IAA Sept 07 by Eastern Trade Media

September 2007

MICA(P) 012/12/2006 | ISSN 0219/5615 | PPS 1561/7/2008 (000553)

www.iaasiaonline.com

Warehousing On The Move INTELLIGENT MOTOR CONTROL

Going

Modular WIRELESS SENSORS & NETWORKS

Smarter Environment

Unlocking The Hidden Capacity of

Process Plants

LISTEN. THINK. SOLVE.

Scalable…Multidisciplined …Information-Enabled INTEGRATED ARCHITECTURE

The Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture improves your productivity and reduces total cost of ownership by providing unparalleled functionality, ﬂexibility and scalability. The Integrated Architecture also addresses plant or enterprise performance and information needs including quality and compliance, production management and asset management. By emphasizing third party connectivity, interoperability and use of open industry standards, the Integrated Architecture provides seamless information integration with the rest of the site or enterprise.

Improve Productivity With One Solution • Reuse engineering designs and practices to reduce development time and cost • Quick respond to customer or market demands • Reduce maintenance costs and downtime Rockwell Automation Southeast Asia Pte Ltd

• Easily access plant and production data from business systems for better management decision-making

ENQUIRY NO. 678

ALLEN-BRADLEY

•

R O C K W E L L S O F T WA R E

Singapore Tel: 65 6356 9077

Fax: 65 6356 9011

Indonesia Tel: 62 21 573 5680

Fax: 62 21 573 5679

Malaysia Tel: 603 8996 1688

Fax: 603 8996 1699

Philippines Tel: 632 893 9712

Fax: 632 810 4397

Thailand Tel: 662 936 1500

Fax: 662 936 1510

All You Need For Safety Field Bus Network

CC-Link Safety... meets the need of production sites for saving wiring costs while at the same time ensuring safety. This safety ﬁeld network inherits high-speed communication from CC-Link and makes it possible to both meet safety requirements for production lines and provides the beneﬁt of wire-reduction.

ENQUIRY NO. 648

ASEAN CC-LINK PROMOTION CENTRE 307 Alexandra Road #05-01/02 Mitsubishi Electric Building Singapore 159943 Tel: (65) 6473 2308 • Fax: (65) 6476 7439 • Did: (65) 6470 2480 • E-mail: cclink@asia.meap.com • http://www.cc-link.org

CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2007

ISSUES & INSIGHTS

Seamless Data Integration

Alarm Management

Much has been made of the beneﬁts of open and interoperable ﬁeldbuses, but not enough attention is paid to open and interoperable data structures. By David Marschall and Tieng Ling

The implementation of an effective alarm management program involves creating a comprehensive and consistent alarm philosophy for documenting, collecting and analysing alarm data. By Frost & Sullivan

CONTROL POINT

Intelligent Motor Control: Going Modular

The pursuit of lower cost, higher availability, optimised maintenance and safety heralds the arrival of intelligent motor control systems that are modular, scalable and conﬁgurable. By Gunnar Zank

ALARM MANAGEMENT

SEAMLESS DATA INTEGRATION Much has been made of the beneﬁts of open and interoperable ﬁeldbuses, but not enough attention is paid to open and interoperable data structures.

INTELLIGENT MOTOR CONTROL: GOING MODULAR

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION ASIA (IAA) is published 8 issues per year by Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd 1100 Lower Delta Road #04-02 EPL Building Singapore 169206. Tel: (65) 6379 2888 • Fax: (65) 6379 2805 Website: www.iaasiaonline.com • Email: iaa@epl.com.sg SUBSCRIPTION RATES: IAA is available to readers on subscription in Singapore at S$60.00 per annum. Subscription by airmail to readers in Malaysia is also at S$60.00 per annum; and Asia Paciﬁc, America, Europe and other regions at S$100. Refer to the subscription card in each issue for further details. FOR MORE SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Fax: (65) 6379 2806 • Email: agnislim@epl.com.sg Copyright. Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced in any form or means – graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, taping, etc – without the written consent of the publisher. Opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers are not necessarily those of the publisher and editor.

IMPORTANT NOTICE The circulation of this magazine is audited by bpa world wide. the advertisers’ association recommend that advertisers should place their advertisements only in audited publications

MOVING YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD. GLOBALLY.

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Move your business forward today – contact DHL on 65-65427668

CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2007

GOING WITH THE FLOW

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

Warehouse Management: On The Move Seamless integration of warehouse management and control systems, and process optimisation through enabling technologies increases visibility in the supply chain. By Augustine Quek

IN BUSINESS

Systems Integration: Integrating Demand Response

Integrating demand response in control strategies allows users to leverage on both the demand and supply side of the equation. By Peter Kelly-Detwiler

REGULARS

8 News

ALARM MANAGEMENT

SOFTWARE & NETWORKS

34 38

Serving Up OPC

OPC offers a standard interface for accessing device data. By Marius Wotschik and Nadine Haid

Wireless Sensors & Networks: The Smart Environment

The deployment of wireless sensor motes in physical environments, aided by self-organising network architectures, are quietly bringing about a sensing revolution. By Prasanna Ballal and Prof Frank Lewis

60a

Refer to p

Real-Time Identiﬁcation & Tracking

Geo-location and identiﬁcation technologies enhance visibility in asset tracking and ensure greater security on the plant ﬂoor. By Honeywell

INSTRUMENTATION & MEASUREMENT

Going With The Flow

Built-in ﬂow sensors improve machine efﬁciency, reduce downtime, and cut costs. By Christian Boehm

for Advertiser Enquiry Numbers

CAN in Automation

Proﬁbus Association S E Asia

Fieldbus Foundation

EtherCAT Technology Group

52 Automation Sources & Services 57

Calendar of Events

58 Advertising Index / Ad Sales Ofﬁce 60A Product Enquiry Card

Cover picture: Emerson Process Management

Lowest cost of ownership. Lowest cost of ownership.

Process uptime.

Proven safety leadership.

There are other important numbers besides a SIL rating. Only Triconex Triple Modular Redundancy technology can truly The fact is, SIL ratings on their own fall short of process deliver the lowest lifecyle cost—by preventing unplanned functional safety. That’s because SIL ratings only measure shutdowns 99.999% of the time. Avoid high costs and high the “fail safe” capability of a system. Fail Safe risk. Don’t entrust the safety of your plant to alone can have unintended consequences ENTER TO WIN! lightweights whose sole idea of performance is a SIL and higher risk factors associated with 42” Sony Flat Panel Plasma HDTV number. Rely on Triconex, the experienced safety unplanned shutdowns. In the process with Sony Dream Sound System leader who delivers safety, uptime and the bottom industry, there are other safety-critical line. Visit us online at triconex.com/sweepstakes numbers that equate to uptime and by August 31, 2006, and you could win a FREE optimal asset availability. There is only one www.triconex.com/sweepstakes Sony® Home Theater System. vendor that can put up big numbers in uptime, Triconex, the process safety leader.

triconex.com/sweepstakes No Purchase Necessary. Sweepstakes ends 08/31/06. To enter, register at www.triconex.com/sweepstakes. Sweepstakes open to legal residents of the (50) United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Canada (excluding the province of Quebec), Austria, Denmark, Germany, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Ireland, Finland and Italy, who are 21 years of age or older and employed as a professional industrial, information or automation engineer. Promotion is void where prohibited. See Official Rules at www.triconex.com/10. The Sony name, logo and Sony Dream are registered trademarks of Sony. All rights reserved. Sony is not a sponsor of nor associated with this promotion. ©2006 Invensys Systems Inc. All rights reserved. Invensys and Triconex are trademarks and registered trademarks of Invensys plc. All other trademarks noted herein are owned by their respective companies.

ENQUIRY NO. 677

EDITOR’S PAGE

Learning @

Published by:

EASTERN TRADE MEDIA PTE LTD

(A fully owned subsidiary of Eastern Holdings Ltd) MANAGING DIRECTOR

Kenneth Tan

MANAGING EDITOR

Warp Speed

Learning is so multi-faceted these days. There are so many ways to learn – one of the easiest is to simply google the subject matter – and a long list of possible information sources is immediately available. On top of that, there are webinars, wikis, and professional blogs, amongst others. It is true that structured learning is necessary to instil the traits of logical enquiry and critical thinking as they will serve students of the sciences well in their future careers. Educational institutions impart the foundations upon which the individual can pursue lifelong learning. But how to produce a world class workforce? Is our educational system still relevant in the face of changing technology? What is the role of educators in light of such rapid technological developments? What skills are our engineers equipped with and what knowledge will be relevant when they graduate? I s i t b e t t e r t o c r a m f u t u re engineers with all the knowledge they can absorb within a four year period, or is it better to significantly reduce the time it takes them to get qualified as engineers? They can be out in the ﬁeld much earlier, but with serious options and systems in place to pursue lifelong learning. How many biomedical engineering, aerospace, machining, chemical, electronics or mechanical engineers do we need four years from now, when the current cohort graduates? Are they primed to ride the next technology wave – or will they be limited by their choices? What is the next technology wave? Do grades matter if the subject matter doesn’t? It is heartening to note that there is an increase in collaboration between educational institutes – not just universities but polytechnics, and vocational training institutes as well. The recent ABB technology fair at sprawling futuristic ITE Simei campus, in Singapore, shows that future specialists are being exposed to industry relevant, state of the art technology, early in their careers. This bodes well for the future development of the industry and the individual.

Educational institutions impart the foundations upon which the individual can pursue lifelong learning.

Eileen Chan eileenchan@epl.com.sg EDITOR

Goh Tz’en Long tzenlong@epl.com.sg TECHNICAL EDITOR

Lim Wee Hing limweehing@epl.com.sg EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Sharifah Zainon sharifah@epl.com.sg SENIOR ART DIRECTOR/STUDIO MANAGER

Lawrence Lee lawrencelee@epl.com.sg GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Katherine Ching katherineching@epl.com.sg SALES & MARKETING MANAGER

Caroline Yee carolyee@epl.com.sg

ASSISTANT CIRCULATION MANAGER

Foo Boon How boonhowfoo@epl.com.sg CIRCULATION EXECUTIVE

Agnis Lim agnislim@epl.com.sg CONTRIBUTORS

Prof Frank Lewis, Prasanna Ballal, David Marschall, Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Gunnar Zank, Christian Boehm, Christian Dressler, Tieng Ling, Nadine Haid, Marius Wotschik, Augustine Quek EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS

Jim Pinto

Industry Analyst

Alastair Ross Director, Codexx Associates Ltd

SUPPORTED BY:

EASTERN HOLDINGS LTD EXECUTIVE BOARD CHAIRMAN

Stephen Tay EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Kenneth Tan

FINANCIAL CONTROLLER

Boris Chan

etm

Eastern

Trade Media Pte Ltd an Eastern Holdings Ltd company

Head Ofﬁce & Mailing Address: Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd 1100 Lower Delta Road #04-02 EPL Building Singapore 169206 Tel: (65) 6379 2888 • Fax: (65) 6379 2805 Website: www.iaasiaonline.com Email: iaa@epl.com.sg

Goh Tz’en Long

MICA (P) No. 012/12/2006 ISSN 0219/5615 PPS 1561/7/2008 (000553) Co Reg No. 199908196C Colour Separation: Pica Digital Pte Ltd Printer: Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd

6 industrial automation asia | September 2007

A complete line of radar instruments Radar is our world VEGA Grieshaber KG is a worldwide leading company in level, pressure and switching instrumentation. In 1997 VEGA introduced the first twowire radar instrument to the world. Two years later, VEGA advanced to international market leader in level measurement with radar. As far as liquids are concerned, radar has become accepted meanwhile as the standard technology – and with the radar instruments of ERA II, VEGA has set a new standard for continuous measurement of bulk solids. Radar – ideal for bulk solids measurement VEGA radar technology covers virtually all areas of application with bulk solids. Thanks to non-contact measurement, both instruments are absolutely wear and maintenance-free. The wide dynamic range of the sensor ensures reliable measuring results, absolutely free of influence from strong dust generation. Even under the difficult conditions of pneumatic filling and the associated noise there is no signal degradation. The instruments are Dust Ex and Gas Ex approved.

VEGAPULS 67:

Universal and cost-effective VEGAPULS 67 was developed for applications in which ultrasonic technology was primarily used until now. VEGAPULS 67 offers superior measurement reliability at very low cost The performance of VEGAPULS 67 is unaffected by air turbulence and noise as they commonly occur during pneumatic filling. Even strong dust generation and temperature fluctuations do not influence the measuring results. VEGAPULS 67 operates contactlessly and is therefore also suitable for applications in chemically corrosive products. VEGAPULS 67 is thus applicable in virtually all areas of production and represents more than just an alternative to ultrasonic technology due to its price-performance ratio.

VEGAPULS 68:

For the most demanding application conditions VEGAPULS 68 delivers reliable level data even in high temperatures, such as e.g. in steel production.

Technical Data VEGAPULS 67

The dusty conditions in the coal processing facilities of power plants or in building materials storehouses do not bother VEGAPULS 68 in the least. The wide dynamic range of the sensor also opens up new possibilities in applications with powders and granulates in the food and chemical industries.

VEGAPULS 68

Measuring range

Up to 15m

Up to 70m

Temperature

– 40...+80°C

– 40...+200°C

Pressure

Vacuum up to max. 2 bar

Vacuum up to max. 40 bar

Antennas

Plastic-encapsulated antenna

Parabolic antenna

Swivelling mechanism

Via mounting strap

Via mounting ﬂange

Air purging connection

Yes

Flange sizes

DN 80 ... DN 150

From DN 50

Approvals

ATEX II 1⁄2 D IP6X T

ATEX II 1G, 1/2G, 2G EEx ia IIC T5

Horn antenna

Through optimized radar technology, the sensor can process signals up to a thousand times smaller than those normally handled by conventional radar instruments. This high sensitivity enables measuring ranges up to 70 m even in products with poor reﬂective properties.

ATEX II 1⁄2 D IP6X T Pluggable electronics

4...20mA/Hart two wire

4...20mA/Hart four wire

Proﬁbus PA

Foundation Fieldbus

VEGAPULS in comparison with other measuring techniques VEGAPULS 67

VEGAPULS 68

Contactless measurement

■

Two-wire technology

■

Measurement during ﬁlling

■

Unaffected by dust generation

■

Unaffected by air currents

■

Unaffected by noise generation

■

Free of mechanical loads

■

Independent of product characteristics

■

Reliable in narrow silos

■

Application in high pressures

Up to 2 bar

Up to 40 bar

■

High measuring range

Up to 15 m

Up to 70 m

Application in high temperatures

Up to 80°C

Up to 200°C

■

Maintenance-free

Guided microwave

Ultrasonic

Capacitive

■

■ ■ ■

■ ■

VEGA INSTRUMENTS (SEA) PTE LTD

25 International Business Park #04-52 German Centre Singapore 609916 Phone: +65 6564 0531• Fax: +65 6567 5213 • Email: sales@sg.vega.com • Website: www.vega.com

ENQUIRY NO. 686

INDUSTRY

N E W S

MARKETS

DCS Market Up 14 Percent US: In a recent ARC study entitled ‘Distributed Control Systems Worldwide Outlook,’ ABB takes the leading worldwide market position in this core automation market. The study reveals that total worldwide market for DCS increased by 14 percent between 2005 and 2006, with total revenues of US$13.4 billion, and forecasts that the compound annual growth rate for this market through 2011 will be 9.9 percent. The ARC report states that the DCS market is a leading indicator of the overall health of the process automation business; overall growth in 2006 exceeded expectations. Factors contributing to this upward trend include high energy prices and the growing worldwide demand for energy, as well as the continued need by manufacturers to improve their plant operations, meet increasing regulatory requirements, and modernise the aging installed base. ARC estimates the total installed base of DCS systems worldwide to be over US$65 billion. “The rapid growth of the DCS market, and the battle for the installed base, make it no easy task for the market leader, but ABB still retains its leading position in the worldwide market for 2006. The company continues to enjoy the largest installed base of any supplier, and is making key strides in evolving its installed base forward to its System 800xA platform,” says Larry O’Brien, Research

Chainflex .Tested! ®

ENQUIRY NO. 684

Control cables, data transmission cables, fibre optic cables, servomotor cables, power cables ... special cables

Over 750 special Chainflex® cables for dynamic systems available, no cutting charges. igus Singapore Pte Ltd. Phone +65-6487 1411 Fax +65-6487 1511 asia-sales@igus.com.sg

8 industrial automation asia | September 2007

Director for Process Industries, ARC. “ABB is also the market share leader in key global verticals including Oil & Gas, Electric Power, Cement and Glass, and Pulp and Paper and the regional leader for Europe/Mid East/Asia (EMEA).” Oil & Gas Leads Markets The Oil & Gas, Refining and Power industries superseded the Pharmaceutical and Food & Beverage industries as the fastest growing DCS markets in 2006, providing new areas of opportunity across all geographies. ARC forecasts that Oil & Gas will see more growth in the DCS market than any other industry area over the next five years; this growth will be driven by increasing investments in oil exploration and production. Asian Powerhouse According to ARC, Asia is still a powerhouse and opportunities continue to abound in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, but the developed markets such as North America and Western Europe are beginning to show signs of sluggishness. ARC expects the current growth phase of the global market for automation to last through the next several years. While the overall market remains strong and will continue to grow, odds are that there will not be the stellar growth in the automation marketplace that was present between 2005 and 2006. From a macroeconomic perspective, both China and India are poised for significant long-term growth. Both countries are increasing their focus on manufacturing for export, in addition to developing infrastructure, investing in basic industries, and in training personnel to operate automation plants. China is still the primary catalyst for global growth in the automation industry. As a result, ARC expects that China will be the single biggest geographical market for automation products and services in 20 years. ENQUIRY NO. 6001

www.iaasiaonline.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

GE Energy: CAC 1st Anniversary Singapore: The Asia Customer Application Center (CAC) in Singapore, launched in July 2006, primarily targets the power generation, oil and gas, petrochemical, pulp and paper, wastewater plant and steel industries. The 15,000 sq ft facility provides in-depth product demonstrations, case studies and simulations to enable customers to see how GE’s products and services can help improve plant productivity. GE’s latest investments into the facility are the Mark VIe control system for turbines and the OC4000 distributed control systems for plant performance improvement.

