Cee 16 09

Control, Instrumentation and Automation in the Process and Manufacturing Industries September 2016

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Benefits of a predictive maintenance solution for PROFIBUS networks

Special supplement in this issue: HART Communication Protocol PC-based control holds the key!

Should we be setting our robots free?

CONTENTS

Cobots – friend or foe?

Editor Suzanne Gill suzanne.gill@imlgroup.co.uk Sales Manager Lydia Harris lydia.harris@imlgroup.co.uk Production Sara Clover sara.clover@imlgroup.co.uk Business Development Manager Iain McLean iain.mclean@imlgroup.co.uk Dan Jago Group Publisher David May Production Manager Stuart Pritchard Studio Designer

Collaborative robots or ‘cobots’ seem to be getting everywhere just lately! I was first introduced to this new breed of robot earlier this year at the UK launch of ABB’s YuMi… since then more and more cobot-style robots seem to be appearing. In this issue we consider both the benefits and barriers to their use. There is one argument that says they work more slowly than traditional robots to ensure that they can operate safely without barriers. Meanwhile Ford, who is employing cobots on an assembly line, says that they are helping operators to lift and position heavy assemblies, which is speeding up production. I guess it really does depend on the application. Anyway, there seems to plenty of cobots to choose from if you do decide they could offer benefits in your operation.

Also in this issue we get a flavour of the latest advances in device integration and what to

INDUSTRY REPORTS

expect next from FDT. Earlier this year the FDT Group and the OPC Foundation demonstrated the progress made in relation to integrating OPC UA architecture into FDT. Find out more on pg 4.

Summer has flown by... and we even saw some sunshine! As our tans fade away we start to look towards the annual sps/ipc/drives event in Nuremberg and anticipate what innovations will be launched there. One thing is certain, there is bound to be more news about communication foundation collaborations, and I’m sure that exhibitors will still be keen to highlight where they fit in to the Industry 4.0 puzzle.

Suzanne Gill – Editor suzanne.gill@imlgroup.co.uk

4

Suzanne Gill speaks to Glenn Schulz, managing director at FDT Group, to catch up on technology developments.

20 Making key and lock mechanisms requires the use of high-precision production technology that must compensate for temperature fluctuations, even of a few degrees.

6

Yokogawa sees collaboration as vital to ensuring sustainable growth and operational excellence.

HART COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – SUPPLEMENT 23 This special supplement explores how HART communications remain relevant in the field today, and looks at its role in an increasingly digital world.

EDITOR’S CHOICE 10 Self-powered, wireless field instruments; Secure remote access for industrial networks

HAZARDOUS AREA & SAFETY 36 John Martin explains what needs to be considered when preparing a bow tie analysis to visualise risk in simple graphical format.

ROBOTICS 12 Science fiction novels often portray robots in collaborative roles with humans. Barry Weller considers how this could work in reality.

14 We investigate a combined vision and robotic solution that could help to cost-effectively automate a wide range of bin-picking applications.

16 We look at where the new breed of robot – the cobot – is being employed and how safety is being ensured.

CONTROL SOLUTIONS 18 Efficient industrial manufacturing relies on the interaction between machines and robots. However, traditionally programming, control and error elimination has been carried out separately; a situation which is changing.

Control Engineering Europe is a controlled circulation journal published six times per year by IML Group plc under license from CFE Media LLC. Copyright in the contents of Control Engineering Europe is the property of the publisher.

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Control Engineering Europe

37 Throughout Lafarge Tarmac, process instruments give the information needed to ensure safe and efficient operation.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT 38 Rich Pedley discusses the improved efficiencies that are possible when pumps are coupled with plastic pipework systems.

FINAL WORD 44 Roland Bent Bent, executive vice president marketing and development at Phoenix Contact, offers some insight into current standardisation work being undertaken to ensure the success of Industry 4.0.

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INDUSTRY REPORT

FDT optimises sensor to cloud COMPUTING WITH OPC UA Suzanne Gill spoke to Glenn Schulz, managing director at FDT Group, to catch up on technology developments.

a wealth of other information. The FDT Frame transparently and automatically handles the routing of traffic across all necessary networks, so to the OPC UA client, it appears that the device is directly connected.

Any off the shelf OPC UA client with the right security privileges can access the OPC UA server embedded in the FDT Frame. With the advent of low cost OPC UA client development toolkits, bespoke OPC UA client applications can be built. An example would be an Android tablet application that acts like an OPC UA client but allows a maintenance technician to ascertain the operational status and health of an asset by interrogating the remote FDT Frame as he or she roams the facility. To the operator, it will appear as if the wireless tablet is connected directly to the asset in question.

Looking to the future

T

he FDT Group used the Hannover Fair this year to showcase the progress already made to integrate the OPC UA architecture into an FDT Frame using a demonstration of robust device-to-cloud data exchange featuring a display of asset health monitoring on a mobile device using the FDT2/OPC UA annex. The demonstration showed the standard integration of information provided by Device Type Managers (DTMs) into the OPC UA information model – an important capability for device diagnostics, configuration and remote asset management, as well as for integration with Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). The FDT2 / OPC UA information model will enhance the management of networks and devices, helping to optimise the enterprise by giving access to data without the need for protocol-specific handling and providing support for a wide range of devices which have not, previously, been supported.

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September 2016

Schulz explained that the FDT Group is in the final member review stage of an OPC UA annex to the FDT specification. Once approved, system suppliers with a FDT Frame Application embedded in their control systems, asset management systems, PLCs, etc, will have the ability to include an OPC UA server in their application which can be accessed from any OPC UA client application.

When viewed from an architectural perspective, the FDT Frame has access to all control networks in the facility as well as all supported devices attached to the networks. The FDT Frame also has knowledge of the complete control system topology. As a result, the OPC UA server in the FDT Frame allows any client application to browse the topology of the control architecture, select an individual device on any network in the topology, and obtain critical operational data about that device – such as its health, its current output value, its tag information, and

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Looking to the future, Schulz believes that there is now a need to take the FDT standard to mobile devices, to enable its use in the field. The creation of a mobile solution will, therefore, become part of the FDT Group’s strategic plan.

“Another strategic issue is security on the wire,” continued Schulz. “The ODVA was the first to publish a true security overlay on their protocol and I believe that, given the current pace of IIoT and Industry 4.0, every network association will eventually need to come up with a security on the wire mechanism.”

“The growing need for secure networks will require end user engineers to find new tools, issues and workflows.

If a device goes down it will no longer simply be a matter of setting up the address and installing a new device.

Because FDT is the standard that everyone wants to use to commission devices and maintain them it does need to be part of this change. Security will, therefore, also feature highly on our future roadmap.

“We will be ready to discuss further details about these new initiatives later in the year,” concluded Schulz.

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INDUSTRY REPORT

Focussing on a collaborative future

segments. This acquisition will allow Yokogawa to provide a one-stop solution for the oil and gas sector.

The plan is to merge KBCs advanced solution technology with Yokogawa’s measurement, control and information technologies and with its secure cloud platform – another recent addition to its portfolio, following the acquisition of Industrial Evolution.

Gaining insight

As highlighted during its 2016 European User Conference, Yokogawa sees collaboration as vital to ensuring sustainable growth and operational excellence. Suzanne Gill reports.

A

t the 2016 Yokogawa Europe User Conference, Satoru Kurosu, director executive vice president solutions service for Yokogawa Electrical Corporation, shared his thoughts on Yokogawa’s future vision, which revolves around creating shared value with customers through co-innovation.

Kurosu explained that customer concerns today revolve around issues such as plant availability and reliability; efficiency; safety and security; and human reliability. Yokogawa is helping address these issues through the provision of complete solutions across the entire value chain and business lifecycle. Under its Transformation 2017 plan, which was introduced in 2015, the company is striving to expand its solutions service business, engaging customers in a co-innovation process and sharing insight to address global megatrends as well as addressing key

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September 2016

industry trends. “The Transformation 2017 plan is a concept for our future automation business which utilises all of Yokogawa’s technologies. Our plan is to continue growing in a rapidly changing business environment – working with customers to create value and to stimulate growth while adapting to meet our customers changing needs,” said Kurosu.

“The plan involves three key initiatives – a focus on customers, the creation of new value with partners and customers, and maximising efficiency through the global optimisation of all functions and operations of the company,” continued Kurosu. To ensure it is able to achieve its goals Yokogawa has made several key acquisitions. Most recently it acquired KBC Advanced Technologies, a provider of software and consultancy to the global oil and gas industry that is focused on achieving operational excellence and improving profitability for both upstream and downstream

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At the 2016 Yokogawa Europe User Conference the company also introduced a new portfolio of four-wire Coriolis mass flowmeters and transmitters – Rotamass Total Insight (TI) – based on a concept that seeks to optimise operations and reduce maintenance costs at all phases of the product lifecycle – giving total insight.

Yokogawa has evolved the Coriolis technology into multi-functional devices that are able to measure concentrations, function as net oil computers, and even measure heat transport. They are designed for use in demanding process control applications that involve liquids with high viscosity, entrained gas, and two-phase flows.

The Rotamass TI range consists of six new sensor product lines and two new transmitters that can be configured to suit application requirements. The sensor product lines are designed to meet specific application needs and process conditions, including high pressure or high temperature applications as well as challenging processes involving hygienic or cryogenic conditions. The new general-purpose (Essential) and high-end (Ultimate) transmitters all come with an AC/DC universal power supply and can be configured to handle a range of functions.

A new tool has been developed to assist in sensor and transmitter selection.

A Process Guard function has been added for the selection of event patterns to issue alarms, configure the triggering of data logging based on alarms or manually set points, and specify whether data is to be backed up to a microSD card for use in root cause analysis.

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The Emerson logo is a trademark and a service mark of Emerson Electric Co. Š 2016 Emerson Electric Co.

COVER STORY

Benefits of a predictive maintenance solution for PROFIBUS networks Optimising network performance, through the use of a continuous maintenance system, can offer huge cost and energy savings. It also plays a key role in the success of Industry 4.0, smart factories and smart cities.

A

cross all industries today there is a drive to increase productivity and efficiency with less expenditures. The focus is on introducing cost savings, such as greater energy efficiency or downtime reduction.

Alongside these demands, control engineers also need to be mindful of the trend towards just-in-time production and smaller, customised batch sizes which has resulted in fewer maintenance opportunities. Instead, companies are seeking preventative maintenance solutions – including systems that give warning of a pending network failure and which also allow for remote access to the facility.

Although growth in PROFIBUS DP/PA

is now slowing in favour of PROFINET, there are currently still over 50 million PROFIBUS DP nodes and nine million PROFIBUS PA nodes in use across the globe, according to PI International.

Taking into account the exceptionally strong loyalty factor towards PROFIBUS and its specifically designed products, there will be some time before Ethernet networks become ubiquitous on the plant floor and overtake the currently installed PROFIBUS DP/PA networks.

True impact of downtime Fieldbus and Industrial Ethernet systems alike, the robustness of PROFIBUS networks are compromised by several factors. Having a good understanding of cable length limitations and other

installation rules during the design phase is paramount to ensure the installation meets all electrical standards in order to maximise uptime. PROFIBUS networks are also prone to failures caused by slow degradation due to the often harsh industrial environments which can disrupt plant productivity.

Heat, moisture or vibration can result in failures which can initiate a system shutdown.

It is important to understand the true impact of plant downtime. It could include lost revenue through non-production; the cost of removing product from the production line to make unscheduled repairs; the cost of lost raw materials or damaged products; the cost of getting a process back online; the cost of energy; and the cost of engineers having to determine the underlying issues that led to the downtime.

Innovative backbone solutions In this age of tight operational and

Figure 1: PROCENTEC’s Innovative Backbone Solutions.

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September 2016

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Control Engineering Europe

COVER STORY capital budgets, there is real value in monitoring network operations to predict any potential problems. Ensuring maximum system uptime will offer a rapid return on investment when installing a network diagnostic solution.

One solution is PROCENTEC ComBricks, a continuous 24/7 industrial network maintenance monitoring system for use in PROFIBUS DP/PA automation systems.

PROCENTEC ComBricks unites network components and offers permanent monitoring with industry leading features. It enables users to remotely monitor PROFIBUS installations and gives advance warning of any potential system faults, acting as a virtual maintenance professional.

The use of PROCENTEC ComBricks makes it possible to collect and store network diagnostic data to identify even intermittent network faults, which are usually the most difficult to diagnose and rectify. Based on a set of personalised criteria, it gives an easy to interpret notification that can then be acted upon before a failure occurs. The system works with an integrated web browser which gives secure access to the units via a web connection.

In addition to the diagnostic features of the ComBricks module, it also works as a modular repeater platform which allows for strategic segmentation of a network to reduce the impact of an outage or malfunction. This is illustrated in Figure 1 as PROCENTEC’s Innovative Backbone Solutions: PROCENTEC ComBricks combined with ProfiHub and ProfiSwitch repeaters allow for better maintenance control and overall network performance. For the energy sector ComBricks RS 485 is an intrinsically safe SCOPE repeater for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. It is the only available solution for remotely monitoring intrinsically safe segments over Ethernet. The EX i module has an integrated ProfiTrace and oscilloscope for bus level measurements for segments installed in EX zone 1 and 2.

A real-life example of improving network performance is a waste to energy company in the Netherlands, Control Engineering Europe

which implemented the PROCENTEC ComBricks Fiber Optic Ring module. The choice to combine a redundant ring topology with fibre optics was quickly made, as they needed to cover long distances through EMC-sensitive areas.

As an additional bonus, the headstation of the ComBricks indicates whether the quality of the fibre optic signal is still optimal.

This solution provided permanent diagnostics and strategic segmentation, leading to increased robustness of the network without any EMC-disturbances throughout the installation.

Uncaptured profit In many industry sectors when a network system shuts down, restarting production after troubleshooting and repairs is a costly and time-consuming task, which further adds to the issues caused by lost productivity. For example, another PROCENTEC customer – a Belgian steel company – says that if its network goes down and stops production, its biggest restarting cost is energy, because the steel will need to be re-heated using energy-hungry gas and electric ovens.

Understanding the true costs of downtime, repairs and restarting production, leaves the question of how to determine the return of investment of a diagnostic installation. The amount of time a diagnostic solution can reduce in creating clarity of the situation is extremely valuable. In case of the aforementioned steel company, it was estimated that they had a downtime cost of €1,500 per minute. Any solution which allows for increased efficiency in downtime reduction has a high and immediate return on investment.

“If I make this investment, one prevented downtime pays for the whole system,” was the argument made by the maintenance professional of the steel company. There is a lot of internal

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ComBricks offers a continuous 24/7 industrial network maintenance monitoring system for use in PROFIBUS DP/PA automation systems.

‘profit’ to be made by increasing the margins for the company without spending a ton of money. It is time for management to realise the added value of a lifelong ROI on a diagnostic solution and to move the argument of initial cost to the ROI of investment. After all, how do you define the value of safety on your products?

Staying operational PROCENTEC ComBricks forms an important element of Industry 4.0 or smart factory projects, helping to ensure 24/7 availability of a healthy plant network to enable the continuous flow of data which is vital to Industry 4.0 success. Often innovation is confused with a completely new industry or technology, while overlooking what can be done with existing market-ready solutions. Those companies who seek solutions with today’s technologies will be ready for tomorrow. In the future, smart factories will be all about staying operational. Without an operational infrastructure, the true reality of Industry 4.0 cannot be reached.

September 2016

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EDITOR’S CHOICE

80 GHz radar gets Bluetooth with Ex approval Adding yet another new option to the Vega range of 80 GHz radar level sensors VEGAPULS 64 (liquids) and 69 (bulk solids) are now available with ATEX / IECEx: Ex ia, Ex ia/t (Dust) FM: OL, XP, DIP approvals.

Bluetooth communications have been a standard option across the whole range of plics transmitters since March.

This functionality is also backward compatible onto all sensors supplied since 2002. It features secure 64 bit encryption and pairing using Apps or PC USB dongle via PACTware.

Up until now, however, this feature has only been available for safe area devices. The added ATEX approval enables easy set up and sensor

management using EX capable tablets and smartphones, run by Android, with Bluetooth 4.0 via the VEGA TOOLS App. The sensors can also be operated via a magnetic pen through a window.

This range of product compatibility and dual capability is said to be a world first from VEGA. It means that ‘hot work’ permits may not be needed, as no covers are removed or wires connected to sensors or signal cables. Engineers can work from safer locations, saving time and increasing safety.

Secure remote access for industrial networks Belden is able to offer a simple and secure way to provide remote network access, programming and diagnostics with the new Hirschmann Secure Remote Access Solution.

“Permanent IP addresses are not required, and there is no need to reconfigure firewalls. This enables secure access for remote programming and diagnostics without disrupting existing systems.”

