CEE_20_10

Control, Instrumentation and Automation in the Process and Manufacturing Industries October 2020

www.controlengeurope.com

Digitalisation: Where are we now?

Industrial communications supporting digitalisation

Independent SCADA as a tool for integration

HORNER OCS HMI, PLC, Network and I/O THE “ALL IN ONE” CONTROLLER Range of Display Options Available 2.2" to 22"

Micro SD (32GB)

10/100 Ethernet

USB 2.0 Host USB 2.0 on-the-go

Digital & Analogue Inputs

Digital & Analogue Outputs

RS-232 & RS-485 Serial Ports CAN Port High Performance Logic Controller

SEE OUR COMPLETE RANGE ONLINE AT

WWW. HORNERAUTOMATION.EU/OCSRANGE • Inbuilt I/O Suits Many Applications • Single IEC61131 Programming Software for Visualisation and Logic • Powerful WebServer • Battery Operation (9-30V) • Extensive Networking Capability • Customisable Options

“Designed, Developed, Assembled and Supported in Europe since 1997.”

Cork, Ireland Tel: +353 21 4321 266 Email: info@hornerautomation.eu www.hornerautomation.eu/OCSRange

CONTENTS A catalyst for change?

Editor Suzanne Gill suzanne.gill@imlgroup.co.uk Sales Manager Adam Yates adam.yates@imlgroup.co.uk Group Publisher Iain McLean iain.mclean@imlgroup.co.uk

Well, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect all of our working lives, with the recent news that the annual SPS exhibition has been cancelled – in its place this year there will be a virtual event.

Meanwhile, it seems that the pandemic has also acted as a catalyst for digitalisation within the manufacturing sector, with many organisations now seemingly more keen to start, or continue, their digitalisation journey to ensure that they have the resilience to continue to operate productively and efficiently in what looks set to be our ‘new normal’ for some time to come. You can find out more about the trend in this issue, as we put a focus on digitalisation (pg 10).

Production Holly Reed holly.reed@imlgroup.co.uk

Also in this issue we look at the role that industrial communications have to play in supporting the digitalisation journey (pg 26).

Dan Jago David May G and C Media

Suzanne Gill Editor – Control Engineering Europe suzanne.gill@imlgroup.co.uk

Group Publisher Production Manager Studio Design

INDUSTRY REPORT

REMOTE SOLUTIONS

4

20 Digital remote applications can offer a solution to enable efficient co-operation from a safe distance

A positive manufacturing upturn in the wake of COVID-19?

EDITOR’S CHOICE

CALIBRATION

6

22 Focussing on the challenges of testing and calibrating high-pressure and high-temperature flow meters

Android tablet for hazardous areas; Flow meter offers stability for hydrogen applications

DIGITALISATION

PRESSURE & TEMPERATURE CONTROL

10 Challenging times have sparked a digitalisation push

24 The benefits of in-service acoustic emission testing

12 Suzanne Gill looks at the effect that the pandemic has had on the digitalisation journey

INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATIONS 26 Find out how industrial communication technologies are supporting digitalisation

DRIVES & MOTORS 16 Slotless versus slotted brushless DC motors

28 Putting safety services on a standard network

CYBERSECURITY 17 Highlighting the importance of cybersecurity as part of your digital plans

SCADA & HMIs 18 The role of independent SCADA software as a tool for integration Control Engineering Europe is a controlled circulation journal published eight 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.

ISSN 1741-4237 IML Group plc Blair House, High Street, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1BQ UK Tel: +44 (0) 1732 359990 Fax: +44 (0) 1732 770049

Control Engineering Europe

PG 8 Control Engineering (USA) Mark Hoske,

Circulation Tel: +44 (0)1732 359990 Email: subscription@imlgroup.co.uk Completed print or on line registration forms will be considered for free supply of printed issues, web site access and on line services.

www.controlengeurope.com

Qualified applicants in Europe must complete the registration form at http://imlrenewals.managemyaccountonline.net to receive Control Engineering Europe free of charge.

Paid subscriptions for non-qualifying applicants are available for £113 (U.K.), £145 (Europe), £204 (rest of world); single copies £19.

October 2020

3

INDUSTRY REPORTS

SPS 2020 physical exhibition cancelled Due to the ongoing travel restrictions and other effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Mesago Messe Frankfurt has made the decision to cancel its annual physical smart production solutions (SPS) exhibition.

Instead it will hold this year’s event in an all-virtual format.

“We’re very disappointed to have to cancel this year’s SPS event in Nuremberg,” said Martin Roschkowski, president of Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH. “Early this summer, all signs were pointing in the right direction and we were all but certain that the exhibition would go ahead in November. The safety and hygiene concept we had put together at the time was well received and developed further by many people involved in the SPS. For us, it was another example of how well the SPS community works together, and our sincere thanks go out to all those who pitched in.”

The main reasons behind the event’s cancellation include the concerns expressed by many participants with regard to the very different surrounding conditions at hand and the well-being of their employees. The strict hygiene and social distancing rules that have been established, the travel restrictions

in place, and the economic uncertainty resulting from the pandemic have made it clear that it would not be possible to hold the exhibition that SPS attendees have come to expect.

“The SPS is known for facilitating indepth technical discussions and valuable conversations among its visitors and exhibitors,” said Sylke Schulz-Metzner, vice president SPS. “Unfortunately, we don’t see a real chance to make this happen on-site as we normally would at the moment.”

The organizer of the event, Mesago

Messe Frankfurt GmbH, is already in the final stages of implementing a virtual setting that will give the SPS exhibitors and attendees the opportunity to talk about the latest developments and trends in automation technology online.

The virtual platform SPS Connect will go live on the same day the on-site exhibition was scheduled to begin (24 November 2020). Those interested can access further information on the event’s website: sps-exhibition.com.

Research finds analytics critical to industrial transformation A research study produced jointly by LNS Research and MESA (Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association) International, has revealed a critical correlation of analytics to industrial transformation success.

The study, entitled ‘Analytics That Matter in 2020: A New World’ is geared toward manufacturers across various industries. It provides an updated look at where industrial organisations fall within analytics progress, showing there is still much more work to do to achieve operational excellence.

Based on a biennial survey by LNS Research, the data shows that there has been a promising 52% increase in industrial companies with a formal analytics programme.

Despite this objects do still remain. The study saw just a 39% increase in prescriptive capabilities – well behind the increases in diagnostic and predictive.”

4

October 2020

New to the 2020 report is the impact of COVID-19 on manufacturers and their transformation initiatives. In addition, the study reveals these key insights: • How analytics are specifically tied to industrial transformation.

• What types of analytics are being overlooked and why manufacturers need to refocus.

• How COVID-19 is impacting the progress of analytics within industrial.

• The importance of data models and how to build the right ones.

• What roles are key to analytics success and how to effectively share information to stakeholders within an organisation.

• Why it’s important not just to add more analytical tools into the mix.

www.controlengeurope.com

Control Engineering Europe

INDUSTRY REPORTS

Positive manufacturing upturn in the wake of COVID-19?

New findings from the InfinityQS 2020 Global Client Survey show that there are green shoots of recovery emerging within the manufacturing sector The results show a positive upturn in the industry, with nearly 74% of respondents reporting that they are optimistic toward the future. These manufacturers are adapting and rebounding in the wake of the pandemic, adopting new technologies and processes for managing production and controlling quality, including 75% who noted more of their workers are now working remotely.

To enable this remote working and to build greater flexibility and resiliency into their processes, manufacturers are rapidly adopting technologies, such as cloud computing. Additional results from InfinityQS indicate that an acceleration in digital transformation initiatives is happening.

Commenting on the survey results, Jason Chester, director of Global Channel Programs at InfinityQS, said: “As we have seen over the last four months, the impact of coronavirus has been a massive wake-up call for all industries and manufacturing is no exception, particularly as a sector

still heavily dependent on manual processes and legacy technologies.

“Manufacturers are rapidly moving away from outdated pen-and-paper processes in favour of cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, enabling plant staff to efficiently monitor and optimise their production processes in real-time from anywhere. This is in stark contrast to our traditional notion of manufacturing, which is centred around being onsite, on the shop floor, or in close proximity to physical production processes.

The research also shows the sheer urgency of those transformation projects over the last three months, evident in the very significant increase in our professional billing hours to support those initiatives.”

Jason explained: “As some plants restart and others adapt to a new normal, we are seeing a sharp rise in the expansion of digital capabilities so they can improve agility, productivity, efficiency, and ensure the safety and quality of their products, as well as have access to process data while away from the shop floor to ensure social distancing, or when working from home.

A partnership for open automation platform As part of a new agreement Phoenix Contact will license its PLCnext runtime environment to Yaskawa and has agreed upon further joint development. Yaskawa plans to use the PLCnext runtime system in the fields of motion controls and robotics, initially in Europe and the USA. “I am really happy that we are now deepening our longstanding, trusting business relationship even further and expanding our partnership in the field of industrial control technology,” said Bruno Schnekenburger, CEO and president of Yaskawa Europe. Ulrich Leidecker, COO and president of the Industrial Management and Automation Business Area at Phoenix Contact, adds: “The openness of the PLCnext ecosystem enables a large number of providers to offer highly flexible, secure, and modern automation technology. This technology partnership with Yaskawa is a milestone for the automation industry, because the more partners that engage in an open automation ecosystem, the more beneficial it becomes for every single participant.”

PLCnext Technology is the open ecosystem for industrial automation from Phoenix Contact. With a combination of open control technology, modular engineering software, and an online community, this solution allows users to adapt easily to changing demands and to use existing and Control Engineering Europe

future software services efficiently. Featuring a digital marketplace for software and sys-tematic cloud integration, PLCnext Technology is well equipped to face the challenges of the IoT world.

www.controlengeurope.com

October 2020

5

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Android tablet for hazardous areas The Tab-Ex Pro from the Pepperl+Fuchs brand ECOM expands the Tab-Ex series with a 10in Android tablet for Zone 2/22 and Div. 2 hazardous areas. The Tab-Ex Pro’s large display is suited to use in demanding applications and for accessing web-based content. In addition, it allows employees to easily transition from working in the field to working at the office.

The Tab-Ex Pro was developed to keep up with Industry 4.0 and the associated demands on mobile devices.

The new tablet enables customers to meet the challenges of digitalisation while simplifying the way employees work in increasingly complex

environments.

The 10in screen can display and interact with interactive, web-based, and augmented reality content and apps, even in hazardous areas. This

is helpful, for example, when the device is used to call up a construction drawing or to receive instructions for certain work steps. The tablet is lightweight and easy to use despite its large screen and rugged construction.

The Tab-Ex Pro is based on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Active Pro tablet, with features such as Google AR Core, facial recognition, and a Qualcomm SDM670 Octa-Core 64 bit 2.0 GHz, 1.7 GHz processor. Samsung KNOX and Android 9 (with Android 10 planned).

The tablet also supports applications for lone worker protection, which is vital when used in hazardous areas.

EtherNet/IP update for PLC range IDEC Corporation had added EtherNet/IP communications to its MicroSmart FC6A Plus PLC to provide more options to integrate the PLCs with many types of I/O systems and intelligent automation devices.

