| | 
Wireless networks face no easy task in the canyons of metal that makeup today’s manufacturing facilities. Emerson Process Management's solution uses self-organising network technology to meet the challenges insuch a demanding environment. Field trials in partnership with BP tested its reliability and flexibility in a real industrial situation.
Emerson Process Management has launched its 2.4 GHz in-plant wireless solution. By capturing information that was previously inaccessible, the wireless network extends asset optimisation and predictive maintenance, assisting manufacturers to avoid costly, unexpected processinterruptions and shutdowns. Furthermore it helps improving the performance and lifetime of processing equipment; as well as the productionoutput.
The Smart Wireless solutions extend Emerson’s PlantWebdigital plant architecture using self-organising network technology to deliver data from assets previously out of physical or economic reach. Field trials with several North American and European customers over the last three years have demonstrated greater than 99 percent network reliability and an installed cost that is as much as 90 percent lower than a wired equivalent.
Smart Wireless solutions combine innovative self-organising wireless network technology and gateways with wireless-enabled Rosemount measurement transmitters and AMS Suite software, all integrated with DeltaV and Ovation automation systems or with legacy hosts. Self-organising networks are highly reliable becausethey allow wireless devices to serve as alternate communication paths, providing redundancy that enables over 99% of field network messagesto reach their destination – no easy task in the canyons of metal that make up today’s manufacturing facilities. The networks are scaleablefrom 5 to 100,000 devices.
Installation of the wireless network requires no complex site surveys or special tools. The solutions aredesigned to support SP100 control and monitoring application classes1 to 5 on the same network, and have been proven by customer use for classes 3 to 5. The SmartPower technology enables battery life of 5 to15 years depending on application.
Industrial grade security of Emerson’s wireless networks has been validated in extensive field trials and through review by independent security experts. Encryption, authentication, verification, anti-jamming and key management techniques are used in a robust security approach. “Manufacturers hate surprises in their facilities, and have long wanted to have eyes and ears on every asset to know what is really going on in their operation,” said John Berra, president of Emerson Process Management. “Until now, therewas no easy, reliable and economical way to reach all of the assets that needed monitoring. We’ve completed three years of customer field trials. In those trials, we’ve seen customers quickly discover and remedy problems that would otherwise have gone undetected.”
The network can be deployed in various process manufacturing segments, including refining, oil and gas, chemical, pulp and paper, and water and wastewater treatment. In addition, the technology can be applied to remotemonitoring of oil and gas well-heads, pipeline stations, and production platforms. Emerson's service experts help with first start-up, including a full network health assessment to ensure robust communicationsplus verification of device functionality through the chosen output (Modbus, OPC, Ethernet, etc).
“Wireless measurement technology will help users see and control more of what happens in their plants,”said Harry Forbes, an analyst with the ARC Advisory Group. “Besides huge savings in installation costs, this will drive fundamental processand automation improvements that are not possible with wired measurements.”
“That’s what makes this the most fundamental improvementin process automation in decades,” continued Forbes. “ARC believes there is pent-up demand for wireless in both new and existing applications. Emerson’s strong brand and leading market position validates that the era of wireless measurement has arrived.”
BP and Emerson successfully collaborate
“When BP and Emerson started exploring the possibilities of new wireless technologies to support additional measurements in our refinery environment, we faced daunting challenges,”said Tasos Anastasiou, project manager for wireless technologies withBP’s Refining Technology Office. “The dense metal environments that weoperate in are less than ideal for the deployment of wireless.”
“The initial results proved very encouraging and gave both BP and Emerson the drive to push this technology to the next level and exploitits full capabilities,” continued Tasos. “The commercial release of Emerson’s Smart Wireless solution results from a very successful collaboration between our two companies, mutually sharing technology knowledge and operational experience to develop a very innovative solution that can add real business value.”
“At BP we have found that working with wireless technologies leads to thinking in new ways about howwe conduct our day to day operations,” concluded Tasos. “Plant information that could not previously be retrieved economically can now be readily available. Emerson’s solution has proved to be flexible, reliable and easy to use by the plant personnel since it is based on Emerson’s current instrumentation series.”
| |