The simple set-up, ease of use and secure technology make it suitable for use in machine building, automotive and food and beverage applications, which often need remote access to plants and machinery around the world.

Self-powered, wireless field instruments

The Secure Remote Access Solution allows customers to remotely access their sites in order to troubleshoot and fix problems. At the core of the solution is Secomea’s GateManager, a cloud service which enables users to connect their operator stations to remote devices. LinkManager software, running on PCs or mobile devices, connects operator stations to the cloud.

SiteManager software, running on PCs or the Hirschmann GECKO, connects the remote devices to the cloud.

“The Secure Remote Access Solution provides a protected cloud system that can be set up with minimal assistance,” said Mark Cooksley, product manager.

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Schneider Electric has introduced the new Foxboro Accutech line of wireless field instrumentation, including a range of self-powered measurement and control devices that communicate wirelessly with a centralised gateway.

The Accutech line is said to offer cost-effective monitoring of processes in remote locations – specifically in applications where wiring is prohibitive, power is not available, and the environment is demanding.

Within the local instrument networks, Accutech field devices are able to transmit signals up to 1,000m, and can connect, configure, and communicate quickly using a 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz licensefree spectrum. For instrument networks spanning larger areas,

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the instruments can be equipped with extended-reach Trio data radios that support 256-bit AES-data encryption.

A single Accutech base radio can report data from a local network of up to 100 field instruments and up to 256 base radios can coexist for maximum scalability.

The range includes devices for level, flow, pressure, temperature, and control applications. Each field instrument incorporates Foxboro technology and is built for durability and long-term operation in hostile environments, with NEMA4X packaging and CSA Class 1, Div 1, and ATEX/IECEx (-ai and –d) certifications. All of the field units are equipped with field-replaceable batteries that offer up to 10 years of service.

Control Engineering Europe

EDITOR’S CHOICE

New features for open fieldbus design tool The Segment Checker from Pepperl+Fuchs is said to be the first open fieldbus design tool which is able to help simplify the design of a fieldbus infrastructure, helping to support and accelerate development, display, archiving and printing of FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 and PROFIBUS PA fieldbus structures.

The tool is also able to check the design parameters of a fieldbus architecture and validate its flawless operation before installation on site.

The latest version of the Segment Checker runs under Windows 10 and offers a range of new functions. The tool now supports the integration of the new PROFINET Gateway into a Profibus PA environment and includes enhanced calculation models for FieldBarriers and handheld diagnostic tools. It also includes an updated catalogue of Foundation Fieldbus H1 devices. All instruments registered with the Foundation are now included.

The latest version of the Pepperl+Fuchs Segment Checker can be freely downloaded from www.segmentchecker.com.

Valves suited to primary isolation applications at high pressures

Simplifying deployment of IIoT solutions

AS-Schneider has expanded the Double Block & Bleed product range of its VariAS-Blocks, which are now also available with a metal seated ball valve design. This means that the valves are suitable for use as a reliable primary isolation in industrial plants – at pressures up to 420 bar and under harsh operating conditions.

The VariAS-Blocks are used in chemical plants and the oil and gas industry where pipework pressure must be continuously monitored and measured. As primary isolation valves on the pressure tapping points, these shut-off devices can reliably separate the impulse lines and process lines from each other to enable reliable pressure measurements and protect people and the environment from dangerous and harmful process media.

The VariAS-Block ball valves are available with valve seats made of PTFE Compound or PEEK in the standard version. With the expansion of its product range, AS-Schneider now also offers metal seated ball valves with a bore

Wirepas and u-blox, a producer of wireless and positioning modules and chips, have partnered to offer an advanced decentralised radio communications solution (comparable with advanced mesh technology) for demanding Industrial Internet of Things applications. Deployment of IIoT applications is still a relatively slow and complex process for end users. The goal of u-blox and Wirepas is to make large scale, decentralised IIoT networks easier for the end user to deploy.

NINA-B1 is a stand-alone Bluetooth low energy module that targets applications such as healthcare, connected buildings, manufacturing and telematics. The module has been certified for use in a range of countries world-wide, reducing risk and time to market for customers integrating the module in their devices.

“The NINA-B1, in combination with the Wirepas Connectivity software, enables short time to market for easyto-install, large scale, decentralised IIoT applications in segments such as lighting, sensor, asset tracking and beacons,” said Hakan Svegerud, head of product strategy, Short Range Radio, at u blox.

Control Engineering Europe

diameter of 10mm and which are able to withstand large temperature fluctuations, pressures of up to 420 bar, high contamination levels and aggressive process media. The new version is also fire safe tested and certified according to ISO 10497 and API 607.

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September 2016

11

ROBOTICS

Should we set the robots free?

Science fiction novels portray robots in a huge variety of ways, often in collaborative roles with humans.

Barry Weller considers how this could work in reality.

I

n a famous story ‘I,Robot,’ Isaac Asimov poses a solution to the dangers of robot development with his ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ which try to prevent anything ever going wrong.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

In real life, in the manufacturing environment, robots are very different and are designed mainly for function and reliability and do not have abstract decision making capacity. We keep them in locked cages away from humans to protect operators from robots and also the process from the operator.

However, this trend is now being challenged with new generations of robots designed to operate with no or minimal guarding. These so called ‘collaborative robots’ have the potential to open up a lot of new opportunities for robotic automation. However, they also have the potential to introduce new risks, so they need to be developed with safety principles in mind.

Users need to carry out rigorous risk assessments to show that all eventualities, when it comes to robot and humans interaction, have been considered. This is both time consuming and expensive. Failure to do this

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adequately could result in personal injury or even death and the inevitable HSE investigation.

The problem becomes clearer when you take a look at why robots are used in manufacturing. Often they are installed to increase productivity.

Modern robots are capable of carrying out over 150 pick and place cycles a minute and have the strength to manipulate heavy objects very quickly.

Putting people alongside robots operating at these speeds is inherently unsafe.

To prevent injury, collaborative or assistive robots have so far been limited in speed, typically to around 250mm/ min. Some are also covered in soft-touch materials and have touch sensitive control surfaces. They are already being used on automotive production lines helping operators to lift and position heavy components and assemblies. The issue here that is these collaborative robots can help lift heavy items, but cannot meet the cycle time of a skilled worker, let alone a caged robot, thus nullifying one of the key advantages of robots - high operating speeds. They are also expensive.

Surely, the best solution then is to have a standard industrial robot that works at high speed while no one is within the danger area and then, when the operator enters the danger area, it switches into a safe speed operation mode or pauses until the operator leaves the danger area.

This is the route Mitsubishi Electric has taken to offer what it sees as an ideal

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solution. The MELFA SafePlus enables a standard robot arm to be integrated into a system with which an operator can safely interact without stopping the process. MELFA SafePlus uses a safety sensor to detect when a person is within the operation range of the robot, and switches it into one of three safety modes, Safe Limited Speed (SLS), Safe Limited Position (SLP) or Safe Torque Range (STR).

Because the process has not been stopped, as soon as the operator is out of harm’s way, the robot can resume full speed operation. This gives the work cell the best compromise between protecting the employee and the need to achieve maximum production flexibility and productivity.

One application where Mitsubishi Electric has successfully used MELFA SafePlus is in an automotive plant where multiple components had to be screwed together to form an assembly. Originally, an operator sat at a workstation for many hours doing repetitive tasks.

Robots were brought in to screw the components together, leaving the operator with the task of loading and unloading the machine. This resulted in increased quality and productivity because one operator could tend multiple robotic workstations.

Using the MELFA SafePlus mode ‘Safe Limited Speed’ the operator could approach the workstation without having to isolate the robot, open mechanical guarding and reset the system. This saved valuable machine cycle time for every operation, which over the course of a year, added up to several production shifts and dramatically improved plant efficiency.

Considering collisions But, what if there is a collision? There are two types of collision that need to be considered, the first is a glancing blow where the robot makes contact with a body part and the person is able to recoil and is not trapped against anything. These impacts are usually of short duration and if at low speed will not cause serious harm.

Control Engineering Europe

ROBOTICS The second is a constrained contact where the body part is trapped, the duration is extended and injury is likely.

Robots can be designed to detect these impacts and stop the movement of the arm. For instance MELFA SafePlus has a function called Safe Torque Range which detects when the robot arm impacts with an object. However, with a trapped limb the damage could already have been done.

Another solution is to try and prevent the robot from working in the same area as the operator. MELFA SafePlus implements a function called Safe Limited Position. This prevents the robot from working in an area occupied by the operator and allows the robot to remain working at a higher speed while allowing the operator to interact with the process as required.

The robot is only really half the story, consideration also needs to be given to the type of part the robot is handling and the tooling being employed at the end of the arm. A gripper that pinches the product with a force large enough to lift several kilograms of weight could also crush a finger. A hot glue bead or gasket material could cause a burn and a moving knife could puncture skin even at slow speed. If the robot moves a part at high speed and then releases it unexpectedly, for instance due to compressed air failure as the gripper releases the part, it could become a projectile.

Taking all this into account, is it safe to use robots alongside operators?

One thing is certain; manufacturing operation will always have its hazards and we need to use training, signage and technology to minimise the risk. If we are truly to set the robots free from their cage, an amount of risk needs to be accepted. But who is going to decide this?

If we balance the risk to bring it in-line with a level of common sense that is already required to avoid personal injury in life generally, then there is at least a safety starting point. Many production environments have autonomous vehicles of various sizes and configurations safely Control Engineering Europe

moving around delivering parts and moving assemblies to different work stations, for example. This aspect then has already become commonplace.

In conclusion, some assistive robots will remain slow and will demand a price premium relative to standard industrial robot solutions. If the priority is to maximise manufacturing output, then for now at least, the best solution is to keep some robots in their cage.

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The new generation of industrial robots from Mitsubishi Electric however, can work collaboratively using sophisticated presence detectors to slow-down in the presence of human workers, so offer the best of both worlds. They are already being adopted by industry for certain applications.

Barry Weller is product manager for Robots at Mitsubishi Electric.

September 2016

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ROBOTICS

Automating bin-picking applications Suzanne Gill reports on a combined vision and robotic solution that could help to cost-effectively automate a wide range of bin-picking applications.

The projector shines a random light pattern into the bin, which highlights the surfaces of the items to give the camera additional position and orientation data for more accurate identification.

B

in-picking applications often require odd shaped products to be sorted and removed from a bin, or tote, and placed into individual containers for packaging fulfilment or additional manufacturing processes.

The job is boring, repetitive, and fast-paced while also requiring high accuracy and consistency – all characteristics that make it suitable for automation. However, while human workers are able to look at a bin full of products, immediately identify the best way to pick up items based on their shape and position, and avoid the edge of the bin as they reach inside, the complexities of automating these actions have traditionally, been prohibitive.

Automated bin-picking applications require a 3D camera, vision software, and a robot arm with appropriate gripper. The real challenge, however, has been the software. The camera, mounted overhead is able to scan a bin full of products, while it is the vision software that analyses the image, defines an appropriate item to be

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September 2016

picked up based on position, shape, and ease of access, and communicates that information to the robot arm so it can pick up the item.

Nigel Smith, managing director at TM Robotics, explains further: “Traditionally, CAD data has been required by the vision system to allow it to compare product with data. However, in many applications, for example fresh produce in the food sector, the product is rarely of a consistent size, shape or colour, which has made it difficult for vision systems to work with.”

The bin-picking challenges continue.

The robot arm needs to provide full sixaxis movement in order to use varying approach vectors to reach into the bin without hitting the box sides and then pick up items that can be lying on top of each other in a range of positions and orientations. The camera needs to scan, process, and communicate data at speeds fast enough to coordinate the robot’s actions and the images need to be clear enough to show more than just outlines of the items in the bin. For the robot gripper to effectively

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approach a targeted item, the position and orientation of items that may be jumbled or overlapping also need to be identified.

While advances in six-axis robot arms and high-speed 3D camera systems have addressed many of these issues, vision system software has continued to be a stumbling block.

Typical vision software is expensive and complicated, requiring professional CAD programming to ‘teach’ the robot to recognise models. Even after initial programming, it can be difficult for the system to recognise multiple models in a single bin or to recognise the models’ positions in the bin in order to identify the ideal approach vector and picking point for the robot. If the application changes – it is necessary to reprogramme the system.

A new approach, implemented by Toshiba Machine, is said to overcome these challenges and make automated bin-picking a reality – even for smaller volume and highly variable applications.

Easy to use solution “In many applications the equipment on the plant floor will be used by non-specialist vision system users so any solution needs to be easy to use,” continued Smith. “Our solution consists of a robot, cameras, projector and software. Icons on the top of the TS Vision software programme – which can be visualised on a standard PC – walk untrained users through each step of repositioning the robot arm and measuring the bin, so no special training or programming expertise is required.”

Image capture and processing and parallax operations are performed inside the camera. The camera offers accuracy of ±.07mm at a height of 700mm, with a measurement field of 350mm X 280mm and depth of field of 600mm to 800mm. In order to enhance accuracy of the camera, a projector Control Engineering Europe

ROBOTICS shines a random light pattern into the bin, which highlights the surfaces of the items inside and gives the camera additional position and orientation data for more accurate identification.

The vision software offers easy model registration without requiring complex CAD data. The software registers a model by capturing an image of the item with the camera and simply using a mouse to enclose the image. After capturing sample work pieces multiple times in different positions and orientations, the vision system automatically generates composite model data. If there are multiple parts, the recognition rate of a single item can be improved using the mouse to mask unnecessary parts.

Calibration of the camera and the robot base-coordinate system is also simple. The camera captures images of the model multiple times in different positions and orientations while it is held by the robot, and the vision software calculates the part’s position and altitude.

Multiple picking points can be identified, and an optimum picking point selected. During this process, multiple models can be registered and parameters adjusted. The system also allows the user to measure the bin position, opening area, and height using the mouse. This allows the software to guide the robot arm for the most effective approach vector, so that it does not collide with the bin and the tip picks up parts that do not interfere with the box.

The system is able to incorporate

multiple robotic options, depending on application needs, and is also able to interface with other systems on the production floor. A Cartesian robot, for example, could fill and transport totes, while a SCARA or six-axis robot picks items for packaging or binning.

Cycle time for items to be picked can vary depending on the situation,

with a typical cycle time of three seconds, providing an optimised balance between processing speed and accuracy. If only one workpiece is present per image or per tray, cycle time can be as fast as 0.7 seconds, while an image full of workpieces can still be processed in as little as five seconds.

Processing software acts as the robots eyes Robots are regularly used for applications such as packaging, soldering, adhesive bonding or coating and are equipped with a variety of smart cameras.

Advances in image processing technology, which is resulting in ever more powerful machine vision systems, has enabled the range of application areas to increase.

The EyeCheck series, from EVT, for example, offers a combination of smart camera and evaluation and its EyeVision processing software.

Within the camera housing is an integrated the lens and illumination.

These solutions can be used for robot positioning and object detection.

Additionally they can be employed in custom-made solutions for position correction and can be mounted onto articulated robots, for example.

Both moving or stationary objects can be illuminated by the integrated LEDs in the gripping area of the robot and the cameras can be mounted onto the robot arm. The software evaluates the images and the robot control

gets the XY-position and direction coordinates of detected objects.

The software can integrate more than one function – having commands for code reading, colour and surface inspection as well as measuring objects.

Connection of the inspection program can be to an external computer or the system control of a plant via Ethernet or PROFINET.

ROBOTICS

RISE OF THE COBOT Suzanne Gill takes a look at the cobot. Finding out how safety can be assured and looking at where this new breed of robot is being employed.

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ore and more collaborative robots (cobots) are emerging. In contrast to traditional robots, which cannot operate in an operatoroccupied workspace without safety fencing, these cage-free robots are designed to work side by side with humans on shared or separate tasks.

“Although collaborative robots do not eliminate the need for workplace risk assessments, the increased adoption of peripheral safety devices is enabling robots and humans to work in close proximity of each other, eradicating the fear of interrupting production or worse, an accident,” said Andrew Armstrong, sales and marketing manager at FANUC UK. Cobots are equipped with force sensing to limit their power and force which ensures that in any

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Ford has adopted cobots in its Cologne assembly plant as part of its investigations into Industry 4.0.

situation where they feel or detect an abnormal force their motion is immediately halted. Although they cannot avoid a crash, Cobots can reduce its impact and avoid certain types of incidents, like crushing accidents. This makes them safer to work alongside humans.

Safety standards In 2013, the first safety standards for collaborative robotics, ANSI/RIA R15.06, were published. More recently, the ISO/ TS 15066 standard was published in March 2016 and this specifically outlines guidance for, and the requirements of, collaborative industrial robot systems, such as contact forces and pressures that can be applied to different regions of the body.

“In order to ensure that humans are not exposed to unacceptable risks when working collaboratively,

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the current standards describe four separate measures that can be used to provide risk reduction. It is required that at least one of these is fulfilled, in addition to having visual indication that the robot is in collaborative operation,” continued Armstrong. The four measures are: 1. Safety-rated monitored stop: when it is detected that a human has entered the collaborative workspace, the robot should stop.

