New DURApulse GS4 AC Drives Tackle your challenging motor control applications
DURAPULSE GS4 AC DRIVES • 1-100 hp, 230VAC (single/three-phase input)
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DURApulse GS4 Series AC Sensorless Vector Drives
Up to 300HP! The DURApulse GS4 series of Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) includes many of the same standard features as our other GS drives including dynamic braking, PID, removable keypad, plus so much more: • Single-phase input capability on all 230VAC models • V/Hz control or sensorless vector control for improved speed regulation • 100kA Short Circuit Current Rating (SCCR) v £& WHPSHUDWXUH UDWLQJ SOXV p DQJH PRXQW capability for industrial environments v 672 6DIH 7RUTXH 2ç 789 FHUWLo HG
• Built-in PLC (up to 10k steps) for drive-related logic and I/O control • Built-in analog, discrete, high-speed and relay I/O with expansion capabilities v 6HULDO 02'%86 578 $6&,, DQG %$&QHW protocols included v 2SWLRQDO (WKHUQHW FDUGV LQFOXGH 02'%86 TCP and EtherNet/IP™ protocols
v *6 4XLFN6WDUW PHQXV VLPSOLI\ FRQo JXUDWLRQ • Smart keypad stores up to four sets of drive FRQo JXUDWLRQV IRU EDFN XS DQG WUDQVIHU WR additional GS4 drives • Fire mode and circulative control mode v )LHOG XSJUDGHDEOH o UPZDUH v )UHH GULYH FRQo JXUDWLRQ DQG 3/& Programming software
Upgrade I/O capabilities AND communications options
4 Digital Inputs 2 Digital Outputs
6 Digital Inputs
6 Relay Outputs
EtherNet/IP™
Modbus TCP
Research, price, buy at: JANUARY 2019
CONNECTING THE UNCONNECTABLE EMPATHY’S ROLE IN HMI DESIGN MCMILLAN’S PERSONALITY SPLITS
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What’s in our new AC Drive?
Features galore AND a wealth of options starting at only $429.00! 3/& LQVLGH A fully functional PLC is built in to the GS4 drive. Capable of up to 10k steps, it’s perfect for drive-related logic requirements. Control the drive and I/O with standard ladder logic (and our FREE downloadable PLC software, GS-Logic). Advanced PLC features include 32-bit math, Gray Code, drive frequency control, read/write drive parameters, real-time clock/calendar with support for daylight savings time and full drive PID control. And it’s all on-board!
DURA
PULSE GS
4
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&LUFXODWLYH FRQWURO PRGH DQG PXOWL PRWRU FRQWURO The GS4 drives offer five different control modes for circulation pump control. A single GS4 can control up to 8 motors in a cyclic or cascading fashion by using a combination of VFD control and across-the-line control. Relay outputs on the drive operate contactors that allow the VFD to control one or more motors, while additional relay outputs provide across-the-line control of other motors via separate contactors.
The Safe Torque Off (STO) function is a basic driveintegrated safety feature. Use this input signal to ensure that no torque-generating energy can flow to the motor. This function is often used in emergency stop situations and/or to prevent unintentional motor starting.
N$ 6&&5 UDWLQJ A 100kA Short Circuit Current Rating (SCCR) is required for personnel safety in many factory environments and to meet a host of regulatory requirements including: • NEC Article 409 • UL508A • NFPA70E SCCR is defined as the maximum short circuit current a component or assembly can safely withstand when protected by a specific overcurrent protective device, or for a specified time interval. The use of high-speed class J or class T fuses on the incoming power is required for these installations.
3,' FRQWURO r LQFOXGLQJ VOHHS DQG ZDNH The GS4 series drives support full PID control to automatically apply accurate and responsive corrections to a control function with external influences. Proportional, Integral, Derivative (PID) control is a mainstay in industrial control, bringing complex processes up to speed with little or no overshoot, or controlling pressure, force, feed rate, flow rate, position, etc.
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You have several I/O choices: 6 Digital Inputs 6 Relay Outputs
4 Digital Inputs 2 Digital Outputs
The excellent heatsink design of the GS4 series provides a 50°C rating, allowing the GS4 drives to operate in harsh ambient conditions (that’s 122°F!). GS4 series drives can also be “flange mounted” - see details at right. This allows the use of a smaller enclosure, or reduces the need to cool the enclosure, or both!
)ODQJH PRXQWLQJ
)LUH PRGH Run Fire mode during emergencies for uninterrupted smoke removal and system pressure. Sometimes called “run until destruction” mode, this feature should be used as a measure of last resort; it can be useful, even life-saving in certain situations (keeping a stairwell clear of smoke, for instance). The drive will ignore all alarm inputs, and reset immediately on any trips. Use with caution, especially during any testing that is required.
25+ Helpful videos with more added every week!
http://go2adc.com/gs4-vids
The Sleep Mode function is actuated when the frequency of the output command or the feedback signal falls below the Sleep Reference point for a specified period of time. When asleep, the drive output is off and it simply monitors Wake-up Reference point. A separate Wake-up Delay Time can be used to delay the Wake-Up routine.
Cooling is outside enclosure
All GS4 drives up to 215 HP can be “flange mounted”, a through-mounting technique that puts the drive’s heatsinks on the outside of the enclosure. This allows the use of a smaller enclosure, or reduces the need to cool the enclosure, or both! The smaller A
through C frame drives have optional flange mount kits, while the D through F frame models come with the flanges already attached. The largest G frame drive isn’t normally mounted in an enclosure, so it doesn’t have provisions for flange mounting.
All the above plus much more starting at only $429.00, check out the DURAPULSE GS4 Series of AC drives at www.automationdirect.com/durapulse-gs4 GET MORE THAN YOU PAID FOR
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JANUARY 2019 • VOLUME 32 • NUMBER 1
26
COVER STORY
Tap vintage expertise End users toast the companies that provide the best in process control. by Control staff
Features
36
39
Empathy aids HMI design
Connecting the unconnectable
How to design safer, more usable HMIs by being more inclusive. by Nandita Gupta
Johnson & Johnson eased condition-based maintenance, change management and FDA approvals. by Paul Studebaker
MANAGE & VISUALIZE
SUPPORT & PROTECT
CONTROL (ISSN 1049-5541) is published monthly by PUTMAN MEDIA COMPANY (also publishers of CONTROL DESIGN, CHEMICAL PROCESSING, FOOD PROCESSING, PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING, PLANT SERVICES and SMART INDUSTRY), 1501 E. Woodfield Rd., Ste. 400N, Schaumburg, IL 60173. (Phone 630/467-1300; Fax 630/467-1124.) Address all correspondence to Editorial and Executive Offices, same address. Periodicals Postage Paid at Schaumburg, IL, and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the United States. © Putman Media 2019. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part without consent of the copyright owner. Postmaster: Please send change of address to Putman Media, PO Box 1888, Cedar Rapids IA 52406-1888; 1-800-553-8878 ext. 5020. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Qualified-reader subscriptions are accepted from Operating Management in the control industry at no charge. To apply for a free subscription, email putman@stamats.com. To non-qualified subscribers in the Unites States and its possessions, subscriptions are $96.00 per year. Single copies are $15. International subscriptions are accepted at $200 (Airmail only.) CONTROL assumes no responsibility for validity of claims in items reported. Canada Post International Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 40028661. Canadian Mail Distributor Information: Frontier/BWI,PO Box 1051,Fort Erie,Ontario, Canada, L2A 5N8.
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CONTENTS New possibilities, new experiences
PERSONAL +DIGITAL
Departments 9 EDITOR’S PAGE Electricity in the air I think the kids are getting ready to collect and crush my fossil-fueled cars.
Complete e-commerce functionality now on Endress.com
24 RESOURCES Skid control A monthly, topical guide to web-hosted papers, tutorials, videos and other educational materials.
10 CONTROL ONLINE Our most recent, valuable and popular offerings at ControlGlobal.com
12 FEEDBACK
42 ASK THE EXPERTS Remote control of fractionation Can smart differential pressure (DP) cells be used for custody transfer?
Keep clarifying Industry 4.0
44 ROUNDUP 14 LESSONS LEARNED Controlling the Panama Canal Overcoming the effects of global warming on shipping capacity and water usage.
18 ON THE BUS Lissten to weak signals The whispers we are wont to ignore may be harbingers of situations we want to avoid.
20 WITHOUT WIRES Calibrator communications Verifying field devices involves specific demands that wireless could meet, if we let it.
21 IN PROCESS Siemens, partners strive for cybersecurity: Charter of Trust members detail multiple cybersecurity initiatives during press tour in Germany
Motors and drives Recent and interesting products under the topic of the month.
46 EXCLUSIVE Intrinsically safe tablet raises power Pepperl+Fuchs’ ecom Tab-Ex 02 DZ1 is the second generation based on Samsung's Tab Active platform.
47 CONTROL TALK A meeting of minds Both I&E and PID perspectives must meld to produce fine temperature control.
49 CLASSIFIED/AD INDEX Find your favorite advertisers listed neatly in alphabetical order.
50 CONTROL REPORT Meet half-measures half way Beware of the unexpected costs of innovations, controls and other laborsaving conveniences.
Introducing new possibilities on Endress.com! • Set up an account to shop for devices, spare parts & accessories • Get easy access to technical information and documentation • Buy online or request a quote from a sales representative • Track the status of your quotes and orders • View both online and offline transactions - all in one place • Search quickly for products with our Product Finder, or by entering an order code or serial number
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EDITOR’S PAGE
Electricity in the air I think the kids are getting ready to collect and crush my fossil-fueled cars.
CAR exhaust is easy to see in the winter, as the water vapor product of combustion condenses on exiting the warm tailpipes into the crisp air. This never bothered me, even back in the days when we could also smell it as the ripe aroma of unburned hydrocarbons, and definitely not since it’s been cleaned up to where a man can hardly use a car to commit suicide in his own garage. But lately, sitting at stoplights, in traffic or waiting for trains, I find myself increasingly disturbed by the sight of these emissions and the sound of my own idling engine, visible and audible evidence of, at best, wasting fuel and at worst, wasting time, both for me and for the planet. I recently added MotorTrend to the group of magazines I receive each month, and noticed that, along with gas or diesel miles per gallon and kilowatt-hours per 100 miles (for comparison to among conventional, electric and hybrid drivetrains), the editors include carbon dioxide emission rates in pounds per mile. Values I found in the February issue range from 0.66 for a Honda CRV AWD Touring that gets 27 miles per gallon to 1.33 for a Mercedes G550 4Matic SUV that measures 14 miles per gallon. As a measure that, for fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, is really just miles per gallon in a different format, it’s pretty pointless, but as a way to point out that there’s a hefty carbon dioxide cost associated with every mile we drive these kinds of cars, it’s a point well made. My 64-year-old mind thinks, wow, about a pound per mile. Who knew? But if and when the costs of global warming become apparent enough to make it a line item in the budget, I’ll be long gone, and maybe so will you. The folks dealing with it—my children, your children, their children—will have a hard time making us pay for our willingness to ignore that per-mile cost. Some of them have gone to court to get our attention, and have entered a class action lawsuit to get the federal government to do more to prevent climate change. A number of county and city governments are suing fossil fuel companies, saying www.controlglobal.com
the companies should pay the costs of the damages incurred by their products. So, far, the courts aren’t stopping them. Several state attorneys general have joined in an investigation of ExxonMobil for suspected lying to the public about the risks of climate change, or to investors about how those risks might hurt the oil business. As I sit in my idling fossil-fuel-mobile, slightly disturbed by the sight of exhaust that never bothered me before, I’m starting to think about those pounds per mile of carbon dioxide emissions, feeling a little guilty about the world I’ve condoned and its potential future. I imagine an increasing number of young people are much more aware, and getting ready to do something about it. Between the waste and the emissions, I’m starting to want to turn in my fuel-burners for electrics. The ranges of the latest electric vehicles are getting high enough to handle even my most extreme commuting day (about 200 miles). Locally, the Illinois Tollway system, which I use, is looking at adding on-the-go charging to some lanes so cars can add kilowatt-hours as you drive. Meanwhile, some electric vehicles have internal combustion range extenders that let you drive them across the country if you want to use them that way. According to the Chicago Tribune, right now, electric cars represent around 1% of total car sales in the U.S. “But the arrow’s pointing straight up for the electric car market,” it says. “Automotive journalists are writing about the impending twilight of the internal combustion engine. Ford Motor CEO Jim Hackett has said his company expects two-thirds of all vehicles sold by 2030 to be either electric or hybrid, and his company is planning its future accordingly. And the New York Times reported. General Motors expects to have 20 electric car models in its fleet by 2030.” That’s starting to make sense to me.
PAUL STUDEBAKER Editor in Chief pstudebaker@putman.net
Some of them have gone to court to get our attention, and have entered a class action lawsuit to get the federal government to do more to prevent climate change.
JANUARY 2019 • 9
CONTROL ONLINE
NEWS & BLOGS
Top 10 articles of 2018 With 2018 at a close, we take a look back at the Top 10 articles at ControlGlobal.com throughout the year. www.controlglobal.com/articles/2019/ top-10-articles-of-2018
A 2018 retrospective on control system cybersecurity Joe Weiss looks back on the past year of control system cybersecurity and provides his assessment of 2018 OT and field device cybersecurity. www.controlglobal.com/blogs/unfettered/ a-2018-retrospective-on-control-systemcyber-security-we-arent-as-far-alongas-many-people-think
Siemens cybersecurity press tour Siemens AG hosted a press tour in Munich to share updates on the Charter of Trust, which seeks to present a united front and standardized protections against cyber threats, intrusions and attacks.
2019 IWIM nominations open Nominations for the 2019 class of Influential Women in Manufacturing are open now through March 31. Nominees can serve at any level of their manufacturing organization, from plant-floor technican to C-suite officer, and should demonstrate thought leadership while fostering growth of other women in manufacturing. To learn more or nominate women from your organization, visit the new Influential Women in Manufacturing website. http://bit.ly/2rwG63W
Control Amplified Control Amplified is now available across several platforms, including iTunes, GooglePlay, YouTube and Facebook. If you haven't heard the new podcast yet, what are you waiting for? Subscribe to Control Amplified for in-depth interviews with industry experts about important topics in the process control and automation field, starting with the Top 50 Automation Companies of 2017 and industrial wireless. Control Amplified goes beyond Control's print and online coverage to explore the underlying issues affecting users, system integrators, suppliers and others in these industries. Search for Control Amplified in your podcasting app, and download and subscribe, so you don't miss this valuable information. www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/control-amplified
www.controlglobal.com/industrynews/ 2019/siemens-partners-strive-for-
Redesigned with you in mind
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The Focus on the Essentials education center has been redesigned based on your feedback. The new page is still filled with Control's best educational articles, whitepapers, online presentations and more, but now on a more easily navigated page. The new education center is specially designed to provide the most valuable content for all process automation professionals in one convenient location. Check out the redesigned portal now!
