information — is make a protocol to go from devices to business
very exciting.” systems. HART-IP looks ideal for doing that,” says
HART-IP offers a lot of potential for Honeywell Karschnia. “Three elements make this approach
and third-party vendors, says Honeywell’s Tandon. much more stable over time: The Ethernet physical
“It widens the scope. The value goes beyond inter- medium is very stable; TCP/IP messaging is very
facing to HART devices. It may be, when it gets stable; and the HART protocol is also a stable
standardized at a higher level, it will bring HART piece. Together they will meet the needs of any-
data to level 3 and level 4 applications.” thing we can think of for the foreseeable future.”

S-10 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

CT1409_Hart.indd 10 9/24/14 11:21 AM

CT1409_Hart.indd 11 9/24/14 11:23 AM
 other automated actions
Yes 2014
63% 12%
No 7
37%
surveys say
What Percent of Your HART Is Integrated?

5 2014
55%
users weigh in 2013
43%

HART Surveys of Control readers in June 2013 and July 2014 Figure 3: “If permanently integrated HART connectivity
show that HART remains by far 61% the leading digital is in use at your plant, what percentage of HART-based
Foundation
1 protocol field devices
HART, percent is permanently integrated?”
using
4 Occasion
in percentages of facilities and of devices (Figure 1). Almost commun
28% 71%
two-thirds of respondents have integrated HART for more How Integrated Is Your HART? 2014
Profibus PA Average percent of devices
24%configuration and calibration (Figure 2), and 4
than isolated Occasional HART device connectivity
48% via handheld 6 Already have
HART, percent using of devices that are integrated has risen to 2013
Other the percentage
digital communicator/calibrator up and runni
71%
55% in 2014of29%
from 43% in 2013 (Figure 3). The degree of 2014
Foundation, percent using 2014
Average percent devices
Analogintegration
only has also risen in the past year, with 41% now 35% 61%
48% Occasion
21% 2013
Average percent of devices 2013
using real-time connectivity for alerts and other automated 2014
21% 68%
Foundation,
actionspercent
(Figure using
4), and 12% extending integration to busi-
ness and enterprise35%systems. 2013
Occasional
Profibus PA,HART device
percent connectivity via portable PC
using Plan to test o
Average percent of devices
2014 33% 2014
21%
Protocol Popularity Average percent of devices35%
Permane
2013 12% 2013
1 Profibus PA, percent using
HART, percent using
4 Occasional HART device connectivity via handheld 6off-line,
Alread
32%
33% communicator/calibrator up and
2014
71% Other digital, percent using
1 Average percent of devices 2014
4 Occasional 2014
Average
HART, percent of devices Permanently HART device
integrated connectivity used
HART 50%
connectivity, via handheld
for Plan6toAlread
test o
12%percent using communicator/calibrator 61% 2013
48% 71% off-line,
Average user-initiated
percent of activities
devices 2014 up and
2013 2013
Average percent of devices 2014 2014 22% 2014
4%
Other digital, percent using 61% 68%
Foundation, percent using 48% 23% 2013
50% Permane
35% 2013 2013
Analog only, percent using 20137%
Average percent of devices Occasional HART device connectivity via 68%portable PC Planfor
used to
Average percent of devices
Foundation, 22% 82%
22%percent using 2014 2014
2014
21% 35% Average percent of devices 35% Do not intend
Occasional
Permanently HART device
integrated HART46%connectivity via portable PC 2014 Plan to
connectivity,
AnalogAverage percent
only, percent of devices
using 2013
2014 2013
2013
2014
Profibus PA, percent
21% using used for real-time alerts and other automated actions
82% 32%
35%
33% 2014 2013
Average percent of devices 2013 2013
Average percent
Profibus PA, of devices
percent using 41%
46% Permanently integrated 32% HART connectivity, used for Plan to
Permane
12% 33% 2013
off-line, user-initiated activities 2014
enterpris
Average percent of devices 32% Undecided
2014
Permanently integrated HART connectivity, used for other au4
Other digital,
12% percent using 2014 Plan to
50% 2 Yes
off-line, 23% activities
user-initiated
Permanently integrated HART connectivity
2013
2014
2014
2013 63% to
Average percent of devices 2014
enterprise/business systems for real-time alerts and 2013 4
Other digital, percent using 0 No 10 20 22%
22% other automated actions 23% 30 40 50 2013
50% 37% Do not
Yes 2014 2013
Average percent of devices Permanently integrated HART connectivity, 2014
Analog only, percent 63% 22%
22% using 12%
used for real-time alerts and other automated actions
No 82% 4: “If HART is in use at your plant, which of 7
Figure2014 Do not
37% Permanently integrated HART connectivity, 2013
2014
Average percent of devices
Analog only, percent using these statements describes your usage? (Please check 5 2014
46% used for real-time alerts 41% and other automated actions
82% all that2013
apply.)”
2014 2013
Figure
Average1:percent
“Whichofofdevices
the following field instrument com- 32% 41% 2013
Undeci
munication protocols are in 46%
use in your plant? (Please
5 Protocol for Your Next New Plant?
2014 2014
2013
indicate the approximate percentage of field devices Permanently integrated HART
32% 55% connectivity to Undeci
for each protocol.)” 3 HART enterprise/business systems
2013 for real-time alerts and 2013
61% 2014
other automated actions
43%
Permanently integrated HART connectivity to
Foundation
2 Yes
Using Digital for More than Configuration?
2014
enterprise/business
28% systems for real-time alerts and 2013
HART 63% 12%
other
Profibus PA automated actions
No 61% 7
2 Yes
Foundation 37%
2014 24%
63% Other digital 12%
No 28%
Profibus PA
29% 7
37% Analog only
24%
Other Figure
digital 2: “If you have digital instruments, are you us- 5 2014 21%
ing the digital
29%information for more than configuration, Figure 5: “Which of the following field 55% instrumenta-
i.e.,
Analog only integrating it for condition monitoring, transmitter tion 2013
protocols
5 2014 would you be most likely to use in a new
internal21%
temperature, etc.?” plant? (Please check all that apply.)”43% 55%
2013
3 HART
S-12 Advertising supplement to CONTROL 43%
61%
Foundation
3 HART
28% 61%
Profibus
CT1409_Hart.indd
Foundation12PA 9/24/14 11:24 AM
 wireless inspires innovation

Boldly Going Without Wires

From setup and teardown to predictive maintenance and
environmental monitoring, Wireless HART is proving its mettle in
the control room, in the field and literally down the road.

I
t’s been decades since industrial maintenance OPC data acquisition network using an Emerson
was a “handyman’s” vocation and many years 1420 WirelessHART gateway (Figure 1). The box
since experts first showed us the differences be- has eight connectors for wired HART transmit-
tween run-to-fail, preventive and condition-based ters where wires are still needed, plus a connection
or predictive maintenance (PdM). But it’s only re- for a WirelessHART adapter, The Bullet, from
cently that maintenance professionals have gained MACTek, purchased via Moore Industries. The
practical access to the technologies they need to performance testing team has 16 of these, each
support PdM. Wireless networking is one of those communicating with eight instruments in HART
enabling technologies. Today, plant-operating multi-drop mode.
companies are turning to the industry standard, The extent of savings depends on the type of
WirelessHART, for benefits that range from re- test, instruments and mounts used, but for starters,
mote access to instrument diagnostics to enhance- WirelessHART has reduced cabling requirements
ments to real-time process control systems. by half or more. This is considerable in light of
Users of WirelessHART describe reduced engineer- the weeks it can take to set up a heat balance test
ing time and effort, easier and faster expandability involving 100 instruments or a cooling tower test,
once the wireless infrastructure is in place, access to which used to require up to 500 feet of cabling
previously impractical or impossible areas, and im- per instrument. “On average, we’ve seen between
proved asset management through real-time diagnos- a 15% and 30% reduction in setup and teardown
tics—often for the first time allowing companies to time and labor,” which Goldenberg says is more
operate in a true predictive maintenance mode, and significant than savings in wiring costs.
all without the need to run new signal wires! Field instruments connect to the enclosure via

The Flexibility to Change on the Fly

Vlad Goldenberg does a lot of work in continuous
improvement, mostly in the area of thermal power
generation. The senior engineer with Xcel Energy,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, keeps busy managing a
power plant performance testing program that has
him and his team constantly analyzing data and de-
vising new methods for testing assets and processes
such as condensate feedwater, heating systems, gas
and steam turbines, condensers and cooling towers.
This requires the test group to be constantly on
the go, using an inventory of temporary transmit-
ters and instruments mounted for testing.
Using an enclosure designed in-house to be Figure 1: Xcel Energy analyzes processes and equipment us-
mobile, they interface the team’s wireless data ing a mobile system that interfaces with the plant’s Modbus
acquisition system with the wired Modbus and and OPC data acquisition network via WirelessHART.

Advertising supplement to CONTROL S-13

CT1409_Hart.indd 13 9/24/14 11:24 AM

 wireless inspires innovation

short cables wired using HART multi-drop mode, Are You Using Wireless?
4 and the data
Occasional HARTisdevice
collected by the via
connectivity Bullet, then sent
handheld 6 Already have wireless field instrument networks
via WirelessHART
communicator/calibratorto a central data acquisition up and running
system. “We’re using these instruments in digital
2014 2014
multi-drop mode,” Goldenberg61% says, “and it’s 45%
2013 2013
worked really well for us.”
68% 27%

Streamlines
Occasional Overfill
HART device Protection
connectivity via portable PC Plan to test or use wireless within 12 months
“We make everything out of a barrel of oil,” says
2014 2014
35% and controls engineer
Chris Smith, instrument 16%
2013 2013
at the Shreveport, Louisiana, facility of Calumet
32% 14%
Specialty Products Partners.
The plant
Permanently uses a WirelessHART-based
integrated HART connectivity, usedra-
for Plan to test one more than 12 months from now
dar tank
off-line, overflow activities
user-initiated protection system from 2014
2014
Endress+Hauser that replaced a museum-worthy 4%
23% 2013
tape-and-float tank gauging system rife with me-
2013 7%
chanical issues.22% The old system featured a gearbox
on the ground that served today’s transmitting Do not intend to use wireless instrument networks
function, aintegrated
Permanently proprietaryHARTnetwork that would knock
connectivity, 2014
used
outfor real-time
whole alertsofand
sections theother
tankautomated actions
farm if one went 20%
%
2014 2013
down, and mechanical issues that could require
41% 26%
tanks to be taken down for maintenance, which,
2013
as Smith notes, is32% “an extremely big deal.” Undecided
Compared to WirelessHART, adding a single 2014
Permanently
tank overfill integrated
protectionHART connectivity
using to
wires would require 16%
enterprise/business systems for real-time
a week or more of digging and running wire alerts andand 2013
other automated actions 26%
could be “more expensive by orders of magnitude,”
2014
Smith says:
12% “By some estimates it would have cost Response to “Which of the following statements best
us four times as much just for the installation.” 7 characterizes your current or planned usage of wire-
Today, wireless adapters handle two instruments less instrument networks?” Survey details on page 12.
(and signals) per tank, one for temperature and one Kerry Phillips, global manager of the Smart Ser-
for level. But Smith sees the potential for running vices Group at Armstrong International, explains
5 multiple temperatures to ensure mixing and heat-
2014 that after a century of machining and distributing
ing uniformity inside tanks, “which 55% would be very iron and steel products for steam, air and hot water
2013
easy; we’d only need an additional instrument and applications, the “main new factor” in the compa-
43%
essentially nothing else,” he says, since the wireless ny’s move into electronics and isntrumentation has
infrastructure is already in place. Instrumentation been wireless technology. “It has now enabled us to
and wireless adapters mount together atop each provide automated, real-time monitoring solutions
tank at the radar transmitter, eliminating remote- for system reliability and efficiency.”
mount wiring. The wireless adapters, which double Armstrong entered the world of WirelessHART
as repeaters, have carried signals hundreds of feet. by opening its proprietary wireless systems to new
Currently, the facility has roughly 75 wireless in- WirelessHART-based acoustic, temperature and
struments in two tank farms, and “it’s growing on a steam trap monitoring solutions. The justification
weekly basis,” Smith says. for such systems begins with savings. Lost energy
from a single steam trap can cost a company any-
Prevents Energy Losses and Shutdowns where between $4,000 to $7,000 a year” accord-
WirelessHART allows once-ignored conditions in ing to Phillips, and a 10% percent failure rate isn’t
the field to be continuously monitored and data uncommon at large process facilities such as oil
on sub-par assets to be communicated easily to refineries and petrochemical plants, which typi-
the control room for rapid analysis, diagnosis and cally have 5,000 or more steam traps installed.
corrective action. Additional justifications go beyond simple

S-14 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

CT1409_Hart.indd 14 9/24/14 11:24 AM

 Advertising supplement to CONTROL S-15

CT1409_Hart.indd 15 9/24/14 11:25 AM

 WIRELESS INSPIRES INNOVATION

ROI. Plugged steam traps, for instance, can cause MINIMIZES AND EASES FLOWMETER CALIBRATIONS
condensate to back up and cool in steam lines, One hydrocarbon processing plant uses Wire-
causing pipe corrosion, water hammer and pos- lessHART technology to achieve a more proac-
sibly solidification of material in process pipelines tive, predictive maintenance operation, specifically
— particularly sulfur lines at refineries — which with regard to the Coriolis mass flowmeters used
raises the risk of downtime and catastrophic fail- throughout the plant. The problem was that these
ure at industrial plants. instruments were subject to repeated, time-con-
Such are the motivations of a refinery in suming testing and calibration routines. This was
Mexico, which uses Phillips’ wireless steam done manually, and because wired multiplexers
and relief valve offerings to monitor and send were deemed impractical and cost-prohibitive to
signals to the control room for analysis, process install, calibrations required removing and rein-
improvement and energy savings. And it’s why stalling each instrument. This was the source of
a Middle East refinery now under construction considerable reductions in plant availability.
includes 2,600 wireless steam trap monitors in While the shutdowns were planned, they were also
its design. costly, so the plant sought to increase calibration

Wireless HART IN THE CONTROL ROOM?

“I certainly see WirelessHART being
implemented more in the future,” says
Vlad Goldenberg, senior engineer, Xcel
Energy, “certainly for supervisory and
data acquisition applications.” He’s “not
sure” how far into process control he’d
take Wireless HART. It would seem to be
bleeding edge in light of the decades it’s
taken for users to realize the real-time
benefits of wired HART.
And for critical real-time process
control actuation chores, Chris Smith
at Calumet Specialty Products Partners,
like many of his industry peers, plans
“never” to trust a wireless signal: “It’s
one thing to drop a level indication on
one tank in a tank farm for a minute WirelessHART MESH NETWORK
because…it rained. But if you lose a
control valve signal for one minute, output to the valve can exhibit variable operation once seemed very distinct,
now you’re talking about wrecking a latency and intermittent reception. The but technology advances have blurred
whole process unit.” PID just keeps on working as expected. it. Continuous plant performance
“Never” trusting a wireless signal The algorithm works for wired HART as management (OEE, KPIs), the rise of
may be a bit extreme; the HART Com- well as WirelessHART. The Foundation condition-based maintenance and the
munication Foundation reports that will sub-license the algorithm to its shift in the DCS world to integrate as-
more and more plants are reporting members in good standing. set management systems are examples.
that WirelessHART has proven itself That said, users of WirelessHART- It’s not just operations and main-
reliable for many control applications. enabled systems universally see the tenance that are blurring; the same is
In fact, Emerson Process Manage- value in the wireless transmission of true of real-time process control and
ment has recently granted the HART real-time diagnostic data into the con- near-real-time monitoring. In an age
Communication Foundation a royalty- trol room. And as technology advances, where training simulators are technical-
free license to patents for a new form of real-time information from the field ly capable of shift-level process optimi-
the PID algorithm, called PIDPlus, which is increasingly more useful for control zation, there is little doubt that HART—
accommodates non-periodic and inter- system users. from wired to WirelessHART—plays a
mittent transmissions. The PV and the The line between maintenance and role in process control.

S-16 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

CT1409_Hart.indd 16 9/24/14 11:25 AM

CT1409_Hart.indd 17 9/24/14 11:25 AM
 41% 26%
2013
32% Undecided
2014
wireless inspires
Permanently innovation
integrated HART connectivity to 16%
enterprise/business systems for real-time alerts and 2013
other automated actions 26%
2014
intervals using continuous monitoring of diagnostic Which Wireless Protocols Will You Use?
12%
data, thereby allowing technicians to calibrate each
7
instrument only when needed.
A WirelessHART communication network
from Pepperl+Fuchs accomplished just that. The
5 system continuously monitors each Coriolis mass
2014
flowmeter’s “health” from a55% central point at the
engineering and maintenance station. Now, not
2013
only have work orders43% been reduced, but techni-
cians calibrate Coriolis flowmeters in situ “instead
of having to take them out of the plant and into
the shop,” says Gerrit Lohmann, manager of the
remote systems product group of Pepperl+Fuchs.
He adds: “Before, one person was employed full-
time calibrating the meters once a year, now they
calibrate them twice a year on command.”
This implementation of WirelessHART provided
critical transparency of system components from
the control room down to the field device level,
and opened new opportunities for requirements-
driven, preventive maintenance routines.
The network further allowed the plant to recoup
significant uptime and financial benefits because
calibrations are no longer performed at fixed
intervals, but when required, as determined by the
parameters regulated by the WirelessHART-based
continuous monitoring system.
Lohmann also tells of a South African refinery
that tapped WirelessHART to access data needed
for leak detection of crude oil in approximately
50 tanks. The wireless protocol met the refinery’s
need for intrinsically safe equipment, overcame
issues of accessing hard-to-access assets, improved Response to “Which of the following statements best
monitoring and maintenance capabilities, and characterizes your current or planned usage of wire-
safely brings variables from a hazardous location less instrument networks?” Survey details on page 12.
in the field into the control room.
and regulatory noncompliance.
0 Competitive
10 Edge
20 for
30Frigid Climates
40 50 Recognizing the risk — and competitive opportu-
A tank truck rental company with a fleet of more nity — Burrell’s customer sought a remote monitor-
than 100 trucks is saving $4,000 per tank it hauls, ing solution. A wired approach wasn’t feasible, and
every time it’s rented. How? of the wireless solutions, WirelessHART was the
The company operates in a region where tem- most sensible choice because it allowed the tank
peratures frequently fall below -30 ºC (-22 ºF). rental company to easily and quickly retrofit adapt-
Employees of companies renting the tank trucks ers to its existing tanks, which had already been
rarely wanted to step outside to monitor and using HART instrumentation.
record levels. There had been many cases where Now all tank levels can be monitored simultane-
they wrote “essentially any old number” in reports ously, in real time, from a single seat in a control
they would present to their supervisors, according room. Risk, frostbite, labor and costly errors have
to David Burrell, product specialist with Phoenix been eliminated. The company estimates a reduc-
Contact. Industry-wide, this has led to problems tion of approximately $4,000 in installation costs
such as undetected oil thefts and cases of overflow for each tank, every time it is rented.