The stop condition should then be maintained until the human leaves the workspace.

2. Hand guiding: the human can guide the robot by hand.

Additional requirements for safety include safe-limited speed monitoring and a local emergency stop.

3. Speed and separation monitoring: the robot must maintain a specified separation distance from the human and operate at a predetermined speed. This measure requires careful risk assessment and needs to take account of safety distances.

4. Power and force limiting by inherent design or control: the power and force of the robot actuators need to be monitored by safety-related control systems to ensure that they are within limits established by a risk assessment.

Ford adopts cobots The Ford Motor Company has already adopted cobots for use in vehicle manufacture.

The robots are being used to help workers fit shock absorbers to Fiesta cars, a task that requires pinpoint accuracy, strength and dexterity.

Employees work hand-in-hand with the robots to ensure a perfect fit every time.

The trial at Ford’s assembly plant in Cologne, Germany, is part of the company’s investigations into Industry 4.0. Feedback was sought from more than 1,000 production line workers Control Engineering Europe

ROBOTICS

Du-Aro is a two arm collaborative robot from Kawasaki Robotics.

to identify tasks for which the new robots would be best suited.

“Robots are helping make tasks easier, safer and quicker, complementing our employees with abilities that open up unlimited worlds of production and design for new Ford models,” said Karl Anton, director vehicle operations, Ford of Europe.

Measuring 1m in height the robots work hand-in-hand with the line workers at two work stations.

Rather than manipulate a heavy shock absorber and installation tool, workers can now use the robot to lift and automatically position the shock absorber into the wheel arch, before pushing a button to complete installation.

“Working overhead with heavy air-powered tools is a tough job that requires strength, stamina, and accuracy. The robot is a real help,” said Ngali Bongongo, a production worker at Ford’s Cologne plant.

Sensors on the robot will stop it immediately if an arm or even a finger is detected in its path to ensure worker safety. Developed over two years, the robot programme was carried out in close partnership with German robot manufacturer, KUKA Roboter GmbH. Ford is now reviewing further uses for collaborative robots.

Control Engineering Europe

Du-Aro launch Following the Japanese launch of its Du-Aro Collaborative robot late last year, Kawasaki Robotics has more recently introduced the unit to the UK market and it is currently being installed into several operational systems.

Du-Aro is a two arm collaborative robot designed to function as a quickly and easily installed co-worker to meet fluctuating production demands.

Where production runs are limited in volume, justifying costly dedicated assembly or packaging tooling can be difficult. Finding operators to integrate on production lines at short notice, and for limited periods, can be an even bigger problem; so having a co-worker robot that can simply be wheeled into position when needed is a natural progression for manufacturing automation.

Two SCARA configuration arms share the same central pedestal to allow Du-Aro to provide the same working envelope as a human operator. Controlled by a single controller, co-ordinated arm movements can be programmed easily either by ‘lead through’ or by using a tablet or robot teach pendant.

Low-power motors and speed

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reduction helps Du-Aro to co-exist with its human operators and, in the event of a collision or contact with any object or an operator, collision detection sensors immediately stop all motion.

“The concept of Du-Aro is based around the need for ease of integration and flexibility,” said Ian Hensman, UK sales manager at Kawasaki Robotics. “Integrating it onto a production line conveyor with other operators simply requires it to be wheeled into position and the arms to be physically guided through the required motions. Of course sensors are required to provide inputs to the controller but even this area has been simplified with the inclusion of optional vision cameras.”

The Du-Aro’s controller can also be supplied with embedded vision processing software. A range of application specific cameras, light sources and grippers can be simply plugged into the robot’s arms.

“We believe we have made the whole process of programming very straightforward from programme routines and sensing, through to simulation of the working area and operation, concluded Hensman.

September 2016

17

INDUSTRIAL CONTROLS

Simplifying robot and machine interaction Efficient industrial manufacturing relies on the interaction between machines and robots.

Programming, control and error elimination for the two systems has, traditionally, been carried out separately; a situation which is changing.

The MotoLogix interface comprises a hardware unit and software for programming the robot via a Rockwell PLC. Platforms currently supported include Ethernet/IP, Powerlink and Profinet.

T

raditionally, robots and machines have been programmed and operated separately via a PLC or robot control. While it is technically possible for them to interact it does involve a number of issues. The development of a software interface for controlling robots by PLC – MotoLogix from Yaskawa – is said to have changed this, enabling direct integration without the need for specialised knowledge of the robot.

When using conventional methods operators have to be trained in international PLC standards and need to possess skills in robot programming and control.

Redundant programming procedures means that the source of failure is not always evident, making it difficult to eliminate errors. Traditional solutions

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usually attempt to integrate machine control systems into robot control.

Given that modern high capacity PLCs can be expanded on a modular basis, the approach is now the direct opposite – the robot is integrated directly into the machine via the PLC. Yaskawa, for example, offers a solution that sees its MotoLogix interface, developed in association with Rockwell, allow Motoman robots to be programmed and controlled via the PLC. MotoLogix allows coordination of all axes of a production facility with the robot motion. It comprises a hardware unit and software for programming the robot via a PLC. MotoLogix has a library of function blocks so operators are able to work directly via the library. Integration of robot control in the PLC means that bit

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sequences for servos are not needed and the robot control calculates motion kinematics to ensure high motion quality. Normally, the robot is incorporated into the production facility as a slave and integrated as an additional axis, so conveyor belt synchronisation is also possible.

The conveyor belt tracking system enables the manipulator to find objects on the conveyor belt even if they have shifted during conveyance, while sensors and cameras allow synchronised motions to be effected as part of complex procedure systems.

This can be used to synchronise up to eight robots.

According to the conventional method of having robots and machines interact with each other, machines were programmed and controlled via the PLC and robot programming was carried out using a teach pendant. Here, the job structure and motion points are saved in the robot control system while a parallel operating structure and component administration has to be undertaken in the PLC. The jobs are then called up via the PLC by means of a bus with job creation and maintenance requiring expertise in operating robots, so special training had to be provided.

The solution results in full and direct robot control through the PLC, where movements are initiated and tracked, so there is no need for knowledge of robot operation. Path control itself is via the robot controller, ensuring that the benefits are retained, particularly for motion precision and speed stability.

The robot is connected and directly embedded in the PLC and the HMI via MotoLogix so all data is saved in the PLC without a storage limit. Data can also be displayed graphically on the HMI. MotoLogix allows all Yaskawa robots with a DX200 controller to be integrated into complex production systems in a simple, straightforward way. The robot is programmed and operated directly via the PLC. This also eliminates error sources, which have posed challenges in the past.

Control Engineering Europe

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Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. 24687

INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SOLUTIONS

PC-based control holds the key!

Making key and lock mechanisms requires the use of very high-precision production technology that needs to be able to compensate for temperature fluctuations, even of a few degrees.

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umat and AST have opted to develop corresponding systems to address these requirements, built around PC-based control solutions from Beckhoff to help ensure manufacturing precision of 0.01 mm, while enabling easy implementation of customised special machinery – with minimal engineering effort.

Wilka Schließtechnik needs to be able to produce customized key and locking cylinder solutions for its customers. Olaf Witte, technical director, explains: “In a manner of speaking, we mass produce with a lot size of one. While an order can cover 1,000 identical items, each one is usually different – all the way down to a single order for a duplicate key.”

Production therefore needs to be flexible in its structure, and it relies on a variety of special machines developed by Aumat Maschinenbau, combined with the Knowledge of its systems integrator, AST. According to Achim Ihlefeld, technical director at Aumat, a high degree of precision when machining the key blanks is vital. He said: “The maximum key tolerances lie in the hundredth of a millimeter range. In order to reliably meet this tolerance, the mechanical engineering has to be better by another order of magnitude. This requires the shortest possible control cycle times and servo axes with very high precision. Both of these can be produced by Beckhoff’s PC-based control solutions so that multiple parallel milling cycles can be achieved with several corresponding servo axes.” Tim Themann, software developer at AST, adds: “The precision requirements are so high that even temperature fluctuations of a few degrees can be critical for the machining results. This influence needs to be

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September 2016

The key blanks first receive the desired longitudinal profile and then the notches of the key bit.

regulated via continuous temperature monitoring.”

Production line The Wilka key production line consists of two stand-alone, specialised machines: “An existing key cutting machine for cutting the key bit was overhauled and equipped with control and drive technology from Beckhoff,” said Wilfried Wengenroth, managing director at AST. “Added to this was a profile milling machine, likewise controlled via PC Control, for the milling on the key side. The keys are manufactured to order during the run, first getting the longitudinal profile, then the notches.

They are then finally delivered with the associated locks.” With the two Beckhoff controllers, Wilka benefits from a uniform user interface; if necessary, the company can continue running the second machine without interruption in the event of a machine stoppage.

The cutting machine has nine

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servo axes while the profile milling machine has 23 servo axes, which are implemented via servo drives and servomotors. Both machines are interlinked and communicate via two gateways programmed in C#. These each run on a control cabinet Industrial PC (IPC) on the corresponding machine and communicate via ADS with TwinCAT automation software. In addition, the IPCs are in charge of data transfer to Wilka’s central data server. Each milling spindle on the profile milling machine also has its own tool management.“In this way, the four milling spindles manage with 12 cutters each, in order to efficiently carry out the many and varied longitudinal milling operations from the thin master key to the thicker special keys that only fit specified locks of a locking system. Conventionally, hundreds of specific cutters are often provided for this purpose. In our case we avoid this by intelligently coordinating usage of the 48 cutters via the tool management Control Engineering Europe

INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SOLUTIONS

Decentralised collection of I/O data via the EtherCAT Box modules directly on-site reduces the required control cabinet space to a minimum.

system,” said Ihlefeld. Themann adds: “Tool management is implemented via TwinCAT NC I. This makes it possible to select the appropriate cutters and cut ideal lines. Therefore, you can have a smoothed edge between deep and flat milling notches lying next to one another, and the finished key is reliably prevented from improperly catching in the lock cylinder.”

PC-based control The specialised machines from Aumat have been using PC-based control from Beckhoff since 2005. Wengenroth said: “AST has been working with it since 2004. EtherCAT is a critical advantage, giving the ability to perform automatic scanning of the system, during initial commissioning in particular. EtherCAT also offers rapid and convenient diagnostics of all bus devices.”

Mark Straka, manager of Electrical Maintenance at Wilka adds: “Our evolved controller landscape is, by nature, heterogeneous. The openness of the system is a vital as older legacy control technology can be integrated without great expense and the higher-level corporate network can be connected just as easily. The latter is increasing in importance to ensure that the entire production infrastructure is available via a standard network, from order entry to production and all the way to service.”

Control Engineering Europe

The interlinked key production line was designed by Aumat and AST.

The more that production relies on networking, the more serious the potential damage in the event of a malfunction and so system availability and control technology service is becoming an even higher priority.

“The speed with which we respond to inquiries is often crucial. Production downtime can be expensive, said Straka.

“However, this is not only true in the case of service or procuring replacement parts. Just as critical is the speed with which Beckhoff has developed technical innovations over the years and accompanied those innovations with project support. Meanwhile, there is hardly an application that cannot be solved with PC Control. In addition we save up to 50% in control cabinet space and about 20% in hardware costs compared to conventional PLC technology. Moreover, it is possible to respond rapidly and flexibly to new requirements via EtherCAT Terminals or Box modules, such as for subsequent

temperature compensation.”

On the Wilka key production line PC Control handles all automation technology tasks – control of machine operation, HMI for setup and automatic operation, fault message display and data archiving, data handling via gateways as well as NC-control of the three-axis milling gantries. Five 3-axis stations controlled by TwinCAT NC I are used for the profile milling machine, while three stations are used for the key cutting machine. Added to this is key transport via 15 transfer stations and the supply of the key blanks with a total of 32 servo axes handled by drives that include system-integrated safety functions.

This is all controlled via a single control cabinet IPC per machine, which is connected to a 15in builtin control panel for visualisation programmed using TwinCAT PLC HMI. According to Wilfried Wengenroth, it offers sufficient power even for future system expansions.

One Cable technology Since 2014, Aumat machines have utilised the One Cable Technology (OCT) aspect of Beckhoff Drive Technology. This puts power supply and feedback systems in a standard motor cable, helping to reduce hardware and commissioning costs.

This solution has helped reduce

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labour requirements and has also reduced sources of potential errors.

In addition, the number of cables has been halved and there is more compact and scalable cable routing which offers cost savings of up to 30%. The stable data transfer in OCT also means that EMC is not an issue.

September 2016

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RESEARCH

2016 SYSTEM INTEGRATION STUDY:

Five findings on integration

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espondents to the Control Engineering 2016 System Integration Study identified five high-level findings about integrating systems today: 1. Project involvement: Most respondents (74%) perform system integration services (in-house or to third parties); on average, these respondents reported working on 16 system integration projects per year. The other 26% hire system integrators and reported outsourcing an average of eight projects per year.

2. Average project size: The average system integration project size that respondents are involved with is about $218,000 – a decrease of 11.4% since 2015 – with 17% of system integration projects valued at more than $500,000.

3. On time deliverables: Over the past 12 months, an average of 72% of system integration projects

respondents were involved in were on time (about 9 percentage points less than 2015). Unexpected changes in scope, decisions, and late approvals were among causes.

4. Project effectiveness: Half of respondents said automation system integration has been highly effective in their facilities or in the facilities in which they were involved; productivity levels, on budget delivery, and on-time delivery were leading measures.

5. Challenges: System integrators continue to struggle with hiring engineering talent for system integration (49%) and industry experience (40%).

www.controleng.com/ 2016SystemIntegration

End user views of IIoT, Industrie 4.0 in industrial machinery 77% 7

Human-machine interface (HMI) hardware or equipment,t, s, operator interface (OI), control panels, alarms, annunciators, data acquisition equipment, or data recorders or plotterss

72%

6 67%

s) Motors or drives (including starters, motor protection devices)

63% 3

Relays, switches, or timerss

62%

Valves, actuators, or positionerss

62% 2

s, Process control wired networking hardware, Ethernet switches, s, cord sets, connectors, wire or cable analytical instruments, test or calibration equipmentt

59% %

Discrete sensors (including proximity, photoelectric, position))

58% %

Enclosuress

5 % 57%

Seven in 10 of respondents’ firms have integrated and/or plan to integrate software; human-machine interface hardware/equipment, operator interface, etc.; and programmable logic controllers or programmable automation controllers. Courtesy: Control Engineering

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September 2016

Internal networks

22% 37% 16% 25%

Less frequent reports

Weekly reports

The manufacturing level tends to receive information from the enterprise level via internal networks or weekly reports. Source: Control Engineering 2015 IIoT, Industrie 4.0, Information Integration Study

76%

45:

Average number of hours end users work in a typical week; 23% work 50 hours or more per week. Source: Control Engineering 2016 Salary and Career Study

70%

r) Software (HMI, SCADA, MES, batch, historian, design, other) Process sensors or transmitterss (including flow, pressure, temperature, level))

Information is filtered before it is passed

of cyber incidents are identified by internal teams, compared to 15% via a third-party assessment, 6% by an outside party, and 3% by the government. Source: Control Engineering 2016 Cybersecurity Study

Amanda Pelliccione is the research director at CFE Media, apelliccione@cfemedia.com.

Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) orr s) programmable automation controllers (PACs)

Sharing information between manufacturing, enterprise levels

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73%

of recent system integration projects were on budget – up from 62% in 2015 – and only 6% were slightly off budget and did not affect the project timeline. Source: Control Engineering 2016 System Integration Study

More research Control Engineering covers several research topics each year.

All reports are available at www.controleng.com/ce-research.

Control Engineering Europe

INDUSTRY REPORT

Time to put your Industry 4.0 strategy in place The opportunity for manufacturing companies to harness the power of the Internet of Things and move towards Industry 4.0 is becoming more of a practical reality today.

Mike Lomax, electrification manager at Bosch Rexroth, points to several developments that are creating an exponential growth across a number of sectors in the exploration of the possibilities offered by Industry 4.0. This is in spite of the findings in a recent report from SAP which suggests that only around one-fifth of UK companies have an Industry 4.0 strategy in place.

The key for Industry 4.0 is connectivity – bringing together the machine and human based on extensive real time data gathering availability and optimised machine intelligence.

“Reaching Industry 4.0 has been a technical possibility for some time, but it is now being brought within the reach of a broader range of manufacturers, even those working from longerestablished facilities, said Lomax.

“Aspects such as Internet availability, software and hardware usability, GPS localisation, computing power (CPUs) and data storage options are all now much greater than ever before.

However, what is making the real difference is the growth in availability of new and cost-effective technologies aimed specifically at extracting the true value of the Internet of Things for manufacturers.