Off-site Insights This blog offers a break from our normal process automation control coverage to take a look at how the technology you use at work is utilized across industries and throughout our everyday world.
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Manufacturing Tomorrow's Workforce
insights
E-NEWSLETTERS
ControlGlobal E-News Multimedia Alerts White Paper Alerts Go to www.controlglobal.com and follow instructions to register for our free weekly e-newsletters.
Keeping up with workforce issues can be difficult. Our parent company, Putman Media, has introduced a new podcast to help you keep up with this constantly evolving factor in your orgnization: Manufacturing Tomorrow's Workforce. Now available on iTunes, GooglePlay and YouTube, Manufacturing Tomorrow's Workforce focuses on important workforce topics through interviews with a variety of experts. This podcast will discuss new techniques and approaches to enact change, attract up-andcoming workers, overcome skills gaps and much more. Download and subscribe now. www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce
10 • JANUARY 2019
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FEEDBACK 1501 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 400N Schaumburg, Illinois 60173
In Memory of Julie Cappelletti-Lange, Vice President 1984-2012
Keep clarifying Industry 4.0 I appreciate your editor’s page, “The phrase I love to hate” (Dec. ’18, p. 9, www. controlglobal.com/articles/2018/a-littlehelp-for-those-who-share-my-aversion-todigitalization). I took interest in the words of Neil Mead in the book you recommended from www.4sightbook.com: “The digital factory of the future will be full of smart, connected machines that require less human intervention and can be controlled and monitored remotely. Through the use of sensors, algorithms and software, they'll also be able monitor themselves and the process they're undertaking, while constantly adjusting for maximum efficiency and producing data that can be analyzed and acted on by a computer running sophisticated manufacturing execution software (MES).” I've been in the process control industry since 1984 and have the following impression on the prior paragraph: • The factories of 1984 that I began my career in had smart and connected machines. The first facility I worked in had very sophisticated sensors using nuclear sources that sent data to a processor for control and display. • This required less human intervention than manual sampling and adjustment to valves. • The first project I worked on used sensor data to predict product quality that had previously only been measured with offline lab samples. I'd consider this use of sensors, algorithms and software. • As a practical matter, these applications had to monitor themselves and the process to alert operations to potential problems. To do otherwise would have made them unusable. • The objective of controls from the origin of the discipline is to make constant adjustments to maximize efficiency. • The control systems I worked on produced a lot of data that was analyzed to identify process or control problems. • That data was also fed into a plantwide computer system to enable management to see how we were operating, and make decisions. 12 • JANUARY 2019
EDITORIAL TEAM THE BUS IN WINTER COMMON-SENSE CYBERSECURITY WHY WE STILL USE MODBUS IS AUTOMATION A JOB-KILLER?
Editor in Chief Paul Studebaker, pstudebaker@putman.net Executive Editor Jim Montague, jmontague@putman.net Digital Engagement Manager Amanda Del Buono, adelbuono@putman.net
Loop Control Best practices for PID
Contributing Editor John Rezabek Columnists Béla Lipták, Greg McMillan, Ian Verhappen Editorial Assistant Lori Goldberg DESIGN & PRODUCTION TEAM VP, Creative & Production Steve Herner, sherner@putman.net
Is anything new here? The answer is yes; there is new terminology and some new technology. The problem with the terminology is that buzzwords are being used without clear definition. Mead, to his credit, addresses this in his subsequent comments: “There's no doubt that the term 'Industry 4.0' has been used and abused by some companies as a marketing tool. Professing to offer 'Industry 4.0-ready' or 'IoT compliant' products sounds impressive, but it's what they can actually provide to the end user that’s important. Much of this digital technology isn't new, but what the Industry 4.0 concept has done is bring a number of disparate technologies together in a joinedup offering that allows manufacturers to better understand the features and benefits of digitalization and smart factory solutions.” Like you, the term “digitalization” makes me cringe. Analog-to-digital converters have been around for nearly 100 years, and our industry had digital communication to sensors and actuators from long before my career began in 1984. We aren’t suddenly digital, but our industry is different. Explaining what's new and different in clearly defined terms is important to ensure good decisions are made to avoid investments in vaporware and myth. PAT DIXON, P.E., PMP Southwest region engineering manager Global Process Automation pdixon@global-business.net
Art Director Jennifer Dakas, jdakas@putman.net Senior Production Manager Anetta Gauthier, agauthier@putman.net PUBLISHING TEAM Group Publisher/VP Content Keith Larson, klarson@putman.net Midwest/Southeast Regional Sales Manager Greg Zamin, gzamin@putman.net 704/256-5433, Fax: 704/256-5434 Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Regional Sales Manager Dave Fisher, dfisher@putman.net 508/543-5172, Fax 508/543-3061 West Coast/Mountain Regional Sales Manager Jeff Mylin, jmylin@putman.net 847/516-5879, Fax: 630/625-1124 Classifieds Manager Lori Goldberg, lgoldberg@putman.net Subscriptions/Circulation: Patricia Donatiu. Circulation Manager, 888/644-1803 EXECUTIVE TEAM President & CEO John M. Cappelletti VP, CFO Rick Kasper Foster Reprints Corporate Account Executive Jill Kaletha, jillk@fosterprinting.com 219-878-6094 Finalist Jesse H. Neal Award, 2013 and 2016 Jesse H. Neal Award Winner Eleven ASBPE Editorial Excellence Awards Twenty-five ASBPE Excellence in Graphics Awards ASBPE Magazine of the Year Finalist, 2009 and 2016 Four Ozzie awards for graphics excellence
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LESSONS LEARNED
Controlling the Panama Canal Overcoming the effects of global warming on shipping capacity and water usage.
BÉLA LIPTÁK liptakbela@aol.com
The water collected during the rainy season must be enough to also operate the canal during the dry season.
14 • JANUARY 2019
PAST columns have discussed the control of non-industrial processes, showing that our control theory and process analysis principles could be applicable to all processes, not only industrial ones. I believe illustrating this by specific examples is useful, so this time I'll illustrate it by using the example of the process of shipping through the Panama Canal. Until the 20th Century, the nautical shipping distance between the east and west coasts of the U.S. was 13,000 miles. Building the Panama Canal reduced that distance to 5,200 miles, and today some 600 million tons of goods are transported through it each year on nearly 15,000 ships, which corresponds to about 25% of the planet’s seaborne, containerized cargo. The sealevel Suez Canal between the Red and the Mediterranian seas, built by the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps, successfully opened in 1869. In 1880, de Lesseps started work on the Panama Canal, but he made the mistake of trying to build a 51-mile, sealevel canal, which would have required cutting through mountains of rock, such as Culebra Mountain, in a tropical rainforest region. After digging up some 60 million cubic meters of earth and rock, and after many landslides, yellow fever epidemics and other accidents that killed up to 22,000 workers, the project went bankrupt in 1889, wiping out the savings of some 800,000 investors. De Lesseps and his son were convicted of misappropriation of funds, and of at least knowing that some 2,500 newspapers and magazines, and some 150 deputies, were paid off to promote financing of the project. In 1904, the U.S. purchased the remaining assets of the French project, and forced the independence of Panama from Columbia. A treaty was then signed, giving the U.S. the right to build, indefinitely administer and defend the Panama Canal Zone. This agreement has sometimes been misinterpreted as the "99-year lease," which it was not. That same year, the construction project, which President Theodore Rosevelt strongly supported,
was restarted. Thanks to the chief engineer, John Frank Stevens, the main error of the French (the goal of building the canal at sea level) was eliminated and due to the efforts of William C. Gorgas, chief sanitation engineer, after some 5,600 deaths, the mosquito-spread diseases were nearly eliminated. The project was concluded two years ahead of schedule in 1914. Panama never fully accepted that the Canal Zone be administered by the U.S., and tension between the two nations increased until relations broke in 1964. In 1979, a treaty was signed by President Jimmy Carter, which promished that the ownership of the canal would be transferred to Panama in 20 years. A complicated period followed during which the U.S. first supported the former CIA informer-turned-dictator Manuel Noriega, then in 1998, turned against him and invaded Panama. Still, the treaty signed by President Carter in 1979 was respected and on Dec. 31, 1999, the canal was turned over to Panama. In 2006, Panama decided by a national referendum to expand the canal. This expansion added two sets of locks (one each at its Pacific and Atlantic ends) and widened the old canal to allow traffic in three lanes. The construction of the expanded waterway cost $5.25 billion, involved 37,600 workers, and was completed with 44 million cubic meters of concrete and 192,000 tons of steel. The refurbished canal was inaugurated in 2016. Today, ships large enough to carry 13,000 containers can pass through it in both directions, while the old canal could only handle ships carrying 3,000 containers. The average passage time through the canal is about 24 hours, which includes about 16 hours of waiting time at the locks. During its first 20 months of operation, 3,000 new Panamax ships crossed the expanded canal, mostly carrying Chinese goods to the U.S. The per-ship cost of each passage varies widely, and can reach $1 million. Because sizes of container-cargo ships are constantly increasing, it's already projected that the larger www.controlglobal.com
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LESSONS LEARNED
locks serving the new expansion, completed in 2016, will become too small by 2030.
The hydraulic lift process The Panama Canal locks use the water of two lakes (Gatún and Miraflores) for their operation (Figure 1). As the ships start to travel from one ocean to the other, they enter the canal by entering the first lock, in which the water level at the time of entering is the same as the ocean because its gate is open on the ocean side. Once a ship is inside the lock chamber, the ocean-side gate is closed and water from the lake above is admitted to raise its water level and the ship. This is repeated in the next locks until the ship reaches the level of the lake. At the other end of the canal, the opposite process takes place as the ship is lowered in three steps to the ocean level. The energy supply of this operation is the gravity flow of the water from the lakes above. Gatún Lake is one of the world's largest artificial lakes, created to serve as a water reservoir for the canal. It's filled Gatún Lake
by the Chagres River and by rainwater runoff from the surrounding rain forests. The water collected during the rainy season must be enough to also operate the canal during the dry season. It must provide 26 million gallons of water for the passage of each ship. When the canal was expanded, the number of ships, their size and the size of the locks increased, which naturally requires more more water. In anticipation of this increased water demand, the capacity of the lakes above was also increased by increasing their water level.
Control and optimization When a process control engineer looks at this process, he or she will first look at the goals of the application (the setpoints of the control loops) and then for the variables that can be manipulated to achieve those goal (manipulated variables). After that, he or she will review the potential sources of upsets. As in many processes today, operation of this canal will also be affected by rising global temperature because this rise increases the length of the dry reasons
Miraflores Lake
Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean
Gatún Locks
Pedro Miguel Locks
Miraflores Locks
PANAMA CANAL IN CROSS-SECTION Figure 1: The Panama Canal locks are powered by gravity flow of the waters of Gatún and Miraflores lakes. Once a ship is inside a lock chamber, the ocean-side gate is closed and water from the lake above is admitted to raise its water level and the ship. This is repeated in the next locks until the ship reaches the level of the lake.
16 • JANUARY 2019
in the tropics. This means the quantity of water collected in the artificial lakes during the rainy season must last longer than in the past. Therefore, one goal has to be to reduce the water requirement of the per-ship passage. The means of achieving that goal (the available manipulated variables) include: 1. Maximizing the water savings by optimizing the use of water-saving basins; 2. Adjusting the passage fees to motivate the use of optimum timing and distribution of the passage of ships; and 3. Considering the use of adjustablelength lock chambers. In the first option, when a ship is lowered, instead of draining the water into the ocean, it's sequentially sent to water basins at elevations where they can serve as the water source to lock chambers for lifting an entering ship. This reduces the water usage of the canal by 60%, but only if, during a particular time period, the number of ships moving in the two directions is the same, they move at the same speeds, and their water displacement (size and weight) is close to be equal. Process control algorithms can easily calculate how to reach this balance—human operators can't—and it’s important because otherwise, on the side where the traffic is higher, the water in the storage basins will run out. Naturally, the process control algorithms can only suggest the most watersaving operation, but can’t force the ships to follow that recommendation. Obviously, the best motivation for the ships to follow that recommendation is to increase the cost of passage (manipulated variable) if they don’t. If global warming further increases, eventually these steps will become insufficient, and at that point, the options will be to use pumped ocean water to provide the hydraulic lifts, to convert the canal into a sealevel one, or to replace the canal with a sealevel canal in Nicaragua.
www.controlglobal.com
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Listen to weak signals The whispers we are wont to ignore may be harbingers of situations we want to avoid.
JOHN REZABEK Contributing Editor JRezabek@ashland.com
A weak signal—anything the least bit out of the ordinary—could be the somber mood of a normally cheerful operator or even a gut feeling.