•

The Knowledge3 (KN3) neural net technology for complex optimisation typically applied in the power generation industry; Anomaly detection, an application of the KN3 technology, that analyses sizeable amounts of data to identify patterns of behaviour and warns of deviations, and; Wireless Condition Monitoring solutions for distributed assets based on the innovative mesh network and power harvesting technologies.

According to Hitesh Shah, Regional Leader for GE Energy's Optimisation and Control business in Asia, the CAC has served more than 200 customers in various industry segments across all of Asia in the last year since it was established. Most recently, the centre hosted customers who attended the specialised seminars on Advanced Reciprocating Compressor Diagnostic in April and Performance Monitoring and Optimisation in June. ENQUIRY NO. 6002

ENQUIRY NO. 683

Knowledge Innovations It has also recently introduced new optimisation and control innovations that include:

•

www.iaasiaonline.com

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 9

INDUSTRY

N E W S

Honeywell: One Wireless Network

ENQUIRY NO. 668

Phoenix, US: OneWireless is a universal industrial wireless mesh network solution that helps improve plant safety, reliability and efficiency. The scalable wireless infrastructure that supports wireless-enabled devices in strategic locations throughout a facility. The universal network supports multiple industrial protocols and applications simultaneously, providing a single wireless network that is simple to manage and efficient to operate. “The significance of OneWireless goes beyond the prohibitive cost of wiring. The breakthrough value lies in the ability to turn more information into knowledge across the plant, leading to Au Yeong Pak Kwan optimised

productivity and improved safety, compliance and asset reliability,” says Au Yeong Pak Kwan, Regional General Manager, Southeast Asia, Honeywell Process Solutions. Scalable to 30,000 devices, OneWireless supports existing Honeywell XYR 5000 wireless transmitters and XYR 6000 transmitters, which includes corrosion, gauge pressure, differential pressure, high-level analogue input and temperature transmitters. The solution also supports wired transmitters, mobile worker devices such as IntelaTrac* PKS and Mobile Station, and standard Wi-Fi and Ethernet clients. The open, standards-based infrastructure allows manufacturers to take advantage of new applications as they become available. Honeywell has implemented ﬁeld trials of OneWireless at multiple sites, including Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc in Alabama where the OneWireless network is conﬁgured with wireless temperature and pressure sensors

XYR 6000 transmitters

to improve the efficiency of several steel-manufacturing processes. The pressure sensors, for example, enable operators to measure air filtration system performance and schedule maintenance only as needed. This leads to more efficient maintenance and less downtime. ENQUIRY NO. 6003

You Know You Get Quality When It Say’s CEJN!

Belden: Account Manager, Thailand

The Global Quick Connect Specialist

Thailand: Nichapa Gludpiboon has been appointed Account Manager – Industrial for the Thailand market. Prior to joining Belden, Nichapa spent more than 4½ years with Kerpen (Thailand) as Assistant Sales Manager in charge of cable products. She has over six years of sales experience, including project and channel sales. Nichapa has helped Kerpen Thailand to triple the sales volume in her assigned territory. In this newly created position, Ms Gludpiboon will be focusing on developing the Thai industrial market. Her duties include assisting in business development, sales planning and execution.

CEJN is a world leader in designing and manufacturing quick connect couplings that provide reliable connections in breathing air, gas, ﬂuid, pneumatic, hydraulic and high pressure hydraulic applications. We offer diverse accesory products including adapters, ﬁtting, hose, hose reels, air preparation units and blowguns. CEJN Products Far East Pte Ltd

70 Bendemeer Road #03-03 Luzerne (Hiap Huat House) Singapore 339940 Tel: +65 6748 6434 Fax: +65 6747 0375 Website: www.cejn.com Email: mkt@cpf-cejn.com.sg

10 industrial automation asia | September 2007

ENQUIRY NO. 6004

www.iaasiaonline.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

Yokogawa Wins Major Thai Petrochem Contract

ENQUIRY NO. 6005

www.iaasiaonline.com

www.turck.com

HIGHEST SWITCHING DISTANCE & FACTOR 1 Perfect solutions for your applications! • Highest switching distance: the new sensors from TURCK offer Factor 1 and the highest switching distance. • Highest efficiency in system construction through comprehensive standardisation: a single replaces many “conventional” sensor types. • Highest operational reliability right from the start due to simple and safe installation. • Highest flexibility based on a wide choice of housing styles for application-optimised solutions.

TURCK Singapore Pte. Ltd. 25 International Business Park, #03-22/23 German Centre Singapore 609916 Phone (+65) 65628716, Fax (+65) 65628719 E-Mail singapore@turck.com

ENQUIRY NO. 682

Thailand: Yokogawa (Thailand) has received a contract to supply control systems, field sensors, and other devices for a petrochemical plant complex construction project of Map Ta Phut Olefins Co, Ltd, a petrochemical company of the Siam Cement Group.. It will participate in the project from an early stage as a main automation contractor (MAC) together with engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors. This will enable the company to contribute to the standardisation of control device specifications, improvement of engineering quality, and reduction of costs and delivery times. This is the first time Yokogawa has won an MAC contract in Thailand. This plant complex will be constructed at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, which is located in Rayong, southeast of Bangkok. A key part of the complex will be a naphtha cracker plant with an annual production capacity of 1.7 million tons (900,000 tons of ethylene and 800,000 tons of propylene). This plant complex will also produce downstream products and have an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons for both high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene. For higher propylene output, an olefins conversion technology (OCT) will be used that converts butene and ethylene to propylene using a catalyst. The plant will also employ the latest technology to enable the use of such materials as naphtha as well as light condensate obtained from the natural gas extraction and generation process. Under the contract, Yokogawa will deliver to the plant complex a Centum CS 3000 Integrated Production Control System and ProSafe-RS Safety Instrumented System, as well as approximately 60 GC1000 Mark II process gas chromatographs and 5,000 field sensors, such as pressure transmitters and flowmeters.

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 11 S0133_80x240_uprox_GB_Singapore.1 1

18.01.2007 08:30:33

INDUSTRY

N E W S

Are you still using

Simatic® S5?

Citect: Always In Control

�S5-TCP/IP 100 Turbo-

Ethernet for

PLC oldies Link S5 controllers to Industrial Ethernet to visualize process data, for example. 10/100 Mbps Ethernet CP � 4-port switch � integrated network agent � Protocols: TCP/IP, RFC1006, ISO (H1), S5-AP, Modbus on TCP, Send/Receive

(L) Scott Druery, MD CitectAsia, mingles with guests in Manila

�

Step® and Simatic® are registered trademarks of the Siemens AG.

�X5 / X7 CPU

turns your S5

The Tech Update roadshows held in the capital cities of Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore were well received and attracted a turnout averaging 80 delegates per session. Commencing in the last week of June, users across South East Asia gained valuable insights into future solutions, and opportunities to network with industry experts. At the Tech Update held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Scott Druery, MD, Asia shared his views on strategy for the region, retaining quality employees and global support. At the Manila, Philippines roadshow, VIP attendees included the President of the Philippines Instrumentation and Control Society. The society celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. Citect customer, Global Steel Phils Inc, specially ﬂew in to give a case study. At the Singapore event, the Australian Trade Commissioner delivered the opening keynote speech. ENQUIRY NO. 6006

into

an S7!

High-performance CPU for the S5 with TCP/IP interface � compatible with CPU

416 and CPU 945

� programmable in Step® 5 and Step® 7 � Integration

of S5 controllers in S7 projects � Mixed operation: S5 and S7 programs run parallel � 2-port Switch

ENQUIRY NO. 664

INAT GmbH Ostendstr. 50A 90482 Nuremberg • Germany Tel.: +49 (0)911 / 544 27-0 Fax: +49 (0)911 / 544 27-27 info@inat.de • www.inat.de

12 industrial automation asia | September 2007

LonMark Sessions Impact Asia US: The recently concluded LonMark Sessions 2007 tour was well received and enjoyed strong participation from hundreds of attendees. The series of one-day seminars discussed benefits of LON based, open building control solutions. It travelled through Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, and Singapore visiting a total of 12 Asian cities. The seminar topics included the following: • Energy savings • Improving efficiencies through system integration • Maintenance, operating, and training cost reductions • Leveraging IT infrastructure • Successful projects and market trends • Professional certification

Attendees ranged from end users, property owners, institutional organisations, integrators, product vendors, IT professionals, and HVAC installers. Topics discussed included ROI models, increased operating efﬁciency, and green building solutions. ENQUIRY NO. 6007

www.iaasiaonline.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

NI: Real-Time Multicore Support & Statechart Design Texas, US: National Instruments has released the latest version of the graphical system design platform for test, control and embedded system development. LabVIEW 8.5 extends the embedded platform to program multicore, real-time processors. The latest version combines the familiar graphical programming environment of the software with commercial multicore hardware to achieve signiﬁcant performance gains. Additionally, LabVIEW 8.5 introduces the LabVIEW Statechart Module for higher-level designs to run on targets including FPGAs, real-time systems, PDAs, touch panels and a variety of microprocessors. With the inherent parallel nature of the graphical code, embedded developers can enhance applications ranging from design validation systems such as hardware-in-the-loop

��

simulators to complex control systems such as high-speed particle accelerators. To achieve real-time symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), NI developed a realtime load balancing scheduler to automatically assign tasks to different processor cores, providing performance improvements without sacriﬁcing determinism or requiring user code changes. The Statechart Module gives engineers an alternative to designing systems with a high-level diagram based on the Uniﬁed Modelling Language (UML) standard. Statecharts are commonly used to design state machines that model the behavior of

real-time and embedded systems to depict event occurrences and responses for designing digital communication protocols, machine controllers and system-protection applications. ENQUIRY NO. 6008

��

www.iaasiaonline.com

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 13

Newsdesk

The seventh part of this series looks at the requirements of safety-related communication. By Christian Dressler

Safety-Related Communication T

ypical application fields for safetyrelated communication include: off-road vehicles, industrial machinery, cranes, medical equipment, or fire-protection doors. Devices such as emergency stop switches have to communicate in a safe way. The residual error probability of the transmission of a CAN data frame using standard hardware is about: ρ = 4.7 x 10-11 error rate in a network consisting of 10 nodes. With every 1000th frame being erroneous, the probability calculates to ρ = 4.7 x 10-14. That means an undetected error occurs in a network under average conditions about every 2000 years. As the details of the internal structure of microcontroller units cannot be readily verified, a different way is needed to get CAN hardware certified. A concept has to be created, which ensures reliability of communication independently from the used hardware and its properties. One of the safety mechanisms which can be verified by standards bodies is the use of a safetyrelated protocol. Safety-Related Protocol An appropriate protocol is fundamental for safety-related devices. Such a protocol is specified in CiA 304 for example. It is based on CANopen and considers bit errors, loss or delay of frames, wrong receiving order of frames, and un-wanted extra frames. This is achieved by the use of SRDOs (safety-related data object), SCT (safeguard cycle time) and the SRVT 14 industrial automation asia | September 2007

SRDO1

refresh-time

SRDO1

refresh-time SCT expired time

SCT

SRDO1

SCT

SCT SRDO1

SRDO1

SRVT expired

SRVT

time

Figure 1: The CANopen safety timing restrictions

(safety-related validation time). The protocol also provides a so-called GFC (global failsafe command). These terms are introduced as follows. An SRDO is comparable to a PDO, with the dif-ference, that the data is sent twice: two CAN frames with different identifiers (at least two bits have to be different) are sent consecutively. They contain the same data, but the second frame stores the data bit-wise inverted. This concept is called serial redundancy. The receiving device verifies, if both frames of an SRDO have the same content. SRDOs are transmitted periodically. When SCT expires and no SRDO has been received yet, the device switches into safe state. The SRVT defines the maximum

time, which may elapse between the both frames of an SRDO. If they are not received within SRVT the device switches to safe state. The both timing parameters are illustrated in Figure 1. The network can be used for both, conventional services and SRDOs at the same time by all devices. Consequently, trafﬁc could increase and frames with lower priority may be delayed. The GFC is used to reduce the reaction time when a device wants the other devices to go into the safe state. It is a single CAN frame with high priority and no data content. The message will be received by all means, because a GFC is always followed by an appropriate SRDO. The number of SRDOs in a network is limited to 64. www.iaasiaonline.com

CAN Basics: Part 7 of 8 Figure 2: CANopen safety implementation of a MCU according to SIL 3

Sensor Dual channel monitoring signal

Dual channel control signal

1 chip 16-bit MCU Custom safety application Power fail

CANopen protocol stack (CiA 301, CiA 304)

CAN controller 1

alternating transmission

Diagnostic functions

Power supply monitoring

CAN controller 2

CAN transceiver

Hardware Certification Four safety integrity levels (SIL) are defined, with SIL4 being the most dependable and SIL1 being the least. Nowadays, more and more safety related applications migrate from wired connections to a serial bus system. The devices can be certified for use in functional safety applications according to IEC 61508, giving evidence that the application, including device, is compliant. The SIL requirements for hardware safety integrity are based on a probabilistic analysis of the device. To achieve a given SIL, the device must have less than the specified probability of dangerous failure and have greater than the specified safe failure fraction. The international standard IEC 61508 defines SIL using requirements grouped into two broad categories: hardware safety integrity and systematic safety integrity. A device or system must meet the requirements for both categories to achieve a given SIL. To get a μC certified according to safety standards does afford more than just implementing a safety protocol. For example, when an actor may be connected to the safety hardware, a www.iaasiaonline.com

watchdog or a similar mechanism has additionally to monitor the μC. Also, peripheral devices (eg: power supply) or programming modules, have to be monitored. A consortium formed by CiA has developed hardware that is certified according to SIL 3, with safety-protocol pre-programmed. The structure can be seen in Figure 2. The MCU uses two CAN controllers, which are used for redundancy reasons. The CAN frames are received by both controllers and verified. When a CAN frame is sent, the used controllers alternate. Using Safety Hardware Working with a safety-related node in a network does not mean that the whole network is safety-compliant. Every part of a network has to be checked for safety until the whole system is certified. With CAN and the CANopen safety protocol it is possible to interconnect the safety-related devices in a network directly. No PLC is needed, eg: an emergency switch taking effect on a safety relay. The logical linking of devices is similar to traditional wired connections.

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ENQUIRY NO. 6010

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 15

dff071362_smo_54x241_uk.indd 1

ENQUIRY NO. 669

CAN bus

08.08.2007 11:41:58 Uhr

News Updates Roundup Of Regional Events Seminar Highlights Safety Fieldbus: This workshop will explore the benefits of using Profisafe SIL3 Safety Fieldbus technology. Safety Fieldbus allows for more flexible safety system architectures, higher availability and also direct connection to field devices supporting Profisafe. This is installed using fault tolerant PA ring and reduces the need for expensive safety system I/O. Applications such as partial stroke testing of shutdown valves can be greatly simplified using the technology.

Malaysia

Coming into the final quarter of 2007, an events roundup indicates that the regional Profibus association had an activity filled first three quarters in 2007. Response from the roadshows was generally positive, attracting many industry players interested in becoming members or sponsors. The association participated in major trade events such as IMAC in Bangkok, Thailand; OGA 2007 and Industrial Automation 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Upcoming events for the remaining part of the year include the Regional Industry Networking Conference (RINC) held at the Singapore Polytechnic (November 1–2, 2007) and CIA 2007 (November 27–30, 2007).

Asset Management: Information is contained in three different files: • GSD files specify the communication between the master and slave devices • FDT/DTM is a standardised Profibus interface specification that allows the integration of intelligent devices into, for example, asset management and process control systems • EDDL is the IEC based integration of intelligent devices and information displays This workshop will go through the entire process of network configuration. Audio Paper: Why use a fieldbus? An audio white paper in MP3, as well as in pdf form can be downloaded from the international website. It explains the arguments for the use of the fieldbus system and associated advantages.

Workshops Workshops were also conducted in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, concurrently with some of the roadshows. The association is currently gearing up for an upcoming roadshow/workshop in Vietnam.