“For example, high-specification, highly accurate sensors – necessary in large numbers to gather key real time data – are now available at reasonable cost, drawing on proven technology from the mobile phone sector.

“Meanwhile, specialist Industry 4.0 connectors can simply be bolted on to existing plant equipment to gather information in real time and transfer it to the Cloud. This removes the need to redesign equipment or purchase new plant in a broad array of instances. It is a particularly important point given Control Engineering UK

that many plants starting operation now will have originally been designed up to a decade ago, when the pace of technological development was slower and the possibilities offered by the Internet of Things far less widely understood.

“Adopting Industry 4.0 does not necessarily mean significant capital

investment or the creation of a new manufacturing facility,” continued Lomax. “The key in many instances is to optimally apply the specialist technologies now available, together with existing in situ equipment, to allow the gathering of data which can then be used to inform production decisionmaking in real time.

Building a connected UK network Reshoring UK is a collaboration of industrial engineering and technology associations working together to help manufacturers connect with accredited suppliers capable of delivering products and services that match their varied requirements.

The structured approach aims to show OEMs and Tier 1 manufacturing companies the extent and strength of the engineering supply chain available in the UK. It will assist industry sectors, such as aerospace, automotive, defence, renewable energy and power generation, marine, medical, rail, packaging and so on, that need to fill the gaps or

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strengthen existing supply chains or to support the creation of new ones.

“It is focused on building a connected network,” explains Julia Moore, CEO of the GTMA, one of the key associations backing the initiative. “Leading industrial and technological associations are working in collaboration to offer the various skill sets that cover the whole supply chain. From concept to product and process design, through process engineering, tooling and methods to finishing and inspection, all the way to delivery to the end customer, there is a structured approach that will help eliminate the gaps in any established supply chains or provide the opportunity for new ones to be formed.”

September 2016

UK1

PANEL BUILDING

NEW PANEL CONTROL reduces plant downtime A UK-based brickmaker has made operational efficiency gains and has reduced its downtime thanks to the use of automation and control solutions supplied by a systems integrator who also succeeded in making panel space savings.

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ecent figures from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills show that brick production rose by 16% in 2015, with more than 80% of new homes being built with brick. To satisfy current demand and prepare for future growth, brickmakers have been investing in their manufacturing facilities to boost productivity.

A good example is Ibstock. At one of its 21 brick manufacturing sites the need for increased productivity and reduced maintenance downtime were key drivers in its decision to implement new technology into the plant’s control panel.

Stephen Patrick, process improvement engineer at Ibstock explains: “We were looking for an effective, reliable control system that could handle the demands of a modern brick factory which manufactures in excess of 40 million bricks per year. The previous solution was no longer meeting our requirements and the main reason for updating the new control panel was to help avoid unnecessary downtime.

“Another consideration was the significant number of spare parts that needed to be held on site to support the original system. As the technology was also becoming obsolete, spares were also increasingly difficult to obtain. A new, combined Siemens solution has resulted in 50%+ of enclosure space savings and we also no longer need to tie up capital in holding a stock of replacement components.”

The new control panel was built

by Siemens’ integrator, Control and Safety Engineers, and includes some

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September 2016

space-saving innovations, such as SIRIUS 3RM1 motor starters and 3RA6 compact starters. With a width of just 22.5mm, SIRIUS 3RM1 takes up to 75% less space than traditional conventionally-wired motor feeders. It also combines the functionality of a circuit breaker, solidstate overload relay and contactor to deliver further space savings.

The solution implemented at Ibstock also includes S7-1500 PLCs and Siemens’ Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) portal for full control diagnostic information and preventative maintenance across the production line. This means that system faults can now be identified before they cause

machine failure.

Commenting on the project, John Brain, director at Control and Safety Engineeering, said: “We worked closely with Ibstock to create a bespoke solution to meet its requirements, which included reducing the enclosure size of the panel, increasing operational efficiency and preventing downtime.”

In conclusion, Patrick said: “The solution has helped drive operational efficiencies and productivity benefits on site, which is crucial for continued effective operations at the plant.

Siemens is already our preferred supplier for PLCs and we chose to work with the team again on this project. We look forward to continuing this relationship well into the future, as we value the performance of the products and expertise and service provided.”

Flush-mount HMI enables machine builders to promote their brand identity With the latest addition to the GOT2000 family of HMIs, Mitsubishi Electric has introduced a new style of operator interface. The openframe, back mounting design enables machine builders to reinforce their own brand identity.

Further, with the addition of an adhesive film that overlaps onto the machine panel, the new Open Frame GOT2000 models offer IP67 protection at the front, meeting the needs of hygiene sensitive applications, for example in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.

The flush front surface looks like an integral part of the control panel, which enables machine builders to reinforce their own brand and

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corporate identities and gives a premium feel to the machine.

With the addition of the environmental protection film with its stainless look, the touch panel blends into the machinery, and also meets the needs of hygienic production equipment for the pharmaceutical and food industries.

The design of the Open Frame GOT2000 ensures easy and flexible installation into the panel cut-out, with simple adjustment to different panel thicknesses of between 1.5mm and 4mm. Additionally, the edges of the touch panel are protected by a moulding to eliminate the risk of any damage to the HMI during installation.

Control Engineering UK

HARTING IIC MICA

The modular industry computer that provides intelligence to devices

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Introducing MICA...Modular Industry Computing Architecture MICA makes it possible to temporarily save, evaluate and process data directly on the machine Functions as a small, robust computing unit between physical devices and the higher-level IT system IP 67 rated, MICA has eight freely configurable GPIOs, with either PoE or 12 – 24VDC power supply Open source approach using Linux-based containers allows you to customise for each application Download the whitepapers now at www.HARTING.co.uk/MICA/whitepaper For more information on MICA, phone +44 (0) 1604 827500 or e-mail gb@HARTING.com www.HARTING.co.uk/MICA

SENSOR TECHNOLOGY

Laser level solution increases quarry productivity Process challenges encountered in the screen house environment include high dust levels, noise and vibration from the screens themselves and from the associated machinery. A radar level sensor is ensuring accurate measurement in this environment.

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principle function undertaken within the screen house at E&JW Glendinning is the processing and grading of aggregate from the company’s quarry. It is here that aggregate is sorted to ensure that the right product is ready for coating, stockpiling or direct loading out onto transport.

Following the previous successful application of a VEGAPULS 69 contactless bulk solids radar level sensor on the secondary crusher feed hopper level, which transformed reliability and control in that area of the plant, the company has more recently installed the latest 80GHz level radar for solids to replace ultrasonic level sensors in the screen house.

The previously used ultrasonic level sensors were regularly giving false indications throughout their measurement range, which resulted in lost time and productivity, both on the lorry loading process and infeed control. The sensors required regular maintenance, cleaning and adjustment with false signal mapping of the silos. Although this may not have been frequent to the individual sensors, maybe a few times per year, when multiplied by tens of sensors, along with the associated outages and delays, it became a significant problem.

Radar technology was considered to be a better solution for level

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measuring in this application because it uses microwave signals to measure level and so is unaffected by in flight dust, air movement, pressure, temperature or filling noise, which often affects ultrasonic sensors.

The new 80GHz radar also typically has a 3.5 degree beam angle, so is able to avoid build up on the sides of the bins and can focus just on the product level, from top to bottom. The higher frequency is also unaffected by even very large amounts of build up from aggregate dust on the transducer face. These latest radar devices conform to EN LPR (Level Probing Radar) standards, so can be used both inside or outside the plant without risk to personnel.

The materials being measured in the screen house range from 0.4mm to 60mm – with very high dust levels inside the bins. The sensors are deployed across nine bins. The plant has a 600 tonne/hr load out capacity for road going lorries and internal dumpers feed the ready-mix and block production plants so an accurate ‘picture’ for the operators is a key component for efficient running of the plant.

The price of radar-based level sensors is equivalent to that of high power ultrasonic sensors, which are often used in such applications so the difference, when coupled with the performance increase, is marginal.

However, payback can be much quicker with a radar-based sensor.

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E&JW Glendinning specified sensors with flanges to match its current sensor locations so that it was able to reuse the original cabling.

Since installation of the new sensors, E&JW Glendinning has seen an increase in plant throughput as operators are able to more efficiently control and trim bin levels. The level increase and decrease is followed in a smoother, more accurate manner, offering a truly ‘analogue or dynamic’ representation, rather than a series of jumps and steps that the company had before. Because there are no false high level alarms there is no need to unnecessarily place the infeed on hold, as the levels seen on the SCADA screens can now be trusted as being accurate. There has been a decrease in traffic movement when directing lorries to the plant or stockpiles. The reduced pressure on stock loader shovels frees them to load the products they are designated for.

This site is now also testing another VEGA innovation – a Bluetooth sensor set up and maintenance tool used on a Smart phone, tablet or PC with Bluetooth, to enable remote, wireless commissioning and monitoring of devices.

Control Engineering UK

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PPMA TOTAL PREVIEW

DEBATE THE FUTURE OF UK manufacturing at PPMA Total Grant Jamieson, chairman of the PPMA Group of Associations, said: “PPMA Total showcases the latest processing and packaging machinery, materials, industrial automation and vision innovations. The event provides an ideal meeting place for decision makers from across a range of industries to network with key manufacturers and distributors, all set against a back drop of innovation and industry expertise.”

Manufacturing skills gap

Following the results of the EU referendum it is certain that the future of UK manufacturing will be a big subject for debate at this years PPMA Total show, which is being held at the NEC, Birmingham from 27 – 29 September. It will also offer an opportunity to see the latest processing and machinery innovations.

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ccording to KPMG’s EU Referendum advisory – Managing Brexit – manufacturers should be buoyed by the possibility that in the long term leaving the EU could lead to new opportunities for businesses. A drop in the value of the pound could make the UK a magnet for trade, especially with the UK Government looking to build relationships with the rest of the world outside of Europe. In addition, the need to reshape trade policy may result in quicker decision making and reduced red tape, which has previously hampered manufacturing when looking to export goods.

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September 2016

No doubt speaking about the future of the UK manufacturing sector, the Rt. Hon Lord Francis Maude, former Minister of State for Trade and Investment will open this year’s PPMA Total Show and will address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

The PPMA Total show – which is a must attend event for anyone looking to specify processing, packaging or filling equipment and other processing and production components – will also provide visitors with an opportunity to speak with a variety of industry experts who can offer insight and advice on the future of the UK manufacturing industry and the 2016 event looks set to be one of the biggest events in the show’s history.

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According to a report from the EEF The Manufacturer’s Organisation – EEF Skills Report 2016 – threequarters of companies say they have faced difficulties finding the right employees in the last three years and this skills shortage is putting their productivity growth at risk.

The struggle to find the right people with the right skills is also being compounded by the recent news from the manufacturing sector that over three-quarters of industry professionals believe that not enough is being done to make manufacturing an attractive career choice for young people. This is despite the fact that nearly threequarters of companies surveyed in the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) Manufacturing Barometer 2016 revealed that they currently have two or more vacancies for young people.

Addressing this issue, Emma McLeod, principal engineer for process solutions global chocolate R&D team at Mondelez International, will discuss how Mondelez is responding to the skills gap – ranging from capturing knowledge from experienced employees to mentoring young engineers from the beginning of their career to build their skills quickly to become chartered professional engineers. > UK8 Control Engineering UK

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PPMA TOTAL PREVIEW Festo and Siemens will be getting together at this year’s event to focus on solutions for the packaging industry.

Together they will demonstrate the Multi-Carrier-System, a linear motor track system which delivers a flexible and modular transport solution for industrial automation. The collaboration brings together the extensive controls expertise of Siemens with Festo’s linear motor and mechanical guidance technology. Festo will also highlight some of its latest new products and will be demonstrating solutions for Industry 4.0.

The Multi-Carrier-System addresses the need for flexibility driven by increasingly complex product diversity and high levels of mass customisation. Its freely definable and configurable linear transport rail can be easily integrated into existing intralogistics systems, with precise synchronisation and seamless infeed and outfeed of transport carriers.

The movement of carriers within the system can be quickly adapted to deal with different formats, sizes and types of product – down to batch sizes of one.

Incorporating decentralised sensors and intelligence within its workpiece carriers and drives, the Multi-Carrier-System has been positioned to address Industry 4.0 requirements and applications. Its flexible electromechanical design enables adaptable, reconfigurable and economic production, even for mixed requirements and small batch sizes while it utilises the OPC-UA open communication protocol to enable open integration for Industry 4.0

environments.

Omron will be using the event to formally announce its acquisition of Adept Technologies, a USbased manufacturer and supplier of industrial robots.

The takeover has added 49 best-inclass robots to Omron’s portfolio and enables it to offer all three primary classes of robots – SCARA, delta and six-axis – together with an established service infrastructure.

Commenting on the acquisition, Dan Rossek, marketing manager at Omron, said: “The modern packaging industry is becoming characterised by shorter production runs with higher numbers of product variants, resulting in lines handling more products and needing fast changeover times from one product to another. To help our customers develop a flexible manufacturing operation, it is vital that we offer all styles of robot and individually adapt each to suit a wide range of applications from processing and primary packaging through to end of line solutions.

All of its available 49 robots are now integrated into the machine control environment via Omron’s Sysmac automation platform and programming system. One of the new technologies in the Omron Adept Technologies range is the Quattro s650H delta robot. Claimed to be the world’s fastest industrial robot,

Hyperspectral imaging can reveal chemical composition information and has many applications in food processing.

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September 2016

www.controlengeurope.com

The Multi Carrier System, created by Festo, in collaboration with Siemens, addresses the need for increased flexibility.

it is specifically designed for highspeed applications in food/beverage packaging, manufacturing, assembly and material handling. It is believed to be the only parallel robot in the world that features a four-arm design (rather than the usual three).

Machine vision STEMMER IMAGING will be showing its new hyperspectral imaging capabilities at the show. The technique can reveal chemical composition information and has many applications in food processing. The near infrared absorption behaviour of organic objects can provide information on their chemical structure. Based on an intuitive, configurable data processing software platform from Perception Park which makes the scientific methods of hyperspectral analysis readily accessible to everyone, STEMMER IMAGING´s hyperspectral systems allow the identification and separation of ingredients and substances based on chemical information, which is not possible using conventional colour or monochrome imaging.

The company will also be showing the Boa Pro smart camera which is available with a choice of resolutions and is embedded with the advanced Sherlock vision software. This is said to be particularly popular with vision integrators and is suited to challenging or changing production line requirements.

A demonstration on the stand will see a multi-camera packaging inspection system used to determine print quality, read alphanumeric and barcode data and check fill-level as boxes > UK10 Control Engineering UK

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PPMA TOTAL PREVIEW pass underneath. The demonstration will show how cameras with different interfaces (USB3 Vision and GigE Vision) and varying resolutions can be combined to meet different inspection needs.

Dunkermotoren will be putting an emphasis on the ‘All Electric / Servo Machine’, presenting a range of motors to support this trend, including tubular linear motors to replace pneumatic actuators and providing higher throughput, less maintenance, longer life and lower running costs than their alternatives.

Other products on show include a variety of motors suitable for use in automatic format adjustment. These enable fast and easy changeovers to reduce downtime, provide extra flexibility during production and ultimately contribute to reduced inventory and operating costs.

The company’s tubular linear motor, the ST11 actuator, which is suitable for stand-alone applications such as rejecters and diverters, will also be a feature of the stand. The unit features an integrated controller option that provides machine builders and designers with easy integration and simplified wiring. It features a range of analogue and digital inputs and outputs, with CAN, Profibus and EtherCAT communications protocols available as standard. Once programmed only power is required to operate in stand-alone mode, with programming completed using Dunkermotoren’s Drive Assistant.

The controller mounts with all models in the ST11 series and maintains a combined IP67 rating with the motor.

It can also be positioned away from the motor in the same way as a conventional controller. Although suited for use in a range of motion control applications, being faster than stepper motors with ballscrews and more precise than beltdrive systems, the ST11 with Integrated Controller is said to be particularly suitable as a replacement for pneumatics in all-electric machines.

HBM will be exhibiting its range of dynamic and batch weighing products.

Taking centre stage will be its latest

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September 2016

series of load cells Dunkermotoren will be putting an emphasis on the ‘All Electric/Servo and modules, that Machine’, presenting a range of include the ‘Easy motors to support this trend. to Clean’ and digital load cell range, which have been specifically developed to cope with the demanding requirements placed on weighing constraints in modern manufacturing lines.

Suitable for use in a range of featuring a range of products from production environments, the FIT7A and its robotics, machinery controls FIT5A digital load cells are designed for and automation portfolios. The applications where speed and precision demonstration includes a lightweight is important. Where harsh and ambient multipurpose robot, PLC and HMI, environments are an issue, the FIT5A drives for machine builders as well as features integrated overload protection servo drives and motors. Protection and suitability for legal-for-trade will be provided by a variety of safety applications per OIML R60 up to 3,000 equipment, including a safety controller, divisions, ensuring accuracy, reliability light curtains and an emergency stop and overall safety in any heavy-duty device. production facility.