18 • JANUARY 2019
WE were headed to the airport for a three-day business trip and failed to notice the faint clickclick-click, barely audible above the radio. The enclosed levels at the garage were full so we ended up parking on the roof, open to the elements of the midwestern winter. The return flight from Houston arrived after 2200 hours, and another hour drive awaited us upon return. It was looking up when no freezing rain or snow had accumulated in our absence, but we were dismayed to find our left front tire was flat. Failing to notice weak signals—the characteristic sound of a nail in the front tire, for example—can lead to greater calamities than a flat tire late on a winter’s night. That’s one key concept presented by Doug Rothenberg at a recent meeting of the ISA Cleveland, Ohio chapter. Abnormal situation management guru and author of what’s been called the most comprehensive treatise available, “Alarm Management for Process Control,” Rothenberg is soon to publish a new book illuminating further the discipline required for abnormal situation avoidance. We abhor uncertainty and ambiguity, so our brains work to rationalize or dismiss many weak signals. We are quick to say, “This is what it means” when we should think, “What could it really mean?” Rothenberg advises. We love to create accommodating explanations with incomplete information, Rothenberg points out. Two measurements that normally agree start to deviate. “Those instruments are unreliable—most likely it’s just drift.” Life goes on. The waste heat boiler/incinerator starts losing temperature and using more fuel. We don’t want to think this might mean something dire is happening upstream, so, “Oh, Hidalgo is on, he always struggles with that boiler control.” But Rothenberg says, stand up, notice, pay attention—the signals are talking. For decades, our company has trained engineers in the Kepner Tregoe problem solving methodology. With K-T, as we call it, a problem is examined and a disciplined path is followed to
identify observations that support or refute various hypotheses. Rothenberg’s weak signal technique offers the possibility of avoiding the problem— the consequence—before experiencing it. “Real problems can’t hide for long, so how to find them early enough?” he asks. A weak signal—anything the least bit out of the ordinary—could be the somber mood of a normally cheerful operator or even a gut feeling—weak signals don’t have to be restricted to measurements just because we’re instrument specialists. But instruments could be extremely useful when seeking to confirm or refute a hunch or a theory for the cause of a weak signal you happen to notice. One method Rothenberg explores is to choose from the myriad weak signals one might observe those few that are clearly or possibly more than noise. Consider then, what might they indicate? And of those potential outcomes, which are the most dire? From there, the observer can seek other indications that confirm or refute the potential outcome, sort of like doing Kepner-Tregoe on a consequence that hasn’t befallen you yet. It’s not that we don’t do such diagnostics from time to time, but we tend to focus on the known abnormal conditions. But as Rothenberg illustrates, our processes don’t just exist in the known normal state and the known abnormal state (which we detect with alarms)—they also wander into the unknown and not normal—and it’s these places where we haven’t been yet, where especially dire consequences, the so-called black swan, might be approaching. While there is some hyperventilating about Big Data and the IIoT, thoughtful examination of the data—noticing what we already have—can focus our attention on the blind spots where an avoidable consequence might be revealed or confirmed. Rothenberg’s soon to be published book, “Situation Management for Industrial Operations” (Wiley & Sons) will give us some suggestions where our human senses and minds can be trained to see past our preconceptions—and cut through the clutter. www.controlglobal.com
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Calibrator communications Verifying field devices involves specific demands that wireless could meet, if we let it.
IAN VERHAPPEN Senior Project Manager, Automation, CIMA+ Ian.Verhappen@cima.ca
Running off battery is a great way to remove one potential common-mode source of error—the power supply, especially if it’s an AC source.
20 • JANUARY 2019
WITH the increasing use of wired and wireless digital communications, technicians and field engineers are communicating with and performing maintenance on field devices from practically anywhere—and often not at the transmitter face with screwdriver in hand to “tweak the pots” unless necessary to force a signal or isolate the device, as they would when calibrating. Many practitioners believe that because a digital transmitter is factory calibrated for a wide signal range, and they can configure the device anywhere within the range, that calibration and configuration are the same, which is certainly not the case. Configuration refers to setting transmitter parameters only, without any signal forcing other than simulation of inputs, and thus no traceability to a reference. Because they don’t need to simulate input signals, several configurators on the market are based on a ruggedized, perhaps intrinsically safe tablet or smart phone. These devices, in addition to supporting the field protocol, typically through a Bluetooth or USB accessory/ modem, also often provide WiFi- or cellular-based Ethernet connectivity to communicate with the enterprise maintenance system and control system. Calibration, on the other hand, is comparing the device under test against a traceable reference instrument, and documenting the comparison. Therefore, to calibrate a transmitter, the input needs to be generated at the same time the output is being measured. If the calibration is done with a documenting calibrator, it will automatically document the calibration results. Fortunately, most calibrators with digital communications at least have the documenting capability, thus eliminating transcription errors while providing time-stamped end-to-end traceability. Unfortunately, some calibrators have limited memory, and may only be capable of handling as few as 20 data sets before needing to be downloaded. On the positive side, this will encourage technicians to download their results every day, but the objective of technology is to make life easier. Another key consideration for calibrators is their ability to isolate the input from the output since,
as we know, the simple act of measuring something affects the measurement. With calibrators, we're both forcing or inputting the measurement and measuring the resulting output. In my experience, running off battery is a great way to remove one potential common-mode source of error—the power supply, especially if it’s an AC source. Mind you, I was using a laptop-based tool, so it would not have the isolation that a properly designed industrial instrument will, but it proves once again that cheap and multipurpose are not quite the same as dedicated and industrial. The challenge with many calibrators is getting the documenting information in their memory into the main computer storage platform. All calibrators communicate with the calibration module that is, hopefully, part of or at least accessible from the instrument maintenance system. The connection between the calibrator and hosting computer uses a wide range of technologies from serial (tough finding computers with this connection still) to the more common USB interface, with the few that now support Bluetooth about the only current wireless option. There are also still some that require manually pulling the SD card and installing it in the calibration company’s standalone proprietary software, then porting it from there (sometimes as Excel files, though most systems support SQL) to the enterprise’s maintenance software for archiving and, more important, access by QA and potential statistical analysis and control. Calibrators continue to get better, however, as we can see, there's still room to improve. I'm confident we'll soon see devices with bidirectional communications directly from the field to the quality system to support and prompt technicians on their rounds, while populating the central database. All we'll need then is the infrastructure in the plant to make it possible; so once again we have a Catch 22—no capable field devices without infrastructure, and no infrastructure because we don’t have enough capable field devices to justify installing it. www.controlglobal.com
IN PROCESS
Siemens, partners strive for cybersecurity Charter of Trust members detail multiple cybersecurity initiatives during press tour in Germany EFFECTIVE cybersecurity requires cooperation by users, system integrators, contractors, suppliers and clients up and down production streams and supply chains. But how can all those players learn to collaborate? Probably the most comprehensive efforts so far is being spearheaded by Siemens AG and 16 of its primary industrial partners, who recently signed their jointly developed Charter of Trust (www.siemens.com/press/charter-of-trust), which is seeking to present a united front and standardized protections again cyber threats, intrusions and attacks. As part of their efforts, Siemens hosted a press tour in and around Munich in late November to provide an update on the partners' progress. "Trust needs a level playing field, and that means having a baseline that everyone can follow," says Eva Schulz-Kamm, global head of government affairs, Siemens, who reported at the company's Munich campus that it's been rethinking its approach to cybersecurity ever since the Stuxnet virus emerged in 2010. "We've learned that digitalization creates risks as well as opportunities, which means we can't have smart devices enabled by microprocessors and networking without addressing their cybersecurity issues, too. Cybersecurity is crucial for increasingly digitalized economies, but we and our business partners can't jointly achieve it without trust, which is why we're taking it so seriously. Trust is the differentiator, but it's costly, and must be seen as investment that will deliver a return later."
Charter essentials Siemens and eight initial partners launched the Charter of Trust last February at the Munich Security Conference, and the group quickly grew to 16 members at National Infrastructure Week last May. They presently include AES Corp., Airbus, Allianz, Atos, Cisco, Daimler Group, Dell Technologies, Deutsche Telekom, Enel, IBM, MSC, NXP, SGS, Siemens, Total and TÜV SÜD AG. The partners signed the Charter of Trust with three objectives: protect data of individuals and companies; prevent damage to people, companies and infrastructures; and create a reliable foundation on which confidence in a networked digital world can take root and grow. These objectives led to 10 key principles: • Ownership of cyber- and IT security; • Responsibility throughout the digital supply chain; • Security by default; • User-centricity; • Innovation and co-creation; • Education; • Certification for critical infrastructure and solutions; • Transparency and response; • Regulatory framework; and • Joint initiatives. www.controlglobal.com
CYBERSECURITY SHOWCASE Franz Köbinger, industrial security marketing lead, Siemens AG, details the company's multiple cybersecurity efforts and solutions at its booth during the recent SPS IPC Drives 2018 tradeshow in Nürnberg, Germany. Siemens reports it's bringing the first three principles to life, respectively, by establishing a new cybersecurity unit in January 2018; providing a multilayered security concept to give its plants all-around and in-depth protections; and applying its holistic security concept throughout the lifecycles of the 15 million Simatic products it manufactures each year. To achieve its regulatory framework goal, Siemens is also participating in a network of cybersecurity-related organizations, such as ISA, FIRST, CERT community and SAFEcode. "About 90% of smaller companies and other organizations have already experienced cyber incidents, so many users and governments have been asking how Siemens can help because you can't do cybersecurity alone if you've got a microprocessor that's networked to the cloud," adds Schulz-Kamm. "We want to create a global sandbox where we and others can test our cybersecurity solutions. This doesn't mean everything will be secure, but it will mean we can do something about it, lead by example, and raise the bar on cybersecurity."
Partners weigh in Several other Munich-based signers of the Charter of Trust echoed sentiments expressed by Siemens representatives about how their agreement can help them and their clients achieve stronger protections and present a more united front on cybersecurity. "We were an early participant in the Charter of Trust and keen to drive its 10 commandments because without them, we'll never get to a more stable market that can continue to grow because users can trust their devices and are willing to share their data," says Lars Regar, CTO, NXP Automotive (www.nxp.com). Just as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and edge-based JANUARY 2019 • 21
IN PROCESS
methods are transforming other applications and industries, NXP reports they're also penetrating its primary businesses, and require effective cybersecurity to succeed in these new areas. "High-performance sensing is needed for precise recognition of analog and human environments, such as robots and autonomous vehicles," explains Regar. "We've been working with Siemens on devices that can deliver data outside of line-of-sight, such as equipping traffic signals with long-range RFID sensors that can work with car-to-car communications to inform vehicles of situations coming up. However, these applications must have secure connectivity and communications." Likewise, experts at the Watson IoT Center in Munich report that IBM also joined the Charter of Trust to engage with policymakers to collaborate, educate and raise awareness about cybersecurity, and raise the bar for it with tangible measures and results. "Together, we strongly believe that effective cybersecurity is a precondition for an open, fair and successful digital future, and by adhering to and promoring the Charter of Trust's principles, we're creating a foundation of trust for all," says Jonathan Sage, government and regulatory affairs, IBM. "We're also doing roadshows to get others to join, and trying to bring more cybersecurity down to the industrial and measurement levels where we're also located." For instance, to achieve the Charter of Trust's "Principle 6—Education," IBM is requiring cybersecurity training for all its employees, and establishing a mobile cybersecurity facility for conducting simulated data breaches as part of its training for staff and partners. Angelika Steinacker, CTO for Identity and Access Management (IAM) and IoT, IBM Security Europe, reports that, "All of cybersecurity is related to identity, so we're bringing our experience in this area to the Charter of Trust and vice versa." For example, "Principle 2—Responsibility throughout the digital supply chain" includes IAM for connected devices, so Steinacker adds that, "Taxonomy, standardization and industry-based IAM frameworks are needed." In addition, Dave Braines, CTO for emerging techniology, IBM Research UK, reports that IBM is also developing fully homomorphic encryption that will let users analyze data while it remains secure and private. This method is based on lattice cryptography, and basically allows data to be viewed so calculations can be performed, but doesn't give access it.
Security joins safety Another member of the Charter of Trust, TÜV Süd (www.tuv-sud. com) and its four-year-old cybersecurity services division, TÜV Süd Sec-IT, support it due to how fast the cybersecurity field is evolving. For example, conventional tools like virus scanners and firewalls aren't enough anymore, which is fueling demand for "predict, detect, prevent and respond solutions." "The sheer numbers of connected devices in the future mean there will be a lot more vulnerabilities, so TÜV Süd has been shifting its focus from testing and verification for functional safety to also diving into cybersecurity," says Andy Schweiger, managing 22 • JANUARY 2019
director, TÜV Süd Sec-IT. "We're also moving from testing and certification before a product goes to market to continuous testing of firmware and software updates. In addition, where virus control used to be signature-based, it's moving to become behaviorbased, which is where machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) can help by showing how viruses can occur and spread." TÜV Süd Sec-IT also recently established its Octoforce team of cybersecurity experts to do accredited data protection testing within TÜV Süd's community and procedures, and produce reports and recommendations. Stefan Vollmer, CTO at TÜV Süd Sec-IT, reports that Octoforce has two main teams, penetrating testing and threat intelligence, which seek to better understand cyber threats and attacks to help prevent them. To furher mitigate some cyber intrusions and attacks, Stefan Laudat, lead consultant at TÜV Süd Sec-IT, reports it's developing its TÜV Attack Surface Detection (ASD) service that includes: • Digital footprint of an entity; • Automated and manual red teaming; • Device fingerprinting based on AI; • OSINT-based digital reputation; • Intelligence-led penetration testing; • Critical asset identification; and • Top management risk reports. "TÜV ASD will also align OT and IT departments, combine their internal processes with best practices, and achieve complete risk awareness by using best-in-class tools and intelligence orchestrated with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to determine weaknesses in infrastructure, web, cloud or social engineering," explains Laudat. "We'll also deliver impartial, easy-to-understand reports, updated metrics and indicators, intelligence and forecasting targeted at customers and/or third parties."
Solutions on display The press tour concluded with a one-day visit to the recent SPS IPC Drives 2019 tradeshow in nearby Nürnberg, which included demonstrations of Siemens cybersecurity solutions. "We're integrating Claroty anomaly detection technology with Palo Alto firewalls, so HMIs can talk to PLCs, but not to other devices," explains Stefan Waronka, global head of Siemens Industrial Security Services. "This lets us create firewalls rules, so we can do micro-segmenting of networks for improved cybersecurity. Customers are also asking for security that's integrated into operations centers on the IT, and we're supporting those efforts, too. We also have McAfee's security information and event management (SIEM) scaled down into Siemens components, where it can run standalone or be integrated into those devices. "We're also using a secure product development lifecycle that complies with IEC 62443-2-1, while our development team uses TÜV Süd-certified blueprints. Siemens Industrial Security Services is a comprehensive, modular, scalable portfolio that gives users everything they need to assess, implement and manage their applications securely." www.controlglobal.com
IN PROCESS
SIGNALS AND INDICATORS • T he Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC, www.iiconsortium.org) and the OpenFog Consortium (www.openfogconsortium.org) announced Dec. 18 that they've agreed to combine the two consortia in industrial IoT, fog and edge computing, and finalize details in early 2019. Their combined memberships will continue to develop and promote best practices for fog and edge computing. • Emerson Automation Solutions (www.emerson.com) reported Dec. 13 that it's acquired Advanced Engineering Valves (www.aevalves.com), a 10-year-old manufacturer of valve technology that helps LNG users operate more efficiently. Emerson also announced Dec. 11 that it's acquired iSolutions Inc. (www.isolutions.com), Calgary, Alberta, a consulting group with expertise designing and implementing data management solutions. • Measurement, Control & Automation Association (MCAA, https://themcaa.org/) announced Dec. 20 its board of directors for 2019. Mike Waters, president and CEO, SOR Controls Group Ltd., was elected chairman, while Scott Saunders, president, Moore Industries International Inc., will serve as vice chairman. MCAA's
new directors include Deryl Bell, president, Carotek Inc.; Russ Graybill, director of product marketing, Yokogawa Corp. of America; Stephen Santangelo, president, Palmer Wahl Instruments Inc; and Colin Sheridan, president, Tel-Tru Manufacturing Co. The board also includes past chairman Bharat Naik, president, Reotemp Instruments, and directors Mike DeLacluyse, president, Lesman Instrument Co.; Bill Edinger, general manager of process instrumentation, Siemens Industry; Gary Johnson, president, Azbil North America Inc; and Jim Winter, director of global process business, Rockwell Automation. • ABB (www.abb.com) reported Dec. 7 that it's commissioned two digital substations in Tolve and Vaglio, in southern Italy's Basilicata region. The substations will integrate and transmit electricity generated by local wind farms, and contribute to Italy’s 2030 goal to meet 28% of its energy needs with renewables. Products provided to the substations include ABB Ability automation and control systems, intelligent protection equipment, transformers with sensors, digitally enabled switchgear and communication.