S-18 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

CT1409_Hart.indd 18 9/24/14 11:25 AM

 M F C 5 15 0 H a r t ® CO M M u n i CatO r

Go One
Better.

www.meriam.com • 216.281.110 0 • [email protected]

CT1409_Hart.indd 19 9/24/14 11:26 AM

CT1409_Hart.indd 20 9/24/14 11:26 AM
 Empower culture change

Dow Chemical Uses HART

to Support Plant-Wide
Culture Change
Empowering teams with HART data improves instrument
reliability, leading to 85% reduction in reactor trips and
millions of dollars saved at Deer Park facility

S
ince 2011, reliability leaders at Dow Chemical’s availability of reliability engineers drove Dow’s
700-acre Deer Park, Texas, facility have heeded a Deer Park reliability experts to first focus on
management mandate to improve plant perfor- proper management of people and teams before
mance by improving instrument reliability. Their highly committing dollars to technology. Shadrach Ste-
focused team approach and innovative use of HART phens, I/E maintenance group leader, and Christo-
technology reduced reactor trips by 85%. pher Garcia, instrument and electrical technology
The specialty chemicals plant produces methyl leader, identified some very human solutions to
methacrylate, acrylic acid, amines and various ac- some very technical problems.
rylates used in paints, household products, water The project leaders identified several effective
purification chemicals and more. Because much of consensus-building practices:
the technology and instrumentation in use at Deer • Enlist trusted evangelists: By turning experi-
Park is common across the process industries, enced, knowledgeable instrument reliability engi-
the kind of results achieved here are within reach neers into project advocates who could spark open
industry-wide, as well. and frank dialog, the engineers and others they relied
The project began with the plant’s Instrument on to effect changes were better predisposed to ac-
Reliability Group forming an Instrument Reliabil- cept the project’s framework and to create their own
ity Program (IRP) that would help maintenance pieces of the plan to advance its goals. “This frame-
strategies evolve from reactive to a more predic- work or structure was co-signed by the technology
tive, and proactive culture. experts,” Stephens says, “which allowed us to gain
The challenges were daunting. Many of the plant’s the initial buy-in from the leadership team.”
reliability issues had been addressed prior to 2011 • Broaden the management framework: Instead
so the low-hanging fruit was gone. Reliability had of focusing on opportunities with bad-acting or
been flat for three years, with deficiencies found in high-maintenance instruments, the group took a
28% of the facility’s instruments, and five particu- broader view. For example, it focused on how im-
larly troublesome process units were the source of provements were executed. There were also weekly
48% of the entire site’s production units’ instrument “cadence meetings,” Stephens says, “to review
downtime. The Instrument Reliability Program short- and long-term actions, team development to
raised the stakes for the team which would have to establish reliability principles within the staff, and
dig out more of the hidden, less obvious challenges more collaboration with OEMs, process automa-
to reliability. Better human resources management, tion and process technology centers.”
including proper team-building and communication, • Present short- and long-term solutions: “There
turned out to be key enablers. will always be more good ideas than we have ca-
pacity to execute,” Stephens says, so team leaders
Team-Building Tips managed a compilation of ideas with short-term
The nature of reliability challenges and limited and long-term planning and execution in mind.

Advertising supplement to CONTROL S-21

CT1409_Hart.indd 21 9/24/14 11:27 AM

 empower culture change

Team members were given roles based on their

strengths and ability to manage appropriate issues
“Replacing these 13
at appropriate levels, leaving senior leaders to instruments...drove
focus on longer-term strategies.
The overall approach was to identify problems incidents to zero, saving
and their root causes, implement short-term solu- millions of dollars
tions to help the plant run better and gain man-
agement buy-in, and then move to larger, longer- annually.”
term strategies for comprehensive preventive and
predictive maintenance. Of that 28% of the facility’s instruments that
were found to have deficiencies, it was found that
Engineering a Reliability Turnaround 13 temperature and level instruments accounted for
Early on, instrument reliability engineers asked plant 60% of the problems. Replacing these 13 instruments
customers why they thought instrument improve- with new technologies drove incidents to zero, saving
ments were flat for the past three years. The respons- millions of dollars annually.
es fell into four areas: people or processes, end-of-life
equipment, predictive/preventive maintenance strat- ‘Golden Opportunity’ in Five Process Units
egy failures and incidents of repeat failures. Inter- The IRG’s research into historical data led to the
estingly, “people or process” issues dominated the startling discovery that of 67 process units, five

E20001-F410-P710-X-7600
list, with challenges relating to repeat work orders, units contributed to 48% of the plant’s entire
overtime history, computerized maintenance system downtime. This was costing Dow millions of dol-
repair work history and instrument calibration/speci- lars in lost production per year. “For an engineer or
fication sheets. a leader, this is a golden opportunity, because if you
To start Dow documented a firm vision for a can make a huge impact within a small area, then
plant-wide reliability infrastructure and supported you can get support from team members and upper
that vision with staff to reverse what was a “reactive” management to continue the effort,” says Stephens.
culture. This and the realization that the plant needed The opportunity to effect a positive change was
a more “reliability-centered culture” were funda- even greater because these units shared similar
mental in forging ahead with practical solutions. process chemistry; improvements were made to
For instance, better, predictive work processes were one, and were relatively easily leveraged across all
devised, in one case eliminating a problem with loose five. Here are three examples:
wires that was causing process reactors to go offline. • Control valve equipment maintenance: Con-
Fixing it reduced annual trips from an average of 10 trol valves, the most likely instruments to sustain
to just one through the fall of 2014. wear and cycle damage, caused an average of
Other moves included a new level of cross-func- 17 unplanned events per year at Deer Park. The
tional teamwork not just in meeting rooms, but in Instrument Reliability Group reduced this number
the plant on a daily basis. For instance, the process to four in 2013 (and only 1 YTD in 2014) by pri-
historical dashboard, traditionally the domain of oritizing the most critical valves, better managing
operations, was shared with instrument technicians, spare parts and overhauling preventive/predictive
which led to identifying 18 critical alarms that would maintenance strategies.
likely have led to more reactor trips. Additionally, • Real-time equipment monitoring: The Instru-
outside teams were brought into the cultural fold, ment Reliability Group, working with the facil-
with new oversight that improved the quality of ity’s process automation team, used two software
work by contractors. packages to track real-time instrument and control
Working in cross-functional mode, the team valve performance, and to better communicate
performed approximately 10,000 assessments, failures and pending failures. This led the plant to
generated 4,000 work orders and addressed 2,400 avoid several unplanned events that would have
items. Many were quickly and easily corrected, caused multimillion-dollar production losses.
such as a vent installed in the wrong direction, a • Technology improvements: Nine differen-
loose device or terminal housing cover, or a miss- tial pressure level transmitters with liquid-filled
ing protective valve cap. impulse lines caused failures due to heat tracing,

S-22 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

CT1409_Hart.indd 22 9/24/14 11:27 AM

E200
E20001-F410-P710-X-7600

siemens.com/wirelesshart

Increasing transparency
and flexibility at the field level
Field instrumentation with WirelessHART communications
for innovative and economical solutions

With more than 1.6 billion operating hours New:

WirelessHART is the number one for wireless SITRANS AW210
This WirelessHART adapter
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allows quick and easy
automation. We support WirelessHART from
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the very beginning to enable our customers HART field devices or one
to increase their plant performance. Our 4–20mA device (without
products raise the transparency, availability, HART) into a WirelessHART
flexibility and performance of the plants at network. Ex i and Ex d
lower costs. approvals are available.

Answers for industry.

CT1409_Hart.indd 23 9/24/14 11:27 AM

E20001-F410-P710-X-7600_AZ_WirelessHART_178x254.indd 1 18.08.14 13:11
 empower culture change

The case for change — Value creation This practice was made possible by importing data
67 Process Units 2011 2012 2013
and creating a database of valve signatures.
In one outage, diagnostics found that 36% of
the valves did not need to be removed for repairs.
This represented a reduction in maintenance
Rest of Plant
(62 Process requirements as well as speedier identification of
Units) abnormal conditions such as improper actuation.
48% of Total HART supports the plant’s reliability-centered
culture by helping enable the plant to move to
16% of Total
5 Reactors 9% of Total what Stephens calls “Instrument Reliability 2.0.”
Control Valve equipment failures in 8% of Process Units account for 48% of downtime Where 1.0 laid the foundation for the instrument
team, 2.0 begins to tap into proactive or condi-
leaks, loss of fill fluid, etc., and four firebox tion-based maintenance “using the available data
temperature sensors installed in thermal oxi- to drive long-term sustainable improvements.” If
dizers experienced thermocouple burnout and there is to be a version 3, he says it could take the
damaged elements. Replacing these with new plant “into impacting the manufacturing process”
technologies resulted in eliminating unplanned with real-time advances to positively influence
events, removing them from the group’s top op- factors ranging from product yields and quality to
portunity list. energy efficiency and fine tuning of control loops.
In the first year since these and other improve-
ments were made, the five units’ instrument down- Driving Value into the Millions
time dropped from 48% to 16%, and in the second If the old “flat” reliability trends held, the Deer
year, 2013, that number dropped to 9%. This was Park facility would have continued to experience
accomplished by addressing major problems sooner, an annual average 50 unplanned events for instru-
while preventing other problems altogether. ments and valves on the five targeted process units
alone. Instead, this number fell to 4 YTD, accord-
HART Connects for Reliability ing to Stephens. Overall, the reliability program
“By using the existing HART tools and resources has yielded financial savings in the millions of dol-
and engaging multiple levels of management and lars and a 85% reduction in downtime for those
functions, we were able to change the process and five process units — and beyond.
the culture — for lasting benefits throughout the “We are now seeing the same level of reductions
operation,” Stephens said. HART “opens up a new across the entire plant,” says Christopher Garcia, Ste-
portal of digital information that enables us to be phens’ partner in leading the creation of the Instru-
more proactive.” ment Reliability Program. That 85% improvement
In the field, HART handheld communicators is reflected in maintenance trips to the field, which
and laptops access diagnostic information for root have been reduced by roughly the same amount.
cause investigations, live status updates on critical The achievements of the Instrument Reliability
instruments and control valves, and instrument Group have earned praise and an award from man-
inspections and calibration checks. For example, agement. The plant has expanded the Instrument
the team learned that most valve failures were not Reliability Program from one to eight service groups,
typical valve problems, but rather problems with and Dow Chemical is now leveraging the Instrument
the valve package’s “top works,” or components Reliability Program across additional facilities.
such as positioners, limit switches and solenoids. Asked for advice for those seeking to achieve
Once these problems were identified, technicians real culture change, Stephens said, first and fore-
could be assigned to go to the field, and many most, “Approach your reliability improvement
“quick wins” were achieved. strategy as if you were starting up a new company
Now, when a valve is targeted for testing, a flow from the ground floor,” a company that uses the
scan is performed on it, and this scan is overlaid task at hand to guide opportunity, “customer”
on a “good” or target baseline scan; the two are input, planning, team building and implementa-
compared to see how much change has occurred tion specifics. “Leaders must measure and commu-
in the valve, often avoiding unnecessary actions. nicate frequently, and finally, celebrate!”

S-24 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

428762
CT1409_Hart.indd 24 9/24/14 11:28 AM
 Fluke puts HART communication
in a precision loop calibrator.

Introducing the Fluke 709H:

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• Easy to use alternative to complicated
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AD 4287625A_EN

4287625A_CHS_AD.indd 1 9/12/14 9:01 AM

CT1409_Hart.indd 25 9/24/14 11:28 AM
 Performs Well
Under Pressure.

Redefining Smart with a New Level of Pressure Measurement.

Honeywell’s SmartLine® pressure transmitters deliver the benefits
of HART 7 and set a new standard for total performance. The industry’s
first modular and most robust pressure transmitters, they also boast an
advanced display supporting diagnostics and 32 character messages.
Read HART messages directly on the display without the need for a
handheld or host device. Honeywell helps our customers be smarter—
and reduce project costs and startup time, avoid unplanned downtime,
reduce spare parts inventory and shorten time to repair.
SmartLine. Our Smart Transmitters Just Got Smarter.

Get smarter. Visit www.honeywellprocess.com/smartline.

©2013 Honeywell International, Inc. All right reserved.

CT1409_Hart.indd 26 9/24/14 11:29 AM

 Building on success

HART Plant of the Year Facilities

Keep Building on Success
Additional information and wireless connectivity are further
improving productivity, reliability and efficiency.

L
ike other facilities that have been using the expanded its existing facility by 100,000 barrels
HART Communication Protocol for any per day. According to Andy Bahniuk, Shell instru-
amount of time, previous recipients of the mentation technologist, using HART technology
HART Plant of the Year Award have been busy helped the company streamline the testing and
reaping even more of the benefits the technology preconfiguring of devices for a smoother start-up.
provides. These benefits include the way HART As part of the project, Shell needed to program
technology supports the sending and receiving of and commission more than 1,500 HART devices
additional digital information between intelligent from 26 suppliers. A flexible asset management
HART-enabled devices and control, asset manage- system and HART communication worked to-
ment or monitoring systems. gether, ensuring that all HART information was
The digital signal provides users even more data gathered, either by a network of multiplexers or
from devices, such as device status and diagnos- the distributed control system (DCS) with HART
tics, as well as additional process values, either I/O, and made available in a central control room.
measured or calculated. The additional informa- The company continues to expand on this ap-
tion helps users in several ways, for example, by proach. “Manufacturers are always adding more
letting them more effectively monitor the condi- parameters and information to their devices,” says
tion of devices to potentially avoid an unscheduled Bahniuk. “HART technology lets us monitor new-
shutdown, and troubleshoot field instruments to er devices and further expand our troubleshooting
quickly determine the cause of a problem. capabilities, among other pluses,” he says.
WirelessHART provides a cost-effective way to For example, “During Canadian winters, tem-
add new measurements without the cost of new peratures can drop to -45 °C. To protect our field
wires. It also enables additional measurements instruments from freezing, we mount transmitters
by sending the digital primary (PV), second (SV), in insulated, heated enclosures,” says Bahniuk.
third (TV) and fourth variables (FV), as well as “We monitor the heaters’ effectiveness using the
device configuration information and device status instrument body temperature in the enclosure. HART
using their existing HART devices. enables us to monitor transmitter temperatures in
Recent information from three previous HART real time, communicating the parameter through
Plant of the Year recipients highlight ways they opti- the asset management system to alert maintenance
mize their operations by using the HART Protocol. should the enclosure start to freeze. This eliminates
the need for technicians to check devices in the field
HART Digital Information where ice and snow can pose a potential safety issue.
Improves Process Plants It also helps us improve our efficiency in undergo-
The HART Plant of the Year in 2011, the Shell ing preventive maintenance on heater boxes, which
Scotford Upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan, Al- cuts our costs by more than $200,000 per year, while
berta, Canada, continues to reap the benefits of ensuring smooth operation all winter long.”
. receiving additional process information via Additional information also came in handy
. HART technology. At that time, Shell had just when thermostats had incorrectly been set too

Advertising supplement to CONTROL S-27

CT1409_Hart.indd 27 9/24/14 11:42 AM

 building on success

converts the data to cyclic Profibus DP data for real-

time, remote access to device data, again for preven-
tive maintenance and troubleshooting tasks.
“The additional information HART provides
helps us shorten plant shutdown times,” says Lud-
wig Wenninger, electrical plant engineer at Clari-
ant. “We have not calculated the savings we get
from using this approach, but the upside is that
HART facilitates the work for you.”
Also finding value in obtaining additional
information is MOL Group’s Danube Refinery
The additional information HART technology provides helps in Százhalombatta, Hungary, HART Plant of the
Clariant shorten plant shutdown times. Year in 2010. In 2006, the plant overhauled its
maintenance system using a reliability-driven asset
high, an issue technicians detected by using HART management strategy and HART technology. It
Protocol in a predictive manner. Technicians purchased HART-enabled intelligent field instru-
replaced the thermostats before they became a ments including control valves and instruments for
problem. The facility is also using device status critical control loops, and connected them directly
alerts to learn about other problems such as de- to the asset management system. This provides an
vices left in loop-test mode by mistake. The error online diagnostic technology where instrument
was revealed when the device’s loop current read signals are directly connected to plant mainte-
as being left in the fixed mode. nance and control systems.
Shell currently uses the HART status byte to repre- At the time, the MOL refining plants (consist-
sent the health status of various diverse measurement ing of three refineries: Danube, Tisza, Zala) used
devices on graphical charts, providing maintenance HART communication on 30,000 of its 40,000
technicians a quick visual of device condition. “Moni- instruments, and about 3,700 of the devices were
toring real-time device diagnostics with “more status connected to the new maintenance system. Since
available” helps us troubleshoot devices and slashes then, the company’s use of information from online
troubleshooting time,” says Bahniuk. diagnostics has gone beyond just preventive main-
The value of additional information is also tenance to increasing the precision of the control
underscored in Shell’s current carbon capture and system. For example, intelligent HART valve po-
storage (CCS) project for an oil sands operation sitioners provide information that lets technicians
in Canada. “The Quest project has us adding new easily identify inaccuracies in loops controlling the
devices from manufacturers unfamiliar to us,” separation process. The inaccuracies are typically
says Bahniuk. “To get up and running just takes traceable to detuning of the control valves.
downloading device description files from the “In the past 10 years, HART technology has
HART website to our handheld devices and our become part of our daily job, from the everyday
asset management system. We can configure and use of HART communicators up to integrated
set up the devices with ease, as well as view all the online systems,” says Gábor Bereznai, MOL head
parameters properly on our existing DCS.” of instrumentation and electrical engineering.
“Consider that in updating a distributed control
European Plants Benefit from Additional system, it’s important to only use HART I/O. In one
HART Information year, we installed more than 430 HART I/O in our
Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH in Ger- CCR unit on the Yokogawa CS3000 segment. We
sthofen, Germany, HART Plant of the Year in 2004, also installed about 100 new I/O on the Honeywell
produces additives used in plastics production, and as C300 controller in our REC1-3 water cooling units.
such, needed to reconfigure its field devices frequently Here, we use online systems including the Yok-
for new production batches. It leveraged HART ogawa Process Resource Manager (PRM) and Field
technology that was already in the plant to deliver Device Manager (FDM) to get device diagnostic
process measurement values and device configuration information. The PRM connects to our computer-
information to a Profibus remote I/O system, which ized maintenance management system (CMMS), in