Simulating a typical production Cimlogic will showcase its experience application, the cell will enable in the industrial automation and visitors to see the key control features, information technology sectors with communication methods and safety demonstrations including a rotating collaboration possibilities. The robot bottle line unit which collects and will pick products from a mini-servo displays real-time production line data controlled conveyor, with the whole operated by new product OEE Express system being controlled by the PLC. If an powered by Parsec’s TrakSYS software. unsafe event occurs, the safety controller Mike Hodge, chief executive office at will switch the drives and robot off to a Cimlogic said: “According to analyst’s safe halt operation. research, the manufacturing industry On show for the first time at the show will be the largest beneficiary of the will be the IRB 910SC, the first of ABB’s Internet of Things, and so these industry family of selective compliance articulated terms are becoming increasingly robot arms (SCARA). Designed for a important to the continued success variety of general-purpose applications, and competitiveness of today’s global the SCARA robot is said to incorporate manufacturer.” He invites visitors to the superior path control and precision in a show to talk to Cimlogic about adopting small footprint. It is suitable for processes Industry 4.0 technologies to respond requiring fast, repeatable and articulate to changing market conditions and to point-to-point movements such as small future proof manufacturing operations parts assembly, machine tending and and drive sustainable growth and pick and place. innovation.

Other attractions on the stand ABB will be showcasing a complete include the FlexPicker cell and ABB’s integrated automation demonstration collaborative robot YuMi.

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Control Engineering UK

MACHINE SAFETY

Advice on meeting safety directives When machine manufacturer MAKA wanted to add a optoelectronic protective device to its DC 7 machining center it sought safety advice from Leuze electronic.

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dding safety devices to its machining centre required MAKA designers to meet the requirements of applicable machinery directives. However, the designers found that taking all the relevant standards into account was a challenge as the requirements are constantly changing which makes it difficult and costly for the company to acquire its own safety know-how. Instead, it turned to Leuze electronic which offers safety consulting within the scope of its Machine Safety Services.

Alexander Hiller, a designer at MAKA, benefited from this service during the implementation of an optional optoelectronic safety device for the MAKA DC 7 traveling column machine.

“The DC 7 CNC machining center is designed for short cycle times,” he said.

“It has the ability to process vertically arranged work pieces in parallel for which it can be equipped with two independently operating five-axis units.”

The DC 7 features a robust and fast turntable which enables alternate loading parallel to the primary processing time. Only the turning time of just two seconds is included in the cycle times.

“Depending on the primary processing time, the opening and closing times may, however, also be relevant for the standard fast-action roller door of the protective device on the turntable. Both opening and closing take three seconds, for a total of six seconds,” adds Hiller.

With the aim of eliminating these times, Hillier designed an alternative optoelectronic protective device based on vertically arranged safety light curtains, mounted on three sides instead of the mechanical enclosure with the fastaction roller door. As stepping behind protection, a safety light curtain can

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September 2016

be used horizontally at ankle height or safety laser scanners with freely definable protective fields can be used.

For the turntable of the DC 7, the MLC 500 safety light curtains from Leuze electronic offered a good solution. They conform to type 4 in accordance with IEC/ EN 61496 and satisfy the requirements of category 4 and Performance Level PL e according to EN ISO 13849- 1. With a slim housing they also form a solid foundation for stable, reliable system operation. Even in the basic version, the MLC 500 safety light curtains offer the necessary point of operation guarding functions as well as for danger-zone and access guarding with hand and finger detection.

Following a risk assessment and a detailed design process, the main question that remained for MAKA was the minimum safety distances and minimum heights of the protective device. DIN EN ISO 13855 provided the

basis for this calculation. Unlike the more commonly used DIN EN ISO 13857 for protective designs, this standard addresses electro-sensitive protective equipment and describes the procedure for determining the required safety distances between protective field and danger zone as a function of the respective stop times.

“With Leuze electronic’s help, we optimally dimensioned the optoelectronic protective device for the turntable of our DC 7 so that maximum safety is ensured and, at the same time, minimal space is required in the access area,” said Hiller. The main goal – the elimination of the opening and closing times for the standard roller door – has been achieved. At the same time, the safety light curtains offer more freedom of movement for the operator than the fixed enclosure. “A welcome side effect is that, unlike the fully enclosed safety enclosure, the optoelectronic protective device is open above. This means that the heavy machining equipment can be more easily changed on the turntable by means of a crane,” concludes Hiller.

Interlock gains Industrial Ethernet communication capabilities Fortress Interlocks has added industrial Ethernet communications to its amGardpro range of safety interlocks. The new proNET communications module, which uses the PROFINET protocol and its extension PROFIsafe which enables the amGardpro’s features to be distributed IO on a PROFINET network, with safety information exchanged using PROFIsafe extensions. Added benefits include reduced installation costs, easier maintenance and greater availability of data for improved diagnosis.

Many safety interlocks are either not electrically connected or are ‘wired at gate’, meaning that all

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electrical connections go via a control PLC and safety relay. This can require up to 20 wires from each device going to the control panel.

The proNET module overcomes this by taking advantage of PROFINET and PROFIsafe, allowing operators to have just one power and Ethernet cable going from the control panel, allowing devices to be attached in a variety of topologies.

Control Engineering UK

Sensor-Technik UK Ltd. Mobile Controllers and Measurement Technologies

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Your Ideas. Realised

Your Ideas. Realised

More than just a checklist • Pilz conducts a Risk Evaluation against PUWER in accordance with EN 12100-1 • Pilz PUWER Inspection includes an extra electrical assessment of your machinery • Pilz’s tailormade software solution used to conduct PUWER Inspections more efficiently • Pilz PUWER Inspectors have on average 20 years experience in machinery safety & automation

More than just a report A PUWER Inspection from Pilz can offer you more than just a report containing your results, we can; • Present our findings to you and your team in person • Deliver your inspection data in an Excel format for you to analyse and distribute amongst departments • Offer you a complete safety services package including CE Marking, Safety Concept and Safety Validation

Download a sample report from pilzpuwer.co.uk

PUWER Inspections

The main objective of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) is to ensure the provision of safe work equipment throughout the lifetime of its use, regardless of its age or origin. PUWER applies to the use and provision of all work equipment and machinery, from a small machine to an entire assembly plant.

Pilz Automation Technology Corby NN18 8TJ

01536 460766

puwer@pilz.co.uk

www.pilzpuwer.co.uk

NEW PRODUCTS

Extended AS-i enabled safety sensor range The Schmersal Group has expanded its AS-i range. The RSS260 safety sensor and the AZM300 solenoid interlock are now both fitted with a built-in AS-i Safety at Work interface.

The AS-i fieldbus standard allows both non-safe and safe switches, sensors and interlocks to be wired safely and costeffectively. It offers many benefits for users of safety switchgear, including quick installation and commissioning, comprehensive diagnostics functions and high levels of flexibility when it comes to adapting safety functions to the application.

Flowmeter rate totaliser BEKA associates has introduced a new range of Rate Totalisers which offer an easy to read display of rate and total flow in the same or different engineering units from almost any pulse output flowmeter.

Features include two inputs, linearisation, smaller enclosures for applications where panel space is limited and large digits in some models. A rugged 316 stainless steel version is available for use in marine environments. All models have IP66 front of panel protection. Options include an internally powered display backlight, isolated synchronous pulse output, isolated 4/20mA output and dual alarms.

In addition to general-purpose instruments, intrinsically safe models have ATEX, IECEx, US and Canadian certification allowing worldwide installation in gas and dust hazardous areas. For applications in Zone 2 or 22, Ex nA and Ex tc approval permits installation without the need for Zener barriers or galvanic isolators which reduces installation cost.

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September 2016

Schmersal’s RSS260 RFID safety sensor is suitable for use in a wide range of applications because of its compact design and different targets. It is also said to be suitable for fitting into aluminium profiles and for use in a wide range of other door formats, including the oftenused Plexiglas doors and panels. It has a protection rating of IP65/67.

The flexible AZM300-AS RFID

solenoid interlock is fitted with a cross-shaped interlock system which allows a universal approach from three sides. The solenoid interlock has a built-in catch function with two engaging force levels of 25 N and 50 N, a high IP69 K degree of protection and a design which makes it suited to use in hygienesensitive applications such as food and packaging machines.

Node-RED for PACs speed IioT ROI Linking technology assets and services together to build IIoT applications can require layers of complex software development and long development cycles that erode IIoT application ROI. Opto 22 has addressed this with the introduction of NodeRED nodes for its SNAP range of industrial programmable automation controllers (PACs) which will decrease IIoT application development time and complexity. The nodes make it easier to prototype and develop applications for connecting physical assets to cloud applications.

Node-RED is a visual wiring tool to connect edge computing systems to cloud services in new and interesting ways. It is an open-source,

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cross-platform technology available on GitHub.com and npmjs.org, and is currently available for a variety of platforms. It benefits from a large Node-RED library which contains over 500 prebuilt and ready-to-deploy nodes to allow IIoT application developers to deploy existing software code directly into their applications.

Control Engineering UK

NEW PRODUCTS

M12 connector for space-limited applications

Energy-saving power valve is big on flexibility

HARTING has added a space-saving female panel feed through (PFT), with a PushPull locking mechanism to, its range of M12 connectors. This is said to make it easier to connect Fast Ethernet and 10 Gbit/sec Ethernet cables in space-limited applications.

The new M12 PFT Slim Design, available with D and X coding, is compatible with HARTING M12 PushPull connectors and standard M12 devices. It allows users to have the option of continuing to use existing connections or to upgrade to new M12 connectors with PushPull locking without having to change the device connection.

The panel feed through is exclusively available with a crimp connection that is easy to assemble in the field, is protected to the IP65/67 standard, and is suitable for temperatures from -40 to +85°C.

SMC has introduced a compact version of its VEX3 pneumatic power valve series which is said to offer greater flexibility and greater energy efficiencies.

Power consumption has been almost halved – from 1.8 W to 1 W – and manual override options have been added to the existing non-locking push type: locking slot, push turn locking and push turn lever types, which offer easy handling and greater flexibility.

Additional benefits of the new 3/3 VEX3 series include small size when compared to previous models. It also has fewer components per circuit. With flows of up to 3,300 l/ min – the valve has three positions, allowing intermediate stops for cylinders up to Ø 125 mm or to change the speed of cylinders up to 200 mm bore size. It is also possible to connect two valves to a double acting cylinder, controlling up to nine different positions, including slow stopping, acceleration and deceleration.

Further savings are achieved in vacuum applications when suction or release of the workpiece are not required, as the valve can be set to the intermediate position where there is no air movement and energy is not being wasted.

Display instrumentation for use in hazardous and safe areas

Quick-fit infrared inspection window Ensuring quick but safe panelboard inspections, the QwikFit-IR infrared window is now available from IRISS. To correctly complete an infrared inspection of panelboards, the inspector will usually have to remove the covers to allow direct measurement of the components and connections. Even when wearing the appropriate PPE this is a hazardous and time-consuming operation.

The QwikFit-IR product range is designed for panelboard applications where small load side connections would not be visible for infrared and visual inspections. It is designed to replace the small frame breaker blanking plate and requires no cutting or preparation work as it simply ‘clicks’ into place to provide inspection access where needed.

Control Engineering UK

September 2016

UK15

www.beka.co.uk sales@beka.co.uk

Hitchin, SG5 2DA UK Tel +44 (0) 1462 438301

APPETITE

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FOOD PROCESSING

AWARDS 2016 RECOGNISING ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE

19th October 2016 Birmingham Appetite for Engineering 2016 will be held at Edgbaston Stadium and the Food Processing Awards will take place at Malmaison, Birmingham.

The Conference will continue to provide delegates with a unique forum to learn from their peers the best engineering practices for today and tomorrow.

Our evening Awards event promises to be a unique networking opportunity and gives nominees the chance to receive an accolade in front of their peers.

For more information contact:

Iain McLean

01732 359990 iain.mclean@imlgroup.co.uk

Headline sponsor:

HART COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

Preparing for ‘digital transformation’ The structure of the technology foundations, that manage standards development and provide product registration services for the process automation industry, has changed a great deal in the past two years. Paul Sereiko explains.

I

n January 2015, the HART Communication Foundation and the Fieldbus Foundation were combined into a new organisation – FieldComm Group. In July of 2015 the consortium that had been developing next generation Field Device Integration standards, the FDI Cooperation LLC, transferred all FDI technology to FieldComm Group to manage with our co-owners.

Then, in June of 2016 FieldComm Group, PROFIBUS International and other foundations announced the creation of programs and processes to ensure ongoing development and enhancement of FDI technology.

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 based technologies look set to revolutionise manufacturing operations in the coming years by enabling much broader access to operational information across the enterprise. At FieldComm Group we call this revolution Digital Transformation. Because HART and FOUNDATION Fieldbus have enabled digital communications from the plant floor to the control room for over 25 years, this digital transformation could really be considered to be the next stage of a digital evolution. Tens of millions of HART and FOUNDATION Fieldbus enabled instruments are installed in plants throughout the world. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the HART instruments are not digitally enabled and both HART and FOUNDATION Fieldbus data is often only used as far as the control room.

FDI is the technology glue that will Control Engineering Europe

simplify device integration. Through FDI defined OPC UA interfaces, it will also be the glue technology that will enable easier access to field device information by mobile workers and enterprise IT systems.

The primary component of FDI is the FDI Package which can contain all the files necessary to install, manage, operate, and maintain a device. It includes the electronic device description (EDD); any user Interface (UI) applications; and documentation and drawings. An FDI package will work with either EDD or FDT based systems and asset management software.

By combining the technology management of HART, FOUNDATION Fieldbus and FDI in a single organisation and developing stronger ties to PROFIBUS International, the process automation industry foundations have now created a structure that will give the process automation industry a strong voice in technology development for the IIoT and Industry 4.0.

Enhance and develop FieldComm Group’s goal is to continue to enhance and develop core fieldbus technologies while making data easier to access and easier to convert into actionable information, a vital requirement to allow end users of the technology to generate additional return on investments in FOUNDATION Fieldbus and HART technology.

Focusing on HART, in 2016 FieldComm Group released version 7.6 of the HART Protocol specifications. Later in 2016, test specifications and new developer

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tools will become available. HART continues to thrive. Manufacturer IDs are assigned to companies developing HART products and serve as a good proxy for vendor support of the technology. Since 2001, assigned Manufacturer IDs have grown by nearly 300% from 160 to 435 and over 1,000 distinct products are now registered.

WirelessHART is also enjoying success.

Over 50 WirelessHART products from 14 suppliers are listed on the FieldComm Group registered product website.

Member companies report that over 26,000 WirelessHART-based networks have been deployed globally and have registered nearly six billion operating hours.

Initially introduced in an earlier release of HART 7, HART-IP (Internet Protocol) products are now entering the market.

HART-IP allows host level systems and asset management applications to access and integrate measurement and device diagnostics information from HART-enabled field devices through existing IP networks.

HART-IP offers a straightforward method to access large amounts of all the standard HART information available in a HART device coming from products that concentrate many measurement points into a single output. It allows the information from these devices to be integrated with TCP/IP networks easily, without the need to go through any translation processes and with no loss of information.

Paul Sereiko is director of marketing at FieldComm Group.

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HART COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

Flexible energy monitoring solution Detailed results

Franke Blefa still manufactures kegs using a deep drawing process, but this now consumes significantly less energy.

Franke Blefa GmbH has been manufacturing stainless steel beer kegs since 1968. An energy monitoring system now makes the process significantly more efficient with a little help from WirelessHART.

I

n the modern food & beverage industry reusable stainless steel kegs that offer sterile storage and secure transport have long been the standard. Aside from being more cost effective, stainless steel kegs also ensure that after beer leaves the brewery there will be no loss of quality before it reaches the customer.

Franke Blefa GmbH is a manufacturer of such kegs. The sheet metal and barrel producer originally adopted the idea from England in 1968 and further developed the manufacturing process. Since 1974 the company has been utilising a technique known as deep drawing to produce stainless steel half shells, which are then turned into finished kegs using a patented middle-seam welding process.

As well as electrical energy, the production system requires a lot of water and compressed air, particularly for cleaning and drying the kegs during the finishing process. In 2013 the company decided to install a centralised energy monitoring system for analysing and optimising electrical energy consumption. “Given constantly rising electricity prices, for us it made business sense to optimise usage and reduce our costs,” said Henning Pump, energy manager at Franke Blefa.