The FC6A Plus is already expandable to support up to 2,060 I/O, making it well suited for controlling machines or small-scale manufacturing operations. With the addition of industry-standard EtherNet/IP scanner capabilities, the FC6A Plus can now connect with, monitor, and control any I/O, variable

speed drive, motor controls, or other intelligent automation device using this industrial protocol. In addition, the FC6A Plus can be configured as an EtherNet/IP adapter, allowing it to interact with other peer and supervisory systems, such as PLCs and HMIs. Once a new or upgraded FC6A Plus CPU is deployed, Ethernet port 2 can be configured with the EtherNet/IP protocol. This enhanced connectivity gives users new options for architecting their machine and manufacturing operations.

The already flexible FC6A Plus PLC platform can now interact with more industrial automation devices than ever before.

Flow meter offers stability for demanding hydrogen applications Emerson has introduced a new Micro Motion Coriolis flow meter designed for high-pressure hydrogen dispensing and chemical injection applications where measurement accuracy and safety are essential.

The Micro Motion Coriolis HPC015 flow meter is capable of a flow accuracy margin of 0.5% for gas and 0.1% for liquid mass flow measurement. The meter performs under wide pressure and temperature fluctuations, ensuring security and reliability, while onboard diagnostic tools eliminate the need for pre-

6

October 2020

inspections or interim maintenance checks.

One of the main application uses for the HPC015 in accurately measuring the flow of hydrogen gas is to effectively manage costs in large-scale custody transfer applications, such as public transportation systems, where hydrogen fuels are used to power hybrid bus engines.

A second, significant market is in other high-pressure applications such as injecting methanol, corrosion inhibitors and other chemicals downhole at high pressure; an

www.controlengeurope.com

application that poses particular challenges.

The HPC015 is designed to accurately and reliably dose chemicals at pressures up to 1,060 bar to ensure pipeline integrity and avoid events like plugging, which can halt production.

Control Engineering Europe

We bring colour into view!

Compact pressure sensors and switches with 360° custom-colour status display

256 colours Individually selectable: Measurement in progress Sensor switching Process malfunction

15 cm

Compact design

Hygienic adapter system

Adjustment via smartphone

£262 VEGABAR 39 G½"

www.vega.com/vegabar

COVER STORY

sponsored article

ADDRESSING GLOBAL MEGATRENDS WITH SEAMLESS CONNECTIVITY Notwithstanding the current COVID crisis, other megatrends are having, and will have, an even greater effect on the manufacturers of the future. Nigel Dawson from Festo SE & Co KG discusses how these opportunities can be exploited.

Digitalisation: The use of AI, Cloud integration and digital twins are growing. However, for these to be effective, there first needs to be creation and transportation of big data. Festo recognises this requirement and has recently released a larger connectivity portfolio to assist customers.

The new Simplified Motion Series (SMS) incorporates IO-Link in a drive/ motor/actuator combination that is as simple to use as a pneumatic cylinder.

The system guarantees diagnostic and control data can be connected from the workpiece all the way to the cloud.

Unlike a pneumatic cylinder, constant position data, power and diagnostics can be analysed and communicated.

To connect the IO-Link actuator to the PLC, the new Remote IO system from Festo, CPX-AP-I, incorporates both IO-Link and the new Automation Platform (AP) protocol. The speed of this system at 200Mbaud, allows a huge amount of data to be transported, and the ability to separate cyclic and big data ensures application logic remains unaffected even when transporting big data. In addition, the system allows smart functions like cable quality monitoring. These systems offer seamless connectivity to many PLCs by covering the major networks like Profinet, EtherCAT and EtherNet/IP and even incorporate pneumatic Valve Terminals ensuring data capture from the solenoid valves.

Individualisation: Consumer demand for customised products leads to increased individualised production right down to lot size one but with the need to do this cost effectively. For this, the SMS electric actuator series allows adjustable forces

8

October 2020

and stroke lengths to increase flexibility and batch changes. Festo’s new range of servo drives and motors (CMMT/EMMT) offer seamless connectivity across all leading networks. Additionally, as Europe’s leading electromechanical axis supplier, mechanical connectivity, allows easy and flexible high-performance motion. Combined with the soft motion enabled motion controller and the IoT gateway from Festo, high performance linear motion can be both controlled and diagnosed from the cloud.

The IoT gateway from Festo allows secure communication both from and to the cloud. This ensures that custom batch sizes and product information can be communicated seamlessly from customer orders to the machine.

Climate change: In industrial automation it is no secret that pneumatic motion is considered less efficient than electric motion. However, this is not always true – in many vertical applications the power consumed by pneumatics is less than that of electric motion.

Festo combats this challenge by being technology neutral. By offering both electrical and pneumatic motion in portfolios of control and actuators complete with online tools for selection, customers can choose the optimum product for the application.

Both portfolios combine the same connectivity through the IoT gateway to the cloud, allowing customers to monitor the energy consumption of their entire machine.

The CMMT range of servo drives from Festo offer the same connectivity and control architecture from 24v DC to 415v AC. This ensures that the energy efficiency of the application

www.controlengeurope.com

can be optimised with a mix and match approach to drive selection.

Low voltage and extra low voltage drives can be combined in the same application and connected in the same way. Many servo drives in automation are oversized, increasing costs and power consumption, this approach from Festo solves this challenge.

CMMT Servo drives offer seamless connectivity in all power classes.

CPX-AP-I remote IO system with IO-Link and pneumatic integration.

EPCE, Just one of the 7 types of actuator in the SMS range.

Control Engineering Europe

The Open Road to Autonomy The road to industrial autonomy is open and variable, offering myriad choices for operational excellence.

Whether your company is at the start of its journey or well on its way, Yokogawa enables smooth transition from industrial automation to industrial autonomy — IA2IA. Key to that transition is OpreX, our evolving suite of solutions and products comprising control, measurement, execution, and lifecycle that will help customers optimize everything from business management to operations.

Yokogawa. Advancing your IA2IA.

yokogawa.com/oprex/ The names of corporations, organizations, products, services and logos herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Yokogawa Electric Corporation or their respective holders.

FOCUS ON DIGITALISATION

CHALLENGING TIMES SPARK DIGITALISATION PUSH Tim Faulkner believes that the challenges posed by 2020 have resulted in greater determination from many manufacturers to start their digital journey to ensure they remain competitive.

S

o far 2020 has thrown us some very unexpected challenges which has resulted in many manufacturers now taking up the digitalisation gauntlet in a bid to help them build a more resilient and successful future by tailoring solutions to meet customers’ needs, driving efficiency through connected services and enabling automation of many low value-added tasks.

In times of economic downturn and rapid change resilience is key. It is critical to rethink business models and find flexible solutions. Relayr has seen an increasing push to connect assets as the benefit of remote monitoring and digitally enabled services has become more evident, in particular by equipment manufacturers and service organisations. There is also evidence of an emerging interest in the use of robots and automated guided vehicles (AGV) to improve working conditions in large facilities and distribution centres.

However, digitalisation for equipment manufacturers is not easy as it is not just about the introduction of an online ordering system or virtual meeting software. It goes deeper into the DNA of the organisation and implies a transformation. Careful consideration of the scale and scope of operations in the prevalent trading conditions is necessary.

Generally speaking, those industries closer to end customers and under most pressure – such as retail, electronic and automotive – have adapted to the changing industrial landscape faster due to business need and an existing digital maturity level.

Digitalisation in the industrial

10

October 2020

space can introduce operational improvements with smart manufacturing projects. These investments need to be reviewed carefully within an environment where operational efficiency has long been monitored and honed. Digital technologies can be used as an enabler for building new revenue streams and increasing profit margins.

Project acceleration Since the onset of the Covid-19, relayr has seen an acceleration of digital projects by some customers. In one case, a customer was forced to shut down operations which gave them the bandwidth to engage in planning a stronger future. On the flip side, not every business has the luxury to plan ahead, so we have also seen some projects at an early stage put on hold.

Will companies get back to

www.controlengeurope.com

digitalisation when we get back to ‘business as usual’? We fully expect so, hopefully with greater clarity of purpose and added impetus. More businesses will consider a digital platform as a path to building a recurring revenue base which is more resilient in downturns, offers added value, customer intimacy and increased wallet share.

Manufacturers can expand their services and reach new markets by moving away from the limitations of the capital expenditures (CAPEX) model. Switching to operating expenses (OPEX) offers greater flexibility and scalability. OPEX decreases costs in maintenance and servicing, increases revenue streams, and builds stronger customer engagement. !.

Tim Faulkner is director of sales EMEA at relayr.

Control Engineering Europe

Servo drive package

Simply very functional!

You want easy and seamless connectivity?

You are looking for lasting and compatible concepts?

We connect the present to the future.

Complete servo drive package with seamless connectivity Dynamic movement and precise positioning, whether point-to-point or interpolating. That is why the servo drives CMMT-AS and servo motors EMMT-AS are fully integrated into the control concepts of third-party manufacturers or directly connected to the CPX-E from Festo. And with the initial commissioning wizard of the Festo Automation Suite, the drive www.festo.com/cmmt

FOCUS ON DIGITALISATION

DIGITALISATION: WHERE ARE WE NOW? Suzanne Gill looks at the effect that the current global pandemic has had on the manufacturing digitalisation journey.

T

he impact of the global pandemic on the speed of digital transformation is still not yet quantifiable and it is difficult to estimate the timelines that will be needed for companies to either integrate digitalisation projects or enhance existing business optimisation strategies to take account of what is an ever-changing industrial landscape.

However, Mike Britchfield, vice president of sales EMEA at Analog Devices, points out that Covid-19 has brought the need for digital transformation into much sharper focus, and there is already an increased understanding of why the digital mindset is a minimal requirement.

He said: “Covid-19 has made business leaders aware that both existing and ongoing digitalisation projects should be a priority, and what was deemed to be ‘digital first’ is now arguably ‘digital only’. A transition to smart manufacturing through next-generation technology – such as industrial robotics, advanced connectivity, condition-based monitoring and other associated digital technologies – is a regular talking point with our customers.”

Brichfield goes on to point out that it is likely that the effects of the pandemic have already cleared the pathway to industry’s digital transformation.

“Companies that acknowledge and accept that digitalisation and datadriven processes are the way to succeed and grow will be the winners in the post-pandemic society,” he said. Time will tell how the industrial sector adapts to enforced changes, such as social distancing in factories, and the companies that make themselves both flexible and more digitally resilient will be better equipped to deal with any future disruptions.

12

October 2020

“The increased adoption of remote working demonstrates the need for a faster communications structure.

Going forward, those organisations that do not have access to digital business optimization tools are likely to struggle as they seek to optimise their operations and meet growing customer expectations,” concluded Brichfield.

Necessary acceleration Jason Urso, vice president and chief technology officer at Honeywell Process Solutions, also believes that the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation initiatives – out of necessity. He said: “The onset of the current challenging climate had customers asking some very fundamental questions to foster the health and safety of their employees while also maintaining business continuity.”

Typical questions asked of Honeywell by its manufacturing end-user customers have included: • How can we operate safely with fewer people on site in order to comply with government and HSE requirements?

• How can we continue to move forward with capital projects without having people travel to project

www.controlengeurope.com

locations?

• How can we service our equipment to ensure it continues to operate without requiring staff to visit the site?