S-28 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

PxC14-
CT1409_Hart.indd 28 9/24/14 11:42 AM
PxC14-1424_WirelessHART_7.25x10.5.indd 1 9/17/2014 10:17:19 AMAM
CT1409_Hart.indd 29 9/24/14 11:43
 Building on success

steam and gases such as air from a system, ide-

ally, without letting steam escape. “We are testing
Rosemount 708 wireless acoustic transmitters,
which respond to temperature and vibration,
and communicate device event status via the
WirelessHART network to energy management
software, where the data gets stored,” he says.
“The information should help us cut our fuel costs
arising from steam traps that are leaking.”
MOL supports the use of WirelessHART. “We
already have five gateways and about 20 wireless
transmitters (the number is changing fast) including
The proper operation of the heavy-duty valves in this pressure adapter modules,” says Bereznai. WirelessHART
swing absorption skid is essential to MOL hydrogen production. adapters can retrofit on any existing two- or four-
wire HART device, allowing wireless transmission
this case, SAP-PM, and alerts trigger notifications in of measurement and diagnostic information not
advance before problems ever happen.” previously available. “We plan on using the adapter
In one case, the additional, predictive informa- modules mainly for corrosion control and diagnos-
tion provided by intelligent instruments helped the tic purposes and, as such, intend to create a new in-
refinery avoid shutdowns, resulting in a savings of ternal standard for system design and maintenance
$7,000 to $700,000 per year. “For example, if a of wireless technologies,” he says.
control valve gets stuck while closing,” says Berez- According to Bereznai, MOL intends to base its
nai. “We can’t see this just from outside observa- new wireless standard on the Monitoring Category,
tion of the valve. Instead, the diagnostic system Class 3 (open-loop control), 4 (alerting), and 5
detects stress in the valve and sends a warning to (logging and downloading/uploading) applications.
the CMMS, where it is escalated such that respon- (These are wireless usage classes based on ISA
sible individuals must make a decision whether to 100.11a, Rel.1.) Applications the company intends
follow through on the warning or postpone any to include are corrosion control, instrument asset
action. Fortunately, 95% of the HART automatic diagnostics, furnace wall temperature measurement
notifications have proven to be creditable and can and heat exchanger performance monitoring.
be readily accepted.” In one of the operating units, an implementation
of WirelessHART uses a gateway that communi-
WirelessHART Eases Access cates via Ethernet TCP/IP and a physically inde-
to New Measurements pendent industrial network to communicate to an
Wireless technology can be advantageous because industrial switch and on to workstations running
it delivers new measurement values to control ValveLink SNAP-On software. The DCS links to
systems without the need to run more wire. a WirelessHART pressure transmitter and several
WirelessHART supports many messaging modes, Fisher DVC6000 positioner and Smart Wireless
including publishing of process and control values, THUM adapters (4-20 mA analog output). The
spontaneous notification by exception, ad-hoc control room serves to regulate outside heaters
request/response, and auto-segmented block along with vacuum and atmospheric columns,
transfers of large data sets. Each device on a Wire- which are about 50 to 70m apart. Bereznai says
lessHART mesh network can serve as a router for ongoing projects include using WirelessHART in
other devices, extending the range of the network control value diagnostics in the delayed coker unit
and boosting system reliability by providing re- (three to five adapters), corrosion (pH and corro-
dundant communication paths. sion transmitters), and field instrument mainte-
Wenninger says Clariant is currently leveraging nance system (control valve positioners).
the technology in building a network comprising a Regardless of the age or size of the facility, these
special transmitter and a HART wireless gateway plants are using the intelligent information from
to monitor plant steam traps. Steam traps are a their HART devices to lower costs and improve
type of automatic valve that filters out condensed plant reliability.

S-30 Advertising supplement to CONTROL

CT1409_Hart.indd 30 9/24/14 11:43 AM

 CoriolisMaster. Measurement made easy.

The new CoriolisMaster from ABB is one of the most compact coriolis mass
flowmeters on the market. With no up or downstream piping requirements it
can be installed in the tightest spaces, enabling applications not possible before.
Its smaller size and simplicity saves you precious time in installation, set up and
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Learn more and download a FREE flow handbook.

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CT1409_Hart.indd 31 9/24/14 11:43 AM

 Real-Time Data Access
Low Risk … High Value
Lowers Operating Costs
Increases Plant Reliability
Wired … Wireless … and Beyond!

What’s in Your Plant?

www.hartcomm.org

HART® WirelessHART® and HART-IP™ are registered trademarks of the HART Communication Foundation.

CTHart1410_01.indd322
CT1409_Hart.indd 9/24/14
9/23/14 11:43
2:28 PM
AM
 ON THE BUS

Wired or Wireless Revisited

john Rez abek

W
contributing Editor
hat if you worked in a plant with in- need interposing relays and some auxiliary power. [email protected]
frastructure for both wireless, such as You could also use AC power for the controlled
WirelessHART or ISA 100.11a, as well as devices if you wanted, but the dream-crushing re-
fieldbus, such as Foundation fieldbus or Profi- ality is this wireless approach isn’t devoid of wires.
bus PA? When a new application requires some The elegance and simplicity of our wireless imag-
measurements to be integrated with the DCS, ination still needs infrastructure from the wired
what network technology would get you the world.
best bang for the buck? This is a challenge we Then there was the issue of a local analog in-
faced a couple months ago, and the solution we dication. The desired measurement was already
installed might surprise you. present (calculated) in the DCS. We just needed
If you heard author and futurist Walt Boyes to repeat it in the field. So far I haven’t found
speak at the Yokogawa users’ group in Sep- a WirelessHART device that would indicate a
tember, or read about it at ControlGlobal. measurement other than the one it was making.
com (www.controlglobal.com/articles/2014/ The utility of a wireless local indicator
yokogawa-users-group-16/), you heard Walt poses some issues, even if one existed. How
describe a future where wireless networks for timely are the updates? If I make a move with
measurement and control are the norm, owing a manual valve, how long before I see the ef-
largely to the high cost of copper. Given the fects? Perhaps these challenges explain why we
trends in consumer devices, perhaps you find don’t have any yet. The local indication would
Walt’s forecast entirely plausible. But would have to be fieldbus. Either the Endress+Hauser
you say this future is imminent? RID14 or the Rosemount 752 would give me a
Most of our plants, even the huge new refin- nice configurable local indication on a single
ery being constructed in Calgary, have or will pair, routed from a relatively nearby fieldbus
have a large installed base of wired devices, device or junction box on a segment with some
whether they’re old-school 4-20 mA or a bus spare capacity.
technology like Modbus, Profibus or Founda- More wires. Even for the wireless solution,
tion fieldbus. I was running a twisted pair into the vicinity.
When our folks learned we had the infra- This set me on some wired alternatives, and I
structure installed for WirelessHART, their soon found a fieldbus device—available in both
imaginations went off the leash. Surely it would FF and PA—that provided two discrete inputs,
be easy, cheap and convenient if they needed a two discrete outputs and an analog output, all
local analog indication, some pushbuttons and in one relay-sized DIN-rail cube, the StoneL
some pilot lights in a few little, local panels? IM465015A. Available at a fraction of the cost,
My imagination must have been wandering we were compelled to let go of our slick wireless
beyond the range of my shock-collar also be- solution and use a wired one. The dream-
cause I’d hoped the Rosemount 702 supported In Walt’s future plant, this whole endeavor
two discrete inputs as well as two discrete out- might become moot. If operators have heads- crushing reality is
puts. So when I learned that the 702 supported up displays of all DCS data on hazardous-area-
in fact two discrete inputs or two discrete out- capable “Google Goggles,” will local indicators this wireless
puts, I had to revise my estimate for the wireless and interfaces be obsolete? It’s great that Wire-
solution. I couldn’t do each panel with a single lessHART and ISA 100.11a have inspired our approach isn’t
wireless device; I would need two. imaginations, but in the meantime, it appears
If you’re going to control outputs over wire- we’re still going to keep the copper wire and devoid of wires.
less, at least with the 702, you’re probably going to cable market churning.

O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com 51

CT1410_51_OTB.indd 51 10/7/14 5:51 PM

 Without wires

Standardized Messaging for Process Optimization

ian verhappen

A
Director,
Industrial Automation Ne t works number of basic criteria must be main- prepared two documents related to the effective
[email protected] tained before it’s possible to consider any use of intelligent field devices (“NE43 – Standard-
process optimization project. The most crit- ization of the Signal Level for the Failure Informa-
ical is that basic regulatory control algorithms are tion of Digital Transmitters” and “NE107 – Self-
all working properly, including loop tuning and Monitoring and Diagnosis of Field Devices”) that
alarm management. Then we must remember are the basis for much of the work on communi-
that basic regulatory control is only as good as the cating device health to control systems in a mean-
field devices. Fortunately, with smart or intelligent ingful, standard way. If you’re interested in reading
field devices it’s now possible to know how the these documents, free copies are available at www.
field devices that form the lowest level of the pro- namur.net/en/recommendations-and-worksheets/
cess control pyramid (Figure 1) are doing in real order-of-free-copies.html.
time, and to know that modern alarm manage- Because the recommendations in these docu-
You can only ment/HMI systems are able to manage and route/ ments are being widely accepted by field device
display effectively that information to the right manufacturers, there’s now a standard way to clas-
control what you people to act on the information, thus increasing sify device health to the control system and incor-
overall system reliability and performance. porate it into the basic regulatory control loops, so
can measure and One organization that has made a signifi- that they only control on good signals.
cant contribution to the ability to measure sen- Foundation fieldbus uses this with its “Sta-
manipulate. All the sor effectiveness is NAMUR (www.namur.de), tus” parameter transmitted with every PV up-
for Normenarbeitsgemeinschaft für Mess- und date. Similarly, wireless networks incorporate
stuff in between is Regeltechnik in der Chemischen Industrie, or status information in their messages that could
in English, the User Association of Automation be used the same way. Incorporating this infor-
only math. Technology in Process Industries. NAMUR has mation into the HMI so that, at a glance, an op-
erator can understand the status of the process
is the next logical step.
Process Control The operator’s role is to optimize the way the
Hierarchy facility is run based on the best knowledge we
Days - Months
Time Planning & can present on the status of all parts of the oper-
Scheduling ation; hence, the reason for all the work being
done with HMI development to give operators
Hours - Days Real Time the time to do this and, in the event something
Optimization
does happen, return to steady state as quickly
and safely as possible.
Minutes - Hours
Multivariable Control “Fancy” algorithms such as those used for mul-
tivariate control and real-time optimization are
Seconds - Minutes certainly useful tools to make a facility more ef-
Regulatory Control
ficient, especially as the facilities continue to get
more complex, and it is necessary to manage all
< 1 Second
Measurement and actuation the process measurements now available courtesy
of modern smart and wireless sensors. Despite all
this, the basic truths of automating a plant remain
the process control pyramid
true. You can only control what you can measure
Figure 1: Standardized messages up the pyramid provide the structure for better (PVs) and manipulate (OPs). All the stuff in be-
process optimization. tween is only math.

52 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_52_Wireless.indd 52 10/7/14 5:52 PM

CT1410_full page ads.indd 53 10/7/14 6:11 PM
 In Process

Yokogawa Looks to the Future

Bigger user-group meeting focuses on the future with an emphasis on collaboration,
integration and the needs of customers in the world of integrated automation.

T
he 2014 Yokogawa Users Group “The challenges now are: How do
Conference and Exhibition, held we maintain cost leadership through
in Houston on Sept 9-11, saw 500 lowering expenses? How do we achieve
registrants from 160 companies and 10 safe production with increased scru-
countries outside North America in at- tiny from the public? How do we get
tendance. That’s a 40% increase over the maximum benefit out of our feed-
the prior event in 2012. stock? How do we handle the dilu-
The meeting featured keynotes from tion of our technical experiences and
Satoru Kurosu, director, executive vice resources due to reduced technical
president, Solution Service Business know-how and people, and then man-
Headquarters, president and CEO of age change with improved human reli-
Yokogawa Electric Japan International ability?” said Lam. “Finally, we have to
Pte. Ltd.; retired process engineer ask, is our IA vendor dealing with cost
and executive Simon Lam; and Chet factors only, or do we have a strategic,
Mroz, president and CEO, Yokogawa value-added partner for growth?” what users want
Corp. of America. Kurosu greeted at- He outlined several essential end-
tendees and said that the United States user requirements. “At a minimum, we Retired process engineer business ex-
is “a most important market” for Yok- require a reliable DCS platform, but sit- ecutive Simon Lam outlined the expecta-
ogawa with a history in the U.S. that ting on this platform, we need software tions end users have of their automation
dates back to the 1950s. packages that can make our whole IA partners.
In his address, “Current Indus- system a power tool to achieve short-
try Challenges and Expectations for and long-term financial objectives. We that can also aid training. We also want
an Automation Partner,” Lam set the must be able to use IA tools to reduce to enhance training and retraining of
theme for the conference, pointing out costs of maintenance through increased operators by using more dynamic simu-
how the changing face of industrial reliability; enhance safety with intelli- lations because it’s critical to keep oper-
automation (IA) to an accelerated and gent alarm management that ensures ators trained and alert, instead of being
deeply integrated world means that us- operational integrity; and use simula- unable to remember important start-up
ers have a different set of expectations tion software to further optimize pro- and shutdown procedures after six years
of their automation partners. duction with tools we can use day to day have gone by.”

Settle In for Some Serious Control

One of the best features of any user-group meeting is the chance to check out the latest
technology on offer. On the exhibit floor at Yokogawa’s User Group Americas event
in Houston, Paul Studebaker, Control editor-in-chief, got a sneak peek at every control
freak’s dream: an ergonomic console offering many features designed to keep the
operator rested and focused, including three strategically positioned 24-inch monitors,
wireless keyboard and mouse, cup holder and integral head, wrist and footrests. This
personal control console offers a futuristic vision that’s available today for operators and
managers who need or want to be surrounded by information. Based on an Emperor
workstation by MWE Lab, the highly stable steel structure includes powered tilting
capabilities, integrated audio system and LED lighting that enable the user to experience
unprecedented comfort and quasi-total immersion at the plant or, perhaps, in his or her
den at home. Control fanatics can upgrade with Recaro seating, Bose surround sound,
ionic air purification and two additional 19-inch monitors.

54 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_54_61_InPro.indd 54 10/7/14 5:56 PM

 The World’s Most Trusted
Automation Solutions
Partner Since 1915

ADA1401

www.yokogawa.com/us

CT1410_full page ads.indd 55 10/7/14 6:11 PM

 In Process

Likewise, Lam adds that individual suppliers have to know everything, but secure the right business architec-
site managers expect IA suppliers to they also don’t want someone to look tures, embedded know-how and best
understand their unique business con- at them with a blank face,” said Lam. practices to run sustainable, competi-
cerns and help them meet challenges “They just want someone who will re- tive businesses. This means we have to
by using their own industrial knowl- ally try to work with them. These days, maintain long-term relationships with
edge and awareness of processes and we’re driven to collaborate collectively our suppliers just as we provide the hu-
products. “Site managers don’t think with consultants and IA suppliers to man resources needed to supplement
our own business units.”
Chet Mroz provided a perspective
on the Americas business, reminding
listeners that the company announced
a new global organization this year that
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CT1410_full page ads.indd 57 10/7/14 6:11 PM
 IN PROCESS

Hirschmann, Lumberg, GarrettCom needs, cables and connectors, overall targets even of they have firewalls be-
and Tofino networking divisions it’s ac- network management software, and cause PLCs often need to run 24/7
quired in recent years. Most recently, infrastructure lifecycle needs. without security updates; they’re op-
all of their collaborative efforts, syn- Belden demonstrated several man- timized for real-time operations and
ergies and solutions were highlighted aged Ethernet switches, firewalls and not for robust network connections;
in presentations and exhibits at the other products at its design seminar, in- they often have multiple entry points
Belden Industrial Ethernet Design cluding Eagle 30 that protects network that they don’t know about; and they’re
Seminar on Sept. 22-23 at the Royal perimeters, Eagle Tofino that secures poorly segmented so any viruses that
Sonesta Hotel in Houston. zones in networks and Eagle 20 that pro- do get in spread quickly.”
In his industrial Ethernet presenta- tects remote access for external devices. Because the usual perimeter defenses
tion, Mark Wylie, Belden’s global ver- Besides protecting against intrusions aren’t enough, Howard added that users
tical market manager, reported there and attacks from outside, Scott How- need to cooperate with their contractors
are 12 best practices for implementing ard, Belden’s commercial engineer, to jointly scan their network devices for
it, including segmenting networks into added in his address that industrial vulnerable PCs; monitor high network
physical subnets and into functional network security must also address that loads for misconfigured or misbehaving
VLANs; connecting to the enterprise/ fact that 80% of incidents are uninten- components; employ IT-based pattern
IT level; fulfilling other switch require- tional. “Cybersecurity is also all about behavior matching; use whitelisting to
ments, such as Power over Ethernet improving network reliability, reduc- help block any suspicious or unauthor-
(PoE) and video; specifying traffic con- ing downtime, improving productiv- ized traffic; generate alerts and alarms;
trol and quality of service of require- ity and reducing operating costs,” said and set up more or doubled firewalls be-
ments; meeting IP protection ratings; Howard. “Unfortunately, many indus- tween functional zones to allow only au-
and managing security, environmental trial networks can be vulnerable, soft thorized traffic.

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 In Process

“It’s crucial to put all these security through a voting process that con- the HART Communication Foundation.
layers in place, but it’s also important for cluded on Aug. 30. FieldComm Group will consolidate
users to realize that the lifecycle of as- The new corporation, called Field- offices in Austin, Texas, and function
sessing, implementing and maintaining Comm Group, will be led by a board as a single entity beginning Jan. 1,
security never ends,” explained Howard. of directors comprised of representa- 2015. Until that time, the HART Com-
tives from the current boards of each munication Foundation and Fieldbus
foundation. Hans-Georg Kumpf- Foundation will continue to operate
Fieldbus and HART mueller has been elected as the inau-
gural chairman of the board. He will
independently.