Vietnam Roadshow Schedule Hanoi:

September 19–20, 2007

Ho Chi Minh City: September 26–27, 2007

The Philippines roadshow has been postponed to January 2008, and actual dates will be informed at a later stage. Registration for the Vietnam roadshows can now be made online at the Proﬁbus website: www.proﬁbus.com. 16 industrial automation asia | September 2007

Thailand ENQUIRY NO. 6020

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Foundation Celebrates 10th Anniversary

The Fieldbus Foundation celebrated its 10th anniversary in the Asia-Pacific, at the National University of Singapore Students Union (NUSSU) Guildhouse on July 19, 2007. The event drew a large crowd of automation suppliers, endusers and leading industry figures. Guest of honour, President and CEO, Rich Timoney delivered a keynote address describing the dream of a group of visionaries that became a reality – first, an industry-standard fieldbus technology, and then an automation infrastructure for operational excellence. He singled out the contributions of those people who helped make Foundation fieldbus the ‘technology of choice’ for process automation in Asia and around the world.

A short address was delivered by Jonas Berge, President of the Singapore marketing committee. He noted how ‘mega-projects’ in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly adopting the technology on ever larger scales. A fieldbus expert panel consisting of Mok Wing Kee, ExxonMobil; Leong Gim Heng, Shell; Dr Joachim Zobel, Novartis; Stephen Weng, Yokogawa; Alvin Wong, Emerson Process Management; and Rich Timoney and Hisashi Sasajima, Fieldbus Foundation, fielded questions form attendees. For resulted. discussions interesting Several example, it became clear that to fully benefit from digital architectures, bus alone is not sufficient. The software that unleashes predictive diagnostics information must also be in place to complete the infrastructure. In addition, the discussion gave Mr Timoney the opportunity to explain the latest developments to better support intelligent device management as per the NAMUR NE 107 recommendation. He also provided an update on the FF-SIF technology verification and the parallel development of engineering and operations best practices for safety bus. Following the formal presentations, Mr Sasajima, VP, Asia-Pacific operations toasted the foundation’s continued success. The evening ended on a high note with food and drinks, as well as casual networking among industry associates. ENQUIRY NO. 6030

End User Council The Singapore End User Council (EUC) recently met to discuss the latest progress in Foundation technology and to share ﬁeldbus application experiences. Chung Ock Jin, Acting President of the Singapore EUC, spoke on the proliferation of intelligent devices in process automation. President and CEO, Rich Timoney, gave a presentation titled ‘Changing the Playing Field’. Mr Timoney said that the scope the technology makes it a process automation infrastructure – one of the most advanced and scalable solutions available. It is supplierstandards-based, and neutral providing end users with a common framework to implement and manage strategies for operational excellence

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and continuous improvement in process manufacturing. Jonas Berge, Chairman of the Singapore Foundation’s Fieldbus Marketing Society, presented on the topic of ‘Keeping Fieldbus Systems Up-To-Date Communicators And Using EDDL.’ The role of EDDL in the overall scheme of things was explained. According to Mr Berge, recent enhancements to the IEC add technology EDDL 68104-3 signiﬁcant value for diagnostics, setup, and calibration. They allow device manufacturers to neatly organise device information on tabs and in frames. Images illustrating wiring, block diagrams, gauges, bar graphs, and strip-charts can also be included.

The HTML-like characteristics of EDDL technology makes it desirable as a long term solution, since it is not affected by upgrades or changes in operating systems. Enhanced EDDL is also more secure and robust, since it is not executable and does not involve procedure calls between applications from different vendors. There is much greater emphasis being placed on device management software and administration.

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 17

Asia

News Updates

Japan Member Meeting

Kenichi Karigane, Hitachi IES presents at the Member Meeting in Tokyo

Fifty-ﬁve Japanese representatives attended the Tokyo member meeting. Among the participating companies were well-known names such as Amada, Brother, Epson, Fuji Electric, Hitachi, Muratec, Okuma, Panasonic, Proface, Sanyo Denki, Sumitomo, and Toyota TDC. Altera, Beckhoff, Hilscher and Xilinx presented hardware and software for EtherCAT slave device interfaces, and Hitachi, Muratec and Okuma gave an update on their projects. There is a strong following in Japan where several vendors are currently implementing EtherCAT devices. ■

Safe Real-Time Communication

The Safety over EtherCAT protocol has been certified by TÜV for transferring process data between devices, up to SIL 3, according to the IEC 61508 Standard. It uses EtherCAT as a communication system for the safety protocol, although in principle any transmission link can be used, including fieldbus systems, Ethernet, as well as optical fibre cables, copper cables, or radio links. There are no restrictions or requirements for bus couplers or other devices located along the transfer route. The transport medium is regarded as a ‘black

18 industrial automation asia | September 2007

channel’ and not included in safety The protocol does not impose considerations. A safety frame any limits regarding the length containing the safe process data and of safe process data. With approthe required data guard is included priate selection of the error in the EtherCAT process data. This detection and correction informa‘container’ is safely analysed in the tion, the transfer rate has no devices at the application level. inﬂuence on residual error Through suitable measures, the probability for the Safety over protocol reliably handles all error asEtherCAT protocol. ■ sumptions that are relevant in the conENQUIRY NO. 6040 text of transferring safe information via a communication system (corruption, Ethernet Telegram repetition, interchanging, loss, delay, insertion, masquerading, and invalid addressing of messages). Based on suitable procedures the frame is designed such that a minimum container length of 6 bytes is sufﬁcient for transferring all error detection and correction information, including one byte of Embedding of the Safety over EtherCAT frame safe process data. process data

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Fuji Electric FA Singapore Private Ltd 171 Chin Swee Road #12-01 San Centre Singapore 169877 Tel: (65) 6533 0014 Fax: (65) 6533 0021 Website: http://www.fujielectric.com.sg

Fuji Electric FA Singapore Private Ltd (India Branch) 503, A – Wing, 5th Floor, Dynasty Business Park, Andheri Kuria Road, Andheri East , Mumbai – 400069, India Tel: (91) 22 40104870 Fax: (91) 22 40104872 Website: http://www.fujielectric.com.sg

ENQUIRY NO. 652

We are operating in India now!

ISSUES & INSIGHTS

Seamless Data Integration:

Unlocking The Hidden Capacity Of Process Plants Much has been made of the beneﬁts of open and interoperable ﬁeldbuses, but not enough attention has been paid to data structures. By David Marschall (L) and Tieng Ling (R), Senior Principal (MES) Project Execution Engineers, Emerson Process Management

n an ideal world, all communication and record keeping in a plant, from production floor to boardroom, would be seamless, immediate and error-free. A good start towards this end is embodied in ISA-95 (formerly known as SP95), the international standard for the integration of enterprise and control systems, although, this has not yet spread to all companies or solved all problems. ISA-95 divides plant activities into four levels (five, if you include Level 0, the physical production equipment itself). Starting at the highest (enterprise) level, these are: • Level 4 — This is the ERP level. It is concerned with business logistics management, including plant production scheduling, shipping, receiving, inventory and so on. The interface between Level 4 and Level 3 is handled by the business process information network. Information exchanged includes production capability information, product definition information, productions scheduling and production performance. • Level 3 — This is the MES level. It is concerned with manufacturing 20 industrial automation asia | September 2007

•

operations management: dispatching, detailed production scheduling, production tracking and so on. Major activities at this level include maintenance operations, inventory operations, production operations, quality operations, management of documentation, management of security, management of conﬁguration, and management of compliance. Equipment status maintained/validated by MES also includes other systems such as LIMS, WMS and CMMS. Level 3 connects to Level 2 via the operations information network. Level 2 — This level is concerned with the actual manufacturing process, be it batch control, continuous process or discrete control, and in some ways can

•

be considered as two levels. The upper part includes equipment managed/monitored/controlled by HMI, SCADA and batch systems, which connect via the automation networks to the equipment below it that provides operational control: PLCs, DCSs and packaged systems. Level 2 interfaces to the level below it via a number of discrete and process device communication networks. Level 1 — This level consists of the physical interfaces between the control equipment and the physical machinery. Equipment includes I/O, actuators and sensors.

With such an orderly arrangement, and with the appropriate networks in place, one would think that information would flow smoothly from level to level. At levels 1 and 2 much of it does, or plants would not be able to operate at all, but there are still significant difficulties, particularly between levels 2 and 3, and even within level 3. Each requires information from a separate source – typically in a different form. Some information is found in databases, some in paper records. The databases tend to be disparate, and paper

Level 1-4: Device to Enterprise

Emerson

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ISSUES & INSIGHTS

Paperless One of the biggest steps forward would be to get away from paper. The paper system fosters missing data, errors, inaccuracies and wasted time. Even the physical amount of paper can be a problem. A recent conference on MES issues included a presentation from a company that produces pharmaceutics based on the genetic makeup of each individual patient. The company tracks each person and the drugs made for that particular person through its manufacturing process. The analysis has to ﬂow

through the system as the drugs are manufactured in order to prove efﬁcacy and comply with multiple regulations, but in doing so the company creates about 1.5 to 2 ft of paper per person per product – all of which must be managed. The company hopes to grow to the point that it processes drugs for perhaps 1000 people every two weeks. It would have to go paperless, if for no other reason than that it will not be able to buy enough warehouse space just to manage the paper. While not every company is faced with 1.5 ft of paper per production lot, it still generates a great deal of paper involving materials management, laboratory information, training records that have to be checked or maintained, equipment logs, process control system logs and things of that nature. The systems that generate them are typically provided by different vendors because nobody really has an integrated or total solution. Any realistic solution must somehow encompass all those disparate systems or islands of automation. One of the issues, particularly in regulated industries, is the time required for a review of paper batch records. It can exceed the manufacturing process time by two, three or more times. A 14-day manufacturing process might require two months to review the paper batch record before the product can be released. Meanwhile the product sits in a warehouse unsold while the clock on expiration starts ticking.

Paperless record keeping

Error Rate Another major problem with paper records is the error rate. It has been estimated that around 95 percent of paper records have errors of some kind before being reviewed and corrected by the manufacturing people and moving on to the quality department. We did a study in which we found that a large percentage – 60 percent or more, probably – of these errors were omissions and transpositions. All companies have processes in

Linking databases can be a challenge

records are notoriously subject to human errors and omissions. This is a long way from the goal of tying together process control and equipment management, and then integrating that into manufacturing operations, like recipe execution, materials management, asset management, and so on. Linking Databases There have been attempts to link individual systems, like LIMS with batch systems, by simply doing database queries. Unfortunately this method always poses a great challenge as the individual system does not necessarily provide information like the context of a batch, and even when the link is successfully developed and working such one-off, site-speciﬁc solutions are not transportable from one company to another or even from one site to another, within the same company. One example was a pharmaceutical plant that had built up about 250 different spreadsheets, databases and other software tools to meet their record keeping needs. As one can imagine, trying to maintain 250 different applications, connect them together and ensure that the batch record context was consistent was www.iaasiaonline.com

a major headache. It simply didn’t work.

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 21

ISSUES & INSIGHTS place to catch errors, so when the product goes out the door all of those things have been addressed, but such correction takes supervisor time and operator time – anywhere from four hours to a day or more – that could be spent better on producing output. A right-ﬁrst-time rate in the single digits is unacceptable. If the errors cannot be corrected, or the missing data cannot be found, the product must be dumped, although no company is likely to reveal how often that happens. Value Of Real-Time The best answer would be to have all needed data in real time, and to be able to verify things proactively using electronic work instructions that prevent human error and streamline production. This is to avoid problems instead of reacting once they’ve happened. An example is veriﬁcation of training. Before an operator in a regulated industry can carry out a process, that person has to be trained on it; if not, then technically there is a deviation. Yet today, because of the overhead and manual effort involved those checks are often treated as a deviation or an audit after the fact, and it is assumed that those records are maintained and that all needed training has been done. With modern paperless systems it is possible to check those in real time before the action is taken, before the activity is performed. That is seldom feasible in a paper world. Applying the same methods to a LIMS, the automation system should take over management in real time, handling the submission of requests, tracking which ones are still outstanding, and incorporating the results into the record so that everything is available for the review process with no missing information and no missing reports. Unlocking Hidden Capacity As an example of the timesavings possible with proper information handling, we are familiar with a 22 industrial automation asia | September 2007

company that uses a fermentation process to produce an intermediate material that is considered as internal or mini inventory and must be analysed before being used. Currently this takes one or two weeks, but the company plans to go to zero review time. The automation process will allow the company to take the risk and do the review process after release. If there is a problem they will catch it later on, but the odds of that happening are so low that they don’t expect it to be an issue. They’re saving one to two weeks per production cycle in the manufacturing process. As a general rule, comparing normal cycle time to best-case cycle time, consider a product that, under normal conditions, takes 120 days to go from receipt of order to delivery. Given a sufﬁciently urgent rush order, that time might be cut to perhaps 35 or 40 days. By adopting paperless methods it should be possible to bring the average cycle time down close to the rush-job cycle time; in general it means at least a 50 percent improvement in release cycle time. On the manufacturing side there may be a 15 or 20 percent reduction in work effort, simply by the reduction in the cost of quality. And similar savings occur in maintenance.

Because of the way the automation systems can track productivity or equipment utilisation it’s often possible to extend maintenance times to close to the theoretical maximum; for example, if equipment calibrations are good for one year, the ability to track and monitor makes it possible to move from the usual sixmonth or nine-month cycle to close to the one-year. Single Source When going for such improvements it is a good idea to stick to integrated systems provided by one vendor instead of many vendors and trying to integrate them together. This will minimise the number of interfaces to maintain and the change control needed as those different solutions migrate or upgrade. Working with different vendors requires signiﬁcant time and effort to resolve conﬂicts, overlaps and holes. Choosing a single source makes it possible to put all that burden on the vendor, which lowers your risk, makes it easier for you to operate, and lets you focus on the things that you care about – how your plant runs versus how well your systems talk to each other. ENQUIRY NO. 6100

Unlocking the hidden capacity in the plant

www.iaasiaonline.com

ISSUES & INSIGHTS

epperl+Fuchs is developing WirelessHART, an industrial field communication protocol, and the products will be available in mid-2008. For process automation, products ranging from simple analog isolators via remote I/O systems to complete field bus infrastructures have been designed. These process measurement and control applications require wire connections: costly, time-consuming wiring. But this will soon change. WirelessHART offers huge benefits, bringing high-speed connectivity to its field devices and enabling data sharing between them ‘over-the-air’, without using a 4-20mA loop. The objective is to produce a wireless communication standard for process measurement and control applications. To bridge the distances in widespread facilities, a flat mesh network is utilised, with each device acting as a signal source and a repeater. Information is routed through the whole network until it reaches the base station as the final recipient. It is for setting parameters of field devices, supervising uncritical measurements and environmental values, managing and optimising assets, supporting preventive maintenance, monitoring performance, and managing energy. These applications are a good introduction to wireless technologies since they do not demand hard requirements for latency and transmission security. Utilisating a mesh network in non-critical applications is practical. The time delay caused by repeating the message is negligible,

The Future of

WirelessHART To be released in the third quarter of 2007, WirelessHART will be the ﬁrst wireless standard widely used in process automation. By Gerrit Lohmann, Product Manager, division of process automation

so the next step would be simple, open loop controls. Existing devices can be upgraded to enable wireless communication. In future, all these devices could be wireless. Another product, the WirelessHART Gateway, acts as a message coordinator for communication between the maintenance workstation PC and the devices. It also acts as a multiplexer on the DCS side to ensure integration in existing DCS. The communication with the ﬁeld devices takes place via radio. To upgrade the available ﬁeld devices, WirelessHART Adapter will

Wireless Gateway

Field Powered

Solar Powered

Battery Powered

PV + HART Data

Host Applications

be developed. This device is put into the 4-20 mA loop for extracting the signal and sending it over the air. Depending on the application, Pepperl+Fuchs would also offer the following options: •

A loop-powered adapter -- this allows simple integration to the existing control loop, allowing transmission through the adapter. The existing wiring will be used for conventional signal transmission.

•

A battery-powered adapter – this supplies the field device from a battery powered option. According to the selected duty cycle, the field device is powered up. The measurement value is read and transmitted, and the field device is powered down again. This enables independent measurements. ENQUIRY NO. 6900

www.iaasiaonline.com

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 23

ISSUES & INSIGHTS

Alarm Management:

Increasing Relevance, Improving Usability

The implementation of an effective alarm management program involves creating a comprehensive and consistent alarm philosophy for documenting, collecting and analysing alarm data. By Frost & Sullivan Christian Lagereek

n March 23, 2005, 1:20 pm, an explosion at the third-largest oil refinery in the United States, the BP Texas City Refinery, leaves 15 people killed and 180 injured. When a distillation tower was unknowingly overfilled, extreme pressure resulted in the release of flammable hydrocarbon which then caused the massive explosion. Critical Lapses Several factors contributed to this disaster which resulted in a financial loss of US$1.5 billion. However, the Final Investigation Report of the incident, released in March 2007 by the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, highlighted lapses in alarm management that were critical: • “The tower’s high level alarm set-point was exceeded 65 times during the last 19 startups, with more than 50 hours of operating time with the high level alarm activated”. • “The redundant high level alarm (for the distillation tower) did not activate. When the...tower was filled beyond the set points of both alarms...in the early morning 24 industrial automation asia | September 2007

•

on March 23, 2005, only one alarm was activated. The high level alarm was triggered at 3:09 am. The redundant hardwired high level alarm never sounded”. “The (redundant high level) alarm’s set-point was not known to operations personnel or provided in the procedure, control data, or training materials”. “A functionality check of all alarms and instruments was also required prior to startup, but these checks were not completed”. “Tower pressure alarm set-points were frequently exceeded, yet the procedure did not address all the reasons this might happen and the steps operators should take in response”.