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RESOURCES
Skids and modular systems on the move Control's monthly resource guide INTEGRATING PROCESS CONTROLS, SKIDS
COMPILATION OF CASES
This online article, "The challenges in integrating a process control system with skid-based equipment: a case study" by Robert Patrick, vice president of engineering at Superior Controls Inc., a CSIA-certified system integrator in Seabrook, N.H., examines two ways to integrate process control systems (PCS) with three different types of equipment on skids. The article details questions to ask, how to develop specifications, identifies further issues that can arise, and shows how a system integrator can implement the most appropriate devices for each application. It's located at http://superiorcontrols.com/pressreleases/the-challenges-in-integratinga-process-control-system-with-skidbased-equipment-a-case-study/ SUPERIOR CONTROLS INC. http://superiorcontrols.com
FABRICATION, COOLING TOWER PROJECT The first of these two about four- to fiveminute videos, "Fabrication of a modular skid" by M. Davis & Sons Inc., details the company's history, engineering approach and capabilities for designing, building and implementing process skids. The second video, "DuPont cooling tower project," show how the firm carried out a project for a major customer, and how it coordinates electrical, piping and steel activities during assembly. The first video is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-inKzbHMzfU. The second video is at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Cxx8bIpqjSI&t=134sor M. DAVIS & SONS INC. www.mdavisinc.com
This online library, "Modular process case studies," consists of more than 30 examples of skid builds and other projects carried out by Epic Systems. Topics include pilot and demonstration, product and commercial plant, continuous process, industrial distillation, emulsion systems, batch mixing, batch reactor, industrial pipe bridge, heat transfer, clean in place (CIP) and wastewater treatment, and more. It's located at www.epicmodular process.com/case-studies EPIC SYSTEMS www.epicmodularprocess.com
ADDING BATCH PROCESSES This blog entry, "OEM skid integration for batch processes," by Robbie Peoples, PE, integration manager at Cross Integrated Systems Group, a CSIA-member system integrator and one of six divisions at Cross Co. in Knoxville, Tenn., outlines the challenges of integrating skids for batching, and includes four primary guidelines for accomplishing it, including allocating operating modes, following standard operating states, defining status feedback and standardizing communications. Visitors can also download a case study about the Jack Daniel's distillery on which the blog post is based. It's at www.crossco.com/blog/process-controlintegration/oem-skid-integration-batchprocess CROSS CO. www.crossco.com
SHORT-SUBJECT VIDEOS Many of the close to 30 short videos at S&S Technical's YouTube channel cover skid building, related equipment and the firm's other capabilities. Topics include
skid solutions, quality assurance, walkthroughs, piping, insulation, bidirectional LPG loading and transfers including propane. They're located at www.youtube. com/user/skidsolutions/videos S&S TECHNICAL INC. www.skidsolutions.com
MODULAR PLANTS WHITEPAPER The 36-page whitepaper, "Modular plants" by Dechema, covers the motivations, concepts and levels of modularization, infrastructure and utilities, analytics, required working areas and gaps, standardization and interfaces, planning, apparatus development, scale-up, automation, logistics and supply chain, regulations and other topics. It's at https:// dechema.de/dechema_media/modularplants.pdf DECHEMA https://dechema.de
LABORATORY SKID RENOVATION This 33-page research paper, "Process control laboratory skid refurbishment" by Danny Crowder, summarizes the condition of a salvaged process control skid, which the author reports was originally built by others, but hopes will be salvaged to serve the curriculum for chemical engineering students at the University of Akron. The paper covers testing procedures, process equipment, utilities, process and electrical safety equipment, potential control loops, budgeting considerations and recommendations. It's at https://idea exchange.uakron.edu/cgi/viewcontent. cgi?article=1491&context=honors_ research_projects IDEAEXCHANGE@UAKRON https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu
If you know of any tools and resources we didn’t include, send them to ControlMagazine@Putman.net with “Resource” in the subject line, and we’ll add them to the website. 24 • JANUARY 2019
www.controlglobal.com
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FEATURE EYEBROW
TAP VINTAGE EXPERTISE End users toast the companies that provide the best in process control. ENGINEERING, installing and maintaining automation systems for safe, efficient, quality production takes many talents. Along with a real grip on the technologies and techniques of process control, you must have a good understanding of manufacturing principles, finances, people and more. One of the most important tools in your belt is your hard-won knowledge of what works. Through real-world experience, you’ve found products and brands you can rely on to give the best combination of performance, ease of use, reliability and reasonable cost. But no single automation professional is expert in every one of the myriad categories of process control hardware, software and systems necessary to properly support today’s plant. Where do you turn when it’s time to identify a new source for one of the less familiar needs 26 • JANUARY 2019
by Control staff
of your facility? Who do you want to consult—your purchasing department? Your local reps? Magazine editors? The web? How about your fellow professionals who read Control? That’s who we poll to determine our annual Readers’ Choice Awards.
A veritable who’s who The professionals who took the time and made the effort to complete our lengthy, fill-in-the-blank surveys worked hard at it. For each of more than 80 categories, they decided whether or not they had the experience to name up to three suppliers who, in their opinion, deliver the best technology. If so, they decided who those suppliers would be, ranked them one to three, typed in their names, and moved on. www.controlglobal.com
What does it take to deliver the best technology? No respondent was able to fill in all the blanks—many felt qualified to fill in less than half the categories. Clearly, naming the best supplier isn’t a casual decision. Today’s industrial facilities increasingly rely on vendors to not only deliver high-performance, rugged, durable equipment and expert services at rock-bottom prices, but to back those products and services with competent, immediate, 24/7 support. Only the strongest suppliers can generate the loyalty that leads to a place in our Readers’ Choice Awards. Determined solely by readers’ responses, the awards you’ll find on the following pages name the vendors that provide the best technology in categories from software and systems to instrumentation and final control elements. If you’re not sure which ultrasonic flowmeters are the best choice, what valve actuators provide the finest control, whose SCADA package leads the pack, or where to turn for excellence in any of our 83 categories, the Control Readers’ Choice Awards arm you with a quick reference to the preferences of your peers.
Cautions and congratulations As you review this year’s winners, remember that the fill-in-the-blank format of the survey means every supplier has an equal chance— the choices are not limited to a selection of entries determined by vendors, editors or other people who are not practicing process automation professionals. In the survey, we ask end users to vote only in those categories where they have personal experience. A vote for a specific company should mean the respondent has found its products to be better than other companies’ in that category. Every vendor named in the accompanying tables has been designated as offering the best value by a significant number of respondents. Since more respondents have experience with companies that have higher installed base or market share, the results are inevitably biased toward the larger companies. Furthermore, there are certainly small companies that don't make the list, no matter how excellent their technologies, just because they are relatively unknown. If you have a favorite smaller supplier, consider yourself fortunate and don't be concerned that they aren't in our Readers' Choice Awards. While we ask respondents to write in the www.controlglobal.com
name of the company, some write in the names or numbers of specific products or software packages. We strive to recognize and translate these responses into parent company names. In short, the Control Readers' Choice Awards offer a reference list of brands that readers like you say offer the best—a veritable who's who of plant equipment, software and service providers. We’ve done our best to get experienced automation professionals, people who have the necessary perspective and wisdom to judge, without prejudice or penalty, who makes the best stuff for process control. We express our heartfelt appreciation to the hardy respondents who took the time to share their valuable wisdom by selecting our winners, and we congratulate each listed vendor on being recognized in our Readers’ Choice Awards.
First up: Best in Control Best in Control categories are broken down into six automation disciplines and by 10 vertical industries. These platform categories are dominated by the largest companies in process automation, with little change in rankings from year to year. But this year, Honeywell Process Solutions returned to first in Continuous Sheet/ Web Monitoring & Control and rose to fourth in Batch Process Automation. Schneider Electric rose to third in Sequential Logic Control, fourth in Continuous Regulatory Control, and fifth in Batch Process Automation. Rockwell Automation notched up to second in Continuous Sheet/Web Monitoring & Control, where Emerson Automation Solutions bumped up to third. We welcome Yokogawa into the winners circle in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition.
Infrastructure supports the system While many process automation product categories have seen extensive consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, infrastructure remains dotted with independent companies that haven’t been bought, including Pepperl+Fuchs in Intrinsic Safety, Moore Industries for Signal Conditioners, and Phoenix Contact in Power Supplies and Terminal Blocks. At the same time, Emerson Automation Solutions replaces SolaHD because of its acquisition. Wire and Cable remains led by the familiar Belden, Southwire and Lapp, with Anixter returning to the winners this year in fourth
Best in Control: Readers' Choice Awards by Process Automation Discipline Continuous Regulatory Control 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Honeywell Process Solutions 3. Rockwell Automation 4. Schneider Electric 5. ABB 6. Yokogawa 7. Siemens Industry 8. GE Automation & Controls Safety/Emergency Shutdown 1. Schneider Electric 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Emerson Automation Solutions 4. Siemens Industry 5. Honeywell Process Solutions 6. (tie) ABB 6. (tie) HIMA 7. Yokogawa Batch Process Automation 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Siemens Industry 4. Honeywell Process Solutions 5. Schneider Electric 6. ABB 7. Yokogawa 8. GE Automation & Controls Sequential Logic Control 1. Rockwell Automation 2. Siemens Industry 3. Schneider Electric 4. Emerson Automation Solutions 5. ABB 6. Honeywell Process Solutions 7. GE Automation & Controls 8. Yokogawa Continuous Sheet/Web Monitoring & Control 1. Honeywell Process Solutions 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Emerson Automation Solutions 4. ABB 5. Siemens Industry 6. Schneider Electric 7. GE Automation & Controls 8. Yokogawa Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA) 1. Schneider Electric 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Emerson Automation Solutions 4. Honeywell Process Solutions 5. Siemens Industry 6. GE Automation & Controls 7. ABB 8. Yokogawa JANUARY 2019 • 27
BEST IN CONTROL BY DISCIPLINE AND INDUSTRY Chemicals Manufacturing
Continuous Regulatory Control Batch Process Automation
Electric Power Generation
Food & Beverage Manufacturing
Rockwell Automation
Safety/Emergency Shutdown
Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric
Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition
Schneider Electric
Emerson Automation Solutions
Batch Process Automation Continuous Sheet/Web Monitoring & Control Safety/Emergency Shutdown Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition Sequential Logic Control
Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences
Plastics & Rubber Manufacturing
Siemens Industry
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Pulp & Paper Manufacturing
Water & Wastewater Processing
ABB
Schneider Electric
Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Rockwell Automation
Honeywell Process Solutions
Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric
Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation
Input/Output System 1. Rockwell Automation 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Siemens Industry 4. ABB 5. Honeywell Process Solutions
3. Acromag 4. Moore Industries 5. Rockwell Automation Terminal Block 1. Phoenix Contact 2. Weidmuller 3. Rockwell Automation 4. Wago 5. ABB Wire & Cable 1. Belden 2. Southwire 3. Lapp 4. Anixter 5. Alpha
Power Supply 1. Phoenix Contact 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Emerson Automation Solutions Wireless Infrastructure 4. Siemens Industry 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 5. Acopian 2. Cisco Signal Conditioner 3. Honeywell Process Solutions 1. Phoenix Contact 4. Phoenix Contact 2. Pepperl+Fuchs 5. Rockwell Automation
28 • JANUARY 2019
Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric
Honeywell Process Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Emerson Automation Rockwell Automation Solutions Solutions Emerson Automation Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Emerson Automation Rockwell Automation Solutions Solutions
INFRASTRUCTURE
Intrinsic Safety 1. Pepperl+Fuchs 2. Rockwell Automation 3. MTL Instruments 4. Phoenix Contact 5. R. Stahl
Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Petroleum Refining
Continuous Regulatory Control
Oil & Gas Extraction
Emerson Automation Emerson Automation Emerson Automation Rockwell Automation Emerson Automation Solutions Solutions Solutions Solutions Emerson Automation Emerson Automation Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Emerson Automation Solutions Solutions Solutions
Continuous Sheet/Web Monitoring & Control
Sequential Logic Control
Metals, Minerals & Mining
place. We welcome Phoenix Contact to Wireless Infrastructure this year in fourth place, and ABB to Terminal Blocks in fifth.
Seek your own level It seems so simple to automate the elementary tasks of looking at a sight glass or dipping in a stick, but level remains an area where instrumentation based on the simplest principles (like some things float) competes with nuclear radiation and microwave radar to provide the least expensive, most reliable and exactly appropriate way to deal with fluids from flammable hydrocarbons to sticky foams, clumping solids and elusive interfaces. However, once you know what you want, there are still some specialized companies that may win your loyalty. And if you are surprised that a favorite one of those smaller companies isn't in our rankings, you may find that it's owned by one of the majors— we roll those votes up into a single total for the parent company. This year, a notable change is Endress+Hauser’s rise to first place in Level Switch, Ultrasonic. New and returning winners include Varec for Level Gauge, Inventory Grade; AutomationDirect for Level Gauge, Magnetostrictive; Magnetrol for Level Switch, Vibration; Wika for Magnetic Level Indicator; Omega Engineering for Level Gauge, Ultrasonic, and Level Switch, Electrical Property-based; and Endress+Hauser and VEGA Americas for Level Gauge, Laser. There are no losers on these charts. www.controlglobal.com
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Flow keeps rolling For years now, advances in flow detection and measurement have centered more on accuracy, reliability and communications than the measurement technologies themselves. In a way, it helps that the large system companies have bought up many niche manufacturers because it means they can truly recommend the best technology for the job. Some are so good, our vot-
ers think they make instruments in categories where they don’t. This year, unchanged first-place winners in all the flow categories belie stiff competition in some of the technologies. Krohne is new or returning for Magnetic Flowmeter, ABB for Thermal Mass Flowmeter, Ametek for Open Channel Flowmeter, GE Dresser for Turbine Flowmeter, and Endress+Hauser for Turbine and Positive Displacement flowmeters.