Foundations lead the direction of the FieldComm

ISA100 Wireless
Approve Formation of
Group and oversee the addition of FDI
LLC in mid-2015.
Standard Gains Final
FieldComm Group Kumpfmueller said the formation

The final step in constructing a single

of FieldComm Group is “a major step
forward for the process industries by le-
IEC Approval
organization to lead process automa- veraging the strengths of each indus- ANSI/ISA-100.11a-2011, “Wireless
tion communications and integration try-leading protocol and adding the Systems for Industrial Automation:
technologies was completed when the value of the next-generation integra- Process Control and Related Appli-
members of both the HART Commu- tion strategy.” cations,” has been unanimously ap-
nication Foundation and the Field- Ted Masters will serve as president and proved by the International Electro-
bus Foundation approved the merger CEO of FieldComm Group. He cur- technical Commission (IEC) as an
proposed by their respective boards rently serves in the same capacity with international standard and will be

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 IN PROCESS

published by year end with the des- customers in the process industry and to its customers, including factory ac-
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CT1410_54_61_InPro.indd 61 10/7/14 5:57 PM

 RESOURCES

Commanding Data
Control’s Monthly Resource Guide

FIND THE RIGHT TOOL FOR DATA LOGGING BTU/hr) of cooling. System design, data, hardware, recording, printing
What’s the right tool for logging data water quality, maintenance routines, and storage, data tables and more. It
from a process control application? cooling tower design and cooling-coil also contains a list of other informa-
Sometimes a CSV file is all that’s load all affect chiller water plant effi- tion resources and a glossary of terms.
needed. Sometimes Excel will do. ciency and the expense of operating It’s available on request in a hardbound
More often though, engineers and sys- the system. The focus of this guide is version or free and downloadable from
tem integrators will use either a rela- on using data to evaluate the potential Omega. www.omega.com/literature/
tional database or a real-time historian positive impacts of controlling chilled transactions/
to store permanent records of process water coil differential temperature Omega
data. Both have advantages and disad- (ΔT) on overall chilled water plant ef- www.omega.com
vantages. The correct choice will de- ficiency. The best way to determine
pend on your application. This white chiller plant and chilled water coil ΔT BIGGER PLANT, BIGGER DATA
paper examines the pros and cons is to gather and analyze data. This data In this case study by Control execu-
of both systems and the factors you is often available at the plant level, but tive editor Jim Montague, learn how
should take into consideration before is frequently not available at the indi- cheesemaker Foremost Farms USA ad-
making a choice. www.controlglobal. vidual coil level. A great way to col- dressed the issue of the need for big-
com/whitepapers/2014/relational-da- lect this missing data is by using tem- ger data when it doubled the size of
tabase-or-real-time-historian-for-log- porarily deployable data loggers. www. its cheesemaking operation. To col-
ging-process-data/ controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2014/ lect, organize and interpret all its ex-
Cogent Re al-Time Systems
using-data-loggers-to-improve-chilled- tra cheese production data—and make
www.cogentdatahub.com water-plant-efficiency/ useful decisions based on it—Foremost
Farms decided to skip the usual chart
DATA ACQUISITION TECHNIQUES recorders and loggers, and expand
Data acquisition and control systems its data acquisition (DAQ) and his-
need to get real-world signals into the torian capabilities within its existing
computer. These signals come from a HMI/SCADA software and interfaces.
diverse range of instruments and sen- Learn how they did it here. www.con-
sors, and each type of signal needs spe- trolglobal.com/articles/2014/expand-
cial consideration. This link highlights ing-your-process-automation-plant-re-
points to think about, and should help quires-bigger-data-too/
you identify the most suitable interface ControlGlobal.com
for your measurements. Subjects cov- www.controlglobal.com
ered include voltage, current and power
signals, high-impedance probes, ther- DAQ BASIC TRAINING
mocouples, temperature, displacement Onse t Computer Corpor ation This free, no-registration-required
and light level measurement, encoders, www.onsetcomp.com PDF covers the basics of data acquisi-
counter-timers, DAQ software and more. tion using a PC. Subjects covered in-
www.microlink.co.uk/dataaq.html THE BIG BOOK OF DAQ clude transducers, signal conditioning,
Microlink Engineering Solutions The Omega Transactions Series, Vol. DAQ hardware and software, amplifi-
www.microlink.co.uk 2, Complete Data Acquisition and cation, isolation, filtering, basic con-
Computer Handbook and Encyclope- derations for analog inputs, sampling
KEEPING YOUR COOL WITH DATA LOGGERS dia, is a comprehensive reference for rates, and more. http://colos.inf.um.es/
Chilled water plant efficiency refers all things DAQ. It covers analog and rlab/varios/CDQTUTO.pdf
to the total electrical energy it takes to digital functionally and signal trans- National Instruments
produce and distribute a ton (12,000 mission, presentation and analysis of ww w.ni.com

If you know of any tools and resources we didn’t include, send them to [email protected] with
“Resource” in the subject line, and we’ll add them to the website.

62 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_62_Resources.indd 62 10/7/14 6:03 PM

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 It’s a scary
new world in
process control,
but you can defend
your plant against
cyber attack.
by William L. Mostia

64 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_64_73_CoverStory.indd 64 10/7/14 6:06 PM

 cybersecurity

I
n ancient times, map makers would sometimes mark un- ICS-CERT also provides a Cybersecurity Evaluation Tool
known areas on a map with a dragon indicating that there (CSET), a desktop software tool that guides users through a
were some potential hazards present in that area. The cy- step-by-step process to assess their control system and infor-
ber world is a constantly evolving technological and social- mation technology network security practices against recog-
political environment that presents a growing knowledge nized industry standards. CSET provides a prioritized list
base of known cyber threats (which unfortunately can have of recommendations for improving the cybersecurity pos-
the power to mutate into a new hazard) and unknown cyber ture of the organization’s enterprise and industrial control
hazards (our metaphorical dragons). systems. This discussion is primarily applicable to process
In 2010, the control industry was turned on its head when control, but many of the aspects discussed here apply to the
control systems manufactured by Siemens suffered an attack broader area of industrial automation.
by the Stuxnet cyber worm. It appears that while the worm
was turned into the wild, it was harmless unless it discovered Process Control Systems vs. IT Systems
its intended target—the control system that controlled the Process control systems and IT systems both use computer
uranium processing equipment in Iran. There is speculation systems to achieve their goals. The IT systems are typically
that the worm was developed by Israel and the United States used in chemical, refining or oil and gas production compa-
to attack Iran’s nuclear bomb program and may be one of the nies for a wide range of purposes, including employee work-
first “weaponized” cyber attacks. This brought cybersecurity stations, engineering, human resources and accounting.
for control systems into the sunlight. These companies produce chemical and refining products,
Subsequent Stuxnet derivatives Duqu and Flame do not often using inherently dangerous processes that are kept
appear to be weaponized, but appear to be data collection under control through process control and safety systems.
malware. Experts speculate that they were designed to col- These system use a mixture of commercial off-the-shelf
lect data to give intruders the ability to easily conduct a future (COTS) technology systems, e.g., Windows-based computer
attack against potential third-party targets. All this may well systems, Ethernet, etc.; purpose-manufactured computer
represent a call to arms in the developing cyber war in our systems such as DCSs, PLCs, smart field instruments; and
little piece of the universe. However, there may be a poten- bespoke control and monitoring systems. This creates a di-
tial upside to Stuxnet, for as a wise man, Edgar Watson Howe verse cyber environment where the hardware and software
(1853-1937), observed, “A good scare is worth more to a man configuration will be unique to each process controlled, and
than good advice.” the cyber risk profile will vary on an installation-to-installa-
This article concerns itself with the narrow domain of tion basis. There will also be commonalities, such as indus-
process control, which we consider to include the basic pro- try-common communication architectures, and similarities
cess control systems (BPCS), i.e. DCS, PLC, field instru- associated with a particular brand of DCS or PLC.
mentation and safety systems in the process industries. The Process control and IT also have different priorities and
process control cyber domain will normally also include su- vested interests. The general information technology com-
pervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. puting system domain priorities are protection of data (confi-
dentiality, loss prevention, data integrity, etc.), continuation
Critical Infrastructure Sectors of service and system integrity.
The U.S. Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21), “Critical The priorities of the process control domain are safe op-
Infrastructure Security and Resilience,” identifies critical infra- eration, availability (high uptime, high production rates),
structure sectors, which include the chemical and energy sec- quality (on-spec product), and efficiency (lowest production
tors. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formed the cost).
Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team Theft of control data, while a consideration, is not a top
(ICS-CERT) to work with law enforcement agencies and the in- concern unless it would directly impact one of the above
telligence community, and to collaborate with international and four priorities. The exception to this might be loss of pro-
private sector computer emergency response teams (CERTs) to prietary recipes. Damage to control databases or damage to
share control systems-related security incidents and mitigation required regulatory databases would impact the four con-
countermeasures (https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/). trol priorities.

O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com 65

CT1410_64_73_CoverStory.indd 65 10/7/14 6:06 PM

 cybersecurity

The consequences of a breach are substantially different Vulnerability of Process Control Systems
for IT and process control systems. Breaching an IT system Industrial automation and control systems have become
can have substantial financial, loss of privacy and denial more vulnerable to potential cyber threats over time due to
of service consequences. Successfully breaching a process the following trends:
control system could lead to threats to life and limb (loss • Increased use of COTS technology and protocols in
of containment leading to fire, explosion or release of toxic control systems;
material), damage to the environment and significant fi- • The demand for open systems;
nancial loss. Figure 1 (p.70) illustrates some, but not all, of • Enterprise and plant computer system integration;
the potential consequences in the process control systems. • T he trend to outsource engineering and technical sup-
Failure to understand the difference between the pro- port to third parties, as well as the design and manufac-
cess control systems and the facility IT networks can turing of control hardware and software;
lead to unnecessary conf lict between the process con- • Increased use of joint ventures that creates more poten-
trol department and the IT department. Process control tial access vulnerabilities;
cybersecurity requires close collaboration between the • Demand for remote access both internal and external
process control department and the IT department be- to the company;
cause many of the threats to a process control system may • Increased availability of online documentation for con-
come through the facility’s computer network or enter- trol systems.
prise IT systems, and many of the vulnerabilities come All is not lost, though. Legacy systems can sometimes
from COTS devices used in the process control system. provide some protection against cyber attack. Some of these
A quote by Benjamin Franklin comes to mind here: “We protections include:
must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang • Proprietary design of hardware and digital networks
separately.” (particularly prior to the Windows invasion of HMIs);

Benchmark. Collaborate. Interpret.

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CT1410_full page ads.indd 67 10/7/14 6:12 PM

 cybersecurity

• Diverse hardware with limited in- systems (a control system philosophy • A physical “write protect” jumper in
tegration, e.g., different hardware that goes back to the early 1980s); many field devices and keylock pro-
for DCS, PLC, safety systems, etc.; • Specific expertise in control sys- gram protect in PLCs (assuming the
• Lack of situational knowledge of tems, including legacy hardware, manufacturer has not left in a back-
the process under control; architecture, interconnection and door, remote, software override);
• Control of writes in PLC and safety configuration; • T he risk-based layer of protection
philosophy and SIS standards in
place in the past 20 years, which
provides protection against loss of
containment, but not necessarily
against financial losses due to a

We Have loss of control.

There is clear and convincing evi-
dence of the threat of cyber attacks on

You Covered... business and personal computers, and

there is a clear belief that control sys-
tems are potentially vulnerable to cyber
attack, but there was also a general lack
of public specifics (even scrubbed ones)
of the actual successful external cyber at-
tacks to process control systems that led
to a loss of control and the result thereof.
Stuxnet and its derivatives are the
most bandied about bogeyman, but
many times by people who are obvi-
ously not knowledgeable in process
control. This may be due in part to
the normal corporation defensive
mechanism of circling the wagons
when it comes to releasing informa-
tion that might be perceived as a
weakness, give an advantage to an
competitor, or create perceived legal
liabilities. There may be some relief
in sight with the new Oil and Natu-
ral Gas Information Sharing and
Analysis Center (ONG-ISAC, http://
ongisac.org/), which will facilitate
the exchange of information to help
evaluate risks and provide up-to-date
security guidance to U.S. companies.
While the American Petroleum Insti-
tute (API, www.api.org) helped form
this ISAC (one of 17 sector-based
ISACs), it will be a standalone orga-
nization, headquartered in Washing-
ton, D.C., and supported by industry.
This lack of specifics unfortunately
puts control engineers in the unenviable
position of being told that the barbar-
www.mustangeng.com/automation ians are surely at the gate, but not know-
ing who, what and, most important, how

CT1410_64_73_CoverStory.indd 68 10/7/14 6:06 PM

 cybersecurity

they will get through the gate, and what risk assessment should be performed and not just a battle or skirmish, to
they will do if they do. in the FEED stage of the project and maintain the integrity of the system
Cybersecurity is often a reactionary on the final installed design. This as- over its lifetime.
business, reacting to the next virus or sessment should include cybersecurity Manufacturers of the control
cyber worm du jour, and that will al- from a system lifecycle perspective be- equipment also typically provide pur-
ways be the case as long as there are new cause, like safety, it’s an ongoing war pose-built control system firewalls for
zero-day vulnerabilities to be found. It
is also possible to be proactive by un-
derstanding the cyber attack within the
context of the control and safety system
environment, and limiting the poten-
tial negative effects through the uses of
countermeasures and the native control
and safety system design.

New System Considerations

Purchasing a new control system to-
SECURE REAL-TIME ACCESS
day should get you control systems that TO YOUR PLANT DATA
conform to international standards FROM ANYWHERE
such as ISA99/IEC 62443: “Industrial
Network and System Security” or the
NO Open Firewall Ports NO Programming Required
WIB–Process Automation Users As-
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“Process Control Domain Security Re- Full bi-directional communications and control
quirements for Vendors.” (If the one
you have in mind doesn’t conform, buy Skkynet Secure Cloud Service now makes it easy
a different system). There are also or- to securely network your data to other locations,
ganizations and companies that certify consolidate information from remote plants, share
equipment and engineering processes data for predictive maintenance and use a web HMI
to these standards such as the ISA Se- to view data from around the globe. No new security
curity Compliance Institute’s ISASe- hardware or VPN needed. Your plant systems remain
cure (IEC 62443, www.isasecure.org)
invisible to the Internet and you only share what you
or Wurldtech’s Achilles Practices Cer-
want with who you want.
tification (www.wurldtech.com).
Several things need to be noted
Real-Time Data Made Easy:
about installing new systems. The first
is that new systems will be installed
networking, web HMI,
into a constantly evolving cybersecu- data logging, remote monitor
rity environment where a new system and control.
can become a vulnerable legacy system
overnight if care is not taken, which
makes lifecycle and sustainability con-
siderations important. The second is Learn more at
that with the potential exception of an www.skkynet.com/cloud
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cybersecurity infrastructure with its
weaknesses and strengths. Third, cer-
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protection against cyber attacks. To
address these issues, a cybersecurity

CT1410_64_73_CoverStory.indd 69 10/7/14 6:06 PM

 cybersecurity

Process control cyber domain consequences

Loss of control, safety Loss of critical

integrity, or operational proprietary information
situational awareness

Loss of
proprietary
Plant recipes Remote
networks Threat vector Threat vector access
Safety
(loss of containment) Business
Loss process
control
intellectual
Fire/explosion property
Loss of
production due
to reduced rates
and/or outages
Loss of
Toxic release other critical
Off-spec data
product
Unknown/Rogue
Threat vector Threat vector access
Wireless Higher Loss of
Environmental operating
operating and
maintenance data
costs

Damage to
assets and
property Malicious software, which
does not lead to loss of
control, safety, or loss of
data but represent cost
burden to company

Internal threats

the worst that can happen

Figure 1: A break-in of your systems through a cyber attack can have many far-reaching and expensive consequences.

new and existing systems, as do many OEMs. Many of Existing Systems

these are based on Belden/Tofino Security’s (www.tofi- Existing control systems represent a wide spectrum of tech-
nosecurity.com) deep packet inspection technology. Ex- nologies and designs spread over 40 years of the control system
amples of this are Honeywell’s (www.honeywellprocess. digital era. Some of the vulnerabilities and hidden strengths
com) Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) series, of existing systems were discussed above. The biggest vulner-
consisting of three pre-configured Tofino security appli- ability is probably the use of COTS Microsoft products in
ances—Modbus TCP Firewall, OneWireless Firewall and control systems coupled with Ethernet interconnectivity and
Modbus Read-Only Firewall; Schneider Electric/Inven- removable storage media (e.g., thumb or stick drives).
sys/Triconex’s (http://iom.invensys.com/EN/Pages/Tri- Everyone the author interviewed for this article agreed that
conex.aspx) Tofino Firewall; and Crouse-Hinds/MTL’s the first step for an existing system was a cybersecurity risk
(www.mtl-inst.com) Tofino Industrial Security System. assessment. Eric Byres, chief technology officer at Tofino Se-
Other examples of control system industrial security ap- curity, suggests as a second step that the user should identify
pliances are the Waterfall for Modbus and the Unidirec- the “family jewels” and protect them. High-risk processes’ vul-
tional Security Gateway from Waterfall Security (www. nerabilities should also have priority. Any low-hanging fruit
waterfall-security.com) and Deep-Secure’s (www.deep-se- should be next, and then plan to remediate the rest of the vul-
cure.com) Modbus Guard appliance. nerabilities in a timely manner based on the risk level. As with
In addition, more discussions of firewalls in process safety, the risk you do not mitigate is risk you assume.
control application can be found in the following two The Cybersecurity Evaluation Tool self-evaluation tool
references, including “Firewall Deployment for SCADA was discussed above. There are third-party vendors who
and Process Control Networks Good Practice Guide” provide these risks assessments and other cybersecurity
from the Center for the Protection of the National Infra- services; e.g., aeSolutions (www.aesolns.com), exida (www.
structure, 2005 (www.cpni.gov.uk) and “Next Generation exida.com), Kenexis (www.kenexis.com) and others. The
Firewalls for Industrial Control and Automation Systems major control system manufacturers also provide cybersecu-
(ICAS) Security,” (www.synergistscada.com/next-genera- rity services. Before one starts this journey, the control and
tion-firewalls-for-industrial-control-and-automation-sys- safety systems’ manufacturer(s) should be contacted to see
tems-icas-security). what help they can provide.

70 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_64_73_CoverStory.indd 70 10/7/14 6:07 PM

 secure plan(t)

Proactive Protection for your Process Control Systems.

Honeywell offers a systemic approach to help mitigate the risks of the evolving cyber
threat landscape. Industrial IT Solutions is a complete portfolio of services and tools that
employ best practices in process control and cyber security. Honeywell global experts
help users develop a security scheme to preserve key assets and ensure data availability,
integrity and confidentiality. Honeywell’s Industrial IT solutions deliver a more predictable
and secure environment – regardless of control system vendor or location.
Securing a reliable, productive operation.

For more information go to becybersecure.com Or visit our blog at insecurity.honeywellprocess.com

Also, follow us @insecculture
©2014 Honeywell International, Inc. All right reserved.