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Stand-alone system Frank Blefa selected eSight from Endress+Hauser for the energy monitoring software. “They also trusted us with managing the project and providing engineering services as part of the order,” explained Carlos Theodoro, marketing manager at Endress+Hauser Germany, who oversaw the project from the beginning. “We configured the software and took responsibility for commissioning the entire system.”

Installation of the software on the customer’s server was done independently of the other systems. Because the software is web-based, trained employees have access to analysis and reports at any time and from anywhere.

Tracking energy costs is only the first step. To start saving money, a detailed representation of those costs is required.

For this reason, the finance module integrated in the eSight system also contains information about the current electricity provider contracts. “Costs can then be linked to the measurement values, which makes it possible to create a detailed cost analysis of the energy used,” explained Theodoro. In case of deviations, if threshold values are violated or measurement data is missing, the system sends out an alarm notification. “Users are immediately aware of undesired changes in the measurement values.”

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Effective energy monitoring requires an overview of the entire system. So measurement points were installed at key process control locations, primarily to track water and waste water volumes. The company is also precisely monitoring additional electrical energy used in production, as well as thermal energy from the heating system in the production building. “Although the water supply utility monitors water consumption to some extent, our flowmeters were installed in order to obtain and compare more detailed values,” adds Theodoro.

The software at present displays data from around 70 measurement points. Endress+Hauser connected these measurement instruments to the process control and energy monitoring systems via WirelessHART. It didn’t take long to achieve success: the company received its sought-after ISO 50001 certification in the same year the system was installed.

Since the number of stainless steel kegs produced is displayed with the help of virtual counters, today Franke Blefa knows the precise relationship between the company’s revenues and energy costs.

Reduced consumption This transparency is already bearing fruit.

“By analysing different measurement values over different periods of time, including idle periods, we can significantly reduce water consumption without major investments,” said Pump. The next step for Franke Blefa will be to analyse natural gas consumption. This area will also require additional measurement points in order to obtain detailed data. When it comes to generating compressed air, the new system should also make it possible to localise leaks. By tracking compressed air usage, the company can uncover additional savings potential.

WirelessHART makes this comprehensive expansion possible with minimum effort.

Control Engineering Europe

Wireless: simple, economical and secure access to your process values.

Endress+Hauser’s innovative WirelessHART solutions will help you join the wireless world. The flexible adapter concept has the advantage of being vendor-independent and compatible with all 4-20 mA/HART field devices.

In addition to being mounted directly, the adapter can be remotely connected to the field device, thus increasing signal performance. Available with polyester, aluminum and 316L stainless steel housings, it can be used in many applications and environments. Whether for remote sites, mobile equipment or adding new measuring points into existing systems, WirelessHART helps you measure, monitor and maintain more efficiently.

WirelessHART with Endress+Hauser: a cost-effective means of increasing productivity. www.endress.com/wirelessHART

Endress+Hauser Instruments International AG Kaegenstrasse 2 4153 Reinach Switzerland

Phone +41 61 715 81 00 Fax +41 61 715 25 00 info@ii.endress.com www.endress.com

HART COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

WirelessHART: secure by design Data security is critical to the successful deployment of field instruments in plant applications. Suzanne Gill asked a variety of automation vendors for their views on WirelessHART security and their own strategies to ensure network security.

I

t is obvious that thoughts about data security will be high in the mind of any engineer planning to install a wireless network. According to Kurt Polzer, senior consultant solutions & training for Siemens Industry Sector, there are two key areas that need to be considered – WirelessHART and the connection from the gateway to a system. He said: “By default WirelessHART HART supports integrated security mechanisms such as a strong 128bit AES-Industry standard encryption and usage of a message integrity (MIC) code.

Communication between the process control system and the WirelessHART gateway is based on three IP based protocols – HTTPS for configuration of the gateway with a per-definition integrated security, HART-IP for parameterisation of the WirelessHART devices and Modbus-TCP to transmit the process values to the controller.

“The security of HART-IP and ModbusTCP needs to be considered and assured by the operator,” continues Polzer. With its industrial security offering, Siemens provides the technology, systems and

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products needed to achieve the required security level for both local and remote connections. For example, in the form of Virtual Private Networks (VPN), Industrial Security provides secured communication from the WirelessHART device to the user or system.

From the beginning Eric Braun, wireless security engineering manager at Emerson Process Management, says that WirelessHART security is enabled from the very beginning − as soon as an instrument is taken out of its box. “All layers are protected from the host system, via the gateway, to the field devices.

All messages are encrypted and will not be readable, which protects the data,” he said.

Braun goes on to highlight a key security feature of the WirelessHART network. “Each device on the network is authenticated with a join key. This means that unintended devices are kept off the network and only authorised devices are allowed to join.” This join key can be unique for each device or can

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be common for the entire WirelessHART network. “Unique join keys are never revealed to the user. Join keys are given to each device via a wired HART connection meaning that encryption keys are never transmitted wirelessly in clear text,” he said.

Having the ability to send a secure message is an important part of a WirelessHART network. Braun explains: “Devices send encrypted messages to the gateway and multiple keys are used during communication. The session key and a network key are used to ensure that the message transfer process is accurate and secure. Message encryption prevents outsiders from reading an intercepted message, preventing false messages from being sent.

“Additionally, at the gateway, many secure Ethernet protocols are supported, allowing users to select from a set of industry standard protocols,” said Braun.

Because of the quantity of protocols supported, host integration is simple.

By default, only secure protocols are enabled, which means that unless the user intentionally makes protocol changes, all Ethernet communication from the gateway will be encrypted.

This allows users to comply with their own security practices.”

Not an issue Diederick Mols, global market development leader, wireless, at Honeywell, says that security should not be an issue with WirelessHART networks. “The FieldComm Group (previously HART Foundation) spent a great deal of time ensuring the highest level of security at all times,” he said.

The security protocol is very strict and once a device is on the network it will continuously rotate keys. “There are now billions of WirelessHART operating hours with no breaches of security yet being recorded,” said Mols. “Indeed, one of the benefits of a wireless network is that it can ensure network Control Engineering Europe

HART COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT integrity. If there is a communication failure, a wireless network will issue an alarm, which is not possible in the event of a corrupted wired network.”

Honeywell has reported an increased uptake in interest in wireless networks which is confirmed by ISA reports that quote figures of around 12% growth in wireless year-on-year. Honeywell remains protocol agnostic with its OneWireless network solution which is able to communicate with all wireless communication networks.

“The next step for Honeywell will be the introduction of a universal wireless IO which will form part of the next Experion release 500,” concludes Mols. This will allow access points to talk natively with all wireless devices without the need for any translation.

Customers want protocol agnostic solutions and want to be able to integrate any make of transmitter into their network. We will make this possible early next year.”

Communicating wired data wirelessly In 2015 Pepperl+Fuchs strengthened its WirelessHART offering through the acquisition of MACTek Corporation, a provider of HART protocol devices.

The Bullet WirelessHART adapter makes it possible to communicate data including measurements, diagnostics, and parameterisation from 4-20 mA and HART field devices in a wireless process.

If the plant has an existing 24 V power supply, the adapter and field device can be powered by this supply and transfer data to the process control system wirelessly. The adapter can also be powered via an existing 4-20mA loop; the step volt technology allows the user to select a voltage from 1 to 2.5V. The influence on the 4-20mA loop is limited by the adapter and it can still reliably deliver data, despite the low power supply. It becomes an autonomous application if the adapter

is fed by a solar panel including a rechargeable battery.

A typical Bullet application might involve mobile tanks, for example, where the agitator is already equipped with a power supply. To obtain information on the content of the tanks, the agitators can be equipped with 4-20mA and HARTcapable sensors, including Bullets to control the drive speed of the agitator, temperature and pressure inside the container, as well as the pH value and the filling level of the medium.

The Bullet wirelessly transmits data collected from the field devices to the process control system, ensuring the mobility of the rolling mixing tanks.

Through the existing power supply to the motor, the adapter and field devices can be fed directly. The HART field devices can all be connected to an adapter with a multidrop concept.

HART Loop Interfaces: • Convert HART to 4-20mA Signals • “Break Out” Up to Three Analog Signals • Provide High/Low Process Alarm Trips (Contact Closure) • Convert HART to MODBUS RTU • Monitor HART Instrument Diagnostics HART Digital Signal Carrying Primary, Second, Third and Fourth Variable Process Data and Instrument Diagnostic Information

4-20mA Representing the Primary Variable (Mass Flow)

• Work with Every HART-Compatible Transmitter and Valve • Set Up in Minutes Using FREE Configuration Software

4-20mA Proportional to 2nd Variable (DP) 4-20mA Proportional to 3rd Variable (P)

HART Communicator can be Connected Anywhere Along the 4-20mA Loop

4-20mA Proportional to 4th Variable (T) High Alarm in Response to 4th Variable (T) HART Transmitter Diagnostics Fault Alarm or Additional Process Alarm

Visit our website and learn more about our Smart HART products at: www.miinet.com/HART

HIM Smart HART Loop Monitor "Breaks Out" Data from Smart HART Instruments Smart HART Multivariable Mass Flow Transmitter Flow

Flow

Demand Moore Reliability

HART COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

HART-IP:

SIMPLIFYING DATA EXCHANGE Control Engineering Europe reports on HART-IP which is helping ensure that 4-20mA devices continue to have something to offer in an increasingly digital world.

T

he release of HART-IP in 2012 was timely, considering the findings of an IMS Research study from February 2013, which predicted that use of Industrial Ethernet in the process industry would almost double between 2011 to 2016.

Today, the HART protocol can be run over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or other network media without sacrificing the detailed device setup or diagnostics information of existing networks. HART-IP allows simplified vertical data integration from the field device through to the control room. In addition to providing access to the process variables of a device, the protocol also supports device parameterisation and advanced diagnostics. “Together, WirelessHART and HART-IP will play an important role in enabling the Internet of Things in process plants in the future,” said Thomas Hilz, market segment manager at Softing Industrial Automation.

The HART-IP solution With the growing importance of WirelessHART and increasing

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digitisation at the field level in process plants, it is expected that more users and system providers will move their focus to HART-IP. The HART-IP application layer is based on the same application layer commands as 4-20 mA/ HART and WirelessHART. It provides plant-wide solutions and enables interoperability between devices and applications.

HART-IP works over standard Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) – both copper and fibre – as well as Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) equipment so it is suitable for use with standard infrastructure components

such as LAN switches, routers, access points, cables and connectors.

In addition, it can utilise existing network structures with redundant Ethernet media as well as mesh or ring topologies, or Power over Ethernet (PoE). Various speeds including 10 Mbit/ sec, 100 Mbit/sec and 1 Gbit/sec are supported.

IP-based communication enables multiple protocols to share the same network, so, HART-IP can coexist with IT protocols and other industrial Ethernetbased protocols and there is no need for dedicated infrastructure. The use of multiple clients and servers is also supported, enabling multiple controllers and software applications to access the data in one or more gateways or multiplexers over the same network.

HART multiplexer supports HART-IP A recently introduced Ethernet HART multiplexer from Phoenix Contact offers a solution to parameterise and monitor field devices on an Ethernet network. It allows users to perform operations that save time and money – including loop checks, device calibration, and improved process monitoring with multivariable devices – with existing devices.

The unit consists of a head station

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and a variety of HART expansion modules and importantly it supports the HART-IP protocol for HART communication over Ethernet.

Designed for applications such as partial-stroke testing, valve diagnostics, and batch-data transfers, the multiplexer features a HART master on each channel for the fastest possible updates and execution times.

Control Engineering Europe

> p30

HART COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT Two certainties Moore Industries International believes that, in an uncertain world there are two certainties in industry today – a continued increase in the use of Ethernet and the continued installation of HART devices, which means that the next natural step is for users to start utilising HART over Ethernet.

With over 60 million HART field devices already installed in manufacturing facilities across the globe, there is a huge amount of untapped process and diagnostic data in the field.

“While traditional twisted pair HART transactions with masters and field devices can be somewhat slow, HART over Ethernet, or HART-IP, alters the future landscape of HART availability at the local intranet or intra-plant level and also across corporate WANs and ERP systems,” said a Moore Industries spokesperson.

With HART process variables and diagnostic data encapsulated in HART-IP packets, it is possible for critical and real-time plant floor process parameters to be transmitted across the globe in the blink of an eye utilising existing corporate network backbones that employ corporate VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) or other secure TCP/IP networks.

“Many plants still have silos of process information in different formats that have to be translated or converted and consolidated to a central process database or server,” said the spokesperson from Moore Industries.

“From there the data can be pushed or pulled to other areas of the facility or company. This translation costs money and takes time for initial configuration and maintenance. The same often happens with HART data from the plant floor.” Either a gateway or a HART host application, such as an asset manager, then has to convert the HART data into a more usable data format that can be readily interpreted and utilised by higher level systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. These communication gateways, OPC servers, software drivers and data translation tools all cost money on the front end and require maintenance.

Moore Industries is a supplier of rail, panel and field instruments for industrial process control and monitoring, system integration and factory automation. It is fitting all of its future HART gateways and remote I/O systems with HART-IP capability. “We see this as the next big step in HART communications that will remove a layer of transmission delay and cost for the end user,” continued

Debating device integration in an IIoT era The 2016 FieldComm Group General Assembly End User Seminar will be held this year in the Netherlands on October 17 at the STC Group. This year’s theme will be ‘Device Integration and the Industrial Internet of Things,’ with a seminar programme featuring a mix of technical and management presentations focused on device integration and the IIoT. A NAMUR spokesperson will be discussing the next generation of field devices in the age of IIoT and Industry 4.0 and there will be a case study presentation from MOL’s Danube Refinery.

“This seminar will bring together the best and most knowledgeable field communication individuals

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from across the globe,” said Ted Masters, president and CEO of FieldComm Group. “We are excited to offer such an information-rich agenda which promises to be educational and practical so that users can return to their companies with a better understanding of how they can participate in the digital transformation. We encourage users to attend and network with technology and application experts as well as other users to discover exciting solutions to their process automation initiatives.”

The one-day event is open to all registered end users. For more information visit: go.fieldcommgroup. org/FCG-GA2016.

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the spokesperson. “In addition to increased speed and reduced cost, HART-IP allows a standard and seamless communication link to and from the HART field device from anywhere within the corporate network, assuming you have security access. Being able to query, diagnose or re-range a device from any PC workstation corporatewide over standard Ethernet networks allows immediate operating expense reductions.

“Additionally, the use of HART-IP packets allows existing routers, layerthree switches and network security appliances to further deploy security tools and tactics using standard IP methods such as IP address ghosting, filtering and subnet parsing. We believe that HART-IP will eventually become one of the leading plant floor communication protocols, especially as more vendors like us adopt and implement HART-IP in their devices and equipment,” concludes the spokesperson from Moore Industries.

“Today, HART-IP is commonly used in combination with WirelessHART and a HART multiplexer to allow parameters, diagnostic data and process values from a HART field device to be easily transferred to any location in the world – wired, wireless, via the internet, without loss of data accuracy and with the required level of security, said Kurt Polzer of Siemens “Applications using HART-IP could include remote monitoring, local or world-wide predictive or preventive maintenance. It can make applications and plants more transparent, reduces cost and increases availability and performance,” he concluded.

Conclusion Interest in HART-IP continues to grow and more vendors are now providing devices and systems that support it.

While it might not revolutionise the entire process industry, it certainly looks set to provide a significant contribution to simplifying the exchange of data and information in process plants which is vital as the industry sets out in on its Industry 4.0 journey.

Control Engineering Europe

HART COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

Retrieving stranded HART data A whitepaper, written by Garrett Schmidt Schmidt, wireless product manager at Phoenix Contact, offers advice on how to get the most out of WirelessHART and explains where it can offer benefits in process plants.

M

illions of devices around the world use the HART communication standard for process measurement applications, but it is estimated that up to 90% of these devices are stranded, making their data inaccessible. WirelessHART, which forms part of the HART 7 standard, offers an easy and secure way to access this data, without the need to run wire and cable to the device which has made this a costly and time consuming exercise.

The technical advantages and cost benefits of WirelessHART can provide many opportunities for process monitoring. The time taken to engineer and develop the expansion or construction of a process unit can be reduced by installing wireless systems to replace both infrastructure and signal cabling. The up-front cost of a wireless network is often lower than cabling and conduit costs, and it also offers time-savings. A signal that previously took days to bring online can now be commissioned within hours.

This makes it particularly suitable for troubleshooting applications or to add stranded measurement points for increased plant safety or improved efficiency. In short, WirelessHART allows previously unreachable diagnostic information to be more easily gathered.

The real strength of WirelessHART lies in the Time Synchronized Mesh Protocol (TSMP) that provides redundancy and fail-over in time, frequency and space to ensure high reliability even in challenging radio environments. TSMP also provides the intelligence required for self-organising, self-healing mesh routing. The result is a short-range

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(50-100m in-plant) wireless network that is easy to install and is expandable with no specialised expertise and which automatically adapts to changing environments.