LEVEL INSTRUMENTATION Level Gauge, Capacitance/ Admittance/Conductance 1. Endress+Hauser 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Ametek Drexelbrook 4. Magnetrol 5. VEGA Americas Level Gauge, Float/Displacer 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Magnetrol 3. Endress+Hauser 4. Schneider Electric 5. ABB Level Gauge, Guided Wave 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. VEGA Americas 4. Magnetrol 5. ABB Level Gauge, Non-Contacting Radar 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser
3. VEGA Americas 4. Siemens Industry 5. ABB Level Gauge, Inventory Grade 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Honeywell Enraf 4. VEGA Americas 5. Varec Level Gauge, Laser 1. ABB 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Endress+Hauser 4. Keyence 5. (tie) Binmaster 5. (tie) VEGA Americas Level Gauge, Magnetostrictive 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Orion Instruments 3. ABB 4. MTS 5. Automation Direct
Level Gauge, Radiometric (Nuclear) 1. VEGA Americas 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Thermo Scientific 4. Emerson Automation Solutions 5. Berthold Technologies Level Gauge, Ultrasonic 1. Endress+Hauser 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Siemens Industry 4. VEGA Americas 5. Omega Engineering Level Switch, Electrical Property-based 1. Endress+Hauser 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Magnetrol 4. VEGA Americas 5. Omega Engineering Level Switch, Mechanical 1. Magnetrol 2. Emerson Automation Solutions
3. Endress+Hauser 4. ABB 5. SOR Level Switch, Ultrasonic 1. Endress+Hauser 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Magnetrol 4. VEGA Americas 5. Ametek Drexelbrook Level Switch, Vibration 1. Endress+Hauser 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. VEGA Americas 4. Magnetrol 5. Ametek Drexelbrook Magnetic Level Indicator 1. Orion Instruments 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. ABB 4. Endress+Hauser 5. WIKA
FLOW INSTRUMENTATION Coriolis Flowmeter 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Krohne 4. Yokogawa 5. ABB Magnetic Flowmeter 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Yokogawa 4. Krohne 5. ABB Open Channel Flowmeter 1. Endress+Hauser 2. Emerson Automation Solutions
30 • JANUARY 2019
3. Siemens Industry 4. ABB 5. Ametek Positive Displacement Flowmeter 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Brooks Instrument 3. FMC Technologies 4. Badger Meter 5. Endress+Hauser Thermal Mass Flowmeter 1. FCI 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Emerson Automation Solutions 4. ABB 5. Sierra
Turbine Flowmeter 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Badger Meter 4. GE Dresser 5. Omega Engineering Ultrasonic Flowmeter (Closed Pipe) 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Krohne 4. GE Automation & Controls 5. Siemens Industry Variable Area Flowmeter 1. Brooks Instrument 2. Krohne
3. Emerson Automation Solutions 4. ABB 5. Yokogawa Vortex Flowmeter 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Yokogawa 4. Schneider Electric 5. ABB Flow Switch 1. Endress+Hauser 2. FCI 3. Emerson Automation Solutions 4. Dwyer 5. Magnetrol
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Temperature and pressure cook along Pressure and temperature switches and transmitters play major roles in field instrumentation. This year, our only change in the top rankings is that FLIR Systems took over first place in Infrared Imaging/Thermography. Lower in the rankings, Honeywell Process Solutions is back for Pressure Transmitter and Temperature Transmitter, JMS
Southeast for Thermocouple, and Williamson for Infrared Temperature Sensor.
Outfitting the interfaces Software needs a place to run and a way for operators to run it. That may be in a centralized control room or various locations across the plant—either way, you often need pieces
TEMPERATURE & PRESSURE Pressure Transmitter 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Yokogawa 4. Honeywell 5. Schneider Electric
Resistance Temperature Detector 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Omega Engineering 3. Endress+Hauser 4. (tie) Pyromation 4. (tie) JMS Southeast
Temperature Transmitter 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Yokogawa 4. Honeywell 5. Schneider Electric
Pressure Switch 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Ashcroft 3. United Electric 4. Endress+Hauser 5. SOR
Thermocouple 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Omega Engineering 3. Pyromation 4. Endress+Hauser 5. JMS Southeast
Infrared Temperature Sensor 1. Fluke 2. Omega Engineering 3. FLIR Systems 4. Emerson Automation Solutions 5. Williamson
Infrared Imaging/Thermography 1. FLIR Systems 2. Fluke Temperature Switch 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Ashcroft 3. Omega 4. Endress+Hauser 5. United Electric
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JANUARY 2019 • 31
from this eclectic collection of specialized hardware. This year, Schneider Electric took top place in Process Loop Controller. The company also showed up, along with Honeywell Process Solutions in the Annunciator category, and along with Phoenix Contact, in the Industrial Computer category. The Industrial Computer category collects many votes for Dell and HP, reflecting either support for non-industrial PCs or the rising tendency for computational power to be allocated to servers. If either of those are your style, they may be your winners.
Intelligence in software Software powers the control system’s brains and communications, so it’s no surprise that many software winners are the same companies we saw at the top of the equivalent platform categories. This year, Schneider Electric (with its Wonderware, Foxboro, Invensys and Triconex brands) took the lead in Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Software, where Siemens and Honeywell Process Solutions made fresh appearances. ABB showed up in OPC Connectivity and Asset Management; Honeywell Process Solutions in Human-Machine Interface (HMI); Emerson Automation Solutions and Siemens in Design/Documentation; and Schneider Electric in Advanced Process Control Software.
Elsewhere in the field Here’s our collection of essential field equipment, instrumentation and devices that don’t fit into another major category. Don’t be confused by Pentair’s name change to nVent—and that’s still where we count all the Hoffman votes. These categories are led by solid performers that remain at the top. In the rest of the rankings, Honeywell Process Solutions is back for Data Acquisition System, GE Druck for Portable
INTERFACES Annunciator 1. Ametek 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Ronan Engineering 4. Honeywell Process Solutions 5. Schneider Electric Industrial Computer 1. Rockwell Automation 2. Advantech
3. Siemens Industry 4. Schneider Electric 5. Phoenix Contact Operator Interface Terminal 1. Rockwell Automation 2. Siemens Industry 3. Schneider Electric 4. Red Lion Controls 5. Emerson Automation Solutions
Panel Display 1. Rockwell Automation 2. Siemens Industry 3. Red Lion Controls 4. Schneider Electric 5. ABB Process Loop Controller 1. Schneider Electric 2. Honeywell Process Solutions
3. Yokogawa 4. Emerson Automation Solutions 5. Rockwell Automation Recorder 1. Yokogawa 2. Honeywell Process Solutions 3. ABB 4. (tie) Endress + Hauser 4. (tie) Schneider Electric
SOFTWARE Advanced Process Control Software 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Honeywell Process Solutions 4. ABB 5. Schneider Electric Alarm Management Software 1. Honeywell Process Solutions 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Rockwell Automation 4. Schneider Electric 5. PAS Asset Management Software 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Schneider Electric 4. ABB
32 • JANUARY 2019
CT1901_26_35_CoverStory_RCA_v2.indd 32
5. Honeywell Calibration Management Software 1. Fluke 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Beamex 4. Rockwell Automation 5. Endress+Hauser Design/Documentation Software 1. Autodesk 2. EPLAN 3. Intergraph 4. Emerson Automation Solutions 5. Siemens Industry Human-Machine Interface Software 1. Rockwell Automation 2. Schneider Electric
3. Siemens Industry 4. Emerson Automation Solutions 5. Honeywell Process Solutions
3. Siemens Industry 4. GE Automation & Controls 5. AutomationDirect
Loop-Tuning Software 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. ExperTune 3. Rockwell Automation 4. Honeywell Process Solutions 5. Control Station
SCADA Software 1. Schneider Electric 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Emerson Automation Solutions 4. Siemens Industry 5. (tie) ABB 5. (tie) Honeywell Process Solutions
OPC Connectivity 1. Matrikon OPC 2. Kepware Technologies 3. Rockwell Automation 4. Emerson Automation Solutions 5. ABB PLC Programming Software 1. Rockwell Automation 2. Schneider Electric
Simulation Software 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Rockwell Automation 3. Honeywell Process Solutions 4. Schneider Electric 5. Aspentech
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ELSEWHERE IN THE FIELD Data Acquisition System 1. Rockwell Automation 2. Schneider Electric 3. National Instruments 4. Honeywell Process Solutions 5. OSI Software
Remote Terminal Unit 1. Rockwell Automation 2. Schneider Electric 3. Emerson Automation Solutions 4. Siemens Industry 5. ABB
Enclosure 1. nVent 2. Rittal 3. Saginaw Control & Engineering 4. Hammond Manufacturing 5. Hubbell Weigmann
Instrument Fittings 1. Swagelok 2. Parker Hannifin 3. Hy-Lok
Purge System 1. Pepperl+Fuchs 2. nVent Portable Calibrator 1. Fluke 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Beamex 4. GE Druck 5. (tie) Honeywell Process Solutions 5. (tie) Yokogawa
Vibration Instrumentation 1. GE Energy 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. ABB 4. Fluke 5. Metrix Weighing System/Load Cell 1. Mettler Toledo 2. Hardy Process Solutions 3. Rice Lake Weighing Systems 4. Siemens Industry 5. BLH Nobel
Calibrator, and ABB for Remote Terminal Unit and for Vibration Instrumentation, where it shares the fresh limelight with Metrix.
A look inside analyzers As the ability to make sensitive composition measurements has largely moved from the laboratory to the plant floor, few and highly specialized manufacturers are able to combine precision with the ruggedness and stability required for industrial-strength reliability. The companies with the right engineering and fabrication chops change little from year to year. Of note for 2019, ABB took first place and Ametek broke into Process Spectrometer. Draeger showed up in Ambient Gas Detector, Yokogawa in Humidity/Moisture Analyzer, Agilent in Process Chromatograph, and Thermal Fisher Scientific in Stack Gas/Emissions Analyzer.
Final elements make their moves This year, we complete the recognition of ABB’s acquisition of Baldor Electric by migrating the top name in the Electric Motor category to ABB Motors & Mechanical. We welcome Marathon back to Electric Motor, Festo and Metso to Pneumatic Valve Actuator, and Festo and Cameron to On/Off Valve. Thanks again to all the process control professionals who completed the surveys and chose the winners of the 2019 Control Readers’ Choice Awards.
ANALYZERS Ambient Gas Detector 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. MSA 3. ABB 4. Thermo Fisher Scientific 5. Draeger Density/Concentration Analyzer 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Yokogawa 4. Thermo Fisher Scientific
5. ABB Humidity/Moisture Analyzer 1. Vaisala 2. GE Measurement & Control 3. Emerson Automation Solutions 4. Ametek 5. Yokogawa pH/ORP/Conductivity Analyzer 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Endress+Hauser 3. Yokogawa
4. Hach 5. Schneider Electric Process Spectrometer 1. ABB 2. Emerson Automation Solutions 3. Thermo Fisher Scientific 4. Yokogawa 5. Ametek Process Chromatograph 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. ABB
3. Yokogawa 4. Siemens Industry 5. Agilent Stack Gas/Emissions Analyzer 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Yokogawa 3. Ametek 4. ABB 5. Thermal Fisher Scientific
FINAL CONTROL ELEMENTS Control Valve 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Samson Controls 3. GE Energy 4. Flowserve 5. Metso Electric Valve Actuator 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Rotork Controls 3. Auma Actuators
34 • JANUARY 2019
4. Flowserve 5. Honeywell Pneumatic Valve Actuator 1. Emerson Automation Solutions 2. Flowserve 3. Festo 4. Metso 5. Samson On/Off Valve 1.Emerson Electric*
2. Metso 3. Flowserve 4. Festo 5. Cameron * Includes Emerson Industrial Automation (ASCO) and Emerson Automation Solutions brands Electric Motor Drive 1. Rockwell Automation 2. ABB
3. Siemens Industry 4. Schneider Electric 5. Yaskawa Electric Motor 1. ABB Motors & Mechanical 2. Siemens Industry 3. GE Power Conversion 4. Marathon 5. WEG
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Empathy aids HMI design How to design safer, more usable HMIs by being more inclusive
THE goal of any human-machine interface (HMI) should be to make tasks efficient and user-friendly. In the past 10-15 years, there's been a shift in HMIs from task orientation to usability/user experience. Just as mainstream users get error messages like "this password doesn't meet requirements,â&#x20AC;? but have no idea what the requirements are and get unhelpful feedback, industrial operators working on HMIs face similarly frustrating issues. Consequently, HMI designs that include end users and operators have a higher probability of success and can reduce these frustrations. Engineers and designers can get stuck trying to make solutions that look good to them and their view of the world, but what does "good" look like? This can be relative and subjective, especially when people aren't on the same page. Engineers focus on making products technically good, but this may not always meet the needs of a paper machine operator, who needs a simple way to do his job efficiently. Starting an HMI design from scratch can be a daunting taskâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;one may not know where to begin, and overwhelming research results and available methods can be misleading. Humans are also prone to making mistakes. We need to understand there's not 36 â&#x20AC;˘ JANUARY 2019
a perfect human, who makes no mistakes, nor will the system they use never pose any issues. The goal of a safe and reliable HMI should be to handle errors and make the system failsafe, so when issues do arise, they're dealt with in a failsafe manner where no one gets hurt. Focusing on user needs and expectations, and including those on the front end of the design, has a huge impact on accounting for potential issues.