Companies the world over are looking at these ﬁndings to understand not only how best to prevent such disasters from happening on their watch, but also to reassess their entire safety and risk management approach and speciﬁcally revisit their alarm management approach and practices.

Intrinsic To Safety Alarm systems have been an intrinsic part of plant safety management for a long time. They play a critical role in alerting operators to a change in operations at a process plant, inform operators about the nature of the change and guide operators to implement corrective action.

•

Poor alarm management results in: Increased downtime. This translates into lost production as well as increased operator costs through overtime, and higher lifecycle cost of equipment through increased maintenance costs Reduced plant productivity. When operators do not read early the signs of a developing problem, their response to alarm ﬂoods (large numbers of alarms annunciated at the time of process upset) typically takes the form of stabilising the process through reducing the rate of throughput Reduced quality (when alarm systems fail to alert operators www.iaasiaonline.com

ISSUES & INSIGHTS

•

to corrective action at the right time, off-spec product has to be contended with) Reduced operator effectiveness, higher operator stress levels and increased operator stafﬁng costs In the worst-case scenario, alarmrelated confusion can result in or aggravate serious industrial accidents Increased insurance premiums on plant equipment or ﬁnes incurred by not meeting regulatory requirements

Too Much However, despite their obvious significance, alarms have become yet another case of having ‘too much of a good thing’, making less functional what was once an effective safety and productivity improvement system. When control systems became mainstream, they also brought down the cost of alarms; thus increasing the proliferation of such alarms. After all, engineers did not have a strong cost disincentive to configuring excessive numbers of alarms. With this excess came reduced visibility of urgent and underlying problems, increased clutter that operators had to deal with, and longer response time to undertaking appropriate corrective action. Systematic Approach To help organisations move away from the ad hoc approach of the past and adopt a more systematic and rational approach to alarm management, in 1999 the Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association (EEMUA) released 191, ‘Alarm Systems: A Guide to Design, Management and Procurement’. This guide has rightly become the global reference point for alarm management. Its second edition – available from June 2007 – significantly updates and builds on the first edition. Designers and operators have much to gain from using EEMUA 191 when undertaking improvement of their existing alarm systems or launching into a new alarm management program. www.iaasiaonline.com

The Essentials To understand how best to improve an existing alarm system or introduce a new alarm management program, it is useful to approach the task using the steps outlined in the well-known Six Sigma sequence.

Successful alarm management is based on a comprehensive and consistent alarm philosophy document that deﬁnes: • • • • • •

•

• •

Business objectives to be met Needs and requirements of the users of the alarm system Alarm system design principles Compliance parameters Roles and responsibilities Criteria for alarm generation, setting, prioritisation and presentation Management of Change (MOC) (for example, tracking authorised and unauthorised changes to alarm settings or alarm suppression or shelving) Tr a i n i n g / m a i n t e n a n c e parameters Escalation guidelines (moving from normal status mode where operators are trying to keep the process within the ‘safe envelope’ to emergency/ disaster management)

Measure Typically, with thousands of alarms per site, a ‘stock take’ of the existing process, alarms and trends is critical before any changes are implemented. But while engineers and designers appreciate the beneﬁts of such an

exercise, the task – by virtue of its scale – can be quite daunting. This is where certain plant historians (central data repositories that gather, historise, archive and distribute plant data) can simplify the task. For example, CitectSCADA Reports, the plant-wide reporting solution from Citect, is capable of accurately recording all alarm data and tag values at high speed. Such a tool can help engineers and operators gather and organise alarm data from across the entire site. Analyse If gathering data from thousands of alarms appears daunting, then analysing such data to derive useful insight can be even more formidable an undertaking. Some plant historians provide assistance with this by helping engineers and operators with the following: • Event analysis: Pulling up all alarms that occurred at a given point in time, be they basic process alarms or aggregated alarms or even critical safetyrelated alarms. • Alarm and event archiving: Historising all alarms and events for long term analysis. • Alarm analysis, which includes: – Identifying consequential/source alarms around which other alarms are triggered – Identifying nuisance alarms such as stale alarms (that remain present for – extended periods of time), chattering alarms (that go in and out of alarm mode in a short span of time), or duplicate alarms (that persistently occur within a short period of time of another alarm). Pareto analysis can help rank nuisance alarms by frequency; to help detect the so-called ‘bad actors’ – Identifying shelved alarms (temporarily suppressed) or permanently suppressed alarms (that are prevented from appearing on the operator’s screen) September 2007 | industrial automation asia 25

ISSUES & INSIGHTS •

Alarm setting analysis by the state/mode of operation of the plant

The fruits of such analysis are many: Cutting through the clutter: EEMUA 191 suggests that 150 alarms per day (one every 10 min) presented to an operator is ‘very likely to be acceptable’ and 300 alarms per day (an alarm every 5 min) is considered ‘manageable’. In reality it is not unusual to record tens of thousands of alarms per operator per day, which makes such a system self-defeating. Identifying nuisance alarms helps to eliminate unnecessary or ineffective alarms, thus bringing the number of alarms per operator to a more manageable ratio. To do this, clear justification for each alarm is required. An alarm’s reason for being should be related to a specific problem or abnormal situation and also to a specific and defined operator response. If there is no problem or if the alarm is not intended to elicit specific operator action, then its legitimacy should be questioned. A process indicator or alert does not automatically equate to an alarm. Under the carpet: Analysing shelved alarms can help highlight potential reductions in alarm numbers there as well. More importantly, by looking at how long important alarms have been

Alarm Data

Alarm-to-Trend Analysis: • Event analysis • Identifying process drift towards anomalies

shelved or permanently suppressed, operator practices can be corrected (having shelved an alarm, there is no guarantee that the operator remembers to go back to reactivate it). The heart of the matter: Identifying root alarms or consequential alarms helps ensure that in an alarm ﬂood, prioritisation models have been conﬁgured such that the consequential alarm does not get lost or remain unnoticed. For consequential alarm and event analysis, most historians would compare one set of alarm data with another set of alarm data (depending on the query placed). However, what is even more useful is to be able to compare alarm data with plant/

Average Alarm Rate Very likely acceptable

< 1 per 10 min

Manageable

< 2 per 10 min

Likely over-demanding

> 5 per 10 min

Very likely unacceptable

> 10 per 10 min Peak Alarm Rate

Should be manageable

< 10 per 10 min

Hard to Cope

20 to 100 per 10 min

Deﬁnitely Excessive

< 100 per 10 min

Source: EEMUA 191

26 industrial automation asia | September 2007

Plant / Process Trend Data

Alarm Analysis: • Identifying consequential / source alarms • Identifying nuisance alarms • Identifying shelved or permanently suppressed alarms • Alarm setting analysis

process trend data. This is significant because alarms – being reactive in function – cannot anticipate by themselves any process drift towards an abnormality which could eventually lead to breakdown or process failure. Co-relating alarm data with trend information can help throw up such insight. Fine-Tuning It can also help in fine-tuning alarm settings and in linking alarm spikes to specific process conditions (startups, shutdowns, change in process set points such as tank levels, pressure, temperature levels etc), changes in instrumentation or new or changed control system configurations. In addition, it is by analysing operator response to alarms (and not simply focusing only on alarm data) that poor alarm system design is identified. CitectSCADA Reports offers such an option, since it historises both alarms and plant process trends. This way, alarm and event data can be corelated to trend data from the plant to throw up anomalies or areas for alarm rationalisation or even assist in incident reviews. Improve The analysis stage seeks to assess each alarm from the standpoint of the alarm philosophy of the organisation and typically leads to certain specific www.iaasiaonline.com

ISSUES & INSIGHTS gains are sustained. This also involves creation of appropriate 5% High Priority training material for new personnel who get involved, procedures and manuals for 15% Medium Priority management of change (MOC) and ongoing review of analysis findings from the historian. The operative word here is ‘ongoing’. This is because new nuisance alarms have the habit of appearing Source: EEMUA 191 80% Low Priority surreptitiously (probably the result of EEMUA recommendation on split of total alarms by instrumentation failpriority assignment levels ure, changesto plant improvements: equipment and process conditions, • Reduction in needless alarms lack of adherence to MOC procedures, • Recalibration of alarm parameters or inadequate justification for new where necessary (such as action, alarm additions). set point, detection time etc) • Bringing in consistency in alarm Synergise settings where desirable In a ‘learning organisation’, the fruit of • Prioritisation of alarms where reanalysis of the alarm system is shared quired with other stakeholders who are not • Reorganisation of the presentanecessarily on the plant floor. This tion of alarms if needed (to ensure is also helpful when plant engineers relevance to operator, visibility need to keep senior management etc) informed of progress in alarm system improvements and to justify future This process of alarm rationaliinvestments in the alarm system to sation and system improvement is senior management. clearly a laborious, expensive and With CitectSCADA Reports v4 disruptive effort, but the support and above, which uses an embedded of robust alarm analysis can help Microsoft SQL Server 2005, operators, simplify this step. engineers and management will be While implementing this step, the dealing with an industry-standard temptation is to focus only on the data storage and exchange tool. ‘bad actors’ ie: the low-hanging fruit. Reports can be delivered in a variety This, as an initial focus, is appropriate of formats (such as pdfs for regulatory – given that it provides immediate reports, Excel spread sheets that allow relief to an overloaded system. any user to immediately extract data However, alarm floods (which involve for further analysis or web pages that many more alarms presenting than can be integrated with other business just the top five or 10 most frequent systems in the organisation). alarms) can be minimised only by undertaking a total rationalisation The Next Level exercise of all alarms in the system. To ascertain clearly what is the extent of improvement required in Control an alarm system (gap analysis) or to Successful alarm management rests measure improvements after a new on what tools are used to ensure that alarm management program has been the KPIs set out are achieved so that initiated, it is useful to compare the

system with industry best practice. To undertake this, benchmarking tools can prove useful. Citect’s Meta enables comparison of KPIs across plants, divisions and countries; both within an organisation or across an industry peer group. Some alarm KPIs that could probably form the basis for such benchmarking include: • Average number of alarms per hour • Maximum number of alarms per hour • Percentage of hours where there were > 30 alarms per hour • Operator response time

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September 2007 | industrial automation asia 27

<1% Critical

The ‘Human’ Dimension In the final analysis, successful alarm management is not about the equipment or the alarm, but about people who impact and are impacted by the alarm system – operators, process and control engineers, maintenance personnel, shift supervisors, instrument and control system technicians, designers, safety officers, training staff and senior management. To implement a successful alarm management programme requires factor-ing in the different expectations and priorities as well as the differing levels of awareness and understanding among these diverse groups of stakeholders. Tools that can help to effectively share alarm analytics and the resulting insight across these stakeholders in a simple, relevant, meaningful and easy-to-understand format will help ensure that alarm management is fed back to the multilevel and multi-disciplinary input it requires to validate it and keep it relevant to the business objectives and the alarm philosophy of the organisation. Tools that can take alarm KPIs and benchmark them against industry best practice, could take alarm management to the next level and provide the organisation alarm report cards that can directly result in improved productivity, profitability and safety. ENQUIRY NO. 6101

ISSUES & INSIGHTS

Customisable downtime reporting allows production to be optimised at a cement plant. By Citect

• •

•

Maximising Cement Production

ustralian national cement supplier, Adelaide Brighton Cement (ABC), employs over 1,300 staff, with major sites at Birkenhead, Angaston, Cockburn Cement, Swan Cement and Independent Cement and Lime. The Angaston site has 92 employees who manage the manufacture of lime, cement and clinker. The plant has a manufacturing capacity of 250,000 tonnes but faced restrictions in maximising its quota due to outdated technology and processes. ABC recognised the need to upgrade its technology and improve the quality and efﬁciency of its manufacturing operations at Angaston. Plant Performance In 2001, ABC adopted a management style that focused on continual process improvement for its plant and operators. This led to the development of initiatives such as Six Sigma process improvement teams, standardisation teams and operational performance managers. The drive to continuously improve operations has helped to identify unscheduled system downtime as a signiﬁcant contributor to an increase in production costs against raw material output. The Planning and Plant Performance team gathered downtime 28 industrial automation asia | September 2007

data using a number of sources such as control room log sheets, Microsoft Access databases, Excel spreadsheets, SPC control charts and CitectSCADA reports. This information was then analysed and reported during weekly performance meetings. Using Pareto analysis of this data, ABC was able to define the root cause of the top ten plant stoppages. Although this information was carefully collated each week, it was always analysed some time after the event, which often delayed an immediate response. In addition, the effort required to collect the data was in itself affecting plant performance as the process engineers could spend up to three days per month simply generating reporting data. ABC needed a more efficient method to measure, in real time, the overall equipment efficiency (OEE), taking into account the availability, quality and performance of each asset. Requirements • ABC approached Citect to help develop a downtime reporting system that: • Is easy-to-use so that any operator could monitor downtime occurrences during any shift • Provides access to data remotely

as networked computers were not readily available in all areas of the plant Enables automatic, real-time collection of stoppage data Is able to replace the multiple downtime reporting systems with one overall system Is quick to implement from design to active utilisation

Minimising Downtime Citect implemented its customisable Ampla Downtime reporting system that measures asset utilisation, stoppage information and trend data. The system also measures Pareto data (count and duration) by shift, asset, equipment and cause so that operators have a more detailed picture of what may be causing each stoppage and how easily it can be solved. In many cases, the operator can resolve the stoppage with minimal disruption to production. The plant operators enter their interpretation of the situation using customised pick lists, or by entering the cause, during each shift. This data is analysed by management on a daily and weekly basis to help identify trends and abnormal occurrences for prioritised action. The entire development from design to implementation took less than two months with operators able to access the system and report data almost immediately. Stoppage Reduction As a result of implementing the Ampla Downtime reporting system, ABC Angaston has already reported a 50 percent reduction in plant stoppages. Kiln Three achieved a 50 percent reduction in stoppages just one month after implementation. This in turn created increased output from each asset and a decrease in cost per tonne of production. Ampla has reduced reporting and analysis time from three days to just one hour per month allowing operators to concentrate more time on production and process improvement. ENQUIRY NO. 6102

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CONTROL POINT

Intelligent Motor Control

Going Modular and also provide a general thermal overload protection. Control and protection philosophies were based on conventional methods. The introduction of microprocessor technology into motor starters two decades ago was a signiﬁcant development, improving the motor protection functions, monitoring and allowing digital control. Following the emergence of open ﬁeldbus technology more than a decade ago, the intelligent motor control system (IMCS) has rapidly gained acceptance from users.

The pursuit of lower cost, higher availability, optimised maintenance and safety heralds the arrival of intelligent motor control systems. By Gunnar Zank, Regional Support Manager, ABB Low Voltage Systems

Real Time Already considered mature in certain industrial applications, an IMCS provides extended information and process data. Communication protocols like Proﬁbus or Modbus permit serial process control application. Robustness and response time suitability make this technology reliable for real-time applications. Intelligent motor controllers are becoming an integral part of a plant control and management system. The ongoing pursuit of lower cost, greater availability, optimised maintenance and higher safety levels has leveraged a platform for ﬂexible engineering that provides shorter

Table 1: Motor control centre product features

ow voltage motor control centres and switchgears are a vital part of an industrial plant. Whether oil reﬁnery, pharmaceutical plant or paper mill, reliable motor control is a mandatory part of a successful plant operation. Electric motors were once considered connected when the electrical parts in switchgear were tested and the drive shaft was correctly attached. Motor starters were considered only to be means of starting and stopping the motor by a push button station 30 industrial automation asia | September 2007

Product Aspects

Past Situation

Current Trends

Starter module

Huge numbers of different application and modules

Highly standardised yet ﬂexible conﬁguration

Intelligent functions

Optional

Embedded and Integrated by design yet independently accessible

DCS Communication

Single master and dedicated interface

Scalable with multiple masters and meaningful integration

Conﬁguration possibility

Point to point

Multiple combinations yet highly optimised, possible to enhance at any stage of project life cycle