CT1410_full page ads.indd 71 10/7/14 6:13 PM

 CYBERSECURITY

Conduit
Corporate Level 4
servers Enterprise zone
Internet

Zones

Plant DMZ Level 3

Site network

Domain Data
Workstation Workstation Workstation historian
controller
Remote
access Backdoor
Data Advanced
Control layer historian control
level 2 module
Process control network
(PNC)

SIS SIS DCS Control PLC DCS Control

Controller PLC gateway Operator
interface
(HMI)

Engineering
workstation BPCS Control room

Control equipment room

Field instruments
BPCS
SIS (Typ) Level 1
(Typ)

THE CONDUIT/ZONE APPROACH

Figure 2: In this approach, firewalls or security appliances are used to control the conduits (access paths) to protect from cyber
threats passing from one zone to another.

What to Do Once You Know changes. Access controls such as passwords, keylocks, pass
Once your risk assessment is complete, a risk mitigation plan cards, etc. should be maintained, and all unused logical and
should be developed to address the cybersecurity risk assess- hardware ports should be turned off or, in the case of USB
ment recommendations in a timely manner based on the ports, locked out.
identified level of risk and operational timing. The common
protection approach is a layered approach, that is, “defense Standards
in depth” similar in concept to safety’s layer of protection The ISA99/IEC IEC 62443 group of standards is a good
methodology. In this approach, the computer architecture place to start your journey into the world of cybersecurity.
is divided into conduits (access paths) and zones (grouping ANSI/ISA-99.00.01-2007 (currently under revision as ISA/
of instrumentation and controls with a common functional- IEC 62443-1), “Security for Industrial Automation and Con-
ities). Figure 2 is based on the four-zone approach in ANSI/ trol Systems Part 1: Terminology, Concepts, and Models”
ISA–99.02.01–2009. Firewalls or security appliances are typ- provide a good beginning.
ically used to control the conduits (access paths) to protect ISA S84 committee has also developed a technical report
from cyber threats passing from one zone to another. Soft- ISA-TR84.00.09-2013, “Security Countermeasures Related
ware-based protection on individual computers is typically to Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS),” to provide cyberse-
provided for at the system level, and more secure control curity guidance for SIS. In addition, the new update to IEC
hardware may be installed in the high-risk zones. 61511 will require that a security risk assessment be carried
Cybersecurity is to a large extent a matter of controlling out to identify the security vulnerabilities of the SIS.
the external and internal unauthorized access to the process AIChemE CCPS (www.aiche.org/ccps) has also pub-
control system and the control of unauthorized or inadvertent lished Cybersecurity for Executives: A Practical Guide.

72 www.controlglobal.com O C T O B E R / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_64_73_CoverStory.indd 72 10/7/14 6:07 PM

 CYBERSECURITY

Detection and Recovery provided by the manufacturers and, in some cases, the
We’ve been talking the threats and countermeasures, but user should ensure that any additional cyber risk due to
what happens if the countermeasures don’t work? The the integration is mitigated to an acceptable level.
ability to detect a cyber attack and take action in a timely A properly designed safety system is not the answer to cy-
manner is key to limiting the potential compromised sys- ber threats, but it can move much of the risk back to finan-
tems and the effect on the control systems. Would your cial ones, such as outages, reduced rates, off-spec product,
operators be able to detect a cyber attack on the control increased production and maintenance costs, etc.
system? Operators are the first line of defense for detect-
ing abnormal behavior of the process under control. Will Conclusions
your automated intrusion detection systems detect the at- There is no doubt that cyber attacks pose a potential threat
tack before it’s too late? If a cyber attack were detected, to process control systems and their associated safety sys-
how would you isolate the threat before it does too much tems. The process control system’s cyber domain, however,
damage, or eliminate the threat? has significant differences, such as priorities, computer hard-
If there were a successful cyber attack, how would you ware, different network architectures and mixture of differ-
recover? If your control databases were corrupted, how ent communication protocols, from the traditional IT envi-
would you recover? This is an obviously a good place for ronment. A significant difference is that a successful cyber
a recovery plan. attack on a control system that results in a loss of control can
have serious life and limb consequences, as well significant
Safety Systems financial loss should a safety incident result.
Safety systems in the process industries represent a layer The solution is to recognize that there is a potential threat
of protection to the cybersecurity threat. This protection and to perform a cyber risk assessment to identify existing vul-
can include alarm, override and interlock systems in the nerabilities, risks and security gaps, and to develop and imple-
BPCS, but the primary protection resides with the SIS ment a plan to address the cyber risks and lower them to an ac-
and the non-instrumented IPLs such as relief valves. ceptable risk tolerance in a timely manner. The priority should
Separation and independence between the BPCS and be to protect the “family jewels” and high-risk processes. Cy-
SIS has been is a key safety system philosophy. There bersecurity standards are available from ISA/IEC, as is guid-
has been a technology trend toward integration of the ance from the U.S. government. It seems that for cybersecurity,
DCS with the SIS where the independence and separa- there are dragons out there, but with sufficient preparedness,
tion line has become increasingly blurred from the old we can begin to defend ourselves from known threats and de-
days when the control system and the safety system were veloping ones.
physically separate. This trend increases the potential cy-
ber risk exposure by reducing the separation “distance” William L. Mostia, PE, Fellow SIS-TECH Solutions is a frequent contributor to
and independence of the two systems. Countermeasures Control.

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CT1410_64_73_CoverStory.indd 73 10/7/14 6:08 PM

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CT1410_full page ads.indd 74 10/7/14 6:13 PM

 D I S T R I B U T E D C O N T R O L / I T I N T E G R AT I O N

IT Tools Elevate
DCS Capabilities
Fewer rivalries and bet ter coll aboration are
allowing distributed processes to apply more
IT-based exper tise, sof t ware and net working to
streamline operations — and may even enable
more BYOD, if securit y can be maintained.

by Jim Montague

T
here’s an inevitable progression when process applica- then integrated the new DCS into its own functional con-
tions and their distributed control systems (DCSs) get trol system design (Figure 1). So instead of the usual, frag-
their first fieldbus connections, Ethernet ports and In- mented PLC/SCADA solution, Byworth implemented mul-
ternet protocol (IP) addresses—and they all move toward tiple Freelance controllers, usually one per boiler, and then
information technology (IT) and its debatable focus on au- integrated them into its boiler-house system by duplicating
thentication over uptime. Luckily, despite past prejudices Freelance’s system code and making slight changes needed
and rivalries, there are many useful tools and friends in IT, by particular boilers. No master supervisory controller is
who can help DCSs take advantage of their increasingly needed because ABB’s network connection between con-
broad and mobile network ties and Internet links. trollers provides one system view from any control position.
For instance, Byworth Boilers (http://byworth.co.uk) in Freelance and Unity’s system consists of a Freelance 2013:
Keighley, U.K., builds industrial steam and hot-water boilers PM 783F controller running on a 2-MB central processing
and accessories, including its Unity intelligent boiler-house unit, as well as two DC 732F digital I/O modules, one AI
control system. The company recently sought to improve its 723F analog input module, one AX 722F analog I/O module
controls by reconsidering a boiler as one complex process, and Control Builder F Professional software with DigiVis
which could be better controlled as a single system, instead process visualization. Also, a touchscreen PC is used for lo-
of depending on several, discrete, standalone controllers for cal display and operations.
each loop, such as water-level maintenance. Combined with “Current integrated systems simply aren’t using the data
improved sensors to improve control quality, Byworth re- they collect in an effective manner,” says Jason Atkinson, By-
ports its unified approach to control allows all critical loops worth’s control system developer. “With Unity, we thought
and discrete measurements to be combined to produce a ho- about how all of these discrete signals can be brought to-
listic system with cross-coupled and feed-forward actions, gether and made to work in a user-friendly system that’s far
which produces optimized boiler control at all times, regard- greater than the sum of its parts. What we’re offering is a
less of external variables and disturbances. boiler house that makes intelligent decisions based on mul-
To achieve its single-control vision and adopt the most tiple pieces of information.”
useful control hardware, functional specification, software As a result, Unity operators can view boiler-house data analy-
design and initial commissioning, Byworth evaluated sev- ses and trends relating to many values from a central user in-
eral supporting control systems, and selected ABB’s (www. terface, built-in touchscreen, or remotely via PCs, tablet PCs or
abb.com/freelance) Freelance because of its DCS-struc- smartphones. These values include Byworth’s boiler and mani-
tured, all-in-one database for control and graphical display, fold pressures, boiler water levels and conductivity, hot-well lev-
compact size, ease of programming and lower cost, and els and temperatures, blowdown temperatures, flue temperature

O C T O B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com 75

CT1410_75_79_Feature2.indd 75 10/8/14 12:24 PM

 D i s t r i b u t e d C o n t r o l / IT I n t e g r a t i o n

BetaGauge 330
Pressure Calibrator
with Internal
electric pump
Finally a calibrator that
can handle pressure,
mA, and temperature
with a press of a button.

ABB
Bigger, Smarter Boilers
Figure 1: Byworth Boilers recently added ABB’s Freelance DCS to its Unity intelligent
boiler-house control system, which has an all-in-one database that enables operators
to access data analyses and trends from a central user interface or touchscreen, or
remotely via PCs, tablet PCs or smartphones.

and gas analysis, and other ancillary val- closer to processes for better quality and
ues, depending on boiler configuration. cost effectiveness, and locate people fur-
In addition, all alarms and tests con- ther away from processes for safety, re-
ducted are logged and can be exported duced costs and greater efficiency,” says
to a printer if required, while a straight- Bernhard Eschelmann, technology man-
forward traffic-light warning system ager of ABB’s (www.abb.com) process au-
alerts users to any changes in plant con- tomation division. “The impact of these
ditions and draws focus to areas requir- goals drive advances in fieldbus and wire-
ing attention or adjustments. less communications; improve cyberse-
Atkinson adds this comprehensive, curity; integrate horizontal and vertical
joined-up approach to managing mul- systems and automation and electrical
tiple processes gives Unity a unique applications; enhance operator efficiency
advantage over other control systems, in central control rooms with remotely in-
which typically employ third-party ap- tegrated operations; improve value-added
plications to control each aspect of the functionality such as analyzing data from
boiler house. Also, several options are control systems; and increase uptime by
available to connect Unity remotely by using remote access, diagnostics, services
local area network (LAN) or wide area and asset management.
network (WAN), or more recently, via “So, control may be found on any
3G connectivity. These links help Unity one or multiple levels, such as drives,
to quickly integrate into machine-to- controllers, server and smart fieldbus
machine (M2M) architectures, which devices, depending on their time, safety
allows more productive service visits via and availability requirements. However,
predictive maintenance and pre-access- there’s still a requirement to separate
ing problems as they develop, as well as critical process control from IT, but si-
avoiding expensive, unplanned down- multaneously more data needs to be
time and costly, energy-wasting, abnor- provided to the IT environment in a se-
mal running conditions. cure way, so more components like rout-
“There’s a need to continuously in- ers/switchers, will require IT knowledge
crease productivity, move equipment at the control level.”

White Paper Available Online

CT1410_75_79_Feature2.indd 76 10/8/14 12:24 PM

 D i s t r i b u t e d C o n t r o l / IT I n t e g r a t i o n

Cooperation Cures Misunderstandings We test patches at Emerson, determine

Of course, the improvements in By- which are critical and which can wait,
worth’s boilers are directly assisted by and work with users to apply them based
mainstream, IT-supported data process- on their schedules, required latency and
ing, networking and software, and these service levels. Now the big push is in
gains are indirectly aided by better work- monitoring networks for threats, so users
ing relationships between plant-floor and also need to have the right permissions.
IT personnel and closer ties among the So we think the control side won’t be in-
systems and networks they use. vaded by IT, but instead we’ll have more
“There are still big chasms between IT-friendly capabilities on the plant floor,
IT and automation infrastructures, but such as providing reports showing that
they’re getting smaller because today’s all users have passwords, or confirming
DCSs have more commercial, off-the- IP addresses for all connected devices. Stainless Steel
shelf (COTS) hardware and software In fact, DeltaV already locks all unused housed Ultrasonic
than ever. And because COTS comes ports, controls MAC addresses and reg-
from the IT space, more IT is getting isters workstations on a database accord-
Clamp-On Flowmeter
into the control world,” says Peter Mar- ing to predefined assignments. Also, our
tin, vice president of business value con-
sulting at Schneider Electric (www2.
year-old DeltaV firewall contains auto-
mation oriented firmware, so it and its FLUXUS®
schneider-electric.com) and a member
of Control’s Process Automation Hall of
users can pick only the servers and com-
munications that they want to exchange
7407.316SE
Fame. “In fact, the physical platforms
used by process control systems (PCSs)
data with, document activity, and set up
alerts and alarms.”
for Liquids and Gases
are close to becoming indistinguishable Mark Wylie, global vertical market-
 Highly accurate and reliable
from their IT counterparts. Plant-floor ing manager at Belden (www.belden. bidirectional gas and liquid
SCADA systems used in PCSs look just com), agrees that IT and controls have flow measurement over a
like a lot of business hardware and soft- converged around Ethernet, but each wide turndown ratio
ware. So the opportunity now is less inte- still retains different priorities. Control
 Extremly rugged and
grating two sides because technology has systems protect the availability of their corrosion resistant stainless
already brought them together, but more processes, but IT protects confidentiality steel housing for the
rethinking their remaining functional and data integrity. So what they’re trying harshest environments -
separations. IT is based on business to develop now are hybrid experts that including Offshore
transactions and human-scale sched- can speak to both worlds, manage their (FM Class I, Div. 2 approved)
ules, but plant-floor control and com- requirements and priorities, and develop  Very cost efficient:
puting is based on real-time timeframes well-planned Ethernet networks that can - No pipe work
relative to processes being controlled. use the strengths of both sides.” - No process shut-downs
What needed is for IT and automation - Virtually no maintenance
to be less enamored of new technologies Collaboration + Cloud = Efficiency  Highly zero point stable,
like the cloud, big data and the Internet Similarly, many recent innovations can drift free and independent
of Things, and concentrate on specific also help distributed control applica- of pipe size, material, line
problems they can solve with them.” tions maximize the benefits of coop- pressure and the medium
Claudio Fayad, marketing director for eration between IT and the plant floor. (NIST traceable calibrated)
DeltaV and DeltaV SIS at Emerson Pro- “There’s stronger integration between
cess Management (www.emersonproc- process control and IT now, but it’s still Oil & Gas exploration and processing I
ess.com), reports that, “Process control very different than what goes on in the Refineries (up to 750 °F and beyond) I
got the IT world’s attention when we traditional IT world,” says Jack Gregg, di- Oil & Gas Storage & Transport I
Chemical industries
began using Ethernet and then wire- rector of Experion product marketing at
less, but IT and automation soon real- Honeywell Process Solutions (www.hon-
ized that process applications require eywellprocess.com). “And the latest tech- FLEXIM
different policies than the current IT nical innovations, like virtualized com- AMERICAS Corporation
policies since, for instance, they can’t be puting and cloud-based engineering, are
routinely stopped for software patching. integrating us even closer. Honeywell Toll free: 1 888 852 7473
www.flexim.com
[email protected]

CT1410_75_79_Feature2.indd 77 10/8/14 12:25 PM

 D i s t r i b u t e d C o n t r o l / IT I n t e g r a t i o n

Daily email Alarms

reports
SMS
SCADA SCADA

LAN
Ethernet
LAN switch
LAN Talk2M
WAN server
(private VPN)

EtherNET/IP
Internet HIMA Himatrix
eWON Flexy

WAN
Modbus TCP
ControlLogix

(V
PLC
(private VPN)

PN)
WAN

SCADA/
RSLinx

eWON Flexy

DNO HQ Summail DNO Gas Plant, Kurdistan, Iraq

(corporate ERP)
ANG Automation Solutions,
Dubai, UAE

PLCs Play Nice

Summail Gas Plant in the Kurdistan region of Iraq uses three of eWon’s Flexy 201 base modules to communicate between HIMA
and Rockwell Automation PLCs and one Flexy 201 base module with a WAN extension card to provide remote access, support and
troubleshooting from the plant in Iraq to the company’s headquarters in Dubai.

and our customers are executing many projects in the cloud. In tool assist in this area by checking that all nodes on a net-
the past, control engineering work had to be done in one place, work are up to date, and then applies patches where needed.
but with the cloud, we can work and collaborate from wherever Honeywell also introduced its Secure Communications ca-
we’re at, which also means we can leverage resources anywhere pabilities option this past April, which provides encrypted
in the world.” communications between control system nodes, prevent-
Gregg explains that Honeywell and its clients use its cloud- ing intruders from seeing what users are doing on their net-
based Virtual Engineering Platform (VEP), which lets users works and stops man-in-the-middle attacks as well. “This is
perform design and engineering tasks in a simulated, design- a control system perspective with an IT hat on,” says Gregg.
independent environment. This is accomplished by separat- “Our technologies are evolving toward virtualization and
ing physical design and functional design. The functional de- the cloud. However, to apply them to process controls, safety
sign can be performed in the cloud or VEP, while the physical and security have to be accounted for, risks assessed and ad-
design is completed separately, and evolves through the proj- dressed, and not just handled afterwards.”
ect. “This means functional design engineers can see simu-
lated in the cloud all the displays, I/O points, controls and Streamlining Longer-Distance Links
software they’re going to use, and it behaves like the dedicated Besides cozying up to IT systems in individual process ap-
controls their systems will actually employ later,” says Gregg. plications and facilities, some DCSs are using their new and
“So instead of spending a year on a traditional factory accep- improved relations with IT to cooperate on aiding more re-
tance test (FAT), many engineers can now do it in a virtual mote functions. For example, the Summail Gas Plant in the
environment and wait to order hardware until later in their Kurdistan region of Iraq is being developed for power gener-
job, which gives them a lot more flexibility and means they ation by DNO International (www.dno.no) in Oslo, Norway,
won’t have to refresh equipment as soon.” which holds stakes in oil and gas blocks in various stages
Gregg adds that IT staffs understand that patch manage- of exploration, development and production in Kurdistan,
ment is key to a secure and reliable control system, and so Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Tunisia and
tools that help the to deploy software patches safely on the Somaliland. Raw wellhead gas is processed to remove toxic
plant floor are crucial. Honeywell’s control system patching gases and moisture content, and a high-capacity compressor

78 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_75_79_Feature2.indd 78 10/8/14 12:25 PM