Design considerations Psychology plays an important role in HMI design. Even though people are unique and think differently, humans have inherent characteristics that drive behaviors, and understanding these nuances can help HMI design. For example, an e-stop button should be in the top left corner of screens in North America, where our eyes scan left to right, top to bottom, so information in the top left corner is noticed quickly. Human-centered design should be implemented for HMIs, and as part of this, co-design including operations and management teams ensures well-rounded design. Involving users early helps build trust, and results in stronger designs. Designing for usability and accessibility ensures HMIs can be used by a range of people, includ-
ing those with visual or cognitive disabilities. Accessibility also means incorporating the needs of other users, including those from different cultures and countries. Empathic design is crucial to an effective HMI, which should be designed and structured for end users, not its designers. There are resources that can produce efficient HMI design and improve usability/user experience. One classic reference is the "Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design" by Ben Shneiderman, a computer scientist and professor at the University of Maryland's Human-Computer Interaction Lab1, which can be applied to HMI design: 1. Strive for consistency. Consistent sequences of actions should be required in similar situations; identical terminology should be used in prompts, menus and help screens; and consistent commands should be employed throughout. In an HMI, this means applying the same navigation structure throughout the project, and maintaining consistency of buttons and behaviors through the HMI. 2. Let frequent users use shortcuts. As frequency of use increases, so do users' desires to reduce interactions and increase pace of interactions. Abbreviations, function keys, hidden commands and macro facilities help expert users. In one HMI projwww.controlglobal.com
OPERATOR INTERFACE AND HMI
ect, Forward and Back buttons were used for next and previous screen changes. 3. Offer informative feedback. For every operator action, there should be system feedback. For frequent and minor actions, responses can be modest. For infrequent and major actions, responses should be more substantial. For example, when an operator tries to start a motor with a Start button, but there's a delay, feedback such as "waiting for input" or "processing" gives feedback on the button press. 4. Design dialog to yield closure. Sequences of actions should be organized into groups with a beginning, middle and end. Feedback at the completion of a group of actions gives operators the satisfaction of accomplishment, a sense of relief, the signal to drop contingency plans/options from their minds, and indication the way is clear to prepare for the next group of actions. 5. Offer simple error handling. As much as possible, design the system and HMI so users can't make serious errors. If an error is made, the system should detect the error and offer simple, comprehensible mechanisms for handling it. A message stating ‘XD097Xd error!’ isn't useful; a message saying, "Restart the application due to system error" is more beneficial. 6. Permit easy reversal of actions. This relieves anxiety because the user knows errors can be undone, which encourages exploration of unfamiliar options. The units of reversibility may be a single action, a data entry or a complete group of actions.
Empathize Learn about audience for whom you're designing
Construct a point of view that's based on user needs and insights
Define
7. Support internal locus of control. Experienced operators strongly desire the sense that they're in charge of the system and that it responds to their actions. So, design the system to make users the initiators of actions, rather than responders to it. 8. Reduce short-term memory load. The limit of human data processing in short-term memory requires keeping displays simple, consolidating multiple page displays, reducing window-motion frequency, and allotting training for codes, mnemonics and sequences of actions.
Involve and empathize Human-centered design must involve users in all phases, but there are different ways to elicit information from them. To empathize with users, HMI designers can use methods such as surveys, interviews and affinity charts. These narrow and define requirements, and lead to the ideation process (Figure 1). It's crucial to not jump on the first design idea—and think like a designer, not just an engineer. A diverse user testing group also plays a huge role in defining user requirements. For example, on average, 10% of the population is color blind, so if an HMI is designed with reds and greens, its color coding could render it inaccessible for some users. To design for inclusiveness, one needs to understand users' needs, and test proposed interfaces with them. Interviews and surveys are good ways to collect data from users. Interviews may be
Ideate Brainstorm and come up with creative solutions
Build a representation of one or more of your ideas to show to others
Prototype
Test Return to your original user group and test your ideas for feedback
STEPS TO HMI SUCCESS Figure 1: To design effective HMIs, designers must involve users early, empathize with them, and secure their input, using various methods, such as surveys, interviews and affinity charts, which help narrow and define requirements, and lead to the ideation process. www.controlglobal.com
followed by a survey, and also document the evolution of an HMI design. It's imperative to not use a complex survey that can't gain input. Considerations to keep in mind for a survey for an HMI design include: 1. Use simple language and examples if needed. For example: “Does it return to higher-level menus with one click? (How many clicks to get to overview screens?)” 2. Mix up questions to break up the monotony. If the survey asks for detailed answers to all questions, the likelihood of users completing them is low. Creating a mix of Y/N questions and some requiring more detailed input will yield better results. 3. Questions requiring detailed answers that span more than a couple sentences should be treated as interview questions. One-on-one interviews let users tell their stories with less miscommunication. Surveys with a follow-up summary are useful, but may not provide the same qualitative data as interviews. Interviews provide rich qualitative data, and surveys provide more quantitative data. Initial interviews with operators showed the inconsistency within the HMI system, and brought forward opportunities for improvement that were needed to improve performance. Understanding what the user needs—not just what they want— can be challenging. It helps to understand the process, so you can ask more challenging, thought-provoking interview questions. Usability surveys can help determine if there's an aspect in the HMI that needs more work than others. Surveys can not only be used during initial design stages, but can also be used later to track HMI system performance and user experience. [An example of a survey structure and sample questions are included with the online version of this story at www.controlglobal.com/ articles/2019/empathy-aids-hmi-design.]
Affection for affinity Beyond surveys and interviews, humancentered design requires observation and gathering insights because there's usually a disconnect between what people do and what they say. Observing operators shows designers how to make HMIs more efficient and user friendly. During obserJANUARY 2019 • 37
OPERATOR INTERFACE AND HMI
vations, we noticed an operator switching between three screens to do one task that's repeated at least twice daily. This operator was so acclimated to switching screens that it had become a repetitive task. During the HMI redesign, these observations were accounted for, and the new screen halved this task's completion time. Collecting observations and insights for HMI design can also be done with an affinity chart or diagram, which documents ideas, opinions and issues during brainstorming, and organizes them into groups based on natural relationships. They're built from the bottom up into a structure that forces designers to deal with each field observation, and think about what it tells them about the user’s world. This produces one hierarchical structure that tells the story of issues across the user population when read from the top down. This method brings out ideas for organization, and groups different observations into a structure that made sense for the operators. After going through this process with many operators, a pattern emerged—all had very similar affinity charts. An affinity chart in a paper mill (Figure 2) portrays the process created by discussions with operators, and shows the grouping of the HMI with a focus on tasks and actions, instead of focusing on machines. Many operators were skeptical about the process, but as the affinity chart was formed, they were surprised at the different structure for the HMI and screen organization. Initially, they attempted to group their tasks in each machine area, but after they reassessed, the structure for the various tasks was grouped by modes of operation. For example, start-up tasks would be different than monitoring or troubleshooting tasks. Currently, Task A, Task B and Task C in Figure 2 are on the same area on the machine, and are grouped together. However, for an operator to complete one task, he must go through six different screens to complete it. With the new hierarchy, the operator realized those six different settings/actions should be grouped together on one screen that can complete the task/action. Responses to this affinity diagram included, “I never saw the HMI arranged this way!” and “This makes so much more sense. We shouldn't need to go change the draws for the wires on four different screens” and “This is different.”
Inclusion enables HMI design Training and continuous improvement play an important role in the success of an HMI project. People can be resistant to change, and it can be hard to transition from a 15-20-year-old HMI. The biggest advantage of involving users upfront is it ensures seamless training and implementation. And considering their ideas during the design process helps drive the design. It also gives users a sense of ownership of the final product, which leads to a more seamless transition. People work toward things they care about, so it's imperative to involve users from the beginning. Also, user feedback on testing shows if an HMI design meets their requirements. The designer has to plan, check and adjust, and this feedback loop ensures more successful HMI designs. 38 • JANUARY 2019
AFFINITY IS EFFECTIVE Figure 2: This affinity chart at a paper mill shows the process created by discussions with operators, and demonstrates the grouping of the HMI with a focus on tasks and actions, instead of focusing on machines. It showed that, for an operator to complete one task, he must go through six different screens. With a new hierarchy, those six different settings/actions could be grouped on one screen. People are different; everyone learns and interprets differently. Understanding the psychology of how people think and behave, and factoring those pieces in an HMI design, improves the project's probability for success. Applying design techniques and soliciting user input at different stages of the project is beneficial, and implementation is more seamless than introducing a new system they've never seen or used. Designers may not know every user, but they can develop inclusive practices to create experiences that support a wider range of people. Inclusive design forms the bond that creates a more usable interface. This also aids in safety as users' psychology is considered while designing a failsafe system. In conclusion, usability plays a huge role in HMI designs. Building a product for users isn't about how well the product works, it’s about how well users can employ it to solve problems. Similarly, in HMI design, when the interface design is usable and user-oriented, operators will have a superior user experience that enables them to complete their tasks in an efficient manner.
Footnote "Schneiderman’s Eight Golden Rules Will Help You Design Better Interfaces," Interaction Design, www.interaction-design.org/ literature/article/shneiderman-s-eight-golden-rules-will-help-youdesign-better-interfaces 1
Nadita Gupta is a process control engineer at Georgia Pacific. She can be reached at Nandita.Gupta@gapac.com. www.controlglobal.com
Maximoic Era PreChaotic Era
Minimizoic Era 2018
1/2003
Manualzoic Era
1/2004
1/2005
1/2006
5/2008
1/2007
Connected Reliability Era
Maximizoic Era Mobilezoic Era
Connecting the unconnectable How Johnson & Johnson eased condition-based maintenance, change management and FDA approvals. by Paul Studebaker
JOHNSON & Johnson (www.jnj.com) is a multinational manufacturer of medical devices, pharmaceuticals and consumer packaged goods. Founded in 1886 and headquartered in New Brunswick, N.J., it includes some 250 subsidiary companies with operations in 60 countries and products sold in more than 175 countries. Johnson & Johnson brands include numerous household names of medications and first-aid supplies, including Band-Aid, Tylenol, Johnson’s baby products, Neutrogena skin and beauty products, and Acuvue contact lenses. As a quality-oriented and regulated manufacturer of medical supplies, Johnson & Johnson performs time-based, preventive maintenance according to schedules written and approved by plant management and its equipment manufacturers. Maintenance requirements are incorporated into its production schedules, so moving to condition-based and predictive maintenance offers the potential for significant savings, but must be approved for compliance. With many facilities running locally developed regimens, such efforts were generally fragmented, and limited in scope and ROI. “In 2011, Johnson & Johnson made a collective decision to pursue a standard platform for asset management (AM),” says Shannon Craft, senior manager, supply chain systems and solutions (SCSS) project delivery, Johnson & Johnwww.controlglobal.com
son. At the time, the drivers for the new AM system were compliance, as the existing system was at the end of its life; financial savings by reducing the system footprint while maximizing ROI; and “A standard product that drove to the future,” Craft says. “At the time, we didn’t realize how big a deal this would be. “We set out to predict asset failure, and wanted a process to support data capture into the CMMS. We choose Maximo. I was the technical lead and designed the platform.”
Enterprise platform Server US xxxxxxxxx
Dozens of sites around the world were converted to standard naming conventions, one workflow, and the same user interface worldwide. “Johnson & Johnson connected the unconnectable,” says Kevin Clark, now vice president, Accelix, Fluke Digital Systems. “For satisfying FDA requirements, it became one process, one technology to pull data for 150 plants, which saves millions on validation costs.” Clark started as a SCADA engineer with Johnson & Johnson, “Back in the days of pagers, not connecting easily from home,
Manufacturing Location LocalWonderware Server xxxxxxxxx Server xxxxxxxxx
Site Server Core DC Server
Data Connector
Site OPC Siemens PLCs Server xxxxxxxxx
Site OPC Schneider PLCs
Real time WORK documentation to CMMS
IBM - MAXIMO 7.6
Real time ASSET information to technician
Real time ASSET condition to CMMS triggering WO/JP/SR
|
Confidential
PROJECT ARCHITECTURE The original Maximo implementation had mobile capabilities, but was too slow communicating with added alarms, instruments and iPads. The group designed an architecture using SCHAD technologies and Fluke Connect to overcome the speed limitations of the existing system and more fully integrate mobile. JANUARY 2019 • 39
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it was just hard,” he says. “Now, SCADA is fun. You can do it instantly and repeatedly. That’s what’s going to make IoT explode.” Craft adds, “By 2014, we moved 38 sites on 17 platforms into one system—out-of-the-box Maximo. Now, we have more than 130 sites on the same system. The trick was how to get them to use it. We had to teach them, show them, and get them to abandon 30-year-old practices.”
Going mobile The original Maximo implementation had mobile capabilities, “but as we got into alarms, communications and iPads, the speed wasn't capable,” Craft says. “About two years ago, we found a SCHAD mobile tool that could talk to many services and drive data into Maximo. I learned I could build automation into Maximo to communicate thresholds—alerts—with notifications by email, etc. An alarm can create a work order and send it to a technician.” At the time, “Test-and-learn (T&L) was part of a Johnson & Johnson Factory of the Future initiative to create an IIoT-connected plant. This resulted in a great marriage between my plan and Johnson & Johnson priorities,” Craft says. Craft’s group designed an architecture to overcome the speed limitations of the existing system and more fully integrate mobile (Figure 1). The trial met or beat the target expectations (Table 1). “The T&L was so successful, we knew we would use SCHAD,” adds Craft.
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Johnson & Johnson deployed mobile across 50 sites for work order and inventory management. “The condition-based maintenance (CBM) portion has a two-stage process,” Craft says. “First, the low-hanging fruit, with the biggest ROI. But we’re heavily regulated, so to turn calendar-based PMs to runtime-based PMs, we have a lot of QC people across the globe who have to be convinced that their reliability will not be affected.” The second step is condition-based maintenance (CBM), using temperature, vibration, ultrasound, etc. “with Fluke and Flir instrumentation,” Craft says. “The other component for CBM is alarms and alerts, through Fluke and SCHAD. This is specific to the assets, so what works, for example, on a lathe at one plant can be used at others.” The SCHAD QR code app can convert drawings, safety sheets, etc. for mobile, digital access, which reduces mean times to diagnose and repair. “At the end of the T&L, this was selected as the number-one project to be launched across Johnson & Johnson in 2019,” Craft says. “It was piloted in eight facilities worldwide, and is now in 30.” The T&L and pilot results revealed an opportunity in ROI that “is almost staggering,” Craft says. “On average, PMs were reduced by 30%, MTTR was reduced by 20%, and spare parts were reduced by 15%. This equates to an increase in asset availability of almost 50% across the globe. We're doing the right PM at the right time with the right resource and increasing the output with a reduced downtime in production. Johnson & Johnson will move into the leading position for asset management in the world of IIoT, and reduce costs while increasing profitability. This is our commitment." Reducing preventive maintenance “has increased productivity 30%,” Craft says. “On four assets, we increased throughput of 50,000 production units—that’s increased capacity through proper planning.” The key for getting management’s attention and approval is to put the
CONNECTING
TABLE 1: TEST RESULTS Item
Baseline
Target
Result
Mobile work order documentation
8 min.