Information

Too much and not in context

Pertinent and speciﬁc to operator needs

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CONTROL POINT

(R) Gunnar Zank in front of the MNS iS LV switchgear system

commissioning times, advanced information, better diagnosis and simplified troubleshooting, all leading to less downtime. Plant managers are seeking further productivity gains through better overall plant uptime and coordination of operations and maintenance. The key in achieving this is delivery of the right information to the right people at the right time. This would not be possible without the appropriate connectivity of an IMCS. New system architecture and communication configurations are adapting to better meet this demand. Scalable Approach The demand for higher-level information, flexible communication and data processing is different for different industries. Although with a common target of highly optimised plant operation and availability, the approach and expectation varies with the customer. Leading technologies are adopting a scalable approach. An IMCS does not need to be complicated. Simplicity and scalability is the key www.iaasiaonline.com

factor for such requirements. The possibility to build a MCC in certain levels, packages and upgrade facilities at any stage of a project or plant life cycle is taken into consideration. Work place safety has become a priority when considering IMCS. There is a growing demand from separating different voltages. An independent access to electrical components and cables as well and independent control and protection part allows the personnel to work in its dedicated areas safely and conveniently. Interferences, either personally or electrically are eliminated. The power side of the IMCS is interlocked behind closed doors enabling a control technician to work on the IMCS control part in complete safety without the need to shutdown the switchboard. Conﬁguration Variability IMCS applications for process industries require various different system conﬁgurations to meet different customer plant operation philosophies or site-dependent de-

mands on information flow. Multiple motor starters can be accessed via a central communication unit: This approach allows simultaneous access from several control locations on different communication interfaces. Further, certain tasks like adding motor starters for plant extension or modifying configurations are supported through higher system flexibility. Motor starters are fully standardised modules yet allowing a flexible use through programming facilities. Complicated starter control functions, conventionally built with relays are a thing of the past. A high number of different starter types, control schemes and spare parts are no longer a headache for plant maintenance. Off the shelf starter modules, easily available and interchangeable between plant locations, withdrawable technology with inbuilt wiring reduces the time for repair. The high level of integration in a plant operation environment and the need of access to motor controller by control system personnel, independently of the electrical part are reflected in the IMCS. Motor controllers are conveniently located outside the motor starter yet connected through inbuilt wiring technologies. To access them there is (theoretically) no need of coordination between different plant maintenance sections anymore as electrical parts remains untouched. The integration of the IMCS into the plant asset management system allows an optimised maintenance process. Failure analysis, maintenance trigger and spare part handling are the keys to higher operational performance of the plant. Maintenance data of the IMCS and motor are helping to optimise maintenance allowing optimal plant up time. Reliability The IMCS monitors at any point of time the correct location of every motor controller and its starter module. It also ensures that the correct control September 2007 | industrial automation asia 31

CONTROL POINT

Each motor starter or feeder uses its own withdrawable and control unit

and protection function is applied. Mixing modules or inserting wrong type of modules does not lead to mal operation of motors anymore. Communication integrity with predictable behaviour in case of a failure is mandatory to ensure motor availability under different circumstances. The operational safety of a motor is ensured against breakdown in communication through continuous monitoring of the communication integrity from the motor starter to the process control system (DCS: Distributed Control System) at all times. And, should communication break down, the motor is led to a pre-defined safe state. Furthermore, the possibility of control access from a different location is safeguarded by a user access rights mechanism. At any point of time it is clear which location can or even has operated a motor. Communication Capabilities A standard fieldbus does not exist today; adoption varies between customers and control systems. Preference is given to Modbus and Profibus with the emergence of Ethernet-based Modbus TCP and Profinet. 32 industrial automation asia | September 2007

Besides serving as a ﬁeldbus communication interface to process control systems, the IMCS provides far more data than needed in a process controller. Delivering that information to the right location faces limitations imposed by ﬁeldbus capabilities and a huge engineering effort of the DCS. Advanced IMCS eliminates such situations by providing multiple data access through central communication units or a data concentrator.

Minimises Effort The use of standard fieldbus communication is reduced to basic functions to transfer process control related data, minimising the engineering effort to its base. Advanced information is available through Ethernet based interfaces. Today it is all about information flow to the right operator at the right time. OPC is a standardised way of handling additional information that is not mission critical, but nevertheless important for successful plant operation and asset maintenance. Using OPC, customers can connect to operator stations, maintenance systems and other applications, directly without having to program a process controller. By using OPC Servers provided within the scope of IMCS, additional information for operators can be added to the faceplates without further engineering and configuration effort in both the DCS and the IMCS. Alarm and event handling is totally automated so operator stations obtain motor relevant alarms and timetagged events directly from the motor controller. The maintenance relevant information can be taken directly via OPC to the electrical maintenance system or SCADA package. With this approach the information required can be presented as and where it is needed.

Schematic of switchgear control network

DCS Process Control

SCADA

Asset Management OPC Server

Parametering and Setup

Remote Control Panel

Fieldbus Switchgear Control Network (Ethernet based)

Local Control Panel

Communication I/F Web Server OPC Data Provider

Switchgear Bus

Communication I/F Web Server OPC Data Provider

Control & Protection

Motor or Feeder Module

Control & Protection

Motor or Feeder Module

Control & Protection

Motor or Feeder Module

Control & Protection

Motor or Feeder Module

Control & Protection

Motor or Feeder Module

Control & Protection

Motor or Feeder Module

Switchgear Bus

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CONTROL POINT Compact Solution ABB is offering an IMCS solution with MNS iS (iS stands for integrated Solution) as part of their proven Low Voltage Switchgear System technology MNS. MNS iS is a compact IMCS integrating LV Distribution and motor control centre technology in one single switchgear application. Each motor starter or feeder uses its own withdrawable unit and a control unit. All control units (MControl) are located in a separate compartment, offering access independently and safely whilst fully separated from power parts, starter and feeder module (MStart and MFeed) in the switchgear.

ENQUIRY NO. 6300

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Limited Only by Your Imagination.

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Communicate via multiple protocols including Bluetooth

Step 1. Plug in USB Cable Graphically program concurrent, real-time applications

Develop your human machine interface (HMI) display

Target 32-bit microprocessors and FPGAs

Independently control multiple servo motors

Real-Time and Embedded

Signal Processing

PRODUCT PLATFORM LabVIEW Real-time Module LabVIEW FPGA Module LabVIEW Embedded Development Module NI CompactRIO Embedded Hardware Platform

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Industrial Control

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© 2007 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved. CompactRIO, LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their�

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 33

ENQUIRY NO. 654

Data Analysis Electrical starter and feeder modules are widely standardised in order to reduce the numbers of different components for easier maintenance and spare parts handling. Advanced data are collected and analysed to provide high information value for optimal asset management. Maintenance data are extended to cover both electrical and mechanical aspects. Local and web server based control and monitoring extends the solution to for plantwide monitoring. Communication between the MNS iS control modules to DCS or SCADA systems takes place via standard fieldbus protocols such as Profibus and Modbus, and also Ethernet protocols such as Modbus TCP. A real-time Ethernet based communication internally ensures data availability and consistency between the control unit and the communication interfaces. As an open interface to any SCADA or DCS integration, MNS iS provides an integrated and configuration free OPC Server application, which allows seamless integration into the plant operation and asset management system and application. Standardised interface components based on COTS products allow easy maintenance and upgrades.

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SOFTWARE & NETWORKS

Serving Up OPC OPC offers a standard interface for accessing device data. By Marius Wotschik (L) and Nadine Haid (R), INAT

utomation technology produces large amounts of data. These are usually physical variables such as temperature, current, pressure or other production data such as number of units, time of error, number of errors, and so on. They are supplied by a wide variety of different devices such as controllers, level measuring devices, weighing machines, scanners, and so on. Information is required for a wide variety of different software applications. Certain information may be stored in databases while other data may be needed for a table calculation or by visualisation software. Information from devices supplied by different manufacturers must be provided to different applications from various vendors. 34 industrial automation asia | September 2007

In earlier years – up until 1996, before OPC, that is – a special driver had to be written for every application to which the I/O device was to be connected. There was one driver for Controller X for the link to software application A, one driver for the link to application B, one driver for the link to application C, and so on. Data had to be supplied several times by the same source – once at the request of application A, once at the request of application B, once at the request of application C, and so on. And naturally the same applied to controller Y. One driver for each application was also required here. In addition the number of drivers kept increasing with the different communication protocols and bus systems. The arrival of OPC changed this. OPC DA (Data www.iaasiaonline.com

SOFTWARE & NETWORKS

Application B eg: spreadsheet

Process data acquisition without OPC

Access) interface offers a uniform solution with which different software applications can access a wide variety of data sources. Today’s hardware manufacturers now only develop one single driver – the OPC server. Software manufacturers on the other side supply only one OPC client interface. As is usually the case with client-server architectures, the client utilises the services of the server. The OPC server accesses the process data of the hardware and makes these data available. OPC clients can read these ‘served up’ data or write commands to the server. The server then passes the control data along to the hardware. Thanks to OPC, only one driver – the OPC server – is now required per device. All applications – the OPC clients – access these servers. Automation without OPC is unthinkable today. The OPC interface is supported by almost all SCADA, visualisation, and process control systems. How Does OPC DA Work? OPC is based on DCOM/COM. The component-object model is an object-based programming model developed by Microsoft. Software is divided into smaller, independent units – the objects (components). An object can execute certain actions (ie: supply certain methods). While the available methods are visible from the outside, the inner life of the object remains hidden. For this reason objects are enclosed and one or more interface(s) are deﬁned for the outside. The interface contains the description of which functions are available and how these are to be used. The functions are called with the help of so-called virtual function tables (VTBL). These tables consist of a number of pointers which point to different functions. Standard Interface OPC simpliﬁes the link to applications by providing a standard interface which is not dependent on individual applications. This allows the customer to choose freely between products of different software and hardware vendors. Both OPC servers and clients are COM objects. It makes no difference who developed these objects, when they were developed, or in what programming www.iaasiaonline.com

Application A eg: visualisation

Application C eg: database

Application B eg: spreadsheet

Application C eg: database

Process data acquisition with OPC

language and on what Windows operating system they were written. As COM objects they can all communicate with each another. Network capability was added to COM with DCOM (Distributed COM). In other words not only the services of the OPC servers on the same computer are available but also those of all servers which can be accessed within the network. And the client does not even notice whether the server is a local server or a remote server. Cooking Up A Recipe Process visualisation is the main application area of OPC today. That is not surprising since it was primarily the visualisation manufacturers who demanded standardised

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ENQUIRY NO. 685

Application A eg: visualisation

SOFTWARE & NETWORKS access to the different controllers. Process visualisation is used to dynamically represent data which are supplied – whether in the form of text or graphics. This gives users an overview of their processes together with the opportunity to intervene via buttons or touchscreens. It must also be said that not all tasks require costly visualisation. The pointer or object-oriented approach of COM offers users capabilities which far exceed the ‘simple’ connection of ﬁnished OPC servers and clients. COM objects can be implemented in a wide variety of different applications. It is possible to program a separate client which utilises the methods of an existing OPC server provided that the programming language is object or pointer-oriented (eg: C, C++, Delphi, .Net or VB6). The OPC client accesses the server via its interface. There are two types: the custom interface and the automation interface. While function-oriented languages such as C++ use the custom interface, communication with the automation interface can be effected using script languages such as Visual Basic. Ease Of Customisation The advantage of client programming is that it allows the application to be customised to speciﬁc requirements. INAT has handled numerous implementations in this connection. For example, a recipe editor was developed for a customer so that recipes can be written to or read from the PLC just by pressing a button. Recipes are collections of process parameter values such as, for example, temperature, pressure, etc. A recipe usually forms the basis for a certain product or product type to be manufactured. The recipes are located in a database. Hardware (PLC) to be addressed is selected from a pulldown menu while data transmission can be initiated with a button. The program which is currently being executed can be called, indicated and stored in the database at all times. 36 industrial automation asia | September 2007

Sending & Receiving Since the recipe editor must communicate with controllers of different manufacturers, an all-in-one OPC server is required. For example, the INAT OPC server can handle all the primary Ethernet-based industrial protocols – it can be used for a wide variety of different systems. In addition to the Siemens protocols S7 and S5 via TCP/IP and H1 it can handle the Modbus on TCP protocol which is used to communicate with the Ethernet interfaces of Beckhoff, Phoenix Contact, Schneider Electric, Wago, and so on. Send/receive communication can be used to transmit data to devices which do not support any of the protocols mentioned. Not only can the recipes be read from the controller to a database, when necessary the reverse is also possible – for a product change, for instance. Data transmission is started with a button and the recipe is loaded to the controller. A test bit is also scanned prior to the data transmission. Depending on whether this bit is set or not, the data transmission is allowed or prohibited. Up till now, recipe parameters had to be explicitly transferred as part of a recipe data block using a programmer, for example. The recipe editor has now eliminated the need for this complicated transfer at the controller level. The transfer is handled by OPC

and the controller is free to concentrate on data processing. Object Oriented Programming Programming an OPC client is easier than most would believe. That raises the question of whether an expensive client is actually needed for a specific application. Why not use Microsoft Excel as an OPC client? VBA, the object-oriented programming language for MS Office applications, makes it possible. Excel offers many excellent ways to present information: columns, bars, lines, circles, networks, tracking diagrams and more, depict the interrelationships and trends particularly clearly. Numerous control elements are also available. And if that is not enough, graphics can also be imported. With its comprehensive calculating capabilities, Excel is especially suitable for open loop and closed loop control. Almost any formulabased link can be implemented. Numerous possibilities are available: Cyclic data acquisition, reports, data analyses, trends and so forth. A decisive advantage is that almost everyone can be familiar with the program. From service personnel to sales engineers to management – most people already know how to use Excel and don’t have to learn a new tool first. ENQUIRY NO. 6203

An OPC client can also be programmed in Excel

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ENQUIRY NO. 687

Mobility and Portability

SOFTWARE & NETWORKS

Wireless Sensors & Networks:

The Smart Environment The deployment of wireless sensor motes in physical environments, aided by self-organising network architectures, are quietly bringing about a sensing revolution. By Prasanna Ballal (L), Research Associate, and Prof Frank Lewis (R), Moncrief-Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Donnell Chair, University of Texas At Arlington, USA.

magine a physical world that is invisibly interwoven with sensors, actuators, and computational elements, embedded in everyday objects of our lives, and connected through a continuous wired or unwired network. Smart environments represent the next evolutionary development step in building, utilities, industrial, home, shipboard, medical, and transportation systems automation. In these environments, wireless sensor networks (WSN) have played a key role in sensing, collecting, and disseminating information about environmental phenomena. WSN generally consist of a data acquisition network and a data distribution network (which may be the same), monitored and controlled by a management centre (Figure 1). The plethora of available technologies makes even the selection of components difďŹ cult, let alone the design of a consistent, reliable, robust overall system. The study of wireless sensor networks is challenging in that it requires an enormous breadth of knowledge from an enormous variety of disciplines. Wireless Sensor Model A wireless sensing unit consists of four main components; namely a sensing unit, a processing unit, a transceiver unit and a power unit (Figure 2). The sensing unit consists of a sensor and an analogue to digital converter (ADC). The digital signal from the ADC is sent to the processing 38 industrial automation asia | September 2007

Vehicle Monitoring

Animal Monitoring

Machine Monitoring

Medical Monitoring

Wireless Data Collection Networks

Wireless Sensor

BSC

Ship Monitoring

Data Acquisition Network

Data Distribution Network Roving

Human monitor PDA

BST

Online Printer monitoring

Cellular Phone

Management Center (Database large storage, analysis)

transmitter Server

Wireless (Wi-Fi 802.11 2.4GHz BlueTooth Cellular Network, CDMA, GSM)

Any where, any time to access

Notebook

(Base Station Controller, Preprocessing)

Wireland (Ethernet WLAN, Optical)

Figure 1: Wireless Sensor Network

unit for data processing which is then sent to the transceiver. The transceiver connects the sensor node to the network. The power unit is the most important unit in the sensor node. If the sensor node is used in a small environment, replaceable batteries can be used. But

in cases where the sensor nodes are deployed in remote, difďŹ cult-to-reach locations, rechargeable batteries (eg: solar cells) have to be used. Modules Depending on applications might have additional units

Location Finding System

Sensing Unit

Sensor

ADC

they such

Mobiliser

Processing Unit Processor Storage

Power Unit

Transceiver

Power Generator

Figure 2: A Wireless Sensor Unit

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SOFTWARE & NETWORKS as a localisation module, a power generator, and a mobiliser. The localisation module is used for ﬁnding the location of the sensor node in the environment. There are cases where nodes are attached to mobile platforms. The mobiliser unit connects the sensor nodes to the mobile platform. There are different design constraints that have to be taken care of while designing a wireless sensor. These constraints are fault tolerance, scalability, production costs, hardware constraints, topology, transmission media, environment and power consumption. To make matters even worse, all these factors have to be designed for a matchbox size sensor unit. Architecture & Topologies Protocol architecture for WSN has to be designed carefully. Different applications require different protocols. The commonly used WSN protocol architecture is loosely based on the 7layer Open Systems Interconnections (OSI) model developed by ISO in 1977. In this model, a networking system is divided into layers. Within each layer, one or more entities implement its functionality. Each entity interacts directly only with the layer immediately beneath it, and provides facilities for use by the layer above it. Protocols enable an entity in one host to interact with a corresponding entity at the same layer in a remote host. The OSI model is shown in Figure 3. The OSI model has seven layers, namely, the Physical layer, the Data Link layer, the Network layer, the Transport layer, the Session layer,

Network Layer Data Link Layer Physical Layer

Figure 3: OSI for WSN

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Task Management Plane

Transport Layer

Power Management Plane

Sessions Layer

Mobility Management Plane

Application Layer Presentation Layer

Star

Ring

Tree

Fully connected

Bus

Mesh

Figure 4: Basic Network Topologies

the Presentation layer and Application layer. WSN does necessarily utilise all the layers.