There are five key components of TSMP that contribute to end-to-end network reliability, simple installation and power efficiency. These are time synchronised communication; channel hopping; automatic node joining and network formation; fully-redundant mesh routing; and secure message transfer.

By utilising time-synchronised communications, each device in a network maintains a precise sense of time and so remains synchronised with neighbouring devices. All deviceto-device communication occurs in a pre-scheduled time window for collision-free, power-efficient and

scalable communication. In addition to scheduling transmissions over time, TSMP also schedules each transmission to occur on a different frequency. This offers an increase in effective bandwidth and reduces power consumption of the devices.

Transmitting data The frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) is a robust wireless transmission method which automatically changes the channel in a pseudo-random pattern for every data transmission. The goal is to tolerate interference in the band while still moving data from location to location. Each ‘hop’ is essentially a narrowband transmission that takes a few milliseconds before moving on to another channel to transmit another packet of data. Because of this, the entire spectrum would need to be clogged with interference before the radio link will fail.

Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) is another transmission method.

A DSSS radio mixes some application data with a special ‘spreading’ code to spread the RF transmission across a wider

WirelessHART using clustering.

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Control Engineering Europe

HART COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT portion of the spectrum.

At the receiver, the code is removed to restore the user data. If any interference was received, the logic function to de-spread the data will suppress the damaged data. The resultant effect is known as coding gain. The wider channel used for transmission translates to higher data rates than frequency hopping allows, but radio failure will occur much sooner with DSSS. WirelessHART uses a combination of FHSS and DSSS to provide both interference rejection and coding gain to create a robust interference handling mechanism.

The core technology behind WirelessHART has been hardened over many years of development and continues to improve. Its flexibility and adaptive capabilities make it suited to use in harsh industrial environments.

Essentially, all WirelessHART devices can be classified as one of three types – an adapter, an end device, or a gateway.

The WirelessHART adapter connects an existing wired HART device into a WirelessHART network. The adapter connects to the 4-20 mA wiring to gather the HART signal while the 4-20 mA signal remains intact and functional.

One WirelessHART adapter can collect HART signals from multiple devices, resulting in a lower installation cost. It can be loop, line, or battery powered.

The primary role for an adapter is to gather HART data from a previously installed HART device connected to a host with no HART capability.

A WirelessHART device contains a radio integrated with measurement or monitoring capabilities. This allows easy expansion of an existing plant or a rapid deployment in a new installation and enables measurement points that were previously inaccessible due to cabling costs or environmental restrictions to be captured with ease.

According to the HART standard a WirelessHART gateway should consist Control Engineering Europe

A wireless gateway with WLAN transceiver.

of three pieces. The radio that connects to the remote field devices is known as the Access Point radio. The network manager is the software that acts as the ‘brain’ for the mesh network, controlling the mesh links and managing the security and authentication of the field devices. Finally, the gateway is the portal between the plant network or host system and the WirelessHART network. These three pieces may be co-located in one package, or split in any combination; however, the gateway interface defines the overall performance and capability of the mesh network to the user.

Networking with WirelessHART Implementing a WirelessHART network is not a difficult task. The finite types of devices and self-forming mesh capabilities take much of the guesswork out of the execution.

However, the technology does have some limitations as the network grows.

Larger networks will logically have devices that need more ‘hops’ through the mesh to get data back to the host.

As the number of hops increases, so does latency.

Large networks will also be harder to manage. The relatively short RF range of the radio necessitate the installation of additional devices to act as repeaters. Bottlenecks in the mesh become more likely, and a failure there can bring down a large portion of the network.

Breaking the large network into several smaller ones, or clusters, has several advantages. Clustering reduces overall network latency because nodes have to travel through fewer hops to get to the gateway and then to the host. These simpler networks reduce the probability of needing repeaters. This

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creates a more reliable network with no bottlenecks. By eliminating bottlenecks and high demand routers, the demand on battery-powered devices is also reduced, resulting in less maintenance.

Using the clustering method shifts the focus toward the gateway’s capabilities.

Because of the range of WirelessHART, this method demands that the gateways be moved closer to the devices in the field, so the physical connection to the host comes into question. If a copper or fibre optic connection must be made to the gateway in the field, then much of the cost savings associated with WirelessHART may be cancelled out, thus eliminating the backhaul cable, results in even more cost savings and flexibility. One solution to this problem is a WirelessHART gateway featuring an integrated WLAN transceiver, such as the gateway developed by Phoenix Contact which features a 45 mm wide rail-mount gateway that contains the WirelessHART access point radio, network manager, and gateway interface in conjunction with a WLAN client. The gateway connects up to 250 WirelessHART field devices and converts HART data to Modbus TCP or HART UDP for easy integration into almost any host system.

Conclusion Millions of HART devices are installed in process applications around the world, but the vast majority of these devices and their data are stranded due to the high cost of installing cable.

WirelessHART, part of the HART7 standard, provides an easy-to-install, reliable and cost-effective way to connect these devices back to the host system. A WirelessHART gateway with integrated WLAN can further increase the flexibility and reliability of a WirelessHART network.

A copy of the original whitepaper from Phoenix Contact – Getting the most out of your WirelessHART system – can be downloaded from the whitepaper section of the Control Engineering Europe web site at www.controlengeurope.com.

September 2016

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CONTROL SYSTEMS

Surviving a control system

MIGRATION PROJECT

Control system migration projects can provide significant value to industrial operations by ensuring a smooth transition to newer technology with virtually no changes to physical wiring or intellectual property, says John Rudolph.

C

ompanies that migrate to newer, more effective control system gain a key advantage over competitors.

Automation systems are no longer isolated. With the high levels of integration of the diverse systems integral to plant operations – coupled with significant technology churn in these systems – there is a high likelihood of a technology mismatch within the automation infrastructure. A well-planned and executed migration strategy is now a must.

Plant managers cannot afford to have a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to aging automation assets. The lifecycle of electronic components is rapidly shrinking, which requires frequent software and hardware updates. It also can be difficult to find personnel qualified to troubleshoot and repair older control systems.

In its 2015 report, “Distributed Control Systems Worldwide Outlook,” the ARC Advisory Group estimated that $65 billion worth of installed process

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automation systems in the world today are nearing the end of their useful lifecycles, which, in many cases, can exceed 25 years. Many of these systems are some of the original DCSs installed in the late 1970s.

Failure to address looming automation obsolescence issues by “kicking the can down the road” could lead to crucial assets being rendered inoperable if an aging component fails and no replacement is available. This is true of factory – and third-party – sourced parts.

Worse yet, spares obtained from auction sites over the Internet may unknowingly introduce unexpected effects in critical systems. Financial loss or possible unsafe operating conditions from an unplanned outage could far exceed the replacement cost of a discontinued part.

A legacy control system may still work well after 30 years or longer. However, migration to a current automation solution not only minimises risk of failure, but also opens up a whole range of completely new possibilities.

With updated technology, the

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remaining economic life of legacy controls often can be extended by 30% to 50%. Replications of controller software and common displays may reduce the engineering effort for control system expansion by up to 50%.

Likewise, improved reliability with modernisation can enable significant maintenance cost reductions.

It is important to avoid a scenario whereby they remain in place by investing in certified recycled spare parts and then drop off the face of the Earth at some point in the future due to end-of-life issues. Instead, organisations should work with their automation supplier to cost effectively migrate forward. At the end of the technology evolution cycle, the user will have paid for an automation solution that is stateof-the-art, while maintaining predictable control of capital budget.

A well-executed strategy to address technology obsolescence delivers significant operational and business benefits through seamless integration of new and existing automation assets. At its heart is multi-generation coexistence of control equipment. Plants can integrate multiple generations of systems while retaining intellectual property in native graphics and advanced control applications. By incorporating existing data, events, and operator messages into the control architecture, and establishing a common operator interface, the legacy system appears as an extension of the new automation.

In addition, a proprietary hot cutover technique enables the control system to be migrated while operations remain undisturbed. Legacy controllers can be replaced with newer versions on a live process while retaining wiring and cabinets.

Upgrade before operations degrade Proper planning and budget allocation for control system upgrades it is vital to avoid resource scarcity. It is clear that inaction on migration strategies is causing existing bandwidth to be Control Engineering Europe

CONTROL SYSTEMS underused. By early in the next decade, a crossover will occur where demand for control system upgrades will outstrip the available qualified resources.

Upgrade possibilities for a legacy DCS include: technology refresh involving replacement of legacy electronics; technology upgrades involving replacement of existing equipment; and intellectual property upgrades transitioning to more advanced technology.

As part of good engineering and project management practices, companies should determine the best time to migrate and identify the ideal migration path associated with clearly defined goals. They also should define the project through front-end engineering and use a proven approach with comprehensive checklists and detailed cutover plans.

Increasingly, control system migrations are performed “on-process” using technology that replaces the existing user interface and provides modern functions, while retaining the original system’s controllers, field connections, and devices. In this approach, the new automation operates simultaneously, allowing elements as small as one control loop at a time to be migrated to the new platform.

By working together, automation suppliers and end users can help plants take advantage of the latest control innovations without compromising their initial investments. In addition, they can use long-term support to maintain intellectual property in graphics and advanced control. Such a holistic view not only ensures facilities have a smooth transition to the latest automation system, it also pinpoints areas of potential improvement.

Typical migration alternatives can include: • Moving control to the current hardware to preserve the installed inputs/outputs (I/O) and all of the existing engineering • Moving control to the current hardware to preserve the installed I/O and re-engineering the current Control Engineering Europe

control software • Moving control to the current hardware, upgrading to new I/O, and re-engineering the current control software • Removing the control system – including I/O – and completely re-engineering all of the control software.

If properly planned and implemented, control system migrations enable industrial organisation to migrate legacy control platforms at their own pace, allowing new controllers to be added at any time and integrated with existing equipment.

Benefits of modern technology Unifying people, process, businesses and asset management, modern controls help process manufacturers increase profitability and productivity.

By integrating disparate data across facilities, making the most of resources and people, and feeding it all into one automation system, they can achieve improved operational efficiency, greater process reliability, reduced risk, and increased plant productivity with lower operating and capital expenses.

An advanced DCS platform also may employ scalable capabilities for project execution and system management, including virtualisation and cloud engineering solutions, and remotely configurable universal I/O cabinets, which allow for late-stage design changes, reduced footprint, and minimal hardware required for implementation.

This approach reduces – or even eliminates – marshalling, simplifies engineering and configuration, and saves on installation costs. In addition, the use of advanced collaboration and HMI technology enables users to share information across multiple locations and simplify engineering and operations across thousands of distributed assets.

Sustain assets with outcome-based support After migration, some control system suppliers provide control system

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support programs that offer agreed service levels instead of prescribed quantities of materials and labour.

This pay-for-performance approach minimises the total cost of ownership, guarantees performance, and uses the automation system to improve business results. It is based on shared risk and reward, comprehensive lifecycle coverage, risk and change management, best practices, and a clear support contract with specific performance benchmarks.

With an outcome-based service solution, the customer hands partial or complete responsibility for system support to the automation vendor.

The parties agree on scope, outcome levels, and a fixed cost, and the customer maintains governance. The services can be delivered to stabilises existing platforms and/or sustain their performance for a specified period of time.

When fully executed by the automation supplier with guaranteed system performance, outcomebased support services provide preventive maintenance routines based on proven best practices.

They also deploy continuous system monitoring, which offers alerting to support incident management and diagnostic data for reporting, availability, capacity, and problem management.

Ensuring a seamless transition Although challenging, control system migration projects have the potential to deliver great value to industrial operations. They ensure a seamless transition to new technology with practically no change to physical wiring and intellectual property. Outcomebased support services also can maintain and enhance automation systems throughout their entire lifecycle, helping to sustain the benefits of asset investments.

John Rudolph is vice president of Lifecycle Solutions and Services at Honeywell Process Solutions.

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HAZARDOUS AREA & SAFETY

The smart way to VISUALISE HAZARDS John Martin explains what needs to be considered when preparing a bow tie analysis – a diagram that visualises risk in a single, simple graphical format.

B

ow tie diagrams are already widely used in the oil and gas industry and are becoming increasingly popular within the chemicals sector too, forming a useful part part of the armoury of tools used in the journey to avoid the realisation of hazardous scenarios.

There is much talk about bow tie analysis. However, the real value of bow ties comes from using the diagram as a visual representation of the analysis which should already have been carried out prior to construction of the diagram.

The centre of the bow tie diagram is the ‘top level’ event, the significant event that needs to be avoided – the hazard.

Examples might include overfilling of a gasoline storage tank or the occurrence of a runaway reaction. On the left hand side of the top level event are the initiating events which begin the journey towards the hazard. These are often referred to as ‘causes’. In between the causes and the hazard are the preventive barriers which, if successful, will interrupt the journey from cause to hazard and if unsuccessful will allow that journey to proceed. In effect this side of the diagram is a fault tree without numerical data. On the right hand side of the diagram are the ‘consequences’

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and in between the hazard and the consequences are the mitigation barriers which, if successful, interrupt or mitigate the journey from the hazard to the consequence. This half of the bow tie diagram is effectively an event tree without numerical information.

Bow tie diagrams are flexible and can be used anywhere in an industrial setting where a visual representation of risk and barriers would be beneficial. It allows important information to be quickly conveyed to people from different backgrounds and disciplines. The bow tie can quickly demonstrate when pathways have very few barriers or, for example, when all the barriers in a pathway rely on human intervention. It is also possible to display the effect of certain barriers becoming impaired or failing.

Producing a bow tie diagram is not without its challenges and there will be times when a fault or event tree with quantitative data is required to allow decisions to be taken. It is important to consider how much information is displayed in the bow tie diagram – the benefit of visual impact can be lost if the structure becomes too complex or if too much annotation is added so that the diagram becomes unwieldy and cumbersome.

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Bow tie success Bow ties are best constructed once the input data has been generated using a recognised and structured methodology for the identification and assessment of process hazards. In the process industries HAZOP and PHR are widely used for this purpose. Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs) or Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs) are divided into sections and considered by a suitably qualified team using guidewords under the leadership of a competent chairperson to identify hazards, initiating events, ultimate consequences and barriers.

Failure to use a structured methodology can result in ineffective hazard identification and may lead to key data not being present in the bow tie diagram. Once the hazard identification study is complete the bow tie author selects hazardous events to be considered and must concentrate on presenting the data in a clear, understandable and useful diagram.

Proprietary software can be useful for the construction of the diagrams as this provides a consistent and professional appearance.

Bow ties should be used to clearly and broadly communicate the key hazards and controls on site. It might be possible to construct too many bow ties so that either quality suffers and/or the majority of diagrams are never used and key information is not communicated.

Before investing time and effort in the construction of the diagrams it is important to consider how the diagram will be of assistance on that journey.

One approach could be to only develop bow tie diagrams for the most serious hazards and here it would be beneficial to have used a recognised hazard identification methodology as such a methodology can include risk scoring which will assist in identifying those hazards associated with the most severe consequence or the greatest risk.

John Martin works for ABB Consulting.

Control Engineering Europe

HAZARDOUS AREA & SAFETY

Safely measuring bulk materials Throughout plant operations at Lafarge Tarmac, process instruments give the information needed to operate safely and efficiently.

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rom its quarries across the UK, Lafarge Tarmac extracts sand, hard rock and gravel that are used to produce a range of products for the construction industry including ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, cement and lime.

Siemens has worked with Lafarge Tarmac to help it control and standardise the management of material deliveries, storage, usage, and reordering of materials. Most importantly, this system also ensures the highest level of safety and efficiency when measuring bulk material levels.

Ingredients for asphalt production include filler dust and fibre pellets: the former helps reduce moisture in the mix, while fibres increase the stability of the asphalt, increasing its lifespan.

Tankers regularly deliver these materials to the plant. On arrival, the drivers check the relevant panel displays for the amount of filler or fibre to be loaded. Once authorisation is granted from the plant control room, the driver connects the hose from the silo to the delivery tanker and use air to blow the light fibres into the storage silo.

The process is similar for filler. Both

A Sitrans RD200 remote display, connected to this custom-built panel, shows level percentages in the fibre pellet storage vessel.

Control Engineering Europe

require close monitoring to ensure that safe filling practices are met. This procedure is aligned with Mineral Products Association (MPA) guidance ‘to prevent over-pressurisation of storage silos during the delivery of (non-explosive) powders in the cement, concrete and quarrying industries.’

Tanker drivers and operators need to know exactly how much of each material enters the storage silo. They need to ensure that the production facility has enough of each additive so that asphalt production isn’t slowed down or halted.

However, they must also control the pneumatic filling process so that the silos are not overfilled – which could result in a potentially dangerous situation.

To keep materials at an optimal level, operators keep a close eye on the display panel mounted at the base of each silo.

This reading is also retransmitted and simultaneously shown in the control room for the purpose of monitoring and reordering material.