According to Urso, the answer to these questions is to make more extensive use of technology including remote project; remote operations and remote service capability, intelligent wearables and predictive diagnostics.

“The present demanding scenario has created an environment where new digital technologies are necessary to maintain business continuity and safety,” he continued. “In doing so, it is demonstrating that new digital technologies can be employed with efficiency advantages when we move beyond these challenging times.

We work in a conservative industry, with good reason given the safety implications of issues in process plants, so change often comes at a very measured pace. With the rapid adoption of new technology during this period, we are also accelerating benefits that might not have been realised for many years.”

Ultimately, Urso believes that digitalisation needs to focus on delivering new value for customers – helping them improve throughput Control Engineering Europe

> p14

HMIs

Advertisement feature

THE HMI OF THE FUTURE

I

n the 80s, human-machine interfaces were designed to help operators transition from directly controlling machines to a more supervisory role over shop-floor equipment. The aforementioned change came with advancements in equipment technology and the need to optimize industrial processes through automation.

By 2011, Industrie 4.0, which defined interconnected cyber-physical systems, had been introduced. The disruption that came with interconnected equipment led to the sharing of data across multiple machines and devices on the shop floor, with a centralized computing system in the mix. The centralized computing system provided enough capacity for storing machine data and handling computing resources for data analytics.

The interconnected cyber-physical system also meant the days of humans reading simplistic machine data from stand-alone equipment using HMIs had come to an end. That era was replaced by a new age in which humans are expected to communicate with both stand-alone equipment and the interconnected pieces of equipment within a system. So, HMIs must be capable of providing the data collected from an interconnected system using formats humans understand.

Examples include aggregating shop-floor data and data processing while serving as a friendship node that can transfer data packets to individual pieces of equipment within an interconnected network. The HMI of the future is expected to be an edge computing device with the ability to process data at the edge while presenting complex machine data in a language humans understand. The HMI hardware must also be able to function optimally in harsh industrial environments such as the manufacturing industry. The multiple functions expected of the next generation of HMIs will lead to an evolution from a supervisory role over individual machines to remote monitoring, safety, and management solutions for interconnected cyber-physical systems.

Control Engineering Europe

“It is a magical piece of engineering. It communicates edge to cloud across 200 protocols. It has the power to manage real-time analytics. You can use it with or without display, with gloves in the harshest or cleanest of environments. Performance faster than you can say HMI. It defines the positive correlation between aesthetics and usability. In summary, it is your new gateway to digitalisation.”

The interconnected cyber-physical systems that define Industrie 4.0 also consist of IoT and edge devices, the inclusion of which will facilitate the decentralization of data-processing tasks from a centralized location. The centralized location in this case could either be the cloud or an on-premise computing platform.

The decentralized computing that the edge brings ensures independent actions from devices and equipment on the shop floor which holds the key to unlocking Industrie 4.0. Edge computing also provides the needed support to achieve near real-time automation for Industrie 4.0 applications. An example is the material handling robot used within smart facilities. Such robots serve as edge devices because they are equipped with enough computing resources to make decisions in real-time when navigating the shop floor.

In the above example, the robots make use of only the data they require to function optimally while either discarding other supposedly irrelevant data sets or sending them to the cloud. Today’s HMIs

www.controlengeurope.com

are expected to follow the decentralized templates of edge devices with an additional feature. Unlike the robot, the HMI also interfaces with humans in realtime to ensure the operator understands the ongoing operations within a network of devices or machines.

The decentralized nature of computing HMIs will also leverage cloud computing to handle more complex tasks. HMIs will have the power to juxtapose communication between the edge and the cloud which will simplify Industrie 4.0 Implementations and deliver real-time data analytics to the factory floor.

High compute, edge devices or HMIs are the last part of the jigsaw puzzle to permit the full implementation of Industrie 4.0 benefits. Advancements in technology mean the next HMI will do more than just provide you with a means to control shop-floor equipment. HMIs will be durable and dynamic in terms of the Industrie 4.0 models they can be applied to, making them an integral part of every smart manufacturing or industrial process. !. exorint.com October 2020

13

FOCUS ON DIGITALISATION and quality; improving uptime and utilisation; and improving efficiency as well as safety. There are a myriad of technologies that can play an important role in these areas.

Offering examples Urso cites: • Remote project execution: Utilising technology to engineer, test and deliver a project remotely by harnessing digital representations of the plant equipment, process and automation system.

• Remote operations: Allowing operations to be monitored and even controlled from remote locations with an elevated degree of cybersecurity.

• Remote service: Applying proactive analytics to identify fault conditions that can lead to unplanned downtime; Preparing to address an equipment issue by providing immersive training in a virtual reality environment: and flawlessly carrying out the operation using intelligent wearables supported by remote experts.

What’s it about?

Looking more closely at the issues relating to digital transformation, Shahin Meah, senior director, digital transformation and lifecycle services, Europe at Emerson, said: “Digital transformation is about automating manual tasks, enabling access to information, using analytics to drive decision-making and upskilling workforces. However, it is not just about installing new technology such Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions. True digital transformation happens when real change is effected within an organisation. This is sparked by rethinking and optimising processes and by empowering personnel with the knowledge and tools to do their jobs more effectively from anywhere.

When this happens, companies can achieve measurable performance improvements in areas such as production optimisation, reliability, safety and sustainability.”

Digital technologies have been deployed for some time to enable remote monitoring of equipment and

14

October 2020

Digital data can help enable process operations, maintenance and plant workers to more quickly and easily take corrective actions.

processes in dangerous and remote environments. While no one expected that they would be needed to help cope with the effects of a healthcare crisis, these tools have enabled tasks to be completed remotely to keep essential facilities operational, while also protecting workers. “Companies have been forced to adopt newer, better and more productive methods, including remote and virtual technology tools.

These same tools are now helping keep employees socially distanced from each other although, that may not have been their initial intention. Having rethought how tasks can be completed and implemented, there will be no turning back,” said Meah.

“The implementation of easy-toinstall wireless sensors has removed the need to send workers into the field to gather data or inspect equipment, exposing them to dangerous situations. A good example of this is advanced wireless corrosion sensors that continuously monitor for pipework metal loss from corrosion or erosion, eliminating manual rounds with hand-held instruments. As well as improving worker safety, data from these sensors can power more sophisticated analytics that improves decision-making and ultimately profitability. Data can even be securely monitored by experts remotely with a connected service, allowing for

www.controlengeurope.com

complete outsourcing.

“Digital transformation is also helping to better coordinate resources required to respond to problems within a processing plant,” continued Meah. “Process upsets or equipment malfunctions require multiple disciplines to determine implications for health, safety and the environment, impact on production, availability of spare parts and skilled personnel and work permits. Digital collaboration tools, capitalising on new sensor data and technologies like augmented reality, enable collaboration to occur literally anywhere. At the start of the pandemic with worldwide lockdowns, the ability to continue supporting customers remotely could not have been more important and in some cases even critical to continuing safe operations.”

Digital twins Meah highlighted the role of digital twins in helping connect experts with operations, regardless of location and enabling a range of virtual interactions that reduce the need for site visits. “With automation system configurations specific to the end user hosted in the cloud, engineers from anywhere in the world can perform programming and configuration work, and engineers and manufacturers can test the final system together Control Engineering Europe

FOCUS ON DIGITALISATION from wherever is convenient. Digital twins also allow operators to train on a completely virtual process. The layout of the facility can be modelled using a 3D virtual reality simulation, eliminating travel to the actual facility to train on field procedures.

In addition, real time analytics and machine learning application can enhance the digital twin application to provide valuable insights enabling our customers to make critical decisions that lead to improved business performance and profitability.”

New solutions With the outcome of the pandemic still uncertain it should come as no surprise that industry is looking to technology for new solutions. Keith Tilley, CEO, Intoware, believes that for this reason digital has now come of age. He said: “Process industries are increasingly looking to drive digitalisation, but face their own challenges. They can very rarely or never turn their operations off!

They need to meet production targets, reduce costs and improve quality. In addition to this, they are required to meet rigorous safety regulations.

Digital data can help enable operations, maintenance and plant workers to more quickly and easily take corrective

action to avoid any downtime and help streamline operations.”

However, Tilley points out that, despite digitalisation becoming the ‘new normal’ in some industries, process manufacturing still lags behind, as many rely instead on out of date production processes based on old, or no longer fully understood knowledge. He said: “Typically, data is recorded but scattered in silos, which makes it difficult to access and pass freely between systems preventing the possibility of better, collaborative working. This means that if a change in material specification is needed, then it is difficult to implement, preventing the plant from being fully optimised.”

The challenge faced by manufacturers is a reliance on spreadsheets, word documents or even paper to complete tasks as this fails to offer the granularity that can be gained by digitising operations.

“Imagine being able to see how long each task really takes; taking photos or videos to record information in realtime; accessing a process by scanning a barcode or calling for live-help if things need attention – all through a mobile device or headset. Then being able to keep that process up to date simply, knowing that all those who use

it are working to the new process,” said Tilley.

Offering an example Tilley cites Bayer Pharmaceuticals which is deploying Intoware WorkfloPlus workflow automation platform with HMT-1 headsets to streamline production changeovers.

Because regular cleaning and changeovers between each batch is required, WorkfloPlus allows this procedure to be undertaken in a constant and timely manner, to help minimise any unnecessary downtime for greater cost efficiency, while at the same time it provides a thorough audit check that a manual ‘tick-list’ could never deliver.

Conclusion Ultimately, it would appear that the integration of digital transformation and associated strategies is now not a matter of if, but of when. There is agreement that the current pandemic has simply increased the rate of digital transformation within the industry and the adoption of digital mindset. As such, the organisations that continue to acknowledge and accept digitalisation will be the ones that emerge as winners in a post-covid world. !.

Digitalisation benefits during a pandemic Philip Harting, CEO of the HARTING Technology Group talks about the company’s own personal experience of digitalisation.

I believe that the global coronavirus pandemic has acted as a catalyst, triggering a huge acceleration of digital communication.

Before the coronavirus crisis, the construction of our European Distribution Center in Espelkamp paved the way for integration of digital products and services to ensure optimum logistics processes and maximum automation on all levels.

Then came the pandemic – and showed us how everything we take for granted can be changed in an instant in the face of extreme challenges. The coronavirus crisis highlighted just how fragile the value chain can be at the interface to customers, namely in the provision of goods. Some of our customers had to close their production sites, rendering deliveries virtually impossible.

Control Engineering Europe

A number of years ago, we set about gradually increasing our global footprint. Our motto was: ‘Producing in the region for the region’ and our manufacturing operations are always local.

This is also our approach with regard to our local supply chains – a strategy which proved to be a successful in the pandemic.

Although we have a regional focus, we simultaneously work on identical production and logistics processes worldwide. So, if we successfully optimised production in Mexico, then we would also implement this in other regions too. Digitalisation is the foundation for this – and enables us to combine regionalisation with an international focus. This data is what links our regional production plants with one another within one network.