the not

DLL & MAC Layers In addition to these layers, WSN has three more layers namely the task management layer, the mobility management layer and the power management layer. In WSN, the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer lies above the Physical Layer. According to the OSI model, it is the part of Data Link layer (DLL), but in the case of WSN, there is a separation between DLL and MAC. Topologies remain an important part of network design theory. A communication network is composed of nodes, each of which has computing power and can transmit and receive messages over communication links, wireless or cabled. The basic network topologies are shown in Figure 4 and include fully connected, mesh, star, ring, tree, bus. A single network may consist of several interconnected subnets of different topologies. In October 2003, IEEE ﬁnalised the IEEE 802.15.4 standard for WSN. This standard covers the physical layer and MAC layer (topologies) for low rate wireless personal area network (WPAN). The ZigBee standard (December 2004) provides low cost and low power connectivity for equipment that needs battery life as long as several months to several years but does not require

data transfer rates as high as those enabled by Bluetooth. In addition, ZigBee can be implemented in larger mesh networks. Energy Conservation Over the years, sensors have gone from macro scale to micro scale and the most substantial challenge for WSN designers is the need of significant reduction in energy consumption. Small-sized wireless sensor units imply smaller power supplies which means shorter lifetime for application usage. Most of the wireless sensors these days are event driven. Even for event driven applications, energy consumed during sensing, transmission and reception of data is quite high. Energy inefficiency in WSN is observed in sensor electronics, transceiver electronics, network protocol, network topology and programming methods. An energy aware design methodology emphasises on appropriate scalability of energy consumption which stresses on factors such as available resources, event frequencies and the quality of service. Scalable Consumption The framework for an energy efficient WSN design highlights the collaboration between software for sensor programming and hardware with scalable energy consumption. The best way for achieving energy efficiency is by using low duty September 2007 | industrial automation asia 39

SOFTWARE & NETWORKS cycle protocols and event driven programming. Also, the use of multihop topology over single hop in certain applications has helped achieve energy efficiency. Current research also focuses on designing small MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) RF components for transceivers, including capacitors, inductors, etc (Figure 5). The limiting factor now is in fabricating micro-sized inductors. Another thrust is in designing MEMS power generators using technologies including solar, vibration (electromagnetic and electrostatic), thermal, etc. Spatial Relationships Wireless sensors are coupled to the actual physical environment; hence their spatial relationship to other objects in the environment is very important. Localisation refers to the collection of techniques and mechanisms that measure these spatial relationships. A sensor data with its spatial information increases the network capability substantially. Most of the networks are static by nature, and hence it becomes difficult to find the location of the nodes in such situations. One method of localisation is recording the location while installing the network, which is not feasible in applications involving random deployment. There are many factors that affect localisation of nodes such as energy constraints and node limitations. Also, the environment plays an important role; for example, GPS does not work indoors while RSSI based localisation are prone to distortion due to fading. Self-Organisation Relative localisation requires internode communications, and a TDMA message header frame that has both communications and localisation fields is shown in Figure 6. There are various means for a node to measure distance to its neighbours, mostly based on RF time-of-flight information. In air, the propagation speed is known, so time differences can 40 industrial automation asia | September 2007

Figure 5: MEMS power generator using vibration and electromagnetic method

Permanent magnet Vibrating body with the coil MEMS Chip

Nonferromagnetic material

Ferromagnetic material

T frame R

extra

Net Entryinvite response pointer

Startup Node ID nr

Neighbor info

Dist. to Neighbors

comm link mesh info

(x,y) coords. and Origin Node ID

repeat next TDMA frame

Hier. routing nr

Position grid info

Figure 6:TDMA frame for communication protocols and localisation

be converted to distances. An approach based on robot kinematic transformations provides a straightforward iterative technique for adding new nodes to a network. Figure 7 shows how to start a self-organising algorithm for relative positioning location.

wireless sensor network devices in the market for prototyping purposes. It makes three mote processor radio module families– MICA [MPR300] (ﬁrst generation), MICA2 [MPR400] and MICA2-DOT [MPR500] (second generation).

Platforms, OS & Interfaces There is a need for high performance but inexpensive wireless sensor platforms for testing various research concepts. Crossbow motes (Figure 8) may be the most versatile

Tiny Motes Nodes come with ﬁve sensors installed: Temperature, Light, Acoustic (Microphone), Acceleration/ Seismic, and Magnetic. These are especially suitable for surveillance

y3 d3

d23

θ213

d12

a. two nodes - deﬁne x & y

d12 x3

θx23

b. 3 node closed kinematic chain-compute (x3, y3)

Figure 7: Integrating new nodes into a relative positioning grid

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SOFTWARE & NETWORKS

Berkeley Crossbow Sensor

Crossbow Transceiver

Figure 8: Crossbow sensors

Sensor Event

Sensor Event Handler

Radio Event Handler

Processor

Radio Event

networks for personnel and vehicles. Low power and small physical size enable placement virtually anywhere. The operating frequency is ISM band, either 916 MHz or 433 MHz, with a data rate of 40 Kbits/sec. and a range of 30 ft to 100 ft. Each node has a low power microcontroller processor with speed of 4 MHz, a ďŹ&#x201A;ash memory with 128 Kbytes, and SRAM and EEPROM of 4K bytes each. The operating system is TinyOS, a tiny micro-threading distributed operating system developed by UC Berkeley, with a NESC (Network Embedded Systems C) source code language. TinyOS/ NESC is an event-based programming method. This operating system supports concurrent execution of several processes www.iaasiaonline.com

Figure 9: Event-based Programming

and communication between these processes. In WSN, sensors send data only when an event is triggered. Such events occur at a low rate than other wireless systems. Hence, the programming used in wireless systems when applied to WSN, would cause considerable power consumption. Figure 9 shows the architecture for event-based programming. Intelligent interfaces Many software products are available to provide advanced DSP, intelligent user interfaces, decision assistance, and alarm functions. Among the most popular, powerful, and easy to use is National Instruments LabVIEW. What makes LabVIEW good for WSN? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because LabVIEW has a unique style called data controlled execution, not sequential execution as in most of the other programs. It has built-in drivers for many applications. It is easy to interface a sensor to a program developed in LabVIEW. Figure 10 shows a LabVIEW user interface for monitoring machinery conditions over the Internet for automated maintenance scheduling functions. Included are displays of sensor signals that can be selected and tailored by the user. The user can prescribe bands of normal operation, excursions outside of which generate alarms of various sorts and severity. ENQUIRY NO. 6201

Figure 10: LabVIEW Interface for WSN

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 41

SOFTWARE & NETWORKS

and Procedural Operations solutions takes plant safety to the next level. Workflow Optimisation: Inventory and valuable assets moving inside and outside the plant can be quickly located and tracked. Time spent looking for assets can be significantly reduced. The system also allows operational workflow to be optimised by analysing the time spent completing various activities and taking corrective measures for process improvement.

Identiﬁcation Tracking

racking assets has received considerable interest in the recent years, thanks in part to Wal-Mart’s Radio Frequency Identiﬁcation (RFID) inventory tracking programme. This interest has resulted in the development and improvement of various tracking technologies which can be used for different applications. In the process industries, companies need solutions that can help track critical assets and also locate personnel during emergency situations. The geo-location of an asset becomes a new variable that can be used to reduce operating costs, and improve safety and emergency response time. Honeywell Instant Location System (HILS) seamlessly integrates best-in class location and identiﬁcation technologies to meet process industry requirements and track physical objects. Today the geo-location technology is mainly used within the supply management chain. In the process industry, these technologies can be used also for warehouse management as well as improving safety and work processes. 42 industrial automation asia | September 2007

Geo-location and identiﬁcation technologies enhance visibility in asset tracking and ensure greater security on the plant ﬂoor. By Honeywell Improved Security: HILS is designed to work with a diversity of security offerings, including access cards, digital video and biometrics. Increased Mustering Accuracy: Real-time mustering reports can be generated within a few seconds, providing accurate location of missing or injured personnel. This is made possible by radio frequency based tags worn by all personnel. Safer Operating Procedures: Geolocation information can be used during plant operations to improve safety. HILS allows sites to incorporate the location of staff into their procedures in order to ensure that procedures are executed only when authorised personnel are in the perimeter. The combination of HILS

• • • • • • •

Infrastructure requirements Detection range Detection position Reliability Asset and personnel tags battery life (not applicable to passive RFID) Update rate Cost

The following chart illustrates the detection range and accuracy of each technology. Ultra-Wide Band: Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) positioning system is the best solution for applications that require precise location in harsh multipath outdoor or indoor environments such as chemical or manufacturing plants. Battery Life

<1 day

1 year

>3 years

100 m

Detection Accuracy

Real-Time

Technology Overview With the variety of identiﬁcation and location technologies available, choosing the appropriate technology can be confusing. Considering these factors will help select the best positioning system for a particular application.

10 m

GPS AGPS

Wi-Fi

Active RFID

UWB

10 cm

Passive RFID

1 cm >10000 km

100 m

10 m

Detection Range

Figure 1: This detection accuracy and area coverage for each identiﬁcation and location technology. www.iaasiaonline.com

SOFTWARE & NETWORKS

UWB positioning infrastructure is composed of multi-year batterypowered tags and 24 VDC-powered receivers. The active RFID tags emit pulsed signals at high frequencies that are captured by UWB receivers. A minimum of three receivers is required to provide an accurate location of an asset (up to one-foot accuracy) using triangulation principles. The system can also provide proximity data if less than three receivers are available. The detection range can reach up to 200 meters (650 feet) line of sight in an outdoor environment. UWB technology can also provide two- and three-dimensional geo-location information. Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi positioning system is the best solution for applications that require approximate location information in outdoor and indoor environments. Wi-Fi positioning infrastructure is composed of batterypowered tags and off-the-shelf Wi-Fi access points. The solution is best for facilities with an existing Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi detection range can reach up to 200 m line of sight in an outdoor environment and 60 m in an indoor environment. The Wi-Fi signals emitted by the tags are captured by the Wi-Fi access points. Using triangulation principles, the system calculates the position of the assets. Wi-Fi positioning system provides up to 15 feet detection accuracy which is less than UWB and works best in a non multi-path environment. Active RFID: Active RFID systems are composed of active RFID tags emitting signals at various frequencies. The emitted signals are received by active RFID readers which will provide proximity location information. Active RFID systems have limited detection range of 35 m line of sight. The main advantage of the active RFID is cost. The active RFID tags and readers are less expensive than UWB and Wi-Fi receivers and have multi-year battery life. www.iaasiaonline.com

Global Positioning System: Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have been available for many years. The advantage of GPS is that it does not require any infrastructure. The system consists of GPS receivers that calculate their positions by measuring the distance between themselves and three or more GPS satellites. Measuring the time delay between transmission and reception of each GPS radio signal gives the distance to each satellite since the signal travels at a known speed. The signals also carry information about the satellites’ location. By determining the position of, and distance to at least three satellites, the receiver can compute its position using trilateration. GPS devices have a short battery life (few hours) and are expensive for tracking hundreds or thousands of assets. GPS accuracy varies from 3-5 m.

four of the most positioning technologies: GPS, UWB, Wi-Fi and active RFID. The geo-location data provided advanced by these various positioning systems is managed by the HILS management application. TPS/Experion/EBI HILS Manager Wi-Fi

GPS

Active RFID

Figure 2: HILS Overview

HILS is integrated with Honeywell’s Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) allowing users to view alarms or alert notiﬁcations on the Experion Station and use geolocation data in their control strategies. The HTML-based interface allows users to: •

Locate & Identify Honeywell has harnessed proven identiﬁcation and location technologies within one easy-to-use solution to help locate and monitor equipment and people, in real time. HILS converts geo-positions into data which is used to improve safety, security, workﬂow and asset utilisation. The solution integrates

UWB

•

• • •

View the position of assets on two- or three-dimensional maps Associate active RFID tags or GPS devices with equipment or personnel Create business rules that trigger automatic notiﬁcations Search assets using attributes Create queries and view reports ENQUIRY NO. 6202

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 43

INSTRUMENTATION & MEASUREMENT

Flow

Going With The

Built-in ﬂow sensors improve machine efﬁciency, reduce downtime, and cut costs. By Christian Boehm, Manager, Technical Engineering Center, Festo.

ompressed air is second only to electricity in importance as an industrial energy source, and there is hardly a factory that functions without it. For many industrial applications pneumatics is the preferred drive technology, thanks to advantages such as overload resistance, long life, economy, ease of assembly, reliability, and safety. Because pneumatic equipment generally operates trouble-free, users tend to take it for granted and typically do not look for problems or inefﬁciencies. This may be why air leaks are often not taken seriously. After all, wasting compressed air is usually harmless to the environment. The uncomfortable truth is compressed air is the most expensive energy available in production 44 industrial automation asia | September 2007

facilities. Therefore, it makes sense to pay attention to the proper use of compressed air. One technique gaining ground is to monitor air consumption, as it is a good indicator of the health of pneumatic systems.

System Monitoring A common way to prevent waste is to regularly search for compressed-air leaks. Formal leak-detection programs usually involve complete, manual inspections of all airlines several times per year. Regular inspections find new leaks and also confirm that tagged leaks from past inspections have been repaired. Technicians typically diagnose pneumatic leaks by listening for hissing air, periodically inspecting tubes, and tightening fittings. One disadvantage of leakdetection programs is that depending on inspection frequency, leaks can go undetected for a long time. Also, inspections are usually time consuming and may be problematic in noisy industrial environments. Inspectors often miss small leaks, which prevent repairs in the early stages before leakage becomes a major problem. Many experts now recommend installing a network of flow sensors to continuously track compressedair use. It is more efficient and cost effective than manual inspections and detects costly increases in air consumption caused by malfunctions and leaks. Modern Sensors Flow sensors, properly sized and installed at important locations within an air-distribution system, highlight deviations, send messages, and activate alarms when flow exceeds

Operating costs for compressed-air systems Maintenance costs Electrical-energy costs

Capital Investment

6% 15% 79%

Studies show that 79% of the costs for compressed-air systems are for electrical energy, with 6% for maintenance and 15% for capital investment. Therefore, it makes sense to pay attention to the proper use of compressed air.

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INSTRUMENTATION & MEASUREMENT

How Anemometers Work

MS6-SFE has a measurement range of 200 to 5,000 lpm. Large, backlit LCDs show ﬂow information and transmit data via digital or analogue outputs.

tolerance thresholds. Technicians can easily pinpoint leaks, failures, and other problems, and take immediate action to fix them. In addition, flow sensors in production facilities can track air consumption of pneumatic systems – even down to specific components – and help calculate true operating costs. Advances in sensor technology have only recently made all this possible. Until now, most flow sensors only provided real-time flow data over a relatively narrow operating range. There were also a lot of restrictions on where they could be installed. Flow measurement is, unlike pressure measurement, rather

100

nemometer flow sensors contain a heating element held at a constant temperature in the fluid medium. Gas or liquid flow cools the heating element due to convective heat loss, but a regulator keeps heater temperature constant. When there is heat loss, the device requires more power to hold the heating-element temperature constant. Thus, power consumption is a useful indicator of fluid velocity.

complex. Normally, sensors are quite sensitive to upstream flow conditions, so installation plays a critical role in measurement accuracy. Units often had to be located in laminarflow regions – for instance, away from tees and elbows – and this made widespread use on industrial equipment impractical. In contrast, newer sensors contain features such as special inlet tubes or filter cartridges that stabilise flow. Thus, users do not face installation restrictions or require specific knowledge about the incoming flow. And a bypass-measurement system gives accurate readings over a wider flow range than was previously

Cumulative ﬂow Digital output impulse

90 80 Flow, lpm

70 Flow signal

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Time

The latest ﬂow sensors measure and record air consumption, which is helpful in environments where ﬂow varies over a period of time. This graphical representation based on digital outputs shows all four areas are the same size.

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Inside an anemometer Sensor element

Housing

Connector plate

Inlet tube

Socket

The cross section of a Festo MS6 ﬂow sensor shows the sensing element is housed away from the main ﬂow channel.

The latest flow sensors do not place the anemometer in the main flow channel but, rather, in a bypass channel within the housing. The main channel is shaped to create a Venturi effect that generates a pressure differential and forces a well-defined proportion of flow through the bypass. This helps protect the sensor element and ensure long, trouble-free life. Readings are independent of pressure, which makes this technique ideal for a variety of tasks – even measuring rather small flows. Thus, anemometry-type flow sensors are suited for many different applications, from measuring air consumption on a single pneumatic drive to monitoring large production areas.

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 45

INSTRUMENTATION & MEASUREMENT possible. The sensors quickly install most anywhere and even temporary setups are now practical. System Setup Flow sensors can be used throughout an entire air system, though the number of sensors and exact location depend on customer requirements. Typically, some sensors should be integrated at important points of the air-distribution system. These monitor ﬂow to groups of machines. Any increase in air consumption would at least indicate a problem exists and note the general area of concern. Other users are more interested in monitoring ﬂow to a single machine or individual subsystem. In these cases, sensors quickly narrow the source of any increase in air consumption. Finally, a single actuator is sometimes crucial to the manufacturing process or operating an entire assembly line. In such cases, it

or controller. And while currently hardwired, wireless data transmission can be expected within the next few years. Determining acceptable deviations in normal operations and where to set alarm thresholds strongly depends on the application and the user’s experience. But customerselected thresholds are not only for alarms. Trigger signals are often used to start and control manufacturing processes. And on retroﬁts, feedback signals can lead to higher machine speeds. Sensor data can also be used in predictive-maintenance programs. Early recognition of an increase in air consumption is a useful indicator that repairs are needed or equipment must be replaced. Some manufacturers have started to mount ﬂow sensors at critical locations within their plants and display the data on a central terminal in the maintenance department. For example, one OEM displays air consumption in different plant sections and highlights areas of higher air consumption in red. Armed with this knowledge, the maintenance staff quickly responds when and where it is needed.