 D i s t r i b u t e d C o n t r o l / IT I n t e g r a t i o n

builds up the gas pressure required to Bring Your Own—Securely

fuel its power station. Because smartphones and tablet PCs
DNO uses an integrated control and have invaded every area of mainstream
safety system at the Summail plant, life, they’re also inevitably showing up
which includes process controls, emer- in many process facilities. However, the
gency shutdown, fire and gas detection presence of BYOD handhelds is usually
and alarm annunciation systems, and a tightly regulated to avoid unauthorized
fully redundant SCADA server. How- communications and access, and the
ever, as part of new factory acceptance potential for intrusions and data loss.
test (FAT) requirements, the plant’s en- “Many businesses allow employees to
gineers recently learned that safety and bring personal devices to work and link
control components from HIMA (www. to their corporate networks, but we’re
hima.com) and Rockwell Automation not seeing much of this in the process
(www.rockwellautomation.com), re- industries. Most of the BYODs we’re
spectively, needed to communicate to seeing are dedicated, secure, point-to-
exchange critical information. point devices, such as companies giv-
Consequently, system integrator ing out tablet PCs, but requiring them
ANG Automation Solutions (www. to be tied securely to the firm’s secure
ang-me.com) in Dubai, UAE, sug- server, and only allowing them to be
gested using eWon’s (www.ewon.biz) used for company business,” says Roy
Flexy modular M2M routers for re- Tanner, global marketing manager for
mote access and PLC programming, 800xA distributed control platform at
protocol conversion, SMS alarms to ABB. “We have heard of some smaller
field engineers and daily reporting to sites and system integrators that use
DNO’s headquarters. Because it can 800xA on their tablets via VPN connec-
link up and exchange data regardless tion, but these should have at least three
of the protocols used by the devices to six layers of protection, and probably
it’s connecting, Flexy routers were in- still shouldn’t allow access to control
stalled and fine-tuned by ANG in sev- functions. Just like in Jurassic Park, “Na-
eral cabinets before they were shipped ture will find a way,” in this case to have
to the Summail plant. Functioning as control via BYOD and virtualized com-
a Modbus TCP gateway, three Flexy puting, but they’ll first have to prove
201 base modules were used for com- they have the right security layers in
munication between the HIMA and place. For instance, ABB Tropos wire-
Rockwell Automation PLCs, and one less communications can put different
Flexy 201 base module with a WAN security levels and priorities on different
extension card provided remote access, virtual local area networks (VLANs), so
support and troubleshooting from the users can have different VLAN for con-
plant in Iraq to the company’s head- trols, video, guests and other functions,
quarters in Dubai (Figure 2). Combin- and this make it easier to secure mul-
ing a WAN card and Flexy gave the tiple devices.”
main office remote access to its LAN Once security is achieved and main-
network, including PLC program- tained, Tanner adds that ABB can dis-
ming, emergency shutdown system, play KPIs in a 3D format on 800xA’s
SCADA software and modifications. collaboration table, on energy-harvest-
Balaji Vedanarayanan, ANG’s man- ing wireless instruments, or on aug-
aging director, reports that eWon’s solu- mented-reality interfaces such as tab-
tion was seven times less expensive than let PCs or Google Glass that overlay
a standard system using a gateway and value-added information onto existing
VPN server. “So we were more than display images.
happy to take eWon into an oil and gas
application,” added Vedanarayanan. Jim Montague is Control’s executive editor

CT1410_75_79_Feature2.indd 79 10/8/14 12:25 PM

 25 YEARS OF CONTROL

Process Optimization Gains

Industrial Strength
We review 25 years of uneven progress from white coats toward steel-toed boots.
by Paul Studebaker

T
he history of process optimization, as chron- devices. As technology developed in the 1940s
icled over Control’s first 25 years, starts with and 50s, people figured out how to couple these
advanced control: going beyond single-loop devices with each other, and how to get different
control to adequately regulate the critical vari- pneumatic devices called lead-lag elements, cas-
1989 2014
ables of often complex and unruly processes. cade, feed-forward, ratio and so on.
The term “advanced control” was coined in With the promulgation of digital control sys-
the 1940s, according to Russell Rhinehart, now tems in the 1970s and 1980s came new levels
professor at Oklahoma State. At that time, proportional-inte- of automation and control. In the 1970s, “A whole host of
gral (PI) control was most commonly done with pneumatic Continued on page 83

TIMELINE
OCTOBER1988
Control Is Launched at ISA/88 in Houston
The inaugural issue’s 284 pages fail to mention
anything about process optimization. NOVEMBER1989
The Age of Process Optimization
“Levels, pressures and
SEPTEMBER1990 temperatures should only be
constraints in a multivariable
‘Picturing’ the Optimal Process envelope, where the goal of control
Our founding editor in chief Brian is to optimize (maximize) efficiency
Wolske examines the development of and productivity,” says Béla Lipták.
new software that allows users to paint “DCS controllers are still ‘empty
three-dimensional solution surfaces boxes.’ What is needed are high-
as an aid in process optimization. level software packages to ‘educate,’
ECHIP helps identify control variables to give them the personality of a unit
and select experimental designs and process controller.”
“already has been used to produce
better beer, durable tennis racquets
and defect-free semiconductors.”
OCTOBER1991
Rigorous Data Reconciliation Is Key to Optimal Operations
JULY1992 Before applying optimization schemes, it’s important to perform
complete and rigorous model-based reconciliation of the
Too Much Technology Can Hurt You process data to eliminate random errors and gross inaccuracies
“Artificial intelligence, fuzzy due to instrument biases or miscalibrations, leaks or deposits,
logic, statistical process control, stuck valves or other process upsets
mathematical optimizers and
more have found their way into the JUNE1993
process toolbox,” writes “Around the Focus on the Process, Not the Technology
Loop” columnist Terry McMahon. “User-friendly” systems have to offer more than just a nice
“These all can be effective, given the display screen. Often faced with a lack of training among front-
proper setting, but can just as easily line personnel and a lack of understanding among management,
be misapplied.” process control engineers are struggling to define the role of
advanced control technologies.
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 25 YEARS OF CONTROL

AUGUST1994 MARCH1995
Tomorrow’s Control Behind the Allure of Advanced Control
Technology–the Next 10 Years From pneumatic implementations of cascade, feed-
In 10 years, “Extensive advanced forward, ratio and override in the 1940s to the current
control strategies and simulation expansion of linear model-based and predictive controls
software is running in the to non-linear processes, experts help technical editor
background, making many of the Paul Studebaker define the different interpretations of
low-level operating decisions that advanced control.
required human input in the past.
Detailed advisory toolsets pop up on
the windowing consoles in response
to off-spec conditions the system
can’t automatically handle.” NOVEMBER1996
Fuzzy Logic Brings Kodak’s
Control Strategy into Focus
MAY1997 As the dot.com boom started
to accelerate, “fuzzy logic”
Advanced Controls Refine Yields became both a buzzword and
Application of an adaptive, model-based predictive a control strategy Kodak Park
controller at an Amoco natural gas processing plant used to maintain tight control on
in Texas improved liquids recovery with a significant cooling water temperature during
reduction in alarm trips by helping the facility better equipment restarts. The method
deal with relatively fast and wide variations in feed replaces on/off and yes/no inputs
flow rates and compositions. with statements like “somewhat
true” and “mostly wrong.”

MARCH1998
The Champion of Dynamic MARCH1999
Matrix Control 1999 Control Engineer of the Year
Between the mid-1980s and mid- At a time when process control was run on pneumatics,
1990s, researchers around the world Pierre Latour envisioned advanced computer control and
sought to develop a commercially made it happen. As cofounder of Biles and Associates
practicable, digital, multivariable and Setpoint Inc., Latour is recognized for his pioneering
process controller that could handle commercialization of advanced control, optimization and
ill-behaved process dynamics. information system technology.
Engineer of the Year Charles R.
(Charlie) Cutler’s Dynamic Matrix
Control (DMC) became the one most
accepted by industry.
NOVEMBER1999
Artificial Sentience?
MAY2000 Embedded advanced controls,
A New Era for Model Predictive Control diagnostics and optimization
make today’s control systems
“Constrained multivariable predictive control (CMPC) has a long,
seem to think for themselves.
successful track record,” writes Greg McMillan, senior fellow, Solutia.
“It certainly looks intelligent,
“The number of installations reaping advanced control benefits has
and it can quickly and easily do
steadily increased, evidenced by the repeat business and revenue of
work that used to require hours
companies that offer CMPC software and services.”
of effort,” says Rich Merritt,
technical editor. “But Commander
Data isn’t available—yet.”
SEPTEMBER2000
Playing to Win: How to Attack Advanced Control Projects
A comprehensive five-step procedure for selecting a project,
team, technology and supplier ended with the caveat,
“Organizations that establish in-house teams (with or without
third-party augmentation) that follow a logical decision-
making process achieve far better results in both project cost
containment and operating results.”

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 25 YEARS OF CONTROL

NOVEMBER2001
Easy AI MAY2003
Artificial intelligence (AI) solutions Where to Find Payback for Advanced Control
have a reputation for being difficult As the software gets more powerful and easier to use, we detail
to implement. Vendors are striving three cases where it pays to apply advanced control: to hold a
to make implementations easier, process variable closer to target; to run a process closer to a
and AI software is improving, but limit; and to find an optimal operating point where positive and
success still depends on establishing negative influences “just balance out.”
communications, building a database
and creating a model.
MAY 2004
An Advanced Control Smorgasbord
“The speed at which new advanced process control [APC]
techniques can now be applied is incredible,” say Greg McMillan,
Terry Blevins and Willy Wojznis. “In the time it takes to read
JUNE2005 this article, an APC block can be configured. Rapid APC can
rejuvenate and empower you to take the initiative and become
Applied Control Theory Moves Out famous by Friday.”
An alliance between academia
and industry, the Applied Control
Technology Consortium (ACTC) FEBRUARY2006
helps member companies acquire Advanced Process Control in Practice
and apply advanced process control “Advanced process control is a concept that keeps evolving,
technologies with consulting, always seeming just out of reach,” says Terry McMahon,
education and technology transfer columnist. But over the past several years, the writings of Harold
across industries including process, Wade, Greg McMillan and Charlie Cutler have done much to
aerospace and automotive. bring this arcane and esoteric art and science within reach of
industrial practitioners.

MAY2007
Controlling Distributed Processes DECEMBER2008
The distributed process, while undeniably complex, can
be defined by only two parameters and is relatively easy to
APC and Wireless Rabbits
“Advanced process control (APC) is any technology that
control, according to Greg Shinsky. Attempting to lump its
incorporates process knowledge and puts it all on the line
dynamics into dead time plus lag misrepresents its response
online,” says Greg McMillan. “The more measurements you
and ignores information that can be useful in diagnosing
have, the less guessing you have to do, and the more process
behavior and estimating optimum controller settings.
knowledge you can put in the APC.” Wireless transmitters help
NOVEMBER2010 by providing more measurements at lower cost.

Goodyear Gives Variability a One-Two Punch NOVEMBER2011

The company’s largest chemical plant uses advanced
process control to overcome challenges from multiple Don’t Overlook PID in APC
distillation trains, ultra-high purity specifications, By using the “ever expanding features of PID, advanced control
extremely long time constants, large energy demands, can be implemented with a simple configuration change,”
complex production requirements and wide safety says Greg McMillan. “PID valve position controllers [VPC] and
margins to compensate for disturbances in feed quality. override controllers can be added to optimize existing loops
without the need for new measurements or valves.”

JUNE2013
NOVEMBER2012 The Route to Model Predictive Control Success
Advanced Process Control “Creating a large MPC application to run a production unit is
Ain’t Easy like configuring a cruise control for a battleship,” says Chevron’s
Dennis Cima. Guided by statistical methods for quantifying
“When APC works, the results can financial gains in Latour, Sharpe and Delany’s paper, “Estimating
be nothing short of spectacular,” Benefits from Advanced Control,” Chevron consistently achieves
writes Dan Hebert, senior technical the results of its best operator.
editor. But end users and suppliers
agree that implementation and
maintenance need to be simplified.
APRIL2014
New features are speeding How Good Is Good?
Advanced process control expert Lewis Gordon says the
implementation, and built-in tools
only “truly fair” way to evaluate the effectiveness of an APC
are alerting users when adjustments implementation is to compare the averages of the three basic
to existing applications are required. metrics for performance improvement—production rate and
value, energy consumption per unit of product and yield per unit of
feed—for APC-on and APC-off periods, at the end of a project.
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 25 years of control

Continued from page 80 at our fingertips, how do we make the remain “incredibly hard,” we wrote in
supervisory control techniques were most of the opportunities the technolo- 2012, due to complex implementation
programmed into a host computer. An gies can deliver?” they asked. and maintenance requirements. Few
experienced engineer could employ The frontiers of process optimization companies have been able to fully opti-
all sorts of tricks,” wrote Greg McMil- now lie well up in the business and en- mize a process, and there remains a great
lan, Terry Blevins and Willy Wojznis, terprise levels, but APC implementations deal of unrealized potential.
in Control’s May 2004 issue. “But each
function generally required a separate
device, and the tuning and mainte-

Rugged Precision
nance of these were often too tricky for
even the most accomplished personnel.
“In the 1980s, the PID hangovers
from the 1970s became available as
function blocks that could be config-
The MAQ®20 Industrial
ured at will within the basic process Data Acquisition & Control System
control system. Real-time simulations
were developed to test configurations
and train operators. The benefits from
advanced regulatory control, instru-
ment upgrades and migration from an-
alog to distributed control far exceeded
expectations. Continuous process con-
trol improvement became a reality.”
In the 1990s, advanced process con-
trol (APC) technologies, including
constrained multivariable predictive
control (CMPC), artificial neural net-
works (ANNs), real-time optimization
(RTO), performance monitoring and
expert systems were commercialized.
“These new technologies required
expensive software packages ($100,000
and up), separate computers, special
interfaces and consultants to do the
studies and implementations. The to- Signal Integrity, Compact Design
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CT1410_full page ads.indd 84 10/7/14 6:13 PM

 advances in flow

Advances in Flow Measurement

and Control
Current industrial instrumentation
measures more parameters,
more accurately.

by Leslie Gordon

T
he advent of more capable
digital signal processing algo-
rithms has resulted in an industry move
toward electronic instrumentation such as mass, ultrasonic if this would solve the problem. To test the
and magnetic flowmeters, while advances in traditional me- meter, technicians installed a Foxboro CFT50
chanical differential pressure, turbine and positive displace- meter from Schneider Electric (www.fielddevices.
ment devices are keeping them still the most appropriate foxboro.com) in series with the existing meter on the
technology for certain tasks. Let’s take a closer look at devel- outlet to compare their performance. At the onset of flow,
opments taking place in the world of top flow measurement both meters had a zero reading, while the density reading
technologies and their applications. indicated they were “wet and empty.” Once the flow began,
the CFT50 started to measure immediately, but the tradi-
Measuring Two-Phase Flows tional meter took 16 seconds to register the flow, thereby al-
Advances in Coriolis flowmeter technology now enable the me- lowing about 4 kg of material to pass through unmetered. At
ters to handle two-phase flows, such as a mixture of gas and liq- full flow, the two meters had the same readings. However,
uids. These devices are also much faster to respond to changes when the flow tubes drained, the existing meter stalled,
in flow, thanks to newer digital techniques that let them respond failing to register the final blow-through of product. “We
in milliseconds. removed the old meter based on the CFT50’s good perfor-
At Chemtura Corp.’s (www.chemtura.com) Great Lakes mance,” says Great Lakes instrumentation and evaluation
Chemical facility in Manchester, U.K., technicians were manager Mark Wilkinson.
having problems with a batch line that makes a variety of According to Wade Mattar, flow product manager, field
water treatment chemicals for heating systems and desalina- devices for Schneider Electric, “Newer digital techniques
tion applications. This process combines three feeds into a have let the devices’ use expand into different applications
tank, blends and pH-balances the batch, and pumps it into such as that of loading and unloading milk trucks [Figure
a storage tank using a traditional Coriolis meter to mea- 1].” When a truck comes from a dairy to a processing plant
sure flow. Sometimes the product needs filtering when it’s and is emptied, a small amount of milk inevitably remains
pumped from the tank, which reduces the flow. in the lines. If the milk sits too long, it will sour, so it’s neces-
“We had large discrepancies between the metered inputs sary to completely clean the lines and tubing. “The chang-
and output, and it was clear that the traditional Coriolis me- ing flow conditions from full to empty typically mean gas
ters were not ‘seeing’ the entire product passing through,” gets mixed in with the liquid in the line. Older instruments
says Roger Marsden, director of Westmeade Services Ltd., would have shut down for several seconds trying to figure
which provides technical support to Chemtura. “Depend- out how to deal with the gas, meaning the facility is missing
ing on the flow rate, up to 200 kg of product was ‘missing.’ lots of flow measurements, but digital Coriolis meters can
When the product was filtered, as much as 1,000 kg went easily handle these upsets,” continues Mattar.
unmetered.” Over the years, Mattar has seen a continual shift from
The company tried using a digital Coriolis meter to see the importance of just repeatability to accuracy for process

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 advances in flow

industry and NORSOK-compliant materials for the oil and

gas industry, where super duplex stainless steel, a form of aus-
tenitic stainless steel, is now being used. Exotic high-nickel
alloys as well as materials such as zirconium and tantalum,
suitable for highly corrosive applications have also come into
play. Current sensors can handle higher process pressures. “In
fact, it’s not surprising to find flowmeters with the capability
to match class 1500/2500 pressure ranges for many of the most
commonly used flow technologies,” says Stevens.
The operating temperature range of sensors has also in-

Schneider Electric
creased. “Industry demands for external ambient tempera-
tures for most instrumentation used today in the highest per-
centage of applications is around -40 to 140 °F, but it’s not
uncommon for process temperature requirements to man-
date that the sensor technology must function from -328 to
Measuring Milk Runs
842 °F,” says Stevens.
Figure 1: Newer digital technology enables Coriolis meters to Improved vortex technology has increased the meters’
better read both mass flow and density, which is useful in ap- suitability for measuring steam as compared to meters using
plications such as loading and unloading milk trucks. traditional volumetric technologies such as differential pres-
sure. “Additional measurement and input capabilities mean
control. “For example, due to a lack of accuracy, dairy pro- the device can eliminate the need for flow computers and
cessing plants in the past were losing 5-10% of the milk de- directly output mass flow rates and calculated energy values
livered from the truck, which they still had to pay for. More to cover a wider range of process operating conditions, and
accurately metering the milk puts more money in the pro- refine end users’ process capabilities,” he says.
cessor’s pocket,” he says. He gave an example of how vortex wet steam technology
can even make better beer. Typically, a brewer heats a com-
Better Material Compatibility, Signal Analysis Techniques bination of milled grain and water with steam. Poor steam
“The most popular and advancing technologies today cen- quality can impact the amount of heat or energy imparted
ter around Coriolis mass flow, electromagnetic magmeters, in the process and the resulting produced wort. “Pressure
vortex technology, thermal mass and ultrasonic flowmeters,” changes from pipe reductions, as well as constricted flow
says Jerry Stevens, product management team lead, flow through valves, tees and elbows, changes the steam type, su-
products, Endress+Hauser (www.us.endress.com). “While perheating steam.” This causes inaccurate monitoring of the
vortex, ultrasonic and electromagnetic technologies are in- used energy.
herently volumetric by their nature, thermal mass and Co- According to Stevens, using state-of-the-art vortex me-
riolis meters are considered traditional direct mass flow mea- ters now solves the problem. “The meters ‘know’ the flow
surement devices. However, some of the volumetric devices rate of steam regardless of changes in steam types because
do have the capability to generate a compensated output, they can integrate temperature, pressure and, with innova-
maybe with the addition of temperature or pressure, or even tive signal processing, obtain steam quality. This can ensure
fixed values, to output in mass engineering units.” an accurate value of energy that’s being used to control the
When it comes to recent enhancements to the perfor- process. This allowed a user to pinpoint inefficient areas in
mance in the flowmeter itself, Stevens says, “The best way their plant operation, leading to process efficiency gains of
to understand this is to look at the sensor, as well as the trans- over 20%,” he says.
mitter function and technology. The advent of new micro-
processors and signal processing speeds have allowed better Flowmeters Help Measure Flare-Off
signal analysis techniques, which has improved all types of A recent trend in thermal dispersion flowmeters is the cus-
flow devices in general.” In addition, devices with diameters tomer need for in-situ calibration checking and verification
as small as 40 microns and up to 108 inches are demonstrat- to meet environmental and safety regulations. “By that, I
ing improved accuracy and stability with today’s digital sig- mean the capability to verify the flowmeter is still within
nal processing. calibration tolerances without physically removing it from
Standards for better material compatibility for certain the process stream,” says marketing director Randy Brown
processes have also become a big factor for sensors. Exam- of Fluid Components International (FCI, www.fluidcompo-
ples include NACE-compliant materials for the chemical nents.com). “In-situ calibration verification is an advantage

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 advances in flow

because it’s very expensive to remove flowmeters from the

process, transport them to a lab, and wait for the lab to check
their calibration, only to be told the meters are fine.”
According to Brown, thermal dispersion meters operate
by measuring the energy being shed by the sensors to mol-
ecules of the process fluid. “Our meter design features two
thermowells. One is held at a constant temperature, and the
other one is active and changing temperature with the flow.