For me, supply chains and the division of work continue to be international. And the tie that binds is no longer the workforce, but digitalisation.

www.controlengeurope.com

October 2020

15

DRIVES & MOTORS

SLOTLESS VERSUS SLOTTED BRUSHLESS DC MOTORS

Brushless DC motors are the technology of choice for applications operating at higher speeds. However two different motor architectures can present a selection conundrum, says Madhavan Ramanujam and Cyril Baud.

T

he last decade has seen a growing acceptance of brushless DC motors as an alternative to brushed DC motors for applications requiring combinations of high speed (above 12,000 rpm) and long operating life. There are trade-offs, of course: Coreless brush commutated motors offer simple control and free from cogging, while the complexity of construction of brushless DC motors mean the cost is higher.

For many applications, the choice between the two is clear, but for others – where the requirements sit uncomfortably between the performance limitations of each technology – the decision is more difficult and frequently involves a design compromise.

The conventional brushless DC (BLDC) motor is a slotted design – the coils are wound within slots around the stator. With a slotless design the coil is wound in a separate external operation and is then inserted directly into the air gap during motor assembly.

Slotless BLDC motors can be made smaller in size. In slotted BLDC motors, the presence of stator teeth prevents the overall size of the motor from being minimised. Moreover, the

Slotted versus slotless technology.

16

October 2020

winding process becomes progressively more difficult as the motor size is reduced. In contrast, the slotless BLDC motor has either skewed or axial type windings fixed on the cylindrical stator iron core, enabling size to be more readily reduced. The slotless design also has a cost advantage through reduced complexity and a stator core that is easier to manufacture.

Performance considerations In the early days of slotless BLDC motor design, the power density was lower than for an equivalent slotted motor.

However, the emergence of high energy permanent magnets and their alternative magnetisation arrangements has closed the performance gap.

Slotted BLDC motors are less able to employ high energy magnets because the thicker teeth required to increase the magnetic loading of the motor has the effect of reducing the slot area and thus the decreased electric loading of the motor.

However, the slotted BLDC motor can still offer higher torque than the slotless design as the slotted design can handle higher temperatures, allowing more torque generation. But, due to the saturation of the magnetic circuit during overloading operation, the motor torque is reduced whereas an absence of teeth in the slotless design has no magnetic saturation and therefore offers better overloading.

Another performance consideration is operation at high speed. While

www.controlengeurope.com

both designs can operate at far higher speeds than brushed DC motors, slotted and slotless designs have different characteristics at elevated speeds. To obtain mechanical stabilisation under high speed operation (from 40,000 to 60,000 rpm), usually the slotless rotor has a two-pole permanent magnet design. In addition, the stator core losses are restricted to an acceptable range while the motor operates at high speed thanks to the large air gap. Core losses are relatively small due to its slotless stator structure and therefore offers high power density.

Slotless offers low inductance which introduces a motion controls challenge.

Low inductance results in higher motor losses if pulse width modulation (PWM) control is applied. Controls with higher switching frequency (80 – 100kHz) or series compensation inductors can be used to mitigate the low inductance issue.

With these characteristics, the different brushless DC motor technologies lend themselves to different applications. Slotted BLDC motors are suitable for applications such as electric vehicles or home appliances where a higher number of poles is required and where ultimate size is less of an issue. They are also preferred in harsh environments as the coil in a slotted design is easier to protect and is mechanically held by stator teeth. On the other hand, when high speed and a small size are required, for example in medical devices or portable industrial tools, slotless BLDC motors can offer the best solution. !.

Madhavan Ramanujam is R&D technologist at Portescap and Cyril Baud is R&D manager at Portescap.

Control Engineering Europe

UK INDUSTRY NEWS

GOVERNMENT INVESTS IN MANUFACTURING MADE SMARTER The UK government will be investing £147m in the Manufacturing Made Smarter challenge to transform UK manufacturing capabilities through the development and adoption of Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs).

The aim of this investment is to raise productivity by 30%, accelerate the drive to Net Zero emissions, create thousands of highly skilled jobs and allow the UK to shape the future of manufacturing.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through Innovate UK, the government’s innovation agency, has already awarded the challenge its first investment package of £20 million to 14 innovative projects in Round 1, comprising over 70 consortia partners in a competition to transform the productivity and agility of UK manufacturing.

Winning projects include ‘Smart Connected Shop Floor – real-time data integration with multi-sector applicability’.

GKN Aerospace is heading up a cross-sector team involving organisations from the aerospace, automotive, and pharmaceutical industries to trial a combination of digital technologies in live manufacturing environments.

These include artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, intelligent robots, augmented reality, and ‘smart’ devices that can exchange information between old and modern computer systems to enable a greater understanding of the data. This project will create a more seamless flow of real-time information, enabling cost-effective manufacturing decisions across the supply chain.

The projects include concepts such as digital twin, additive manufacturing, and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) with

technologies spanning four key themes – smart connected factories, connected supply chains, flexible manufacturing operations, and design make and test.

Commenting on the news, Hamid Mughal, Manufacturing Made Smarter Industrial Advisory Group chair said: “We have tremendous manufacturing capability in the UK and recent events have reinforced the importance of strengthening this sector for national resilience and economic growth. Rapid advances in digital and disruptive manufacturing technologies provide us with an opportunity to shape this outcome. By harnessing the potential of this technology, we will be able to make a transformational improvement in productivity, sustainability and global competitiveness and create new products and services that forge modern digital enterprises.

This programme is a key step forward as it will help UK manufacturing companies to jointly address this challenge and develop cost-effective digital solutions for deployment in our Manufacturing Sector.”

WHETTING YOUR APPETITE FOR ENGINEERING! On 15th October, an online event will bring together a panel of food industry engineering professionals to discuss the lessons that the food industry can learn from the events of the ongoing pandemic, and will consider how food industry engineers might start to move forward with successful automation projects to deliver productivity

and efficiency improvements and ensure greater production resilience.

Join the discussion to gain a better understanding of how to get started with automation projects in food processing that drive productivity, profitability and production resilience in a post-covid world.

To find out more go to: bit.ly/3c2R9s3

UK GETS A SECOND PROFIBUS AND PROFINET COMPETENCY CENTRE PIUK has announced that Control Specialists has been appointed as a PROFIBUS and PROFINET International Competency Centre (PICC).

This comes in recognition of its consultancy and technical support skills developed over a number of years as a PROFIBUS and PROFINET International Training Centre (PITC).

PI Competence Centers (PICCs) are centres of technical Control Engineering UK

expertise that work closely with the regional PI Associations.

They offer technical support to anyone who needs it and perform an essential role in supporting first-time developers of PROFIBUS and PROFINET devices and systems.

PICCs are governed by ‘Quality of Services’ Agreements administered by PI to ensure the technical excellence of the service they deliver. Currently, there are 60 PICCs worldwide.

www.controlengeurope.com

October 2020

UK1

FOOD INDUSTRY FOCUS

AUTOMATED SANDWICH STACKING SOLUTION Find out how and why a sandwich producer has successfully integrated robots into its sandwich production line.

S

imple automation solutions can give some manufacturers the boost needed to increase production and product consistency. However, food manufacturing often poses a more complex application which may require intelligent, flexible robotic solutions that are able to adapt to product variation.

In the case of one large-scale sandwich producer, growing production demands, coupled with a labour shortage, provided the motivation it needed to look for a better solution to solve its need for high-speed sandwich stacking.

TechBrew Robotics, a Kawasaki Robotics preferred integrator based in Canada, was able to provide an automated solution, designing a customised solution using Kawasaki’s R series robots and F60 controller.

After the sandwiches are halved in the cutting machine, the robots need to pick up and rotate to stack one half on top of the other, making them easier for human workers to package manually further down the line. This application was tricky to automate for a number of reasons – the sandwich halves vary in their position as they come out of the cutting machine, so the robot would need some sort of vision intelligence to recognise and understand the location of each half on the conveyor, all at very high speeds.

The robot solution needed to be integrated into the existing production line, which required creative use of limited space. To this end, the R series robots were inversely mounted on a cantilever beam attached to the cutting machine. The compact size of the F60 controller made it possible to save more space by stacking them on top of the sandwich cutting machine itself.

UK2

October 2020

To maximise throughput, the robots face outward, stacking sandwiches on two different conveyors which are running simultaneously. There are many variables in this application, so TechBrew used a laser range finding system coupled with conveyor tracking to detect the shape and location of the sandwich halves as they emerge from the cutting machine. Once the sandwich halves have been stacked, they travel down the conveyor where human workers are waiting to pack the sandwiches into triangular cardboard boxes.

TechBrew designed a custom gripper specifically for this application. The pneumatic end effector is controlled directly by the controller, allowing for quick movements. A controllable pressure plate comes down to hold the product in place as two stainless steel paddles slide under the sandwich half to lift it. Once lifted, the actuator spins the sandwich half through 180°, and force dampers at the end of the rotation keep the sandwich and its ingredients intact.

Easy programming It was possible to program the application directly on the robot, without the need for a co-processor – which reduced costs and simplified the installation. The Kawasaki F60 controller’s high processing speed handled real-time scanning and data analysis on the sandwich halves, and output the robot coordinates in under 200 milliseconds, while processing a queue of sandwiches at a rate of 60 per minute. The entire sandwich stacking process takes just 800 milliseconds Obviously TechBrew had to consider national food safety regulations when designing this solution, and in this case it used the cleanroom version of Kawasaki’s 5 kg payload RS005L general purpose robot. As standard it offers a pressurised cavity, ISO Class 5 cleanroom specification, and comes with an aluminium arm cover, rubber outer seals and a chemical resistant epoxy paint finish for easy wash down. The patent-pending end effector’s tool-less design makes it easy to disassemble for cleaning purposes, and it is constructed with stainless steel and food-grade plastic. !

In order to save space in a sandwich stacking application, twin Kawasaki R Series robots were mounted inboard of the conveyors carrying the sandwich halves which need positioning.

www.controlengeurope.com

Control Engineering UK

| AT11-18E |

The distributed one cable servo system: AMP8000

www.beckhoff.co.uk/amp8000 As a specialist for PC-based control technology and one cable automation, Beckhoff enables substantial control cabinet minimization with the distributed servo drive system AMP8000. With a servo drive directly integrated into the servomotor, AMP8000 allows the supply of several distributed servo drives with virtually unchanged power ratings* and installation sizes via the one cable solution EtherCAT P, which combines communication and power supply on one standard cable. Space requirements, installation effort, material costs and footprint are significantly reduced. sizes remain almost identical to the AM8000 servomotors no changes in existing machine designs required same high power ratings as before despite power integration* *Compared with a combination of servo drive and servomotor

NEW PRODUCTS

High-performance handheld Time of flight barcode readers sensors with Cognex has launched the DataMan 8700 series of handheld barcode readers which require no tuning or operator training.

Featuring advanced image formation and quick processing, the 8700 Series can is able to instantly read challenging direct part mark (DPM) and label-based codes, even when vital elements of the code are missing or damaged. Designed with oilresistant and waterproof plastics, the readers are suited to use even in harsh manufacturing environments.

The new readers include built-in OLED display screens to enable quick setup

IO-Link communication

and operator feedback, such as wireless signal strength, read string data, and remaining battery life. They also support a broad range of industrial protocols and wireless communication options

MODBUS transmitter with dual universal inputs The new TMZ PC-Programmable MODBUS Transmitter from Moore Industries features dual universal input channels.