Determining Flow Range Before adding flow sensors to a line, engineers must determine the required measuring range. Choosing sensors for normal pneuSensors are typically integrated at important points of matic applications is usually the air-distribution system. straightforward. But selection gets more is a good idea to mount a sensor that complicated in low-flow applications. will closely monitor just that In such cases, it helps to calculate the component. required flow-measurement range. One A general rule of thumb is to install way to estimate the flow range is from at least one flow sensor in the main the orifice-flow equation: supply line on every machine with an average-size pneumatic system. It C = 0.154d2 ⁄ P tracks air consumption over the long term and easily identifies sudden where d = orifice diameter, mm2; increases in demand. P = pressure differential across the orifice, bar; and C = flow, litre/s. The Trigger Points equation is a simplified approximation The sensors deliver analogue or for supercritical conditions and is digital signals to any standard PLC valid for small differential pressures 46 industrial automation asia | September 2007

The SFE1 sensor measures ﬂows from 0.5 to 200 lpm.

and orifices. As an example, an automotive supplier needs compressed air to clean a crankshaft borehole and possibly use airflow to also gage hole size. The goal is to ensure the crankshaft borehole diameter d = 4 ± 0.3 mm. Selecting pressure is the first step. A one-bar pressure differential is a good compromise between ensuring sufficient flow to clean the hole and, at the same time, minimising air consumption. This results in the following C values based on the above equation: C = 147.8 lpm at d = 4.0 mm C = 170.8 lpm at d = 4.3 mm C = 126.5 lpm at d = 3.7 mm Results show significant differences in airflow, so the manufacturer can use flow sensors to determine borehole diameter and monitor consumption. In this example, an appropriate sensor should have a measuring range up to about 200 lpm. Continuously evaluating airflow and consumption provides useful diagnostic information and helps determine whether a pneumatic system or subsystem operates efficiently. Flow sensors can highlight problem areas and quickly detect malfunctions. Users who want to reduce production costs and system downtime should consider using flow sensors as an efficient and inexpensive diagnostic tool. They are a much better alternative than a futile search for leaks or adding compressors. ENQUIRY NO. 6400

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SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

ompanie s have traditionally concentrated on the inputs and outputs of the supply network processes, with little concern for its internal management, and workings of individual components. However, organisations today increasingly ﬁnd that they must rely on effective supply chains, or networks, to successfully compete in the global market and networked economy. The purpose of supply chain management is to improve trust and collaboration among supply chain partners, thus improving inventory visibility and

velocity. The choice of technologies for internal management controls is now able to impact a company’s supply chain efﬁciency and performance. A major component of inventory visibility lies in a well-organised warehouse, with an up-to-date warehouse management system (WMS) in place. Warehouse management systems provide the backbone that runs the overall distribution operation. It organises work and aligns resources and labour to satisfy customer requirements, and optimises fulﬁl-

ment and distribution processes to ensure that products are delivered on time and to order. The WMS manages the order processing, receiving, putaway, and shipping functions through a cohesive integrated methodology. However, the WMS does not optimise and direct material ﬂow in conveying/sorting operations, determine the ideal location to store an item within an automated storage system, nor does it manage the precise details of light- and voicedirected order fulﬁlment. To get the most performance out of these

Warehouse Management:

Move

Seamless integration of warehouse management and control systems, and process optimisation. By Augustine Quek

Dematic

On The

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September 2007 | industrial automation asia 47

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

Siemens

Strategic control of material handling technology

In Control WC S i s a s of t wa r e s olut ion t hat ma na ge s a nd pr ov ide s s t r ate g ic control of automated mater ial handling technology, such as lightand voice-directed order fulfilment, s or t at ion, convey in g, automate d storage/staging, etc. The WCS optimises the control and performance of an automated system by maximising material flow, executing efficient storage strategies, and providing accuracy in order fulfilment and sorting. A typical WCS would have a host interface for communication between the WCS and WMS, MES, or ERP software, as well as several standard modules, including order fulfilment, material flow and storage, sortation management, visualisation control and information management. Peak Performance An example of high per for mance results from implementing a WMS/ WCS can be seen in Gruppo Coin’s automated warehouse management and control system. Gruppo Coin’s s y s tem at a 9, 50 0 s q m ga r ment handling distribution centre in Rome, Italy wa s prov ided by Intelligent Distributed Controls Ltd (IDC). The system employs 330 intelligent bar code readers, PLCs and a central server in a package that handles 11-12 million garments annually, yet requires only two 48 industrial automation asia | September 2007

an operator interface (MMI) and diagnostic tool for such occurrences as trolley jams.

The WMCS system is based around an overhead conveyor system supplied by Moving ITS, which provides the speed, flexibility and versatility to move trolleys freely and silently around the four-storey warehouse. The Trolley Guidance Supervisory Control System is based upon IDC’s intelligent bar code readers, which are fitted at trolley divert points to control the route of each trolley. Readers recognise and react to each of the 13,000 trolleys in the warehouse, communicating data and instructions via a gateway PLC to the RAID Level 5 Server, running on a Windows NT software platform. This communicates to the warehouse management system via a TCP/ IP network, enabling route selection of each trolley to be designated and the monitoring of goods in real time. To ensure response times for messaging between the WMS, WCS and the PLC network are independent of server database size, an Oracle 8 relational database software is employed. In addition to its role in passing routing instructions to the readers and confirming trolley arrivals, IDC’s server also controls the flow of empty trolleys to ensure that they are returned to a buffer; and provides

Integrated Intelligence The high level of integration and intelligence provided by the i ntel l i g e nt r e ade r s d r a mat ic a l l y r e duce s s y s tem ha rdwa r e co s t s , especially in comparison to systems u s in g s e p a r ate ba r co de r e ader s with standard PLC’s and separate communication networks. In relation to WMS, several technologies serve as key enablers. The first is the use of radio frequency identification (RFID). The method most commonly used stores data that identifies an object on a microchip attached to an antenna (an RFID tag). The antenna transmits the identification information to a reader, which converts the radio waves reflected back from the RFID tag into digital information passed on to computers that can make use of it. RFID technology automates the process of moving goods from the manufacturer, to a warehouse, to a store and finally to the home or business. An RFID reader captures the tagged goods’ information when loaded onto a staging area and communicates the details immediately to the backend system. It can be customised to trigger warehouse

Siemens

automated subsystems, a warehouse control system (WCS) is required.

or three operators per shift, even though at peak turnover times, over 300,00 garments are being handled over a two shift period.

RFID based asset management

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SECTOR SPOTLIGHT updating, customer notiﬁcation, and other related operations. Active RFID For example, APL, NOL’s logistics and container transportation subsidiary, has introduced active RFID technology to it s Souther n Califor nia mar ine terminal to speed up cargo container proce s sin g. B y int roducin g re a l time locating system technology at its Global Gateway South terminal, APL can reduce by 12 hours or more the amount of time taken to track a container in the yard and prepare it for transport. Passively Tagged Recent in-flight tests on a BoeingFedEx MD-10 freightliner, also demonstrates the capabilit y of RFID’s in tracking efﬁciencies. Various parts of the aircraft were tagged with passive UHF RFID tags and read by readers for 9 0 day s in 20 0 4 in Memphi s, Tennessee. Information stored on the RFID tag enhances part traceability and reduce cycle time to solve inservice problems by improving the accuracy of information exchanged between customers and suppliers. Now, Boeing not only has 1700–2000 mission-critical parts to track using RFID, it is even working together

Dematic

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with Airbus to issue the same RFID requirements to their suppliers. The growing popularity of RFID has even seen a push towards regional harmonisation of band frequency at the Asia Pacific level. Singapore has rallied ASEAN to agree in-principle to harmonise RFID spectrum allocations in the 860 MHz to 960 MHz range. Such interoperability of RFID would allow cross-border tracking of the movement of goods, similar in concept to the Boeing tests, but one level higher. Voice Activated Another component in the modern s up pl y c ha i n i s vo ice - ac t i v a te d technology. The key feature of voice technology is the user interface. It is based upon speech synthesis and recognition and operates through a voice terminal, worn by the user on a belt, which communicates with a host control system, typically a warehouse management system (WMS), via radio frequency (RF) links. Voice activated technology is gaining greater prominence in the warehousing industry. It is seen by some as the source of a new generation of operational improvements in the warehouse, especially for activities like picking. The benefits of voice-directed warehousing management are threefold. Firstly, productivity improves through significantly reducing the worksteps required for the picking process. Instructions can be issued and validation checks carried out whilst the user continues to pick. This time saving translates into considerable improvements in productivity over the course of a shift, unlike manual picking,

which requires picking up a handheld terminal, reading the instruction from the screen, possibly pressing a few keys and then scanning a bar code. It also reduces the number of trips the picker makes to the warehouse office to get the next pick list to work on. The administrative task of confirming a picked list back to the host system can also be eliminated. Secondly, there is greater accuracy in the ‘hands free, eyes free’ operation that is inherent in speech-controlled picking systems. It allows the realtime validation of the operation as it proceeds. Any errors in product picking can be detected and corrected immediately at this stage before proceeding. Lastly, there are indirect benefits such as ease of use by operators, fewer product damage and less physical strain, all attributable to the ‘hands-free, eyes-free’ ergonomics of voice-activated technology. Mature & Robust Its robustness and maturity has been proven in numerous installations a r o und t he wor ld. For e x a mple Dematic, has over 80 pick-by-voice installations worldwide. The largest pick-by-voice system delivered by Dematic in Europe with 960 order pickers in one warehouse is in used in a Finnish retail chain. As supply chains have become much more fragmented and global, companies will have a harder time putting together the right process controls and visibility in place. This is true not only from a supply and logistics visibility standpoint, but also a security standpoint to make sure nothing dangerous is slipped into a container. It is also good for consumer confidence, to make sure the correct raw materials are being used in products – to prevent a supply chain disruption, which recently happened with the recent toy recall by Fisher-Price. Thus, technological solutions will be increasingly sought, not just by companies manufacturing products, also by services that provide them. ENQUIRY NO. 6500

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 49

IN BUSINESS

Integrating demand response in control strategies allows users to leverage on both the demand and supply side of the equation. By Peter KellyDetwiler, Senior Director, Constellation NewEnergy ation

Quantum Autom

ation

Quantum Autom

Systems Integration:

demands from the ISO system and changes in the energy market as well.

Demand

Demand & Supply Systems integrators who are able to combine a demand response programme are well positioned to help customers leverage both the demand and the supply side of the equation. Load management and energy efﬁciency strategies are most effective when all elements of the energy chain are linked together for the customer. Integrating a LON based system, ideally with LonMark certiﬁed products, makes this possible. Systems integrators who are able to bring the supply and demand side expertise to the table have a competitive edge when assisting end users with managing energy in their facility. This expertise can be brought to bear in three primary ways:

Integrating

Response

n today’s business environment, companies are thinking about energy as a strategic asset that is important to every aspect of their business. The scenario is all too familiar. CEOs are under pressure from shareholders and board members to green-up and cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce energy consumption, and shrink their carbon footprint. CFOs are looking for increasingly more creative ways to trim costs and gain a return on investments, and facilities managers are tasked with the challenge of keeping a wide range of systems operating efficiently and effectively under a myriad of conditions, including a volatile energy market and a steady increase in capacity costs. Is the decision to fire up the generators the right one when ISO calls for a curtailment on the hottest, or coldest, day of the year or is there a more sophisticated approach for today’s fiscally and environmentally minded CEO? One Platform LON systems integrators already utilise one comprehensive platform to manage the lighting, HVAC and building systems within a facility. Integrating demand response into this platform brings the supply side of the picture into perspective, further leveraging their customers’ ability to control the internal environment not only with regards to creature comfort, but also energy consumption. The result is a smarter and more energy responsive building that is positioned to react flexibly to curtailment 50 industrial automation asia | September 2007

• • •

Shaping load via control system upgrades and retroﬁtting. Reducing load via advanced demand limiting and peak shaving applications. Smoothing bandwidth via optimising control strategies. Typical DR Load Curve Constellation Demand Response Partner Program Systems Integrators Can Affect Peak Reduction Load 3 Ways:

1 Reduce kWH via control system upgrade and retro-commissioning

2 Reduce kW via advanced BAS demand limiting and peak shaving applications

3 Smooth bandwidth via optimising control strategies Improve Bandwidth to 10% or Better +/-5

5 to 10% Efﬁciency

Demand response chart

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IN BUSINESS

Real-Time Savings Further savings can be realised from access to meter and price information systems, which allow up-to-theminute views of energy usage and costs and the ability to employ this information to better shape and control usage patterns. Real-time energy information and the ability to shape energy load will put a business in the driver’s seat when responding to a demand for curtailment from the ISO and when navigating a volatile energy market. Demand response can be integrated into energy efficiency upgrades to older, existing facilities or incorporated into the design and construction of new buildings. This successful bridging of energy supply with actual on-site demand addresses everyone’s needs from the corner office to the control room. For example, Constellation NewEnergy has worked with New York’s Syracuse University since 1995 on multiple projects involving more than 40 buildings. Energy Management Among the upgrades is a new energy management system which controls all HVAC systems using the LON platform in 44 buildings. VAV conversions were made in more than 12 buildings, including more than 185 lab fume hoods and VSDs placed on more than 50 individual pumping and air-handling systems ranging in size from 7.5-100 Hp. Constellation NewEnergy worked with the incumbent systems integrators to help design and install the controls upgrades. The investment has resulted in annual cost savings of US$1.9 million and reduced energy costs by more than 10 percent over a five-year period. New electric metering, measuring and monitoring systems provide necessary information for the university to comprehensively evaluate, assess and shape its energy load going forward. The Benefits Demand response provides measurable benefits to customers that go well beyond the financial. Among these are contributing to the effort to prevent regional blackouts without resorting to on-site generation. While other demand response providers typically use generators as their main load reduction product, leading companies believe in leveraging building automation systems and applying advanced control strategies for true load shaping. This method helps to prevent brownouts, rolling blackouts and high cost peaking plants from coming online during ISO emergency curtailment events, thus a demand response programme is more akin to a “virtual” peaking plant. www.iaasiaonline.com

Enhancing the elasticity of a company’s facilities is fundamental to reducing energy needs in the future

Quantum Automation

Enhancing the elasticity of a company’s facilities is fundamental to reducing energy needs in the future and taking unnecessary stress off the grid during peak demand. There are a multitude of opportunities to leverage on – lighting, primary air handling and pumping equipment, central plant operations and HVAC systems.

Shaving Off Energy Shaving off-peak usage results in additional kilowatts becoming available where they are most needed on the grid without the need to fire up older gas, oil or coal plants to meet regional demand. This puts companies in a position to contribute to the larger effort of preventing regional blackouts, without resorting to on-site generation and the associated issues of run-time and air emissions that accompany them. During demand response events, customers who are set up with the technology and metering applications to curtail at least 100 kilowatts of electricity consumption during peak demand hours are able to reap year-round financial benefits. The result is a reduction in energy costs through regular monthly payments for committing to participation in the ISO curtailment program as well as the savings earned during actual curtailment events. And finally, integrating demand response into existing platforms positions customers to fully take advantage of an ever evolving and increasingly more sophisticated energy market. ENQUIRY NO. 6600

September | industrial automation asia 51

AUTOMATION SOURCES & SERVICES

Latest products and software available in the market

Adlink: Portable PXI Chassis

PXIS-2690P is a 14-Slot, 3U portable PXI chassis fully compliant with the PXI speciﬁcation, rev 2.2. The PXIS2690P is designed for military, aero-defense, ﬁeld testing, and in-vehicle testing applications by providing a touch panel 15” LCD display, keyboard, touchpad, DVD combo drive, and 500W power supply in an aluminium alloy frame. D e s i g n e d f o r r u g g e d n e s s a n d s t a b i l i t y, t h e PXIS-2960P has been fully tested for a variety of shock and vibration situations – such as those experienced in outdoor applications. Three onboard 120 mm x 120 mm x 25 mm fans deliver an airflow rate of 223.5 CFM to help ensure proper operation even in high temperature environments. The 13 peripheral slots of the PXIS-2690P support a variety of 3U PXI/CompactPCI modules such as digitisers, waveform generators, multimeters, data acquisition cards, analogue output cards, and digital I/O cards.

Enquiry no. 6701

Comitronic: Non-Contact Safety Switch

The Supermagnet range of safety switches are sealed to IP65 standards, ensuring reliability in hostile environments. The non-contacting design ensures less wear and higher tolerance to door misalignment. It provides zero activation radius, unlike a key interlocking system for which the minimum distance is often 250 mm. There are two versions of electromagnets, namely power off locking with a holding force of 30 DaN and power on locking with 50 DaN latching force that is the equivalent of 30 kg and 50 kg of latching power. Models in dual-function latching & switching are also available. A coded non-contact safety switch with an Acotom2 process is integrated inside, ensuring tamper resistance and satisﬁes EN954 safety category 4 when used alone with the safety module AWAX, safety category 3 when wired in series. The built-in LED display indicates the status of auxiliary contact.