McCrometer
The differential temperature between the two thermowells
is proportional to the direct mass flow rate. Thermal disper-
sion is therefore inherently dual-function, measuring both
flow and temperature,” he says.
Flatten Flow Disturbances
Thermal flowmeters come in both inline and insertion
configurations. The insertion style is more popular because Figure 2: As the flow approaches the cone inside a V-Cone meter,
it can be inserted with a single tap point, and the sensors are the flow profile “flattens” into a well-developed profile. When the
immersed directly into the flow stream. They can measure flow passes the cone, the cone shape causes short vortices to
almost any kind of gas, including mixed-composition, moist form. They create a low-amplitude, high-frequency, stable signal.
and dirty gases.
With no moving parts to foul, break or wear, thermal dis- manufacturers have done a lot to improve the sensitivity of
persion meters are suitable for rugged, harsh applications. their equipment.”
“We have a SIL-rated meter and global agency approvals on For measuring fluid flow in closed conduits, the American
the entire instrument, from the sensor through the electron- Gas Association (AGA) or ISO 5167 require certain lengths
ics and enclosure, for Class I, Div. 1, Zone 1 type explosive of straight upstream piping to meter accurately, depending
atmospheres, as well as NEMA 4X and IP67 ratings on the on the upstream disturbance. For instance, an orifice plate
enclosures. Depending on the specific model, they include downstream of a double elbow in a 10-in. line needs 440
a local readout, multiple 4-20 mA analog outputs,and digital inches of upstream run. Even a Venturi meter needs about
bus communications, including HART, Foundation field- 220 inches for a 10-in. line, meaning that a lot of straight up-
bus, Profibus and Modbus to communicate with operators stream run is required for an accurate measurement.
and their control systems,” says Brown. “In contrast, consider our V-Cone, a differential pressure-
While FCI’s air/gas thermal flowmeters are found in a type meter similar to a Venturi or an orifice plate, but with-
wide variety of industrial process and plant settings, includ- out the disadvantages,” says Voss. As the flow approaches
ing on-shore and off-shore flaring applications, they have re- the cone inside the device, the flow profile “flattens” into
cently become a good choice for flare gas monitoring appli- a well-developed profile, even in extreme flow conditions.
cations at hydraulic fracturing sites. When the flow passes the cone, the cone shape causes short
Brown explains, “At fracking sites, it is natural gas that is vortices to form. The vortices create a low-amplitude, high-
being flared off, and the U.S. EPA and other regulators re- frequency and stable signal (Figure 2). “The design lets us-
quire measurement and reporting of the flared natural gas ers, for instance, bolt the device to a double elbow, requiring
to determine if routine flaring can be continued or not. In zero upstream run,” says Voss. “The V-Cone basically con-
the U.S., regulations stipulate that sites flaring off more than ditions out flow disturbances leading to the meter, thereby
a certain amount of gas must instead recover it or pay fines eliminating the need to use a conditioning plate.”
equal to purchasing/consuming the gas.” Ultimately, regardless of the type of flowmeter, there is
usually one element to be wary of, warns Voss. “In choosing
Eliminate Long Straight Runs a flowmeter, users must assess the environment it will work
Also agreeing that accuracy is increasingly important, in this in. For instance, because Coriolis meters operate on vibra-
case for differential pressure (DP) meters, is Nick Voss, prod- tion, they can be susceptible to vibration in the line. Most
uct manager of flow instrumentation designer and manufac- ultrasonic meters have to be specially designed to handle
turer McCrometer Inc. (www.mccrometer.com). “DP me- high-temperature steam and low-temperature cryogenic ser-
ters are more accurate because of improved DP transmitters. vice. DP meters require ensuring the DP transmitters can
For a long time, DP transmitters were the weak point in the withstand the temperature of the process fluid. And mag
measurement system because although they were accurate meters can be susceptible to electrical signal noise.”
at the middle to high range of their full span, their low-range
measurements were inaccurate. Over time, DP transmitter Leslie Gordon is a Control senior technical editor.

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 ask the expertS

Controller Action and Positioner Rules

Q
I am an instrumentation engineer work- The loop action can be achieved by any of the
ing for a EPC company in Dubai, UAE. I loop components (transmitter, converter, control-
follow your articles closely. I have a query ler, etc.). For sake of simplicity, I like to keep all
about one of your replies to the query on the sub- loop components direct-acting and let the con-
ject of direct and reverse controller action. My troller action alone determine the loop action.
understanding is that the controller action should Valve Failure Position: The failure position
be decided based on the control valve failure po- of the valve (closed, open or last position) has
sition, plus the process requirements, while the nothing to do with loop action. It has to do with
control valve failure action position is decided in- safety. In other words, it makes no differernce if
dependently, considering only the safety require- the controller action is direct or reverse, the valve
ments. I am still skeptical about the controller ac- failure position is that which makes the process
tion. Can you please review my paper and help safe when air supply (or other energy supply) fails.
me? I tried to get this concept from books and the For example, in case of a cooling system, safety is
Internet, but nowhere is it complete. served by the valve failing open. In critical appli-
Gopikrishna Bathul a cations, such as the cooling water feed valve to a
China Petroleum Engineering Co. Ltd nuclar reactor, the valve must fail open not only
[email protected]
if the air supply is lost, but also in response to all
failures that otherwise could cause overheating.

Q
I always enjoy your articles. You are so Speed and Accuracy: For good (stable) con-
well-versed in process control. I enjoyed trol. the valve has to take the position that the
your last article concerning controllers, controller demands and do it faster than the
but am somewhat confused on one aspect and measurement of the controller can change. To
seek further information. You mentioned that achieve these dual goals (stability and speed),
you don’t like to use positioners on flow control two things are needed: First, an actuator that is
because the positioners can be slower than the strong enough to overcome valve sticking, non-
process flow. When I don’t use a positioner and linearity and changes in valve pressure drops;
just use an I/P converter, the I/P is much slower and second, a positioner that can put the valve
acting than a positioner in terms of how the two in the required position quickly. So let’s look at
devices function on a spring-and-diaphragm the actuator and the positioner.
(S&D) actuator. Typically a piston actuator will The Actuator: The force generated by the ac-
take much more air pressure than an S&D, and tuator (pneumatic, hydraulic, etc.) must be greater
there doesn’t seem to be an issue there. I would than all forces that are resisting stem movement
enjoy your follow-up in further explanation. (stem sticking, process forces on the plug, etc). All
Through the years, you have been my pri- actuators are both “velocity and force limited.”
mary source for process control answers. Thank Pneumatic ones are “velocity limited” due to the
This column is moderated you for sharing your knowledge. limitation in the air flow and “force limited” be-
by Béla Lipták Patrick Gl add cause they can only increase the actuating force by
(http://belaliptakpe.com/), [email protected] the size of the actuator and the air supply pressure,
automation and safety which varies from 2 to 7 bars (30 to 105 psig).

A
consultant and editor Loop Action: The needs of the process deter- The Positioner: The positioner is a “cascade
of the Instrument and mines if the control loop should be direct- or slave controller.” It measures the stem position
Automation Engineers’ reverse-acting. For example, in the case of of the valve and throttles the air flow to the
Handbook (IAEH). If you a steam-heated water heater, a rise in hot water valve’s actuator. The setpoint of the positioner
have an automation- temperature requires a reduction in steam flow, is the output of the controller (cascade master).
related question for hence, the loop has to be reverse-acting. In the The positioner’s job is to change the valve open-
this column, write to case of a cooler, a rise in the temperature of the ing quickly and accurately. All slave controllers
[email protected]. process fluid means that the cooling water flow must be about five times faster than the speed at
must also rise, so the loop has to be direct-acting. which the measurement of their cascade master

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CT1410_full page ads.indd 89 10/7/14 6:14 PM
 ask the expertS

Sv= V/(100Fa)
Now, because in a cascade loop the valve speed (Sv) must
be at least five times faster than the speed at which the mea-
surement can move (Sm):
Sv << Sm
No positioner can be used (digital or not) if one wants
stability.
Added to the time the positioner takes to move the valve
is the time which it takes for the DCS to execute the PID al-
gorithm, which in case of analog electronic controllers was
0.03 seconds, while in most DCS systems it is 0.5 seconds.
So what do we do to properly control such fast processes? We
simply replace the pneumatic valve actuators with electro-
hydraulic or variable-frequency drives, and in the most de-

Wikimedia Commons
manding cases, we might even bypass the DCS.
Bél a Lipták
[email protected]

A
It’s not that complicated. Fail-safe position prevails.
assuming the position for actuation Then the positioner and DCS are configured, so what
the operator sees with the process and the effect of the
Figure 1. Typical digital positioner positioning a pneumatic final control element matches what is happening in the field.
diaphragm-type valve actuator. Sigifredo Nino
[email protected]
can change. This is essential so that the valve will not cycle

A
and will not be late in responding to the cascade master or A traditional IP controller sends position instructions
to close or to open. Therefore, when the loop is controlling to the valve as to what to do. The problem is, via tradi-
liquid flow or liquid pressure, the pneumatic positioners can tional feedback control, we don’t learn how the valve
be too slow. In this case, the old remedy often was to remove responds until the controller receives the PV response.
the positioner and replace it with a large-capacity air volume Now consider the positioner. The controller sends out
booster. In other words, the solution was to sacrifice control an instruction to the positioner. The positioner sends an in-
quality for loop stability. struction to the valve, then receives feedback from the valve
Digital Positioner: Today, most vendors say that digital posi- that the instruction has been received. This is classical to
tioners are faster and, therefore, can be used even on liquid flow feedback control, but this is information only to the posi-
applications. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case. It is tioner. How does this relate to the primary controller?
true that digital positioners are faster than pneumatic in calcu- The answer is that the positioner acts as a cascade inner
lating the required pressure to be sent to the actuator, but the loop to the primary controller. The benefits of this solution
speed of moving the inner valve is still a function of the air flow, are that the positioner verifies that the valve position is cor-
and the force generated is still a function of actuator area and air rect, and the positioner acts to correct any errors in valve
pressure. Typically, the maximum air supply pressure to a digi- performance.
tal positioner (Figure 1) is 105 PSIG, and the maximum air flow To optimize performance, it is important that the posi-
(Fa) is 12 SCFM, which at 105 PSIG is 1.7 ACFM. Therefore, tioner, as the inner loop, react at least three to five times
the time (t) required to fully stroke the valve (0% to 100%) is a faster that the controller that is issuing the control solu-
function of the actuator volume (V) divided by (Fa), which in tion. For optimal performance, you need to tune the in-
the above example was 1.7 ACFM: ner loop (the positioner) prior to tuning the outer loop,
t (in minutes) = V/Fa the controller.
and the valve speed (Sv) in % stroke/minutes is Victor Wegelin
Sv = t/100 [email protected]
Therefore, if the air flow can’t be increased, the maxi-
mum speed at which the valve stem can move Sv (in % per [For more answers to these questions from other experts, go to
minutes) is: www.controlglobal.com/1410ate-action-rules.]

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 ROUNDUP

Process Analyzers
These devices monitor everything from liquid dairy products to combustion in boilers.

ANALYZES DRINKS DIGITALLY MEASURE pH/ORP

LiquiSonic analyzer mea- Sencom liquid analyzer sys-
surements are accurate to tem for measuring pH/ORP
±0.05% and update every sec- consists of a special module,
ond. When results are out- cable and PC software. In-
side of a defined production stalling a module in a special
range, the unit immediately transmitter lets the unit digi-
sends a signal, so users can tally measure pH and ORP.
take timely countermeasures. The software lets users cali-
For automated control, results can be transferred to the pro- brate up to four sensors simultaneously and features an inte-
cess control system via analog or digital outputs, fieldbuses grated database that stores data for up to 100 system sensors
such as Profibus DP, or Ethernet. to support predictive maintenance.
SensoTech Yokogawa Corp.
973-832-4575; www.sensotech.com 800-888-6400; www.yokogawa.com

ANALYZER MEASURES FLUE GAS FIRE IN THE BOILER

Rosemount Analytical 6888 Thermox WDG-V monitors
in-situ flue gas O2 analyzer combustion in fired heat-
includes a “calibration rec- ers or boilers. It has redun-
ommended” diagnostic with dancy and diagnostics to
gas-switching solenoids em- enable predictive and proac-
bedded in the probe electron- tive maintenance programs,
ics. The device eliminates which helps reduce the risk
the need for conducting cali- of uncontrolled combustion
brations on a schedule. A “plugged diffuser/filter” diagnostic events. The analyzer is certified for SIL 2 implementation
handles applications that have fly ash or other particulate into safety instrumented systems, and is suitable for process
entrained in the flue gas. streams up to 3,200 °F (1,760 °C).
Emerson Process Management Ametek Inc.
949-757-8500; www.emersonprocess.com 610-889-5234; www.ametek.com

MULTIPARAMETER TRANSMITTER PERFECT THE PULP

Liquiline CM44x multichan- Metso Kappa QC is a fiber-
nel transmitter features Eth- line analyzer that measures
erNet/IP connectivity, which pulp lignin content and
allows it to seamlessly inte- brightness. A special stabi-
grate with Rockwell Auto- lizing control works from
mation’s PlantPAx Process the oxygen stage to the fin-
Automation System. The ished pulp. Users can expand
transmitter features a built-in the unit’s capacity by adding
web server that lets operators remotely view diagnostic data, measurement modules and sampling points. Users can also
perform configuration or access device parameters via any leverage the analyzer’s advanced continuous Kappa mea-
web browser. surement and COD index capabilities.
Endress+Hauser Metso
888-363-7377; www.us.endress.com +35-8400 406 094; www.metso.com

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 Product introductions

HART 7 CONVERTERS SIGNAL CONDITIONER

3000 series of compact trans- Eazy-Cal LVC 4000 LVDT
mitters and converters in- signal conditioner interface
clude devices with HART 7 with LVDT, VR half-bridge,
technology. Up to 50 units RVDT and LVDT-based
or 100 channels can be pressure sensors remotely lo-
mounted vertically or hori- cated up to 30 m can power
zontally on a 30-cm standard the sensors and amplify and
DIN rail or power rail with demodulate their output. It
no air gap separation. The devices deliver precise measure- can handle up to 16 devices simultaneously for multiple-
ments of rapidly changing signals for parameters, including channel applications, and provides 4-20 mA (analog), 0-10
accuracy, response time and temperature drift, and are just Vdc (analog) and RS485 (digital) outputs that users can read
6-mm wide. with current process control systems.
PR Electronics AST Macro Sensors
858-521-0167; www.prelectronics.com 856-662-8000; www.macrosensors.com

LTE CELLULAR ROUTER ELIMINATE STAGNANT WATER

Spectre LTE cellular router Tideflex Mixing System
connects Ethernet equip- (TMS) eliminates the pos-
ment and other devices to the sibility of stagnant water en-
Internet or intranet via cellu- tering drinking water stored
lar telephone networks. The in potable water tanks or res-
plug-and-play device targets ervoirs. The unit combines
industrial remote M2M and the company’s special check
IoT monitoring applications valve technology and a piping
that require speed, low latency, security and the ability to manifold that separates the inlet and outlet. TMS operates
handle large data loads. In addition, the router is certified on the differential pressure already in place, helping keep
and ready for use on the AT&T and Verizon 4G/LTE U.S. energy costs low. An all-elastomer construction ensures the
networks. system is almost maintenance free.
B&B Electronics Tideflex Technologies
800-346-3119; www.bb-elec.com 412-279-0044; www.tideflex.com

PINPOINT BIN LEVEL DIRECTS FLOW

SRP is a rotary-paddle, point- Numatics 501 Series control
level sensor with a universal valve for directional control
20- to 250-Vac/Vdc power and piloting applications de-
supply and adjustable time livers flows of 15-mm to 20-
delay for its relay outputs. mm valves, but in a more
The unit’s power supply uses compact package. A pressure
an ac drive motor, rather than shut-off option lets users re-
the more typical dc motor, place individual valves with-
which gives it a longer lifespan. The time delay provides a out stopping their production process. The unit’s modular
0-12 second adjustment to eliminate nuisance alarms due to design allows for easy configuration and modification. A
shifting and surging materials. The SRP rotary, paddle-bin, dual, three-way version enables placement of two three-way
level indicator has an easily adjusted sensitivity. valves in the space of a four-way valve.
Aplus Finetek Sensor Inc. Asco Numatics
815-632-3132; www.aplusfine.com 888-686-2842; www.numatics.com