The TMZ Dual Universal Input (2PRG) model accepts most industry standard current, voltage, RTD and thermocouple type sensors along with resistance and potentiometer inputs. It allows users to increase density and reduce costs by doubling monitoring capability in a single unit.

Up to 32 Dual Universal Input TMZs can be multi-dropped onto a single low-cost communication link (such as a twisted wire pair) without repeaters, eliminating the need to run a dedicated wire for each signal. Installing dual channel TMZs in a multidrop network provides increased sensor density and delivers significant savings on installation, cable, conduit, connection, and wire tray costs.

Easy to assemble RJ interface The RJ Industrial MultiFeature series, is an RJ industrial interface from HARTING which is said to be easier to assemble in the field as it no longer requires the use of a separate tool.

As the classic RJ45 was developed for telecommunications, it did not always meet the demands of the industrial sector. The HARTING RJ Industrial MultiFeature series is designed to resist all the difficulties posed by harsh

UK4

October 2020

environments. Safe Cat. 6A performance and IP20 and IP65/67 housing paired with PoE power supply variants IEEE802.3af (PoE 15.4W) / IEEE802.3at (PoE 25.5W) / IEEE802.3bt (PoE 100W) provides data and power for every device.

The robust metal housing provides a reliable Ethernet connection and is designed for use in industrial applications.

www.controlengeurope.com

Carlo Gavazzi has launched the latest LD30 Sensors with both ToF (time of flight) and IO-Link communication in the same sensor providing greater flexibility to detect any object, any colour, any material or surface types at a distance of up to 1,000mm.

The sensor can be operated in IO-Link mode once connected to an IO-Link master or in standard I/O mode and offers adjustable parameters via the IO-Link interface such as sensing an adjustable sensing distance of 50 to 1,000mm, either by potentiometer or via IO-Link where the analogue distance value between sensor and object is readable.

The LD30 output can be operated either as a standard switching output or in IO-Link mode and is fully configurable via IO-Link output. Electrical outputs can be configured as PNP/NPN/Push-pull/ external input normally open or closed whilst the timer functions can be set as On-delay, Off-delay and one shot or trailing edge with timing values from 1ms up to 32,767 min.

Logging functions such as temperature, detecting counter, power cycles and operating hours as well as single point, two point and windows mode, Logic functions such as AND, OR, XOR and Gated SR-FF all come as standard mode.

Control Engineering UK

CYBERSECURITY

THE OPTIMAL ROUTE TO SMART MANUFACTURING? Emilie Lerche Fenger and Marco Zampolli explain the importance of a cybersecurity strategy in digital plants.

A

s adoption of Industry 4.0 continues to grow and the requirement for remote maintenance and third-party access management systems increases, so does the need for cybersecurity solutions which address both operational technology (OT) and IT requirements – to minimise the risk of unplanned downtime.

Remote maintenance solutions for the industrial automation sector have over the past decade shown their worth through savings in travel costs and more responsive, optimised support from the machine providers’ service engineers.

In recent years, the increased productivity and competitiveness resulting from the use of these remote services have become more evident and remote maintenance has become a key driver for many Industry 4.0 initiatives.

Remote maintenance implies use of the Internet, and the term Internet of Things (IoT) has become an important topic when planning and implementing industrial control system (ICS) strategies. Today it is not unique to OT departments, but also involves IT departments due to the cybersecurity implications. In fact, the OT department now typically has much broader responsibility around security, where in the past, the dominating topic was safety. Within the area of security, the focus has shifted from primarily handling authentication, to the delivery of robust systems for authorisation management.

Harnessing IIoT Harnessing the true capability of Industrial IoT relies on the collaboration of experts in each domain. When it comes to secure remote access, a key phrase to consider is ‘With great power Control Engineering Europe

comes great responsibility’. End-users expect state-of-the-art technology to be paired with reliability: not only from the hardware perspective but also in the area of factory transformation. Remote connection is one of many areas where collaboration with innovative partners is delivering significant value for customers.

So, what should a company considering a remote access solution or third-party access management system look for to ensure the required degree of cybersecurity? Firstly, the remote connections of both clients and IoT devices should be based on a solid, secure authentication design that must be able to prevent what is known as ‘Man-in-the-middle’ attacks.

Secondly, any solution considered should be both security and Industry 4.0 certified and should be regularly audited by external security experts.

The solution should also have both ‘two-factor authentication’ and a user access management system where the owner can centrally control and authorise who has access to what equipment when and for how long, while concurrently logging all activity for access auditing.

It is wise to be wary of traditional VPN tunnel solutions, based on OpenVPN

www.controlengeurope.com

or IPSec. These VPN technologies are designed for providing full network access between two remote networks.

However, this does not meet the IT security requirements of the modern factory. Solutions such as the Secomea Relay VPN are now available, which address the security and usability requirements of linking service engineers with industrial equipment. This type of solution also has the ability to provide access to only specific IP addresses and services, without having to configure firewall rules, and can be used with either a Cloud-based or private M2M server.

Cybersecurity is a vital consideration in the modern factory, and all individuals must be aware of it and ensure it is properly implemented. Any laxity in this area can create a point of failure in the whole structure – something that no factory can afford. Implementing a solution which is simple to use for non-IT specialists is a massive step towards minimising cybersecurity risks resulting from human error, and so securing uninterrupted production and maintaining competitive advantage. !.

Emilie Lerche Fenger is from Secomea and Marco Zampolli is from Advantech Europe B.V. October 2020

17

SCADA & HMIS

INDEPENDENT SCADA AS A TOOL FOR INTEGRATION Martyn Williams explains the role of SCADA in smart factories and argues that hardware-independent software is essential for making the transition to Industry 4.0.

W

hile ‘smart factories’ have become a buzzword of modern manufacturing, according to the Annual Manufacturing Report just 15% of UK manufacturers are using widespread digitalisation.

The structure of a smart factory can include a combination of production, data and communication technologies, with the potential for integration across the entire manufacturing supply chain.

An integral part of the smart factory concept is the ability to collect data.

Vibration sensors, for example, can provide warnings when equipment needs to be maintained, while integrated automation software allows control engineers to collect this data for it to be analysed and ensure the correct decisions are made. This prevents production problems, such as unplanned downtime and the manufacturing of inadequate products.

Data integrity The goal of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software systems is to ensure that industrial organisations can better process data, to make smarter decisions and communicate system issues more efficiently. The SCADA architecture begins with programmable logic controllers (PLCs) or remote terminal units (RTUs) which communicate with a range of objects such as factory machines, human machine interfaces (HMIs), sensors and end devices. These communications and data are then routed from this equipment to the computers equipped with SCADA software.

The pharmaceutical industry offers a

18

October 2020

Data integrity is vital within the pharmaceutical industry to ensure product safety.

good example of this process in action, where an emphasis on data integrity is vital to guarantee the safety of the product being manufactured.

While the pharmaceutical industry has been slow to transition to traditional industrial automation software it is implementing SCADA software to ensure that production processes, documentation and sampling become more digitalised. This helps reduce human error and tackles problems like data manipulation.

Digital records automatically track the actions at each stage of the pharmaceutical manufacturing process, which makes data manipulation impossible. This is because HMI/PLC SCADA software automatically logs any critical event and prevents any gaps in the records, which improves data accuracy. Through SCADA software, plant operators can also set alarms or notifications whenever predefined values exceed set parameters.

This ensures that any deviation in the industrial automation process is identified in real-time.

www.controlengeurope.com

Easy integration The successful integration of SCADA software should be simple. Contrary to what some believe, the process does not require a complete equipment overhaul if platform independent software is chosen.

In an industrial environment, ‘hardware-independent software’ describes software that can be implemented into any industrial automation system, regardless of the hardware used in the facility.

Independent software can be integrated seamlessly into any device within the factory, irrespective of the age or manufacturer of the equipment.

So, although just 15% of manufacturers are using widespread digitalisation in their processes, the transition is made simple with the integration of independent software, like SCADA. Not only does it ensure data integrity in critical industries, but it makes factory digitalisation a reality without requiring an equipment overhaul. !.

Martyn Williams is managing director at COPA-DATA UK. Control Engineering Europe

SCADA & HMIS

SCADA solution helps Network Rail achieve a digital transformation As part of its plan to modernise and consolidate its electric power control network telent Technology was contracted to develop a single national SCADA network.

This system – which is based on Codra’s Panorama SCADA platform – aims to consolidate 16 separate electrical control systems into a single system. The project will see a total of 13 electrical control rooms being migrated into eight of the 12 new Rail Operating Centres (ROCs), allowing the Electrical Control Operators (ECOs) to work alongside signallers and train controllers. The goal is to provide a better overall operational performance.

The contract covered 20 SCADA server racks installed at two ROCs to control the 750 V DC and 25 kV 50 Hz networks, together with workstations in the other ROCs, and connected with 500 substation communication devices via 700km of optical fibre links. Around 750 remote terminal units (RTUs) are being transferred to the new network and 250 new RTUs installed, mainly in southeast England.

The fully-integrated SCADA system includes full voice and data communications that operate over

Network Rail’s fixed transmission network. The installation provides enhanced monitoring of energy use and improves the response to operating incidents.

Approximately 310 of NR’s staff are in the process of being trained to use the system, known as Traction Power Centralised Management System (TPCMS).

As a new user interface, the TPCMS system has been through extensive development and testing with the NR user groups to meet requirements as multiple operational systems are brought together. The Panorama technology and telent’s integration expertise is providing NR with an intelligent platform on which to bring into service functionality such as remote secure isolations, which will be particularly beneficial as electrification is expanded across the UK, allowing additional areas of control to be seamlessly migrated onto the platform and hence into the NR operational procedures and management reporting.

During the program of works Codra is supporting both its partner telent and the NR teams during the application development phases.

REMOTE SOLUTIONS

ENSURING BUSINESS CONTINUITY REMOTELY Following the issues posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Jörg Freitag explains how digital remote applications can offer a cost-effective alternative to enable efficient co-operation from a safe distance.

T

ravel and contact restrictions have been put in place across Europe in a bid to contain the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite these restrictions it is vital that production processes continue and plants continue to be maintained.

Further, many new engineering projects, which were temporarily suspended now need to be continued and plants need be brought back into operation and optimised – despite strict new restrictions.

Ideally, employees need to undergo in-depth training parallel to all these activities to ensure the safe and secure management and maintenance of processes and workflows. Today, all this would not be possible without efficient, secure solutions for engineering, commissioning, operations, service and maintenance from a safe distance – in short, individually adapted home office solutions for daily industrial production.

Siemens has been supporting both production plant manufacturers and

operators with powerful remote solutions for many years – from digital tools for secure remote access to distant machines and plants, to efficient remote services, to virtual cooperation platforms for projects. From engineering to virtual commissioning and operator training on the Digital Twin of the plant right up to operations and service – today all this can be done remotely and conveniently from home anywhere in the world.

Secure remote access Combined with Scalance industrial routers from Siemens, the Sinema Remote Connect management platform offers a solution for coping with restrictions and mitigating their impact – via a VPN (Virtual Private Network) tunnel, secured remote access to machines and plants can be set up and managed from virtually anywhere in the world.