Enquiry no. 6703

ESI: Composite Parts Simulation

Belden: Wireless Edge

The Wireless Switch/AP Edge Solution, offers a unique channel blanket topology, giving users a secure, zero latency, interference-free WLAN. It has been designed to help its users achieve a predictable rate of connection and service. It is easy to install and maintain – plus it delivers high end performance with features which include no co-channel interference, seamless mobility with no roaming latency, robust client connections that do not drop, no edge-users or client bunching and no mixed-mode b/g performance issues. The wireless solution ensures that security concerns are fully addressed. It complies with IEEE 802.11i, (also known as WPA2), for authentication as well as encryption. And, it includes rogue access point detection.

Enquiry no. 6702

52 industrial automation asia | September 2007

PAM-RTM software for CATIA V5 establishes a direct link between the numerical simulation of manufacturing liquid composite moulding processes and CATIA V5 Composites Part Design (CPD). It will help engineers reuse information generated during design to quickly create injection/infusion models. ESI Group has developed PAM-RTM for CATIA V5 – an application to simulate composite parts manufacturing, which is based on liquid composite moulding processes, such as RTM or VARTM (Vacuum Assisted RTM). The 3D modelling included in the software now makes the study of thick parts possible and thermal management can, therefore, be optimised. PAM-RTM for CATIA V5 can be used to design and develop new tooling and processes for composite materials. It ﬁne-tunes the mould design and the process parameters in order to make sure that the parts are injected correctly ﬁrst time.

Enquiry no. 6704

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AUTOMATION SOURCES & SERVICES

Harting: Ethernet Switches

The eCon and mCon 9000 family extends the spectrum of managed and unmanaged Ethernet switches. Up to 10 Ethernet clients can be connected via RJ45 or M12 sockets (D-coding) at the front of the device. The product family is suitable for use in industrial applications and supports both Ethernet (10MBit/s) and Fast Ethernet (100MBit/s). Line- and star-topology networks as well as mixed forms are supported. The ports of the Ethernet switches are ﬁtted with integrated LEDs, which enable easy and fast network diagnosis. In addition to these optical indicators, all switches have a potentialfree relay contact, which can be connected via the DIN cable connector. The eCon 9000 comes with standard plug-and-play features while the mCon 9000 series switch can be managed over an SNMP and web interface.

Enquiry no. 6705

Siemens: Optical Link Module

Version 4.0 of the Proﬁbus optical link modules (OLMs) has been equipped with additional functions. New features include improved electromagnetic compatibility achieved in part by the new stainless steel housing, LEDs for indicating the ﬁbre optic line quality with channel monitoring, and meets standards such as Atex ExZone 2 and UL-HazLoc. The line quality values can now be transferred via measuring terminal to the analogue input module of the controller and analysed there. The OLMs are available in five versions: for all commonly used fibre optic cables and an extended temperature range to minus 25 degrees Celsius. Optical Profibus networks can be established in linear bus, star and redundant ring topologies using the OLMs. The data transfer rate of a fibre optic line up to 15 km is independent of distance and can be up to 12 Mbit/s.

Enquiry no. 6707

Hirschmann: Fast Ethernet Switch

The Fast-Ethernet-Switch RS 20 Basic can be mounted on DIN rails, is compatible with both Proﬁnet and EtherNET/IP and is offered as standard with four or eight twistedpair ports (RJ 45). Two of these connections can be conﬁgured optionally as Fibre-Uplink-Ports (FX-SC). With the basic software package which supplements the previous OpenRail versions Professional and Enhanced at the bottom end of the range, the RS 20 offers a low-cost solution for automation networks in which no extensive management functions are necessary. The operating state of the switches can be detected locally by a signal contact. Detailed information can be displayed via standard web browsers. A further central management function is offered by the integrated SNMP interface which enables the use of a network management software. The devices have several status displays for local diagnostics. The switches are designed for an operation temperature of 0 to +60 degrees Celsius and comply with common industrial standards.

Enquiry no. 6706

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Turck: Magnetic Field Sensors

BIM-UNT magnetic field sensors are designed for the detection of pistons on pneumatic cylinders. Namur versions are available for application in explosion hazardous areas, as well as versions with direct M8/M12 connectors at the housing and a pair-set with two sensors on one M12 connector. The BIM-UNT-AP7X. The BIM-UNT is wear-free and shock resistant. A maximum operating current of 50 mA is sufficient for most applications. With a total length of only 28 mm, the BIM-UNT has a compact size. The active faces are located directly at the sensor end and thus enable a safe detection of the piston rod up to the end postion at the compact short-stroke cylinder. The vibration-resistant fixation of the screw near the cable routing prevents an uplift of the sensor when pulling the cable. A useful support for adjustment and operation is the local and clearly visible LED, by which the switching status of the sensor is displayed at any time.

Enquiry no. 6708

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 53

EVENT PREVIEW

Beyond Tubes & Wires The international wire, cable, tube & pipe trade fairs for Southeast Asia will be held October 16–18, at BITEC, Thailand. A diversity of cuttingedge technologies, products and solutions will be introduced at the events.

ore than 350 exhibiting companies from over 30 countries, including eight national groups from Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the US will make their presence felt. The trade fairs will serve as a platform to introduce, in many cases for the ﬁrst time to Southeast Asia, tools and solutions with the potential to give industry players a competitive edge in their business. Tech Galore August Neuhoff Traxit International, the global supplier of dry drawing lubricants, coatings and carriers serving solely the wire industry, will be introducing its latest boron-free coatings. 54 industrial automation asia | September 2007

AccuScan 5000 diameter gauges from Beta Lasermike offers more than twice the usual measurement rate at 2,400 measurements per second, thereby providing high accuracy, single-scan measurement data. Another product is the DataPro 5000 Process Controller, which uses the latest in software PLC and ﬁeldbus technologies providing advanced functionality, ﬂexibility and expandability. Debuting at wire Southeast ASIA is the LPSNH3 from CERSA MCI for 3-axes, very high frequency diameter measurement for the cable and plastic industries. Parameters measured are diameter and lump and neck detection at the accuracy of the diameter. Nailing It Right Enkotec A/S will demonstrate their latest nail machine, the NI01, which produces high-quality nails of diameter 2.4 – 3.84 x 50 – 90 mm at 1,500 nails per minute. Featured at Machinenfabrik Niehoff’s stand will be the NPS SV400 type spooler developed mainly for high-speed production of automotive wires. India’s Gandhi Special Tubes brings

to Tube Southeast ASIA its range of cold drawn and bright annealed seamless steel tubes for hydraulics, cold drawn seamless tubes for high pressure diesel fuel injection, and small diameter (below 12.7 mm OD) welded steel tubes (plain/inside & outside copper plated/outside electro galvanised) for automobile fuel lines and refrigerator condensers. Winding Drives ISA Technology will introduce the Uhing RGK3-15 and RGK3-20 Rolling Ring Traverse winding drives. For a shaft diameter of 15/20 mm, the winding drives feature continuous pitch adjustment, automatic reversal, a release lever for moving the traverse freely, maintenance-free design and maximum corrosion protection. The ability of Thermatool to vary the welding frequency at the operator’s console in 1 kHz increments from 150 to 400 kHz has revolutionised the high frequency (HF) tube welding process. Thermatool has now extended the capabilities of variable frequency HF welding to its HAZ Control Technology. ENQUIRY NO. 6801

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his year, Global Entrepolis @ Singapore 2007 (GES 2007) will see stronger collaboration and cooperation between participants and exhibitors in the technology ﬁeld. Many new innovations are expected to be launched and showcased at The Enterprise Exchange, a technologyfocused exhibition at GES 2007 where a large number of delegates from ASEAN, India, and China are expected to gather and interact. To date, 80 percent of exhibition ﬂoor space at The Enterprise Exchange has been booked, based around this year’s theme of Global Gathering, Growth Opportunities, and Green Initiatives. The event is jointly presented by the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore Economic Development Board, and organised by Zenith Events Management. Inventive Steps This year, Neublick, a provider of sunlight readable LCD solutions for outdoor TV, and Murata, a manufacturer of electronics components

GES 2007:

EVENT PREVIEW and modules, are both showcasing exciting new innovations; a bicycleriding robot and an interactive sandwich-board man respectively. Such inventions are an indication that robots with the ability of making their own independent decisions could soon be part of everyday life, taking over jobs that are too dangerous for humans, or serving as helpers and companions for the physically challenged. The ‘Green’ theme at GES 2007 is illustrated by the participation of Agro Genesis, an agricultural nanotechnology solutions provider. The company plans to launch its Agro-Silica range of products which will offer multiple beneﬁts, including yielding stronger and healthier plants, increasing crop yield and quality, increasing plant resistance, optimising soil pH, and reducing the need for pesticides. Among other conﬁrmed exhibitors are Fujinon, an optical instrument manufacturer; BIG Interactive, a creator and provider of interactive digital media; Island Optical Systems, an optical system integrator; and

Spotlight On Technopreneurs

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Phion Technology, a company delivering next generation fashion electronics. Talks That Matter As part of the agenda at GES 2007, participants will have an opportunity to attend a series of conferences that focus on topics that matter most to businesses today. Among these is the E-Government Summit 2007, which will cover a range of issues facing both citizens and governments around egovernment services. Participants of the E-Government Summit 2007 will include decisions-makers from government agencies around the world. Through GES 2007, technology companies will also be able to network with potential customers, partners, and investors. The event will act as a melting pot where CXOs, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs work synergistically to explore and exploit ideas and innovations to facilitate growth and business opportunities globally. ENQUIRY NO. 6802

Next-generation robotics among innovations slated for launch at The Enterprise Exchange. GES 2007 will be held November 12–15 at Suntec Singapore.

September 2007 | industrial automation asia 55

EVENT PREVIEW

Controls, Instrumentation Analysis

Asia’s premier event in process engineering, instrumentation and scientiﬁc equipment once again makes a return to Suntec Singapore from the November 29 to December 2.

ontrolsAsia2007 & InstrumentAsia2007 covers solutions and products for measuring and testing, and include actuators and drives, bus systems, ﬁeld devices, and software on plant asset management, QA and test systems, ERP and supply chain management, and more. AnaLabAsia2007 will showcase solutions in assays and testing, chromatography, diagnostics, lab automation, microscopy, optical and image analysis, spectroscopy, ﬁltration and separation technology, and other analytical science solutions. According to event organiser Singapore Exhibition Services, over 669 exhibiting companies from 38 countries are expected to participate in the show this year, including six country group pavilions from China, France, Germany, Singapore, Spain and the UK.

56 industrial automation asia | September 2007

“CIA2007 provides industry players with a fantastic opportunity to stay ahead of the game, network, and open business opportunities,” says Tee Boon Teong, Project Director, Singapore Exhibition Services. “The event boasts a 26 year track record, and is the most established event of its kind for the Asia Paciﬁc market. We expect this year’s show to surpass the last, and attendees are fully encouraged to take advantage of the unique business opportunities that are on offer at the event.” Supplementing the exhibition

is an ICS New Technology Forum where industry experts present the latest innovations, applications and solutions in instrumentation, process control/engineering and technology migration. Alongside CIA2007 are two associated events at the same venue: EnviroAsia2007 – a leading trade show for the regional environmental and water industries, and Energex 2007, the 12th international energy conference and exhibition. ENQUIRY NO. 6803

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CalendarOf Events 2007 SEPTEMBER 12 – 14 Elcomp India 2007

Pragati Maidan, New Delhi Exhibitions India Pvt Ltd Tel: 91 11 4279 5000 Fax: 91 11 4279 5098/99 Web: www.elcompindia.com

17 – 20 SCM Logistics World Suntec City, Singapore Terrapinn B2B Media Tel: 6322 2737 Fax: 6226 3264 Web: www.terrapinn.com

20 – 22 India Electricity 2007 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry Tel: 91 11 2373 8760 70 Fax: 91 11 2335 9734 Web: www.ﬁcci.com

24 – 27 National Manufacturing Week Illinois, US Donald E Stephens Convention Center Canon Communications LLC Tel: 310 445 4200 Fax: 310 996 9499 Web: www.devicelink.com

26 – 29 Manufacturing Technology World 2007

Metro Manila, Philippines Global-Link Marketing & Management Services Inc Tel: 632 750 8588 Fax: 632 750 8585 Web: www.globallinkph.com

OCTOBER 3 – 5 SMART Automation Austria 2007

Linz, Austria Reed Messe Salzburg GmbH Tel: 43 0662 4477-0 Fax: 43 0662 4477-161 Web: www.messe.at-info@reedexpo.at

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9 – 12 Scanautomatic 2007

Götheborg, Sweden The Swedish Exhibition Centre Tel: 46 31 708 80 00 Fax: 46 31 16 03 30 Email: scanautomatic@swefair.se

9 – 13 Korea Electronics Show 2007

Gyeonggi, S Korea Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Energy Tel: 82 2553 0941 Web: www.kes.org

13 – 16 electronicAsia 2007

Wanchai, Hong Kong HKTDC/Messe Muenchen GmbH Tel: 49 89 949 20-320 Fax: 49 89 949 9720-320 Web: www.global-electronics.net

17 – 18 Mocon-Hydromech 2007 Brussels, Belgium EasyFairs SA/NV Tel: 32 02 740 10 70 Fax: 32 02 740 10 75 Web: www.easyfairs.com

18 – 21 Linkage Vietnam 2007 Saigon, Vietnam Chan Chao Int’l Co Ltd Tel: 8862 2659 6000 Fax: 8862 2659 7000 Web: www.linkage-vn.com

NOVEMBER 6 – 8 Vision 2007

Stuttgart, Germany Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH Tel: 49 711 / 25 89-0 Fax: 49 711 / 25 89 440 Web: www.messe-stuttgart.de

6 – 10 Industrial Automation Show

Shanghai, China Hannover Fairs China Ltd - Shanghai Tel: 86 21 5045 6700 307/203/259/207 Fax: 86 21 6886 2355 5045 9355 Web: www.factory-automation-asia.com

13 – 16 Productronica 2007

Messe Muenchen GmbH Munich, Germany Tel: 49 89 949 20318 Fax: 49 89 949 20339 Web: www.productronica.com

13 – 16 SCS Automation & Control 2007

Lyon, France SCS Automation & Control Tel: 33 01 49 68 52 86 Fax: 33 01 49 64 54 66 Web: www.scs-automation.com

15 – 18 Metalex 2007

Bangkok, Thailand Reed Tradex Company Tel: 66 2686 7299 Fax: 66 2686 7288 Web: www.metalex.co.th

27 – 29 SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2007

Nuremberg, Germany Mesago Messemanagement GmbH Tel: 49 711 61946-60 Fax: 49 711 61946-92 Web: www.mesago.de

27 – 30 CiA 2007

Suntec City, Singapore Singapore Exhibition Services Tel: 65 6738 6776 Fax: 65 6732 6776 Web: www.cia-asia.com

DECEMBER 4 – 7 Industrial Automation India 2007

Bangalore, India Deutsche Messe AG Tel: 49 5111 8931116 Fax: 49 511 8939681 Web: www.hannovermesseworldwide.com

5 – 8 Automation Technology Indonesia

Jakarta, Indonesia PT Pamerindo Buana Abadi Tel: 62 21 3162001 Fax: 62 21 3161981 Web: www.pamerindo.com

12 – 15 Machine Tools & Automation Pakistan 2007

Karachi, Pakistan Pegasus Consultancy (Pvt) Ltd Tel: 92 21 111 734 266 Fax: 92 21 241 0723 Web: www.pagasus.com.pk

September 2007 | industrial asia 57 57 industrial automation asia

Advertising Index

IndustrialAutomationAsia

ADVERTISING I N D E X

ADVERTISER

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ASCO ASIA

683

ASEAN CC-LINK PROMOTION CENTRE

648

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668

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599

DHL

681

DR FRITZ FAULHABER GMBH & CO. KG

669

EXXON MOBIL ASIA PACIFIC

IBC

647

FUJI ELECTRIC FA SINGAPORE PTE LTD

652

HITACHI ASIA LTD

679

OBC

646

680

HONEYWELL PTE LTD IED COMMUNICATIONS LTD INAT GMBH

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MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES EUROPE:

Erhardt Eisenacher Eisenacher Medien Tel: 49-228-2499860 Fax: 49-228-650076 info@eisenacher-medien.de

664

8/35

684/685

677

NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS SINGAPORE PTE LTD

654

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION SOUTHEAST ASIA PTE LTD

IFC

678

SATO ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD

687

SINGAPORE EXHIBITION SERVICES PTE LTD

667

TURCK SINGAPORE PTE LTD

682

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VEGA INSTRUMENTS (SEA) PTE LTD

686

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IGUS SINGAPORE PTE LTD INVENSYS PROCESS SYSTEMS (S) PTE LTD

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FOUR WEEKS before the date of publication.

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ENQUIRY NO. 694

ENQUIRY NO. 681

Greater opportunity requires a unique vantage point across your entire enterprise. Honeywell is more than an industry leader in process automation, we also offer cutting-edge technology and the services you need to oversee and optimize your plant’s operation. Our applications go beyond the control system, allowing you to view your plant data in context as well as integrate other relevant intelligence. Our offerings in cyber and physical security, wireless solutions, and advanced applications like simulation technology, and planning and scheduling, better optimize your facility while keeping your people safe. At Honeywell, we can help you see the information you need to make better decisions faster for increased reliability, productivity and greater proﬁt.

To see more Honeywell solutions, please call 65-6580 3374 or visit www.honeywell.com/ps ENQUIRY NO. 646