92 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_92_93_Products.indd 92 10/8/14 12:35 PM

 Product introductions

TRACK PROCESSED WEIGHT WIRELESS VIBRATION DATA

HI 6600 series of EtherNet/ Wireless accelerometers are
IP-enabled modular indus- available that work in con-
trial weight processing sys- junction with the company’s
tems with Rockwell EDS_ iPad vibration analyzer, pro-
AOP lets users configure one viding live, streaming wave-
to 30 channels of stable, pro- form and spectrum data.
cessed weight over a single The device can be powered
fieldbus connection. They through a changeable bat-
provide a low cost per channel of weight into a PLC, while tery or the USB port. It also includes a second input port
simplifying wiring and network addressing. HI 6600s deliver that accepts either a tachometer or a second accelerometer.
processed weight with an update speed that handles up to 30 All ports are waterproof, so the device can be permanently
synchronized channels at 110 updates per second. mounted outside.
Hardy Process Solutions GTI Predictive Technology
858-278-2900; www.hardysolutions.com 888-473-9675; www.gtipredictive.com

FLANGED MAGMETERS CELLULAR RTU CONTROLLER

FMG-2000 series of flanged IoPAC 5542-HSPA is a cellu-
magmeters have minimal lar RTU controller designed
straight pipe. Their rate and to provide remote network
total display is available on a connectivity and data acqui-
mounted meter or remotely. sition to monitor critical field
FMG-2000s feature a tam- devices. The RTU combines
per-evident seal and touch- the features of a data logger,
screen programming. The cellular modem, serial gate-
device is NSF-61-approved and IP68- rated. FMG-2000 has way, remote I/O and an embedded computer, and has an
no moving parts, and electrodes are designed to discourage operating temperature range of -30 °C to 75 °C. It complies
fouling. The magmeter can be externally powered with 9 to with UL/cUL Class I, Div. 2 and is ATEX Zone 2-certified
36 Vdc at 30 mA. for deployment in oil and gas facilities.
Omega Moxa Americas
888-826-6342; www.omega.com 714-528-6777; www.moxa.com

DIAL IT IN CLOUD CONTROL

SAT110 is a portable RTU/ Secure Cloud Service allows
alarm dialer unit featuring industrial and embedded sys-
a built-in battery, vibration tems to securely network live
sensor, I/O, magnetic mount data in real time, enabling
and C1D2 hazardous loca- supervisory control, integra-
tion certification. The device tion and sharing of data with
is used for monitoring run/no users in any location, awells
run conditions on compres- well as real-time access to se-
sors and generators. A built-in GPS allows location tracking lected data sets in a web browser. The service is capable of
of remote assets such as generators, compressors, tanks, skids handling over 50,000 data changes per second per client at
and buildings, while the three integral I/0 allows connection speeds just a few milliseconds over Internet latency. It’s also
of alarm contacts and switches. available for a two-month beta trial period.
Bentek Systems Ltd. Skkynet Cloud Systems, Inc.
403-243-5135; www.scadalink.com 888-628-2028; www.skkynet.com

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 Control Exclusive

Fiber-Optic Multiplexer Handles Multiple Nodes

U
ltra Electronics, Nuclear Sensors & Process Instrumen-
tation (NSPI) traces its roots to 1968 and the found-
ing of Weed Instrument Co., which built its reputation
on temperature and pressure sensors for demanding appli-
cations including nuclear power, military aircraft and ad-
vanced weapons systems. Recognizing the need for highly
reliable, high-bandwidth and secure communications led
to the acquisition of Apec Electronics Inc., a pioneer of in-
dustrial fiber-optic networking for industrial automation, in
1991, and of the 3M Industrial Communications product
line in 1994, further strengthening the company’s position
in the industrial fiber-optic networking market.
“We started our multiplexer product family with a point-
to-point solution more than 10 years ago with 4-20 mA, 0-10
VDC, RS-232/485 and dry contacts, but without industry
certifications or approvals,” says Nick Verlenich, senior prod-
uct engineer, Ultra Electronics. “Back then, hazardous ap-
proval ratings weren’t a requirement. Three years ago, we in-
troduced the MX Series multiplexer, which includes Class I, simple, secure, reliable and economical
Div. 2, Groups A,B,C and D (U.S. and Canada), ATEX and
CE approvals. These newer point-to-point multiplexers sup- Figure 1. Ultra Electronics’ EOTec 2000 Multi-Node MX Multiplex-
port 16 channels, rather than the previous eight channels. er provides an economical alternative to PLCs by transmitting
“The new EOTec 2000 Multi-Node MX Multiplexer sup- up to 16 input channels and unlimited output channels at each of
ports multiple nodes, so users can build daisy chain or self- up to 256 nodes over a pair of fiber-optic cables.
healing ring topologies, which provide fault tolerance and
greater network reliability.” PLC to send or receive I/O,” says Mike Wightman, senior
The EOTec 2000 is designed to transmit up to 16 input account manager, Ultra. “A PLC is feature-rich, even at the
channels and unlimited output channels of bi-directional low end.”
electrical information at each of up to 256 nodes, over a pair Compared to a PLC or managed or unmanaged Ether-
of single or multimode fiber-optic cables. net switches, which Ultra also offers, “the Multi-Node MX
The new base module provides input/output module se- doesn’t require a subject matter expert to commission or
lections that include 4-20 mA, 0-10 Vdc and contact closure. maintain,” Wightman says. “The installation instructions
It connects directly to the fiber-optic cable via small form- are straightforward and easy to follow. The product is com-
factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers, and provides visual in- missioned by setting a few DIP switches.”
dicators for power, global alarm and module status, as well I/O modules are available in two- and four-channel ver-
as the fiber link status. Each base unit has two transceiver sions, and all modules mount on 35-mm DIN rail. Applica-
ports, supporting both 1300-nm and 1550-nm wavelengths tions include remote data acquisition, emissions monitoring,
for either multimode or single-mode optical fiber. data and signal transmission in lightning-prone locations,
An integrated backplane allows for communications from hazardous areas, tank gauging and conveyors.
the base unit to the input/output modules with no need for “Many refineries and other critical industries want to
external inter-modular connections. No programming is re- limit Ethernet use due to security concerns,” Wightman
quired, as input/output configuration is derived via a one- says. The fiber-optic signal is meaningless to anyone who
time DIP-switch configuration. Power is supplied through taps into it, and the built-in diagnostics will detect any in-
redundant external 24-VDC power supply terminals. trusion. “This multiplexer is a low-cost, high-reliability solu-
The Multi-Node MX Multiplexer offers an economical tion. It gets you inexpensively and quickly into communicat-
alternative to using PLCs or Ethernet to bring low counts of ing over fiber.”
widely distributed I/O into a control system network. “I call
it the poor man’s PLC, for people who are only using the For more information, visit www.ultra-nspi.com.

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 C O N T R O L TA L K

Tuning Finale
Stan: There are many different opinions on tun- the control engineer just visits occasionally.
ing. Aidan O’Dwyer’s Handbook of PI and PID One particularly challenging application was
Controller Tuning Rules has over 400 pages of a three-phase separator. The relative amount
equations developed by almost 100 people. Each of water in oil has increased by a factor of five
person is passionate that his rules are the best. over the past 20 years. Gas lift or water injec- Greg Mcmill an
tion rather than pressure is used to get the oil Stan weiner, pe
Greg: Most of the reasons for the prolific and out. The phases must be kept separate in the [email protected]

diverse sets of rules are the importance of the streams to the downstream units.
Greg McMillan and
PID, fundamentally different dynamics and dis- There is water cleanup and treatment to dis-
Stan Weiner bring their
turbances, and a wide spectrum of processes and pose of locally or reuse. These vessels need inflow wits and more than
objectives. Most of the control literature focuses to be as steady as possible. You don’t want sheen 66 years of process
on balanced self-regulating processes and mini- on the water seen from the helicopter. Oil goes to control experience to
mizing integrated absolute error (IAE). There are the distillation column stabilizer to take out lights. bear on your questions,
comments and
many other processes and objectives. There are You don’t want bottoms flow oscillating to tank de-
problems.
dead-time-dominant, lag-dominant, integrating gassing that would upset heat integration or feed
and runaway processes, and the need to mini- preheat. The gas phase may go to an amine unit Write to them at
mize interaction and resonance and promote co- for cleanup and resale unless it’s being re-injected. [email protected].
ordination and absorption of variability. Here we The objective here is to minimize the
look at how lambda tuning addresses these chal- changes in flow to downstream units from level
lenges posed by an incredible variety of applica- control. The lambda arrest time for integrat-
tions. To allay any concerns that lambda tuning ing processes was computed to be 800 seconds
can’t achieve the IAE objective, see my online
whitepaper, “So Many Tuning Rules, So Little
Time” (www.controlglobal.com/tuning-rules),
which shows how lambda tuning can minimize
the IAE from unmeasured disturbances for all
types of common processes.

Stan: Mark Coughran, who was our inter-

viewee in the June 2010 Control Talk column,
“What’s Going on with Loop Performance?”
(www.controlglobal.com/articles/2010/loop-
performance1006/), has extensive experience
in tuning and improving control loops. The
lessons learned provide important guidance in
tailoring the tuning to the application.

Greg: What have you recently seen in offshore

oil and gas applications?

Mark: There are a lot of smaller-to-medium

applications. Resources are minimal since To personalize your golf game, you can wear clothes you hardly ever see. Similarly, to
control is considered less of an issue. There personalize your PID control, you can use tuning rules you hardly ever see. You may just
is a safety and reliability engineer onsite, but need to wear shades.

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 C O N T R O L TA L K

based on stopping a level excursion Mark: Integrating process tuning rules batch operations where flows are ratioed
before the alarm limit. It was remark- are not just for level loops. The compo- with the leader flow set based on level,
able how downstream unit operations sition, pH and temperature response in production rate or composition control?
settle down when the absorption of the the mixed liquid volumes of continuous
variability in the flow of phases com- and batch unit operations is integrating Mark: To coordinate the timing of
ing into the separator is maximized by in the time frame and range for PID the flow changes demanded by the
lambda tuning using an intelligent ar- control. In a bioreactor cascade of dis- upper control loop, each flow loop
rest time. solved oxygen (DO) to air flow, oscilla- is tuned to have the same lambda
tions were eliminated by setting the DO (closed-loop time constant). This co-
Stan: What is an example of how integrating process lambda (arrest time) ordinates the flow changes so that
lambda tuning can be used to prevent equal to 210 seconds and the air flow there is no unbalance in the compo-
interaction problems? self-regulating process lambda (closed- sition of the blend or in the destina-
loop time constant) equal to 20 seconds. tion vessel as the cascade setpoint of
Mark: There were first- and second- In general, I’ve found the arrest time of the leader flow changes.
stage pressure letdown loops in series the primary (upper) loop must be at
with a user flow loop for process water. least three times the closed-loop time Stan: For more details on these and
The control valves were piped in series. constant of the secondary (lower) loop other applications, see the Oct 2013
Interaction was minimized by lambdas to prevent oscillations. Control whitepaper by Mark, “Lambda
of 6, 30 and 80 for the first stage, sec- Tuning—The Universal Method for
ond stage and user loops, respectively. Greg: The use of external reset feed- PID Controllers in Process Control.”
In general, you want the tightest con- back of the secondary PID process vari- (w w w.controlglobal.com/whitepa-
trol at the source to minimize the start able to the primary PID can prevent pers/2013/lambda-tuning-the-univer-
of oscillations. The control valve in- the primary PID output from chang- sal-method-for-pid-controllers-in-pro-
herent flow characteristic was changed ing faster than the secondary PID can cess-control/) .
from equal percentage to linear to help respond. Moving on to our favorite
linearize the loops. The nearly con- subject, the effect of control valve re- Greg: Here’s the “Top 10 Reasons to
stant pressure drop across each valve sponse on control loop performance, Devise Your Own Tuning Rules.”
meant the inherent flow characteristic how about an example of what you did You get to:
was the installed flow characteristic, when stuck with a valve with excessive 10) Set up test conditions that show
making linear trim the right choice. dead band from backlash? you are right and everyone else is
wrong.
Greg: To help minimize interaction Mark: When there is a noticeable 9) Have your own tuning parameter.
for liquid systems, the control valve dead band in the control valve, there 8) Avoid having to do feed-forward
with the largest pressure drop should will be a nonlinear limit cycle for any control.
be used for the flow loop so that upsets controller tuning. However, we can 7) Focus on integrated absolute er-
in upstream and downstream pressure choose the tuning to avoid enlarging ror.
have less of an effect on the user flow. the cycle. The reactor pressure in the 6) Complain about tuning rules de-
This solution is counterintuitive since gasoline hydrotreater unit of a refinery veloped 70 years ago.
it means a small upstream valve may had an integrating process response, 5) Discount expertise needed to
be best for the flow loop. Check out which, combined with the integral ac- deal with split range discontinuities,
the February 2014 Control Talk blogs, tion in the PID and 0.7% valve dead backlash, stiction, installed flow char-
“Interaction Perspective” (www.con- band, created a limit cycle. In addi- acteristics, interaction, sensor fouling,
trolglobal.com/blogs/controltalkblog/ tion, with the “as-found” tuning, the update rates, disturbance dynamics,
ef fect- of-interactions-perspective- limit cycle peak-to-peak amplitude and inverse response and positive feedback.
tips/) and “Interaction Recommenda- period were about 2 psi and 2,000 sec- 4) Become a tuning doctor where
tions” (www.controlglobal.com/blogs/ onds, respectively. As a result, lambda you treat symptoms rather than fix the
controltalkblog/interactions-recom- tuning with an arrest time of 110 sec- source of the problems.
mendations-tips/), for more tech- onds reduced the limit cycle amplitude 3) Disregard PID form and struc-
niques. and period by more than an order of ture.
magnitude. 2) See your name in a handbook.
Stan: How do you stop oscillations in 1) Say neat stuff like “My tuning
cascade loops for fed-batch control? Stan: What about continuous and fed- rules rule!”

96 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

CT1410_95_96_ControlTalk.indd 96 10/8/14 12:37 PM

 CLASSIFIEDS
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Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55, S17

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 CONTROL REPORT

The Future Isn’t What It Used to Be

Jim Montague

S
e xecutive Editor
[email protected] eeing the future is easier if you take off the first superconducting, electric power trans-
blinders in the present. That’s because mission lines in Essen, Germany, which are
many potential innovations are already reportedly five times more efficient; and gra-
possible with today’s capabilities and tools. phene-enabled batteries that may allow electric
What’s needed to reveal them is aware- vehicles to be changed far more quickly.
ness and the humility to give up stuck-in-a-rut 5) Robotic innovations, such as Baxter’s
thinking patterns that stifle useful questions touch-sensitive arms that can work directly
and possibilities, and then the will to turn those with humans, Amazon’s proposed delivery
desired futures into reality. This is easier said drones and Google’s self-driven car project.
than done, but futurist Jack Uldrich gave it a 6) Sensors, microprocessors and RFID tags
shot at Emerson Global Users Exchange 2014 embedded in far more varied settings, includ-
on Oct. 6 in Orlando, Florida. ing bridges and smart buildings.
“The futurist’s job is to focus on the big pic- 7) Genomics is doubling capabilities every
ture and point out the 800-pound gorilla that four months, according to Uldrich, which will
others are missing because their attention is fo- revolutionize the healthcare and pharmaceuti-
cused elsewhere,” says Uldrich. cal industries, but will also aid applications like
Uldrich reports that developing this keener genetically modified bioreactors that can work
awareness begins with “jumping the curve” to with solar power to turn CO2 into biodiesel or
learn about and understand seemingly futur- ethanol, and make both commercially viable.
istic technologies that are already being ap- 8) The computer revolution, in which solu-
plied now, but are rapidly dropping in price, so tions from IBM’s Watson to Apple’s Siri are in-
they’re poised to mushroom in the mainstream. creasing their data processing power exponen-
Uldrich identified 10 major technical areas in tially, so they can soon supply answers to users
which presently available technology and tools questions before they think of them.
can enable future ingenuity and innovations. 9) Renewable fuel sources that Uldrich says
1) Wearable devices, such as Google Glass, can both assist and be enabled by the other pri-
“When we face are being used in some remote oil and gas ap- mary innovation areas.
plications to call up mentors and videos to pro- 10) Collaborative consumption that changes
somethng really vide immediate technical expertise and advice. business models for goods such as automobiles,
2) 3D printing, which is moving beyond which don’t need to be individually owned in
new, it can be hard making plastic trinkets in desktop boxes to ad- urban areas, but can instead be checked out as
ditively manufacture metal in much larger, part of subscriber-based cars-to-go programs.
to see. We have to stronger forms. “Many large industries say change can’t hap-
3) Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles, which pen fast, but North America was looking at im-
work at seeing it, quickly raised $1 million in Kickstarter fund- porting natural gas just 10 years ago, and now
ing, $25 million in venture capital and was re- we’re going to export it thanks to new drilling
and gain the cently sold to Facebook for $2 billion. Uldrich and fracking technolgies,” adds Uldrich. “We
reports Tesla Motors is using the goggles to must have humility and keep an open mind
confidence to visualize and manipulate automotive designs to be aware of these opportunities. However,
and apply them to physical objects more easily. we’re conditioned to see the world in one way,
innovate the 4) Nanotechnology embraces a variety of dif- so when something really new stares us in the
ferent technologies. Some highlights include face, it can be hard to see. So we have to work
future.” Water Is Life’s Drinkable Book, made with sil- at seeing it and gain the confidence to innovate
ver nanoparticles to filter contaminated water; the future we want to build.”

98 www.controlglobal.com O c t o b e r / 2 0 1 4

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 “You get to meet a lot of people,
you get to take in a lot of knowledge
and you get to see a lot of products.”
Automation Fair® 2013 visitor

We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.

Automation Fair® 2014, November 19-20,
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA USA

Automation Fair® is uniquely designed to help customers discover the

latest manufacturing and production technologies and trends, and learn
how to use their automation investments to achieve their business goals.
With customer training sessions, seminars, an exhibit floor displaying the
latest products and solutions from Rockwell Automation and its partner
companies, plus a whole lot more, how will you describe it?

Book your place at Automation Fair® 2014, visit:

www.rockwellautomation.com/go/af
Copyright © 2014 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Automation Fair® is a trademark of Rockwell Automation, Inc.

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