Independently from each other, both the service technician and the plant can establish a secure VPN tunnel connection to a central Sinema Remote Connect

server. VPN tunnel connections allow the user to access private, wired SHDSL or Profibus networks. Plant or service technicians can use public networks to access the Sinema RC server – either wired, LAN-based via DSL, or wirelessly via mobile wireless communication (2G/ 3G/ 4G). Only afterwards does remote access to a machine become possible. The central server manages all VPN connections and users – even with centralised user authentication, making handling very convenient. Integrated security mechanisms, such as OpenVPN, IPsec or Firewalls, protect the target systems from unauthorised access. This enables different types of plants to remain up and running or put (back) into operation without any personal contact.

Virtual co-operation The common Remote Service platform (cRSP) from Siemens can go further: Via Siemens’ own platform, remote access can be set up to satisfy the most complex requirements without the

The common Remote Service platform (cRSP) even enables challenging, highly complex engineering, commissioning and maintenance work via remote access, for example via Scalance network components.

20

October2020

www.controlengeurope.com

Control Engineering Europe

REMOTE SOLUTIONS user having to worry about hosting, setup, keeping the access up and running, etc. This means that even challenging engineering, commissioning and maintenance tasks can be carried out securely and conveniently on automation systems via remote access.

Set up in three computing centers, the high-availability platform uses existing communication routes via Internet (DSL, 3G, 4G, etc) to establish a secure connection via VPN. The global Siemens expert network can be accessed from any plant or machine connected to the cRSP. And via an optional Customer Web Portal, specialists from plant manufacturers and/or plant operators can also benefit from external access to the services. In this case too, both sides must actively set up connections, with the plant operator always remaining in control. The solution meets all the requirements for a documented information security management system set out in ISO27001/CERT – including encrypted end-to-end communication, 2-factor authentication, and access logging.

The technology enables numerous applications, such as remote desktop sharing, in compliance with the industrial security standards defined in IEC 62443 and security regulations.

Two prime examples include accessing parameterisation software for field devices; or, in the field of process control system engineering, accessing the software on connected systems/field devices via Simatic PCS 7 ES and JumpHost to carry out engineering tasks.

In one application – a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) which had been interrupted due to the lockdown – programmers were able to complete their work remotely via cRSP – and in another case, they succeeded in putting production plant back into operation on schedule after retooling it for the production of basic materials which are essential in these times of crisis.

In view of the increasing complexity of today’s modern machines and plants, all employees involved require more and more comprehensive specialist knowControl Engineering Europe

how. In the event of malfunctions or breakdowns during plant commissioning or operation, locating the cause of trouble quickly and responding correctly is crucial in order to keep the downtime as short as possible.

Specialists from both the plant Sipix, via the cRSP platform, enables experts to provide on-site service operator and the technicians with remote audio-visual support. access, for example via Scalance network components. product or plant manufacturer can enable the simulation of internal contribute their expertise to ensure plant communication. Generated in this – thanks to Siemens Process Industry this manner, the Digital Twin of a Expert Service Devices (Sipix SD) for real automation system allows the remote-assisted collaboration. Based simulation, testing and optimisation of on video technology, this allows one a plant’s behaviour on a PC, and even or more experts to instruct and guide the virtual commissioning of more the on-site service technician. Video complex software. Projects can thus images and sound are transmitted to a mature in the home office, minimising service device via an autonomous, secure delays during real-life commissioning. communication channel provided by The Digital Twin can also be used the cRSP. Three variants are available for for location-independent, low-contact use up to Ex-Zone 1. It is also possible training outside the plants in order to to connect further devices – such as ensure that well trained operators are a HART modem, a helmet camera able to safely and securely manage or data glasses. This means that the the plant and produce high-quality service technician on site has his hands products. free, ensuring that he can focus on the Comos, the software solution for essentials. holistic plant project management, Conclusion also has a big role to play. Comos The ability to employ scalable Walkinside enables the 3D Virtual solutions for the simulation and Reality visualisation of plants still virtual commissioning of automation under construction, providing future systems helps plant manufacturers to maintenance and operations teams with avoid project delays caused by contact realistic training on the virtual model. restrictions. The core components for Remote applications can above first-time users are a license for the provide various support options for both Simit simulation platform and two manufacturers and operators in order virtual controllers, digital equivalents to maintain high levels of availability to the Simatic S7-400 automation and productivity of machines and system. A Component Type Editor is plants. This will be of prime importance required for creating special graphical for industrial production under ‘new operating templates – along with the normal’ conditions. !

Flownet, ChemBasic and Contec block libraries which are tailored for process Jörg Freitag is VP sales & verticals control and process engineering and Process Automation at Siemens.

www.controlengeurope.com

October 2020

21

CALIBRATION

FEELING THE PRESSURE Dr Chris Mills looks at the challenges of testing and calibrating flow meters used in high pressure and high temperature applications.

T

he increasing exploitation of oil reserves, where elevated pressure and temperature conditions are encountered, presents technical challenges for accurate flow measurement. One immediate challenge is that the pressure and temperature of oil produced from a reservoir may differ considerably from typical calibration laboratory conditions.

The historical practice for calibrating flow meters in the oil and gas industry has been to attempt to match fluid viscosity followed, if possible, by the fluid temperature and pressure.

Matching all parameters has seldom been possible, due to limitations set by the existing calibration facilities.

Limitations such as flow rate range, temperature range, pressure range and even the calibration fluid’s physical properties mean that few laboratories can meet all customer requirements.

One limitation of this approach is that temperature and pressure variations are now known to have a potentially substantial effect on the measurement performance of certain flow meter technologies. Moreover, different technologies exhibit diverse sensitivities to temperature and pressure, all of which may be critical to the overall determination of the measurement uncertainty. While increased pressure at service conditions compared to calibration conditions may cause one measurement technology to undermeasure the flow rate, another technology may over-measure it.

Indeed, there have also been results that show manufacturer specific flow meters of the same technology can exhibit completely different responses to temperature and pressure variations.

Coriolis meters are the most commonly used flowmeter for precision flow measurement of high value products. Manufacturers of the devices

22

October 2020

already state that their flow meters have compensation built into the flow computer of the device to allow for the effects of pressure and temperature.

However, more work is required due to limited published traceable low measurement uncertainty data.

It is important to note that while there has been some Reservoir conditions may differ considerably from typical research into the performance calibration laboratory conditions. of flowmeters at elevated pressure and temperature, that is the case. Likewise, it may be only a small amount of independent possible that conventional liquid flow and traceable data exists. Furthermore, meters cannot simply transfer their the independent data that is publicly performance from low pressure and available only documents the temperature conditions to elevated performance of certain meter types and pressure and temperature service sizes. Meter size and even geometry without suitable consideration, is believed to be a key factor in the characterisation or even modification. performance of Coriolis flow meters at Furthermore, the performance of altering pressures and temperatures. As devices of the same technology (i.e. the fluid pressure increases, the rigidity Coriolis or ultrasonic flow meters) may of the flow tubes increases causing not necessarily be similar to one another a decrease in Coriolis forces and an due to the many and varied difference under-read of the mass flow. For certain between designs; flow meter material, Coriolis designs, as the pressure increases sizing effects, and internal corrections the curved Coriolis tubes stiffen and all need to be taken into account. attempt to straighten to their original These questions must be answered tube form. This is known as the Bourdon through planned, comprehensive, and Effect. The differing performance with thorough broad-spectrum research. In respect to pressure means it is not the future it may even be possible to possible to extrapolate the performance assure global oil and gas regulators that of flow meters and flow meter types due pressure and temperature corrections are to the limited datasets and subsequently valid and traceable. This could then allow claim a performance for the device at a return to calibration under ambient different conditions. conditions for certain applications will be Well-established techniques possible. This will require a lot of research The most suitable flow measurement for pressure and temperature effects technologies for elevated pressure to be better understood, and suitable and temperature may well be those correction strategies developed and well-established techniques, such as a implemented. !

Coriolis, ultrasonic, turbine or positive displacement devices. Only independent, Dr Chris Mills is a consultant engineer traceable, low measurement uncertainty at TÜV SÜD National Engineering research can confirm whether or not Laboratory.

www.controlengeurope.com

Control Engineering Europe

DESIGN SOFTWARE

INTEGRATED DESIGN SOFTWARE Product lifecycle management software (PLM) and service lifecycle management software enable digital twins, digitalisation, automation design and plant design.

Mark Hoske highlights five digital twin attributes.

S

oftware can help with the collaboration of applications, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and analytics, operations, manufacturing, simulation, electronics and mechanical aspects of design, according to Siemens Digital Industries Software.

Product lifecycle management (PLM) software also improves the design process by inferring part relationships on the fly, improves design innovation during rapid-response development, speeds digital twin development and maintenance, uses artificial intelligence (AI) for generative material design to optimise component performance, helps with digital transformation electronic and digital designs.

PLM design collaboration Collaborative PLM design software has been helping in a diversity of industries, including with COVID-19 vaccination development, said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO of Siemens Digital Industries Software.

Time to produce an experimental vaccine decreased from months or years to 42 days through use of a digital design architecture, he noted during the June Siemens Digital Industries Software’s virtual 2020 Media & Analyst Conference.

Time savings result from development of a comprehensive and actionable digital twin that speed design iterations; personalised adaptable and modern tools, and a flexible open collaborative ecosystem.

Design software is helping to lower risk in restarting manufacturing with new laws and rules for a safe work environment.

Stuart McCutcheon, global VP of global sales and customer success, Siemens Digital Industries Software, said digital twins create faster time to market, drive innovation, provide an adaptive response to demand as signals change, extract value from mountains of data and unite engineering disciplines from across the lifecycle driving to a common business

goal. Digital twins also create the ability to be proactive to events while optimising quality and productivity and delivering new business models.

Five attributes of a digital twin What is a digital twin? Beyond a virtual representation of a physical object that evolves with the lifecycle of physical objects, McCutcheon said, a digital twin also is: 1. A precise virtual representation of a physical product or process.

2. Used across its lifecycle to simulate, predict and optimise product and production systems.

3. Made of multiple representation of models for different aspects of physical behaviour.

4. An evolving object with a lifecycle that needs to be managed from concept, development, verification, manufacturing, sales and support.

5. Closed-loop digital twin provides for bi-directional connectivity between the physical asset and the virtual representation.

Digitalsation notes Integration of software tools are helping with the following.

1. Electric-powered airplanes 2. Commercial supersonic aircraft 3. Wind power energy services 4. Rapid-start car company 5. Filling and packaging machinery manufacturer.

Siemens Teamcenter and MindSphere and Xcelerator software products create a closed-loop digital twin across the lifecycle to correlate real-world behavior with the digital twin to optimise product design. Image courtesy: Siemens Digital Industries Software Control Engineering Europe

www.controlengeurope.com

Mark T. Hoske is content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media and Technology.

October 2020

23

PRESSURE & TEMPERATURE

IN-SERVICE ACOUSTIC EMISSION TESTING

Discontinuities in the materials of pressurised components are relatively common.

Early detection is imperative to ensure plant safety and availability. TÜV SÜD shows how this can be achieved with acoustic emission testing.