Each panel comprises a Sitrans RD200 display, warning LEDs, siren with flashing beacon and a Siemens LOGO PLC. The PLC is connected to a Sitrans LR560 radar level transmitter that is

located at the top of the concrete vessel.

The radar device continuously tracks the level in the silo, and has two alarm points – high & high-high. A third level, called the ultimate high level, is monitored by a Pointek CLS300 capacitance level switch.

A LOGO PLC also handles the panel sequence control.

All of these devices and processes are closely monitored by a dedicated Siemens service engineer who takes care of routine maintenance and the onsite calibration.

Automation throughout production Elsewhere in the plant a Simatic S7 PLC and SCADA control system operate the plant’s primary and tertiary crushers, and level process instrumentation plays an important role in keeping operations running smoothly. A Sitrans LR300 radar device, for example, measures levels of hot bitumen reaching temperatures of 170°C, a Sitrans LC300 capacitance level transmitter tracks levels of hot stone bins and a Sitrans LR200 radar transmitter continuously measures finished asphalt levels in the storage silo.

In conclusion, Paul Bishop, electrical engineer at the Lafarge Tarmac Bayston Hill Quarry, said: “Siemens level and remote display instruments help us keep track of our production and make our processes safe for workers and equipment.”

The 78 GHz Sitrans LR560 radar transmitter (right) provides continuous fibre level readings, while the Sitrans CLS300 (left) issues an alarm when high levels are reached.

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September 2016

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ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Energy saving benefits OF LOW-FRICTION PIPES The choice of pipework can have a significant impact on pump efficiency, and therefore also energy efficiency.

E

nergy efficiency has become increasingly important in the manufacturing industry, with contractors, consultants and end users keen to select products that are able to demonstrate clear energy savings. This applies to all products in the supply chain – pumps and pipework are no exception.

The majority of plant and manufacturing facilities require large volumes of water and industrial fluids. A reliable network of pumps and pipes are integral to the effective distribution and operation of water and fluid supplies. The energy efficiency of pipework systems are coming under increased scrutiny and, while there is a belief that plastic pipe systems are more energy efficient than metal alternatives, there has previously been little evidence to confirm the theory.

This is why Durapipe UK embarked on a joint project with pump manufacturer, Wilo, to undertake research into the energy required to pump water through a plastic pipe network, compared with a traditional carbon steel system.

The energy used to pump fluid around a pipe network will come down to the level of frictional head

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Rich Pedley discusses the improved efficiencies that are possible when pumps are coupled with plastic pipework systems.

loss; when a liquid flows through a pipe.

Friction between the pipe wall and the liquid causes a head loss, an irreversible loss of the fluid’s potential energy. Calculating this loss is fundamental to the design of any pipework system for industrial applications, with the internal roughness of a pipe being an important factor when considering friction loss.

The absolute roughness of a pipe material is provided in millimetres, with the smooth bore of plastic pipes providing a much lower surface roughness than carbon steel. The lower the surface roughness value, the lower the frictional head loss experienced, which in turn means reduced pump duties, smaller pumps and resulting ultimately in energy and cost savings.

Plastic versus steel The research project compared the pump duty requirement using both plastic and steel pipe materials. The test was carried out based on an installation of 200m of straight 32mm pipe, 20 elbows and two isolation valves, assuming a flow rate of 1.0 litre per second.

The results revealed a total frictional head loss of 8.23m for the plastic pipe system, compared with 15.71m for the steel installation. Due to the reduced power needed to operate a plastic pipe installation, a lower duty, more cost effective pump can be selected to work with the pipe network. The cost for the

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most appropriate pump to effectively service this application was £1,717.02 for the steel pipe system and £676.20 for the plastic pipe option, offering a cost saving of 60%.

More importantly, the smaller pump required for the plastic pipe network would generate energy cost savings of 75%, compared with the pump required for the carbon steel pipe network.

In addition to the initial reductions in installed costs, the energy cost savings for a plastic pipe material will increase over the lifetime of the system. Suffering from scaling and corrosion, the surface of steel pipework deteriorates over time, which restricts flow through the pipework, seeing increased pump duties needed to pump the fluid through the pipe and delivering rising energy costs.

In comparison, the smooth bore of plastic pipe sees a consistent flow rate maintained over the lifetime of the system offering stable pump energy costs, while also benefiting from reduced maintenance requirements and costs.

Every manufacturer in the supply chain needs to be able to communicate the energy efficiency credentials of their products if they are to continue competing for new projects. It is, therefore, important to consider that mechanical services, such as pump and pipe networks can have a significant effect on energy consumption.

Rich Pedley is industrial brand manager at Durapipe.

Control Engineering Europe

The November issue of Control Engineering Europe will include a special

Event Preview

For more information contact Lydia Harris on

+44 (0)1732 359990 or email lydia.harris@imlgroup.co.uk

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ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Harmonics and utility costs Understanding harmonic effects can help avoid utility violations and equipment damage, says John Lehman.

H

armonics is a result of an electrical device’s nonlinear behaviour. Knowing how to make power-related measurements can help avoid utility contract violations and penalties for large commercial and industrial facilities. Use the power triangle to understand interactions of real power, apparent power, reactive power, and power factor.

The power triangle The “power triangle” in Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between the quantities of real power (kW), apparent power (kVA), reactive power (kVAR), and power factor (PF) found in ac sinusoidal power distribution systems: • kW: Real power is the rate at which electrical energy is converted to work, measured in kW. This vector quantity is defined in the power triangle on the horizontal axis at 0° as kVA*PF: Where PF is the cosine of the displacement angle between current and voltage with no harmonics.

• kVA: The magnitude of the product of voltage across a load multiplied by the current through the load has the units of watts and is the vector kVA with the PF angle in Figure 1.

• kVAR: The kVAR quantities have a +/rotation and are the result of voltage

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across the net reactance (inductance, capacitance, or a combination) multiplied by the current flowing through this reactance element.

This represents the units of reactive watts.

• PF: The system power factor is the cosine of the angle whose tangent is the net kVAR divided by kW. The power factor angles represent the “displacement” angle between voltage and current caused by the system reactive elements of inductance and capacitance.

Figure 1: The power triangle illustrates the relationship between the quantities of real power (kW), apparent power (kVA), reactive power (kVAR), and power factor (PF) found in ac sinusoidal power distribution systems.

All images courtesy: Dataforth

Utility billing for facilities Utility companies sell electrical energy in the units of kilowatt-hours, kWh. Residential customers pay what appears to be a flat rate per kWh; large commercial and industrial facilities usually enter into a contract which often has penalties for contract violations.

The rate of energy utilization per time is kilowatt units (kW), which utilities define as “demand” with kW. Large customers are

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required by some utilities to maintain the power factor (kW ÷ kVA) within a contract range.

In the accepted topology for a consumer’s facility, the user’s load is modelled as the typical parallel combination of resistance, inductance, and an optional capacitance. Figure 2 illustrates power triangle conclusions regarding the behaviour of single frequency ac loads without harmonics when a capacitor is added.

Control Engineering Europe

ENERGY MANAGEMENT Effects of harmonics in sinusoidal power distribution systems

to electrical systems that can lead to equipment damage, power supply failures, and plant downtime.

Harmonics are reflected onto the utility grid and accumulate as customers add more modern electronics. In addition to ongoing maintenance costs, harmonics can result in financial penalties for lack of compliance with a utility’s harmonic limits.

To avoid these situations, it is important to answer crucial questions, including: • Are there harmonics in my system?

• Is there a penalty for harmonics?

• What quantities will be charged?

• How does the utility company measure billing items and account for additional losses?

• Will the utility company provide an onsite analysis and negotiate billing?

A variety of situations can create harmonics in a facility: • Modern electrical equipment with embedded microprocessors and electronic circuitry generally represents a nonlinear load that results in harmonics-rich, nonsinusoidal line currents • Modern LED lighting • Nonlinear magnetic fields in transformers and rotating air gaps • Transformer core, eddy current, and winding skin effect losses increase with frequency • Transformer operating performance is distorted by dc current components, which create additional nonsinusoidal currents • Other high frequency losses occur throughout the plant.

Whatever you need.

For the robots of tomorrow. maxon flat motors and gearheads are also used in research. In this specialised field, the compact drives excel due to their simple design with high torque resistance. Whatever you need from drive technology, maxon motor can help.

By answering these questions, the appropriate measures can be taken to mitigate harmonic effects.

Harmonics create nonsinusoidal line currents in the form of pulses which is a by-product of nonlinear loads. Their presence means that current and voltage are distorted, adding strain

John Lehman is an engineering manager at Dataforth.

Without capacitance reactance, XC kVA

Iline, RMS

PF < ˚

PF

kW

27.72

133.19

14.47˚

0.96828

26.82

With added capacitance reactance, XC kVA

Iline, RMS

PF < ˚

PF

kW

26.95

129.56

5.53˚

0.9954

26.82

robotics.maxonmotor.com

Control Engineering Europe

September 2016

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© Flickr / Robocup201

Figure 2: The table shows important Power Triangle conclusions regarding behaviour of single frequency ac loads without harmonics when a capacitor is added. The variable I_line (Iline) is a Root Mean Square (RMS) value.

Enter Link Code on www.controlengeurope.com to read the full story

PRODUCT FORUM • FIVE STAR CYBER PROTECTION FOR BUSINESSES

SENIX CORPORATION

Inteltrain has launched a nationally accredited training programme designed to protect businesses from the threat of cyber crime.

The Cyber Stars initiative is an onsite, one-day course that helps business operate safely online together with an effective cyber security strategy to implement within the organisation. The course has been developed by cyber security experts from industry, Government and defence to address systematic failures in cyber security knowledge. “This course is every bit as important as first aid, manual handling or other similar courses. It’s cyber health and safety training for your business,” said Commercial Manager, Nick Atkinson. Firms who embrace the initiative can use the Cyber Stars logo to let other companies know that they are responsible custodians of data who value their IT security as well as that of their clients and supply chain.

Senix Corporation, manufacturer of ToughSonic® ultrasonic level and distance sensors, introduces the ToughSonic REMOTE 14, the first in a series of ultrasonic liquid level sensors designed for remote monitoring applications.

For information contact Nick Atkinson on 03330 - 431 - 431 i More info - Enter Link code 114965 or visit www.inteltrain.com

ECONOMICAL ONLINE PROCESS METERS FROM SENSOREX MEASURE PH, ORP, OR CONDUCTIVITY TX- and CX- models direct fit alternatives for discontinued Eutech Instruments equipment Garden Grove, California (4 August 2016) – Sensorex has expanded its family of water quality and online process transmitters, adding four new models to provide basic monitoring and control. The TX10 pH/ORP and CX10 Conductivity and transmitters offer simple monitoring, while the TX20 pH/ORP and CX20 Conductivity controllers can also be programmed for process control. These small-footprint panel-mount transmitters provide reliable data and control of process fluids, in a cost-effective package. Applications include water quality, chemical, electronics, food production, environmental and wastewater treatment. The TX10 measures pH or ORP and temperature.

To learn more about the Sensorex family of process instruments, visit www.Sensorex.com, email info@sensorex.com or phone +1 714-895-4344.

i

More info - Enter Link code 123726

The ToughSonic REMOTE 14 ultrasonic liquid level sensor is designed to withstand the harshest climates and conditions for outdoor tank level monitoring, irrigation and flood warning systems.

It provides serial data communications, enhanced surge protection and energy efficiency in a rugged, IP68-rated, 316 stainless steel housing. “Water management and process industries are investing heavily in automation.” says Doug Boehm, founder and CTO of Senix. “Monitoring remote liquid assets requires rugged, energy efficient, networked sensors. We developed the ToughSonic REMOTE product line for those unique demands.” Learn more…

Senix Corporation T: +1 802 489 7300 E: Customer.Service@senix.com W: www.Senix.com

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More info - Enter Link code 112630

MEASURE THE SMALLEST AND THE TALLEST WITH ONE DEVICE Revolutionary technology for level and volume measurement in the food and beverage industry VEGA introduces the first contactless radar level sensor for liquids that operates at a 80 GHz frequency. Contactless radar technology is known for its immunity to temperature, pressure, vapours or surface conditions, but previous devices had larger antennas and restricted measuring capability. With a new, amazingly small antenna system, the VEGAPULS 64 is ideal for use in small vessels with small process connections, often seen in the food industry. However, there is also long range capability with narrow focussing too, enabling it to work even in very tall, narrow vessels for liquids (there is also a model designed for bulk solids for grain and powder level measurement). Hygienic materials and process connections also offer excellent process compatibility.

For information from Vega Controls Ltd, contact us on Email: info.uk@vega.com Web: www.vega.com/uk i More info - Enter Link code 123724 Tel: +44 1444 870055

UHC-126-U-PFN – THE UNIVERSAL HYDRAULIC CONTROLLER WITH PROFINET INTERFACE This electronic module for position and pressure control is controllable via the ProfiNet interface and it can be integrated in the existing control system simply and quickly. Function blocs for the PLC S7 are available. The position controller was revised in order to fulfill special requirements.

Best dynamics and highest position accuracy are the result of this development. Functionality: • optimized PID controller • a dynamic integrator can be activated to minimize pressure overshoots • two switchable PID parameter sets The interface to the PLC is a ProfiNet interface. In view of Industry 4.0, all command values and all feedback (process data) are available in the protocol. Parameterization of the module via the bus is also possible.

For information contact www.w-e-st.de +49 (0) 2163577355-20 info@w-s-st.de

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More info - Enter Link code 123725

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Control Engineering Europe

FINAL WORD

Standardising the components

OF INDUSTRY 4.0 At a recent conference Roland Bent Bent, executive vice president marketing and development at Phoenix Contact, offered some insight into current standardisation work being undertaken to ensure the success of Industry 4.0.

W

hether we like it or not, digitisation is coming and to see the biggest benefits it will need to be well managed, said Bent. “We are all facing challenges – shorter product lifecycles, increased product variances, and price pressures.

This demands greater flexibility across all areas of production. If managed properly, digitisation can offer a solution to the challenges of increasing efficiency, optimising plant assets and improving energy efficiency.”

Phoenix Contact is a member of the Platform Industrie 4.0 steering committee, which is driving Industry 4.0 standardisation activity in Germany.

The organisation is currently working on a reference architecture model for Industry 4.0 – RAMI 4.0 (Reference Architecture Model Industrie 4.0) which will be transferred into an IEC standard in the near future. RAMI 4.0 is an architecture model designed to help structure the whole set up of a digital enterprise. It has three axes – business processes, an automation pyramid and product lifecycle and it is being used as a reference for all standardisation activity.

Another important activity being undertaken by Platform Industrie 4.0 revolves around the definition of the Industry 4.0 ‘component’ – a generic component that contains both the physical and virtual representation of a product. This component contains all the information and data necessary to describe the product and its demands Control Engineering Europe

and relationship with other products – describing connectivity, semantic demands etc. This component needs to be scalable from simple, basic components up to an entire plant.

Platform Industrie 4.0 has created working groups to undertake standardisation activities on the description of this Industry 4.0 component which is vital if seamless integration in the plant of the future is to be realised.

Scaling up Bent went on to explain that a standardised model is vital to allow a system to be scaled up using reusable models to enable facilities to react quickly to changing customer demands.

“Although it is already possible to create this flexibility and increase the speed of reaction, a standard is important to direct integration of the different modules and to integrate different modules into different DCS and monitoring systems,” said Bent. This issue has been addressed

by NAMUR, in recommendation NE 148, which describes the demands on modular automation.

“Working groups are looking into how to describe a module and allow a user to build up a system. All the information about the module, its requirements and its environment is contained in a description in a dictionary in a modular type package. The first results of this standardisation work should be unveiled at the NAMUR general assembly in

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Roland Bent is executive vice president marketing and development at Phoenix Contact.

November,” continued Bent.

“If an Industry 4.0 component can be either a single component or a complete system or a skid module, and we have a digital representation of the module it will enable seamless integration of digital modules into different control systems.

This will allow production to be set up and tested as a process chain – step by step. The modules would already have been tested so they would just need to be put together, and a list of parameters set up to start production.

“The potential of Industry 4.0 is huge – it will allow us to fulfil individual customer requirements, to react faster and be more flexible to meet changing demands. Decision making will be optimised thanks to the information coming to us from big data, helping an enterprise to stay competitive.

Bent does, however, acknowledge that there are also challenges. “Industry 4.0 will trigger a chain of disruptive changes,” he said. This includes digitalisation of the value chain; dissolution of the fixed link between the physical object and its functionality in cyber space; and an ‘unlimited’ availability of information on all networked ‘things’.

In conclusion Bent said: “It is important to develop a digital agenda.

Digitalisation and modular automation ensures that new products are more efficient and get to market quicker so it is important to identify how to make an advantage out of the challenges of digitalisation now.”

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