2 min.
1:06 min.
Mobile calibration work order documentation
9 min.
3 min.
1:46 min.
Mobile work order offline documentation
Impossible
Possible
Possible
PM actual running hours automatically triggered
Impossible
Possible
Possible
Mobile alarms and alerts management
Impossible
Possible
Possible
45 sec.
30 sec.
4.6 sec.
Mobile items cycle counting offline
Impossible
Possible
Possible
All above through one log-in
Impossible
Possible
Possible
N/A
> 90% satisfaction
92%
Mobile item counting
User experience
www.controlglobal.com
project in terms of their objectives. “If your name for our ‘SCHAD CBM’ matches their goals for driving understanding and change, your project should be approved,” Craft says. “In our case, we turned the PO around in two weeks, for a few million dollars.” Craft’s group isn’t standing still. “Our collective journey ends at predictability and prescriptive maintenance,” Craft says. Johnson & Johnson now has an internal project to drive reliability through data science, using thresholds, the environment and digital twins to predict failures “days in advance,” Craft says. “We’ve seen it happen, in one case saving six weeks of downtime. The idea is to create and use a mobile datasheet, do testing, obtain values, and populate without data entry, the same as vibration or any conditionbased parameter. “We’re driving change, proving results as we expected, and more.”
JANUARY 2019 • 41
ASK THE EXPERTS
Remote control of fractionation Can smart differential pressure (DP) cells be used for custody transfer?
This column is moderated by Béla Lipták (http://belaliptakpe.com/), automation and safety consultant and editor of the Instrument and Automation Engineers’ Handbook (IAEH). If you have an
Q: Can you remotely control a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) fractionation process from a centralized control center? The distance is 400 kilometers. If not, what are the high-risk reasons that necessitate having a local control room at the site of the fractionation process? AHMED ELFETIANY ahmed.elfetiany@outlook.com
automation-related question for this column, write to liptakbela@aol.com.
A: My question is, how will your proposed system be protected from cyber attacks? Do you plan to use the Internet for your remote control? If your answer is yes, my advice is don't do it. The reason is hacking and cyber attacks. Today, the only reason cyber attacks are not yet more widely used is because of fear of retaliation. Yet, they're already used both in cyber warfare (exemplified by the Israeli attack on Iran's centrifuges) and also in industry, such as the hacker attack this year on the Onslow Water Authority in North Carolina, and one could go on (Figure 1). In my view, the bad guys are just as smart as the good ones, and they can not only spread misinformation and psychologically manipulate people, but they could turn our nuclear power plants into atomic bombs, sink unmanned oil drilling platforms, or attack the electric grid, and they probably will, or will at least try. Some vendors might say that their firewall is perfect, but I say that no firewall or proprietary protocol provides full protection. Murphy's Law still applies in this digital age. My view is that control software should never touch the Internet. Some might say that placing independent barriers and protections around a SCADA systems will keep communication paths secure, but I wouldn't try it. In my view, remote operation through the Internet is asking for trouble, and the same holds for all linking of plant operations networks with the Internet. BÉLA LIPTÁK Liptakbela@aol.com
A: Controlling remotely in a secured way is possible and distance is not a bar. You need to con42 • JANUARY 2019
sider the following: 1. You must have standalone control and safeguarding systems installed locally to control and safeguard the process. All the field Instrumentation shall be hardwired to the system with proper segregation. 2. You must specify failsafe condition of final control elements. 3. You should have a remote, web-based client for monitoring the whole process. Remember to take care of cybersecurity requirements—this will be a Level 4 system. 4. You can govern and alter setpoints remotely, and start up the facility. I hope the above explains the basic concept. DEBASIS GUHA Deputy manager C&I, Petrofac International debasis_guha71@yahoo.com
A: Yes, it should be possible to control remotely. On one of my projects, we have a remote gas platform about 25 km into the sea. It's remotely controlled by a centralized control room on land about 25 km away. Connectivity is redundant, fiber-optic cables backed up by a redundant, line-of-sight microwave link. However: 1. All required DCS/ESD/FGS hardware are mounted locally on the platform. Hence the response time for control and shutdown is not dependent on distance. The ESD system is rated SIL3. 2. There's a small local control room with a couple of screens, which is used for startups and also in case of disruption in all remote communications (fiber-optic and microwave). So far, this hasn't happened. 3. Although designed for unmanned operations, the platform is manned day and night for operations and maintenance, but control is from the remote control room. With the above architecture and safeguards, we didn't find distance an issue. Your mentioned distance is higher and process is faster; but that should not matter if at least some of the measures listed www.controlglobal.com
ASK THE EXPERTS
Commercial facilities, 5, 2% Communications, 10, 5%
Water, 8, 4% Transportation, 11, 5% Postal & shipping, 2, 1% Nuclear, 7, 3% Info tech, 9, 4% Public health, 1, 0% Government facilities, 8, 2%
Critical manufacturing, 32, 17%
Energy, 111, 53%
CYBER ATTACKS IN 2017 Figure 1: More than 200 cyber attacks were documented in 2017, with the top categories being energy and critical manufacturing facilities. Source: ComputerWorld. above are considered. I also suggest you carry out a Hazop to discuss all possible scenarios arising out of this architecture. HARVINDAR SINGH GAMBHIR JIO CoE – Instrumentation, controls and automation, Navi Mumbai Harvindar.S.Gambhir@ril.com
A: Our MIGbox series gives solution of local control (within device) and remote monitoring and operational control via our cloud platform. Geography is "history" now. We can easily do control from anywhere on earth (with a couple of seconds latency in some worst cases, and maybe four hours or so latency from Mars). ANAND IYER akiyer62@hotmail.com, www.akiyer.com
A: To me, the risk of remotely controlling assets is cyber. JOE WEISS PE, CISM, CRISC ISA Fellow, IEEE Senior Member, Managing Director ISA99 Applied Control Solutions, LLC joe.weiss@realtimeacs.com
Q: I work as a product manager for Emerson. In the column on custody transfer (July ’18, p. 43, www.controlglobal. com/articles/2018/why-can-a-dp-flowmeter-be-used-for-gas-but-not-liquid), www.controlglobal.com
you stated that the DP flow turndown on liquid service is 3:1 to 4:1, and does not have the ability to compensate for discharge coefficient. Rosemount’s 3051SMV with Ultra for Flow dynamically compensates for changes in discharge coefficient 22 times per second, and is capable of ±1% of mass flow measurement over a 14:1 turndown on flow. BEN GOULET Benjamin.Goulet@emerson.com
A: My column discussed standard DP cells—you are right that smart ones provide 200:1 ∆P or 14:1 flow rangeability. Concerning discharge coefficient compensation, which is provided to correct for gas expansion, and concerning thermal expansion factors in the DP mass flow equation, it should be emphasized that the value of natural gas is a function of its composition and heating value, and pressure and/or temperature don't detect either of them, no matter how often the calculation is performed. In addition, the DP cell doesn't measure mass flow (nor volumetric flow); it measures the square root of the pressure differential across a flow element. Also, the DP cell is only one component in the flow detection loop, and therefore it's misleading to imply that the DP accuracy and the flow
measurement accuracy are the same. They are not. The flow measurement error is the sum of all other loop component errors, including installation ones. You say your flow measurement error is ±1% without stating ±1% of what. If you are claiming a ±1% AR (actual reading) accuracy at minimum flow (full flow divided by 14), then you're claiming that your detector's full scale flow accuracy is 1/14 = ±0.071% FS. If that's what you claim, that means that in terms of ∆P, you're claiming an accuracy of 1/200 = ±0.005% FS, which is obviously unrealistic. On the other hand, if your ±1% flow accuracy claim refers to ±1% FS, that error at minimum flow corresponds to an error of ±14% AR, which makes the measurement useless. BÉLA LIPTÁK liptakbela@aol.com
A: Regarding the use of DP flowmeters for custody transfer, my advice has always been, don’t. Aside from the fact that dP flowmeters were never intended for measuring mass flow, there's the frequent error of installation and wear of the orifice, which doesn't maintain a sharp edge. For the ISA CAP course, I teach that an orifice/DP flowmeter is great for control purposes, since even when incorrect, it is consistently incorrect and highly useful for flow control. I've even used orifice/DP for measuring steam flow in an energy/mass balance situation on a paper machine, but that's far from custody transfer. However, even with pressure and temperature compensation, it just isn't accurate enough for custody transfer. I recommend a Coriolis flowmeter, or for some liquids in a low-flow situation, a positive displacement pump. In class, I use an example of meter accuracy vs. tank level measurement for custody transfer. Only a Coriolis flowmeter can rival the accuracy of custody transfer through tank level measurement. DICK CARO ISA Life Fellow RCaro@CMC.us JANUARY 2019 • 43
ROUNDUP
Drives and motors rev up capabilities Enhanced power density, operating ranges, integration, intelligence and enclosures aid motion's mission. INTEGRATED STEPPERS ADDED
DRIVES FOR 10 HP TO 6,000 HP
SureStep advanced integrated motor/drives have torque ratings from 54 to 340 oz-in. and software-selectable resolutions ranging from 200 steps per revolution. They can operate with traditional high-speed inputs, but can be commanded via a 0–5 V analog input. An internal indexer can accomplish point-to-point moves controlled via ASCII communication. Free SureMotion Pro drive configuration software is available for configuring advanced integrated motor/ drives. A status monitor screen aids troubleshooting.
Allen Bradley PowerFlex 755T AC drives have expanded the power ranges and capabilities of their TotalForce technology, and offer an expanded power range from 10 hp to 6,000 hp (7.5 kW to 4,500 kW), which enables harmonic mitigation, regeneration and common bus system configurations. TotalForce is enhanced by an adaptive tuning feature using up to four automatic tracking notch filters to block resonance and damaging vibration, while predictive maintenance features provide real-time information about drive health.
AUTOMATIONDIRECT www.automationdirect.com/integrated-motor-drives
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION http://campaign.rockwellautomation.com/PowerFlex755TDriveSolutions
SPACE-SAVING SERVO
STARTER COMBINES CONTROLS, PROTECTIONS
AMP8000 distributed servo drive system reduces machine footprints and control cabinet space needs with an ultracompact design that integrates a servo drive into a servomotor. AMP8000 is available in flange sizes F4 and F5, power ratings from 0.61 to 1.23 kW, and standstill torque ratings from 2.00 to 4.8 Nm (F4), or power ratings from 1.02 to 1.78 kW, and standstill torque ratings from 4.10 to 9.7 Nm (F5). STO and SS1 safety functions are integrated into AMP8000 series by default.
VLT Soft Starter MCD 600 combines advanced controls and protections with increased intelligence for performance in fixed-speed applications. In addition, MCD 600 is more flexible to install thanks to Ethernet and serial-based communication option cards and application-dedicated smart cards. Ease of use is increased with new capabilities such as pump-clean function, PowerThrough operation and calendar- or runtimebased scheduling.
BECKHOFF AUTOMATION www.beckhoff.com/english.asp?highlights/amp8000/default.htm
DANFOSS NORTH AMERICA www.danfossdrives.com
DUAL-AXIS SERVO DRIVES
SIX-AXIS DRIVE RACK
AKD2G dual-axis servo drive reduces wiring, fuses and filtering to save space, and has expandable I/O without increasing size, as well as removable memory, dual-channel SSTO and what's reported to be an industry-first, drive-resident graphic display. Other features are workbench interface, hybrid connector, and multi-core Compute Engine/Servo on a Chip that allows a loop update rate of 1.28 µs to immediately accommodate changing load conditions. Velocity and position loops updates are 62.5 µs and 125 µs, respectively.
XR3 six-axis drive rack with field-replaceable, 3U plug-in amplifiers supports linear and PWM topologies, and can control any combination of brushless, DC brush or stepper motors at up to 320 VDC operating voltage and 30 A peak current. Both current loop and servo loop are digitally closed to ensure positioning accuracy and rate stability, which lets XR3 provide loop closure rates up to 20 kHz and handle digital and analog I/O processing, data collection, process control and encoder multiplication in real time.
KOLLMORGEN 540-633-3545; www.kollmorgen.com
AEROTECH www.aerotech.com/product-catalog/drives-and-drive-racks/xr3.aspx
44 • JANUARY 2019
www.controlglobal.com
ROUNDUP
ANALYZERS SIMPLIFY TROUBLESHOOTING
DRIVES FOR WATER/WASTEWATER
MDA-510 and MDA-550 motor drive analyzers simplify troubleshooting on single- and three-phase motors/ drives by providing guided testing and instructions that show where to make voltage and current connections, while preset measurement profiles ensure data is captured for each motor-drive section from the input to the output, DC bus and motor. They also measure electrical parameters with 500 MHz oscilloscope, meter and recording capability.
ACQ580 VFD for municipal water/ wastewater applications features: pump-clean to dislodge debris from impellers; sensorless flow calculation to provide accurate flow measurement without a flowmeter; soft-pipe-fill mode to reduce water-hammer damage; and quick-ramp to protect submersible pumps. It's compatible with ABB Ability condition monitoring, which provides real-time status and performance data from any location. It also includes integrated safety features, such as safe torque-off and a maximum speed limit.
FLUKE CORP. www.fluke.com/en-us/product/electrical-testing/portable-oscilloscopes/ fluke-mda-500-series
ABB http://new.abb.com/drives/low-voltage-ac/industry-specific-drives/acq580
VECTOR-CONTROL INVERTER DRIVE
ABOVE NEMA FOR GENERAL PURPOSE
Frenic-VG series is the supplier's highest-performance vector-control inverter drive, and is used in highdemand, complex applications, including cranes and hoists. It's equipped with fast speed control response of 600 Hz, torque control accuracy within 3%, and power up to 900 hp with the ability to extend up to 3,000 hp with the stack-type model. Available with various options including userprogrammable application card (UPAC), Frenic-VG provides a flexible, reliable solution for a range of application requirements.
Simotics Above NEMA MV449 frame motor is reported to increase the power output of its design by 14% compared to other frames; has up to 400 hp power output; and can increase motor efficiency 1.5%. MV449 pairs with Sinamics Perfect Harmony GH180 outdoor-duty VFD, which includes a freestanding, Type 4, UL50e-rated enclosure that protects against -45 °C to 45 °C temperatures, rain or snow, and air laden with chemicals or salt. GH180 can be placed up to 2.3 km away from its motor.