M

any pressurised components form part of installations which must be inspected periodically for aspects such as tightness, cracking and propagation of corrosion. Conventional testing provides for interior inspection, which is both time- and cost-intensive; vessels have to be drained and cleaned and the system shut down, involving safety, health and environmental measures and incurring costs from production loss.

Fortunately, there are alternative methods, such as acoustic emission testing (AT), which can replace visual examination of the interior of pressure vessels and be used as a monitoring tool in strength testing (also for occupational health and safety aspects). Depending on the criteria – including mode of operation, damage mechanisms and the situation on site – testing can also be performed during operation, vessels need not be drained or cleaned, saving time, organisational efforts and cost.

AT does not require a typical system shutdown. However, measurement requires the test pressure in the system PTAT to be raised to 1.1 times the

maximum pressure during operation POP over the last twelve months, i.e. the load during testing is higher than the load during real-life operation (POP).

AT is a non-destructive test (NDT) method for detecting and localising leakage and discontinuities. The test pressure triggers changes in the material’s structure, including local plastic deformation or crack propagation. Sudden mechanical displacements cause vibrations in their surroundings, which generate acoustic emissions (AE). The surrounding structure deforms elastically and bounces back, causing a transient elastic sound wave which propagates from its point of origin and is recorded by piezoelectric sensors. A relatively small number of sensors at fixed positions is enough for 100% monitoring of a structure. Using AT, even large vessels and pressure equipment, with complex geometries or difficult-to-access areas and fittings, can be reliably inspected.

Real time testing AT detects the dynamic response of the material to the applied test load.

The sensitive measurement method

‘listens’ to the material, recording discontinuities as they arise or propagate. In this way AT can offer realtime capability because it allows early detection of impending equipment failure so enables timely interruption or termination of testing, AT is also suitable for ensuring OHS during gaspressure tests.

The recorded signals are grouped into clusters based on local accumulation. The number of signals per cluster indicates the level of activity in that area. Signals and clusters are categorised into three classes by their AE activity and intensity (See Table 1) a helpful method that facilitates planning of follow-up actions. Before the test, the stakeholders should agree on the evaluation criteria and the followup actions derived therefrom, and document them in the test instruction.

Case study As mentioned, AT can also be used for monitoring large vessels, as shown by the following practice example: TÜV SÜD had been commissioned to inspect a C4 column at a refinery. In-service AT was planned to replace visual examination of the interior of the column. The large

Grouping of AE sources in clusters

Definition

Further procedure and actions

Class 1

Insignificant source

No further actions necessary

Class 2

Active source

Visual examination or other NDT method for follow-up inspection and evaluation

Class 3

Highly active source

Interruption/termination of test, pressure relief, visual examination and other NDT method(s) for follow-up inspection and evaluation before restarting operation

Table 1: Classification of AE sources and follow-up actions

24

October 2020

www.controlengeurope.com

Control Engineering Europe

PRESSURE & TEMPERATURE

AT: standards and procedure Acoustic emission testing (AT) of pressure equipment must comply with specific national or European standards. The general approach is described in EN 13554. The harmonised EN 14584 standard governs the test method for metallic pressure equipment using proof testing with

vessel, manufactured in 2006 from weldable fine-grain structural steel (P 355 NH), had the following dimensions: height 74.3 m, diameter 4.44 m, volume 1,160 m3 and wall thickness 22 to 26 mm. In addition, the vessel included numerous fittings and installations, including valve trays.

To affix the 88 piezoelectric sensors across the vessel’s outside wall using magnetic holders and a couplant, the column first had to be scaffolded and stripped of its insulation over a

planar location of acoustic emissions sources. The objective is 100% volume testing to determine the areas in the structure that cause sudden acoustically active emissions, e.g. as a consequence of sub-critical propagation of discontinuities in the material. This supplies important reference data for

20 x 20 cm area at each sensor location.

Testing was performed with the operating fluid during production operations. The test pressure (PTAT = 1.1 * POP) was applied from the plant manager’s control centre. AT was performed over a period of 12 hours as real-time online monitoring.

The result – testing identified active class 2 AE sources in some areas, for which TÜV SÜD recommended follow-up testing based on NDT methods, i.e. classic weld inspection using the phased array UT method.

use in a comparison with the results of subsequent (periodic) inspections.

Under EN ISO 9712, testing must be performed by qualified and certified personnel. The instruments used must comply with the requirements of EN 13477-2 and undergo regular inspection according to this standard.

Modern tools With the help of modern digital technology, AT has evolved into a recognised and informative testing and inspection tool. Today’s AT systems – with fast processors and user-friendly operating software – can process and display up to several hundred localisations per second in real time.

In addition, recording and analyses rates have increased a thousandfold in recent years and the procedure has now reached a high level of maturity. !

M

INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES: SUPPORTING DIGITALISATION Dr Peter Wenzel comments on industrial technology trends and the impact they are having on industrial communication solutions.

D

igitisation can only be successfully implemented area wide in production environments if the communication systems can take into account big data requirements. Big data is served by various data sources, in particular also those that deliver during production with the participation of sensors and actuators. On the one hand, this requires a higher bandwidth with which the data generated in the production environment can be transported to the cloud. On the other hand, standardised data formats are required for an efficient and barrier-free exchange of information.

PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI) is already undertaking innovation projects that aim to increase both the bandwidth and the development of its technologies from a communicationrelated to an information-oriented technology portfolio.

TSN The already available integration of TSN basic functions into PROFINET provides higher bandwidths due to the implicit opening for Gbit and forms the basis for the required interoperability of convergent networks. In process automation, there is a major innovation step with Ethernet-APL, which significantly increases the bandwidth available today. In addition, the move from Ethernet to the sensor level will enable a much more efficient exchange of information due to the associated standardisation of the protocol.

Ethernet-APL uses Single Pair Ethernet (SPE), IEEE Std 802.3-2019 (10BASE-T1L), which enables cable lengths of up to 1,000m.

In factory automation the IO-Link sensor communication protocol is

26

October 2020

already available. Today this allows for cable lengths of up to 20m and supports data rates of up to 230.4 kbaud for IO-Link device – master communication. The IOLink experts recognised the potential of SPE for IO-Link and started an activity in which the new possibilities of SPE for the IO-Link ecosystem should In process automation, there is a major innovation step be investigated. with Ethernet-APL, which significantly increases the bandwidth available.

To implement the second factor, in Big data cooperation with other organisations, As a basis, big data requires a high PI has defined open and standardised degree of machine-processable, semantics for the device description standardised information that is available and the application-related data to across all companies and industries which be transferred. PI relies on OPC UA for can be used as the basis for a machinehorizontal communication between processable data flow across the various different controls and the vertical to systems from the sensor to the cloud. higher levels. The data itself is supplied The data already available today must be by subordinate IO-Link and/or PROFINET converted into clearly usable information networks. In most cases, this already with the help of semantic standards. works on the basis of the TCP/IP In cooperation with eCl@ss e.V., the protocol, which has been available for parameters defined in the specification years and can be operated co-existently documents by PI are expanded to include in PROFINET networks. semantic identifiers.

The transitions from PROFINET The measures described support to OPC UA required further operational technology (OT) in its standardisation of the data formats automation task by providing open, in close cooperation with the OPC standardised real-time functions for Foundation. The result is the OPC UA horizontal communication in the field.

PROFINET Companion Specification, The open, cross-level data models are in which an OPC UA Information a necessary prerequisite for seamless Model for the representation of vertical data transfer to IT for efficient the standardised object model of production control, monitoring, PROFINET has been defined. As a result, analysis and optimisation in the applications based on OPC UA services Industry 4.0 era. ! can access objects from PROFINET devices regardless of the manufacturer.

Dr Peter Wenzel is executive director Comparable information has been of PROFIBUS & PROFINET International, specified in the OPC UA for IO-Link Germany.

Companion Specification.

www.controlengeurope.com

Control Engineering Europe

COMMENT

sponsored article

UNITED NATIONS OF AUTOMATION! The OPC Foundation will continue to expand its role as the ‘United Nations of Automation’’ where different organisations work together to standardise and harmonise, says Stefan Hoppe, President, OPC Foundation.

T

he basic idea for the establishment of the OPC Foundation in 1996 was to create a communication standard based on the Microsoft COM/ DCOM architecture of that time ‘OLE for Process-Control’ was established as the de-facto standard ‘of the last mile’ for controllers.

The new architecture OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is much more than just an operating system independent, neutral platform for data communication: It is the building block for the standardisation of data and interfaces and their secure exchange scaling from the sensor to the cloud (and back) including discovery of devices, onboarding and more. OPC UA achieved international standardisation as IEC 62541 in 2011. First products were available on the market in 2007 and these are stably addressable via today’s OPC UA clients - there was no break in the technology.

OPC UA will probably never be completed as the framework is constantly being expanded: In 2018, a major expansion to the existing client/ server communication model with a publish/subscribe communication model (PubSub) was released - in addition to other deployment scenarios such as distribution in broadcast, integration in smaller devices, communication to the cloud via MQTT or AMQP, this was also an important step as preparation for use at the field level: PubSub initially enables a high-performance controllerto-controller communication in order to connect devices of different eco-systems horizontally with a neutral approach.

The OPC Foundation Initiative Control Engineering Europe

Field Level Communication (FLC), newly founded in November 2018, has larger goals than the reduction to ‘OPC UA with TSN for the factory’.

The harmonisation of requirements from process and factory automation will result in common device services: Device management, firmware updates, OOE data, power management, MES services or even common data types will blur the boundaries of process and factory automation in device handling - of course, special technological requirements will remain. The work is already advanced – OPC Safety and OPC Motion are currently being developed and can be used in the future – with an optionally switchable TSN if determinism is required.

The OPC Foundation has joined the Ethernet APL initiative: In process automation ‘OPC UA over APL/SPE’ will be established as the successor of the current de facto Hart standard and will gradually be installed as a new solution. Initially as a second NOA diagnostic channel, but increasingly also in the first data channel.

In the next 20 years we expect the number of fieldbus systems will be reduced to a maximum of five, including OPC UA. Many products will be hybrids, with an integrated OPC UA solution in addition to the established technology.

The trend towards data and interfaces being standardised will continue – if feasible directly in the device and sensor: A flow meter will provide standardised OPC UA flow measurement data as soon as the APL cable is plugged in. Otherwise, other transmission techniques will remain

www.controlengeurope.com

Stefan Hoppe is president of the OPC Foundation.

for special scenarios, to become interoperable via OPC UA gateway at the appropriate point.

I believe that the way forward should not be to create more ‘open’ user organisations, but instead to have closer cooperation of existing organisations. The OPC Foundation currently cooperates with other organisations in more than 55 initiatives – acting as the ‘United Nations of Automation’ to fulfil the vision of a Plug&Produce solution with an open, uniform, secure and standards-based IIoT communication solution – from the sensor through all levels to the cloud with all the requirements of industrial automation. Our challenge in the next decade is to channel the global OPC UA movement and structure the many activities. The goal is a plug&play of standardised information. !

October 2020

27

INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATIONS

SAFETY SERVICES ON A STANDARD NETWORK

Communication networks have changed the look of today’s automation systems by distributing processing, sensors and actuators to where they are required. The ODVA says that CIP Safety provides the same benefits to safety systems.

C

IP Safety extends the industry standard CIP base services by adding CIP Safety distinctive services to transport data for CIP based networks such as EtherNet/IP with high integrity. It can offer a scalable, network independent approach to safety networking, where the safety services are described in a well-defined layer, allowing the underlying network services to be changed. This approach is said to enable the seamless routing of safety data, allowing users to create end to end safety chains across multiple links.

The same motivations that originally moved communication networks into the industrial environment – greater distances, increased flexibility, reduced cost, and improved maintainability – are also driving the development of industrial safety networks. End users recognise the limitations of traditional hardwired safety solutions as hardwired systems are difficult to develop and maintain for all but the most basic applications.

For example, hardwired safety systems employ relays, which are interconnected to provide a safety function. Furthermore, these systems place significant restrictions on the distance between devices.

As safety system developers progressed beyond basic E-stop functions, they found themselves forced to fall back to hardwired logic techniques, which have been out of widespread use for control functions since the 1970s. Even when they were successful in developing a significantly sized safety system, these were often costly and difficult to maintain.

Safety services Because of these issues and a growing need for process data and flexibility, it is desirable to provide safety services on

28

October 2020

Figure 1: CIP communication layers.

standard communication networks. The maintenance of designing a dedicated development of CIP Safety by ODVA for safety-rated network, IEC 61508 and IEC use on EtherNet/IP and other networks is 61784-3 emphasise another option called one such example. ‘the black channel’ which assumes that The key to these developments was not the network is completely unreliable, to create a network that could not fail, so diagnostics must exist outside of the but to create a system in which failures in network infrastructure. This concept the network would cause safety devices stipulates that if a safety communication to go to a known safe state. If users know protocol has enough error detection built to which state the system would go, they into the protocol, it can be transmitted can make their application safe, yet this independently across different network means that significantly more checking types without degrading the integrity and redundant coding information of the safety data. This can include would be required. Fortunately, traversing multiple network links and TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW: CIP SAFETY™ (PUB00110R2) 4 communication networks have become network segmentation techniques. pervasive in automated systems, Building a safety communication and electronics capable of advanced protocol with the black channel principle diagnostics are widely available. can be problematic if the corresponding standard communication protocol is Functional safety heavily dependent on non-standard The foundation of functional safety is network hardware. the IEC 61508 standard. Following the Fortunately, CIP Safety is based on the guidance of that standard, additional Common Industrial Protocol (CIP), which safety standards specific to industries, allows network independent routing products, and technologies have been of data. These base services have been developed, such as IEC 62061, ISO 13849-1, extended to allow high integrity safety and IEC 61784-3. services by the addition of CIP Safety To avoid the complexity and distinctive network services offering a

www.controlengeurope.com

Control Engineering Europe

> p30

NCED U O N N BETTER PLANT | BETTER PRODUCTIVITY ATE A D W NE

|

BETTER PROCESS

|

BETTER PEOPLE

31st March 2021 Manufacturing Technology Centre

Ansty Park, Coventry Appetite for Engineering is a one-day educational and networking forum for senior engineering professionals. It has been created to provide the UK food and beverage manufacturing industry with a forum to network with peers and industry experts, and to learn about engineering developments and successful implementations.

Join the discussion to find solutions to your current challenges, to identify opportunities and to create new solutions to tackle your production problems.

Are you ready to join us?

Register your interest online at

www.appetite4eng.co.uk

Or contact Trevor Southerden T: 01732 359990 E: trevor.southerden@imlgroup.co.uk Headline sponsor:

Sponsors:

Group WHERE EXPERTISE FLOWS

INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATIONS solution for a scalable, routable, networkindependent safety layer, removing the requirement for dedicated safety gateways. Since all safety devices execute the same protocol, independent of which media on which they reside, the user approach is consistent and independent of media or network used.

The Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) is designed to allow different networks to be used with a common protocol. Since it is designed to be media and datalink independent, it allows for expansion to other networks and to grow as Ethernet grows.

CIP Safety is an extension to the standard capabilities of CIP, and it has been certified by TÜV Rheinland for

use in functional safety applications. It extends the model by adding CIP Safety application layer functionality, as shown in Figure 1.

Because the safety application layer extensions do not rely on the integrity of the underlying standard CIP services and datalink layers, single channel (non-redundant) hardware can be used for the datalink communication interface. This same partitioning of functionality allows standard routers to be used to route safety data across networks as long as the underlying safety data is not modified and between different layers of complex networks. The routing of safety messages is possible because the end

device is responsible for confirming the integrity of the data. If an error occurs in the transmission of data or in the intermediate router, the end device will detect the failure and take an appropriate action.

Only the safety data that is needed is routed to the required cell, which reduces the individual bandwidth requirements.

The combination of fast responding local safety cells and the inter-cell routing of safety data allows users to create significantly larger and more complex safety applications with fast response times. !

For more information about CIP Safety go to: bit.ly/2ZCfX5i

Standardised IIoT Ecosystem empowers innovative business models A new whitepaper from the FDT Group describes how the recently released FDT 3.0 standard supports digital transformation for manufacturers seeking an innovative technology that supports today’s new business models.

FDT 3.0 provides an open, enterprisewide, data-centric Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) integration platform with built-in security and features to mobilise real-time remote operations.

The FDT IIoT Ecosystem consists of a platform-agnostic FDT Server and FDT Device Type Managers (FDT/DTMs). Both components are essential to unlocking universal device integration and a data-centric platform to mobilise the industrial workforce with modern and diverse deployment options.

The FDT Server is a pivotal IIoT component empowering the intelligent enterprise. This distributive, multiuser server solution employs a web services portal allowing access from authenticated mobile devices or any major browser along with an OPC UA Server for enterprise access to realtime plant floor data. Its rich features ensure any industrial communication protocol or vendor device can be seamlessly integrated as part of smart

30

October 2020

manufacturing practices.

Since FDT 3.0-based DTMs automatically make device data and health information available via the OPC UA Server embedded in the FDT Server, asset management and enterprise wide data access is now deployable as a cloud service as part of an IIoT initiative. This architecture flattens the automation pyramid so that any application requiring data from devices can retrieve it directly from OPC UA through the DTM without changing incumbent PLC or DCS systems.

With FDT 3.0’s platform independence, every device vendor or service provider can utilise an edge gateway or cloud instance to push data from multiple facilities to a centralised location for enterprise monitoring and asset management. This capability will be welcomed in greenfield projects but is equally applicable to brownfield projects in situations where management wants to achieve

www.controlengeurope.com

additional availability or leverage remote access for efficiency improvements.

One of the most important changes to DTM development with FDT 3.0 involves the user interface (UI).

User interfaces with web technologies are currently state-of-theart for allowing remote and mobile access. The use of HTML 5.0 and JavaScript with FDT 3.0 greatly enhances the user’s visualization experience while using a more contemporary technology.

FDT 3.0 also deploys a secure by design approach, which features multi-layered security and leverages vetted industry standards.

The FDT 3.0 standard is positioned to speed up the evolutionary journey into the Fourth Industrial Revolution by enabling an ecosystem of FDT-based solutions to meet demands for IIoT and Industry 4.0 applications.

Download the whitepaper at: www.fdtgroup.org/innovation Control Engineering Europe

PRODUCT FORUM •

www.controlengeurope.com to read the full story

Alarm systems management

Complex industrial systems require complex control systems – but carefully thought out alarms systems EEMUA is the acknowledged leader in the field, with EEMUA 191, ‘Alarm systems - a guide to design, management and procurement’, being regarded as the benchmark in alarm systems management.

The EEMUA Alarm Systems e-learning module provides an introduction to EEMUA 191 and is positioned at the awareness level. It offers simple and practical guidance to managers, designers, supervisors and operators on how to recognise and deal with typical human-factor problems involving alarm systems. Its

scope covers many sectors, including the energy, process and utilities industries.

The e-learning is recommended

for both discipline and projectfocused engineers from a variety of backgrounds who want to gain an introduction to the fundamental principles for design, management and procurement of alarm systems.

The course is also relevant to engineers and managers from operating companies as well as specialist contractors and equipment suppliers.

Visit the EEMUA website for further details. www.eemua.org

TO BE FEATURED IN THE CEE PRODUCT FORUM Contact Adam Yates on +44 (0)7900 936909 or email Adam.Yates@imlgroup.co.uk Creating a successful control environment Know what you want, plan what you’ll get, check that you’ve got it!

The EEMUA Control Rooms e-learning module provides guidance to engineers and the wider teams involved in the design of control rooms, control desks and consoles. It will help during newbuild and modification projects, as well as evaluating existing set ups where people operate industrial processes and activities on facilities such as chemical plants, power stations and oil refineries.

The e-learning will benefit anyone with an interest in process plant control rooms and control desks using Human Machine Interfaces.

It is especially relevant to control

Control Engineering Europe

engineers, control room console (and HMI) designers and vendors, control room operators, engineering consultants, engineering contractors,

www.controlengeurope.com

engineering managers, facilities managers, graduate engineers, plant operations managers, process safety managers, SCADA engineers and systems support managers.

The e-learning is positioned at the awareness/introductory level and is an optional precursor to working through EEMUA 201, ‘Control rooms: A guide to their specification, design, commissioning and operation’.

Visit the EEMUA website for further details. www.eemua.org

September 2020

31

O PC BR O C H U RE AVAILABLE NEW EDITION – NOW pcua-en.pdf /o

www.opcfoundation.org

OPC UA based Industrial Interoperability INTEROPERABILITY ROBUSTNESS & SECURITY

52+ JOINT WORKING GROUPS DATA MODELLING / HARMONIZATION

Vendor, Platform, Market and OS agnostic

Graph Support, preserves source context

Specifications open available / Open Source on GitHub

Vendor extendable data model via

Certification: OPC Labs open to everyone

Companion Specifications

Scalable From Sensor to Cloud (and back)

Relevant: Enables domain specific

Discoverable Services Oriented Architecture

information models

Independent of transport protocol

• Discrete: Robotics, Machine Vision, …

(TCP, UDP, MQTT, …)

• Process: FDI, FDT, PA-DIM, MDIS, NOA …

Extendable for TSN, SPE, APL, 5G, Wifi6

• Energy: IEC61850, …

Widely Adopted: > 50 M install base Security Design from Ground up: • Security on 3 layers: User / Application / Transport Engineering

• Security include Authentication / Signing / Encryption

Industries Process Automation

IT

OPC Foundation: Non-Profit with modern IPR policy also protecting implementers and users

Consortia

IO Level Energy

Factory Automation

LNI4.0 LABS NETWORK INDUSTRIE 4.0

Industrial Value Chain Initiative

IEC61850 IEC61970

VALIDATION / CERTIFICATION

ONLINE REFERENCE

Validation of OPC UA and Companion Specs

Public reference with all specifications and all models

Compliance Test Tool (CTT):

www.reference.opcfoundation.org

Open available 1800 test scripts for the OPC UA core functionality and for the Companion Specifications – available now PA-DIM / PLCopen / MDIS CS Template

Validator

Online searchable to simplify reuse of modeling concepts

Online Reference OPC UA CTT

Search Base for writing CS

Content

NodeSet-File

Electronic description of Model

Check if NodeSet and Spec are in sync

www.opcfoundation.org

Browse

52+