FUJI ELECTRIC CORP. OF AMERICA 732-560-9410; http://americas.fujielectric.com/VG
SIEMENS CORP. www.usa.siemens.com/abovenema
SERVOMOTOR INTEGRATES ENCODER
HIGH POWER DENSITY, BRUSHLESS
IndraDyn S series MS2N high-torque, synchronous servomotors have an optimized, electromagnetic design and new construction that reduces torque ripple, delivers up to 30% greater torque density, and provides up to five times overload capacity. They're available with an integrated encoder in the SIL3, PLe class with SafeMotion, and in six sizes with up to five lengths each. They cover the power range from 4 Nm to 360 Nm maximum torque, and 0.8 Nm to 215 Nm continuous torque at standstill.
KinetiMax 95 high-power drive (HPD) is an outer-rotor, brushless, DC motor with frameless stator/rotor set with greater than 87% efficiency, 95-mm diameter, and 2 Nm continuous/nominal torque at 2,300 rpm, resulting in 480 W of continuous output power, and 1,100 W peak power. It also has 37 mm axial length, 59 mm inner diameter, low cogging torque, 24 V or 60 V winding, and high torque-to-weight ratio of 3.39 Nm/kg at rated torque. Options include winding temperature sensor and Hall commutation sensors.
BOSCH REXROTH www.boschrexroth-us.com
ALLIED MOTION TECHNOLOGIES 716-242-7535; www.alliedmotion.com
www.controlglobal.com
JANUARY 2019 • 45
CONTROL EXCLUSIVE
Intrinsically safe tablet raises the bar Class I/Div. 1, Zone 1 tablet keeps current with commercial techology thanks to collaborative partnership.
IT'S not easy to make devices intrinsically safe (IS) for service in hazardous and potentially explosive atmospheres. But, making them IS and easy to use in dangerous settings is even more difficult, so it helps to collaborate with friends. This is just what Pepperl+Fuchs and its ecom brand did when they began working with Samsung four years ago to build their Tab-Ex 01 intrinsically safe tablet PC based on Samsung's ruggedized Tab Active platform. It was reported to be world's first LTEenabled, Android tablet PC certified both Class I/Division 1 and ATEX Zone 1, and now their partnership has produced the second-generation Tab-Ex 02 DZ1 founded on Samsung's Galaxy Tab Active2. "Even today, there aren't many devices that can be used in hazardous industrial environments or potentially explosive areas, so there's still a lot of pen and paper used in the field, which means double work and less accuracy due to manual data entry," says Lothar Berger, director of global mobile strategy at Pepperl+Fuchs. "Now, the advances made by tablet PCs like Tab-Ex 02 DZ1 are going where they couldn't before." Scheduled to be available in early 2019, Tab-Ex 02 DZ1 features: • More capable, high-resolution 5-megapixel (MP) front camera and 8-MP, auto-focus rear camera. • Ruggedized, IP68-certified, water- and dust-resistant S Pen stylus for harsh environments, use on wet displays, and access for users wearing gloves. • Faster, 1.6-GHz Exynos 7 OctaCore (Cortex-A53) microprocessor; updated Android Oreo 8.1 operating system (OS); and 3 gigabytes (GB) of RAM, plus 16 GB memory, and up to 256 GB with external microSD card. • Onboard sensors including acceler46 • JANUARY 2019
TENACIOUS TABLET Tab-Ex 02 DZ1 intrinsically safe tablet PC from Pepperl+Fuchs' ecom brand is the second generation based on Samsung's Tab Active platform, which gives it more capable cameras, an S Pen stylus, improved microprocessor and operating system, glove-touchable screen, and facial recognition for security. ometer, gyro, geomagnetic, Hall effect, RGB light, proximity and fingerprint. • Connectivity including 2.4-5 GHz WiFi, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.2, and 300-Mbps LTE Cat. 6. • 8-in., 1,280 x 800-pixel (WXGA), glovetouchable screen for wet settings. • Security with Knox 2.8 facial recognition software. • -20 °C to 55 °C temperature range. • 4,450 mAh battery with up to 11-hour life, replaceable via a back panel. • Side-mount Pogo pins for charging. • Enterprise Firmware Over-the-Air (eFOTA) for testing before deployments, so enterprises have control over OS versions on employee devices. "Over the past three or four years, main-
stream tablet PCs like Tab Active2 gained faster processors, better cameras, higher durability and other advances, which can now be transferred to Tab-Ex 02, and provide up-to-date, ruggedized tablet PC technology in its most modern form," explains John Gibson, head of business development for manufacturing verticals at Samsung Electronics America. "This includes a mil spec 810 G rating for resistance to 21 different environmental attributes." Berger reports Tab-Ex 02 DZ1 will be available in two primary versions, including Class 1/Division 1 with flame-proof housing for use in atmospheres that are likely to be explosive, and Class I/Division 2 with ruggedized Samsung housing and protective glass for atmospheres that usually aren't explosive. "Class I/Division 1 and flame-proof housing traditionally means big metal enclosures, but now we can use resistant materials, engineering and testing to achieve this rating with Tab-Ex 02 DZ1, even as its internal electronics behave the same," he explained. Once users have Tab-Ex 02 DZ1 in hand, Gibson reports local personnel and remote experts can collaborate more easily. "The local technician can shoot a picture with Tab-Ex 02 DZ1's camera, showing the device that's broken or needs service, and superimpose an image of how it's supposed to be," explains Gibson. "They can also collaborate in sessions like using a virtual whiteboard because they can draw on the images on each other's screens. This can be helpful in petrochemical facilities, where local technicians may not have all the expertise they need, and even some remote experts may not be qualified to be in all hazardous areas. Now, users can get the best of both worlds." For information, visit www.ecom-ex.com. www.controlglobal.com
CONTROL TALK
A meeting of the minds Both I&E and PID perspectives must meld to produce fine temperature control.
GREG: The key to a successful control loop is the meeting of minds. Most important is that the Instrument and Electrical professional and the process control specialist to get together, and understand what's needed for the process application, as discussed in my Control Talk blog, “Many objectives, many worlds of process control“ (www. controlglobal.com/blogs/controltalkblog/newblog-entry-3). Essential is the realization of what's important, and how instrumentation performance plays a critical role. To help understand the critical role of instrumentation, here is a meeting of the minds of “PID Greg” and “I&E Greg” that addresses many of the important issues that come up in temperature systems, where the primary goal is maximization of process performance instead of minimization of instrumentation cost. Often, project goals are shortsighted, not realizing that the extra cost of better instrumentation is trivial compared to the decrease in lifecycle costs and the increase in plant profitability. PID GREG: Good temperature control is often the key to process efficiency and capacity. For chemical and biological reactor control, tight temperature control is needed to maximize product quality and quantity. Chemical reaction rate is often an exponential function of temperature, as seen in the Arrhenius Equation. Side reactons can also occur for deviations from the best temperature. High temperatures can lead to unsafe, runaway exothermic reactions. For biological processes, cell growth and product formation are extremely dependent on achieving and maintaining the best temperature. High temperatures can cause dramatic increases in cell death rates. Excellent temperature control is essential to the performance of columns, crystallizers, dryers, evaporators, furnaces, kilns and many other unit operations. The best temperature measurement reliability, repeatability, resolution and response are critical for a PID to minimize the control errors for load and setpoint changes. Aswww.controlglobal.com
suming the transmitter is properly calibrated for the sensor used, minimizing drift is necessary for achieving the best setpoint. How can we achieve a temperature measurement with best reliability, repeatability, resolution and response, and least drift? I&E GREG: While the cost of an RTD may be slightly greater than a thermocouple (TC), the savings in maintenance and better process performance from much less drift, better repeatability and higher resolution far exceeds the incremental cost. Also, the savings from less wiring, calibration and prevention of noise and mistakes is significantly greater than the added cost of a preassembled thermowell and sensing element with integral mounted transmitter calibrated by the supplier. If the temperature of the line is high, a lagging thermowell or extension of the pipe nipple may prevent a temperature effect on transmitter. If the transmitter must be mounted separately for accessibility, the location should be as close as possible to the sensor. Class 1 special grade extension wire should be used for TCs and four-wire RTD leads. “Sensor matching” should be done for RTDs, where the four constants of a CallendarVan-Dusen (CVD) equation are provided by the sensor supplier and entered into the transmitter. Even though thermowells may withstand vibration, potential damage can occur to RTDs. For temperatures above 400 °C or significant vibration, deterioration of RTD accuracy and life may make a TC a better choice. For temperatures above 850 °C, a TC must be used. The TC should be ungrounded and its material selected to meet temperature range requirements to maximize life and minimize drift and noise. The repeatability, accuracy and signal strength are two orders of magnitude better for an RTD compared to a TC. The 1-20 °C drift per year of a TC is of particular concern for biological and chemical reactors and distillation control because of the profound effect on product quality from control at the wrong operating point. The already
GREG MCMILLAN Gregory K. McMillan captures the wisdom of talented leaders in process control, and adds his perspective based on more than 50 years of experience, cartoons by Ted Williams, and (web-only) Top 10 lists. Find more of Greg's conceptual and principle-based knowledge in his Control Talk blog. Greg welcomes comments and column suggestions at ControlTalk@ putman.net
JANUARY 2019 • 47
CONTROL TALK
exceptional accuracy for a Class A RTD of 0.1 °C can be improved to 0.02 °C by “sensor matching.” The main limit to accuracy of an RTD is the transmitter and wiring. The use of four extension lead wires for an RTD enables total compensation that accounts for the inevitable uncertainty in resistance of lead wires. Standard lead wires have a tolerance of 10% in resistance. For 500 feet of 20-gauge lead wire, the error could be as large as 26 °C for a two-wire RTD and 2.6 °C for a three-wire RTD. The “best practice” is to use a four-wire RTD unless the transmitter is located close to the sensor, preferably on the sensor. The transmitter accuracy of about 0.1 °C can be improved by a single dry block calibration since transmitter and sensor drift is negligible. The air in the annular clearance between the thermowell interior wall and sensor sheath is the dominant source of slowness in the temperature response. For the same reason, a spring-loaded, sheathed TC or RTD should be used to ensure the tip of the sheath is touching the bottom of the thermowell. The next greatest cause of slowness is the rate of
heat transfer between the fluid and thermowell. Gases have a much smaller rate and hence slower response. Stepped thermowells should be specified with an insertion length greater than five times the tip diameter (L/D > 5) to minimize error from heat exchange between the thermowell tip and pipe or equipment connection from thermal conduction, and an insertion length less than 20 times the tip diameter (L/D < 20) to minimize vibration from wake frequencies. Calculations by suppliers on length should be done to confirm that heat conduction error and vibration damage is not a problem. Stepped thermowells reduce the error and damage, and provide a faster response. Thermowell material must provide corrosion resistance and, if possible, high thermal conductivity to minimize conduction error or response time, whichever is more important. The tapered tip of the thermowell must be close to the center line of pipe, and the tapered portion of the thermowell completely past the equipment wall including any baffles. For columns, the location should be used that shows the largest and most sym-
For more puzzling dialog by recent graduates, see the “Top 10 exclamations by newbie process engineers” at www. controlglobal.com/articles/2019/a-meeting-of-the-minds. 48 • JANUARY 2019
metrical change in temperature for an increase and decrease in manipulated flow. Simulations can help find this, but it's wise to have several connections to confirm the best location by field tests. The tip of the thermowell must see the liquid, which may require a longer extension length or mounting on the opposite side of the down-comer to avoid the tip being in the vapor phase due to the drop in level at the down-comer. The location of a thermowell must be sufficiently downstream of joining streams or a heat exchanger tube side outlet to enable remixing of the streams. The location must not be too far downstream due to the increase in transportation delay, which is the residence time for plug flow (the pipe volume between the outlet or junction and sensor location divided by the pipe flow, or volume/ flow). For a length that's 25 times the pipe diameter (L/D = 25), the increase in loop dead time of a few seconds isn't as detrimental as a poor signal-to-noise ratio from poor uniformity. For desuperheaters, to prevent water droplets from creating noise, the thermowell must provide a residence time that's greater 0.3 seconds, which for high gas velocities can be much greater than the distance required for liquid heat exchangers. PID GREG: If you want a comprehensive, concise view of how to achieve the best measurement and control, look for the McGraw-Hill handbook, Process/ Industrial Instruments and Controls, Sixth Edition, which is due out in early 2019. The handbook covers the design, installation, calibration, commissioning and maintenance of every part of an automation system, concluding with a list of best practices for each of the 100 sections, resulting in more than 1,000 best practices. See the Control feature article, “Best practices for PID” (December ’18, p. 22, www.controlglobal.com/ articles/2018/best-practices-for-pid) for another glimpse of what the handbook offers. www.controlglobal.com
CLASSIFIED
AD INDEX ABB .............................................................4 Allied Electronics and Automation ...............8 AutomationDirect ......................IFC gate fold Badger.......................................................35 Digi-Key Corporation .................................11 Emerson Process Mgt/Mynah ....................52 Endress+Hauser......................................6, 7 ifm efector ................................................51 Load Controls .......................................... 40 Magnetrol..................................................25 Moore Industries........................................17 Newark ......................................................13 Pepperl+Fuchs ..........................................31 ProComSol.................................................19 PULS .........................................................23 Sierra Monitor Corporation ....................... 40 The Winsted Corporation ...........................41 Vega America ............................................33 Wago Corporation ......................................29 Yaskawa America ......................................15 Yokogawa Electric .......................................3
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JANUARY 2019 • 49
CONTROL REPORT
Meet half-measures half way Beware of the unseen costs of innovations, controls and labor-saving conveniences.
JIM MONTAGUE Executive Editor jmontague@putman.net
Don't second guess to the point it becomes debilitating. That would be another mistake. Just keep an eye peeled for more useful innovations after the first one.
50 â&#x20AC;˘ JANUARY 2019
REMEMBER when frozen orange and other juices came in coated-cardboard cylinders and had to be mixed with water? Well, before we agreed to pay double for juice and the convenience of hauling large bottles, I used to avoid scooping out those cans by puncturing them with a fork and blowing the concentrate into a pitcher before mixing. I enjoyed the fact that minimal pneumatic pressure was enough to push even hard-frozen juice from its can quickly and (I thought) cleanly. I used this method dozens of times, until observant family members questioned my terrific innovation, and asked if the outside of the can and my breath were entirely sanitary. Foiled again. In most parallel dimensions, I'd have kept this gross confession to myself. However, in your unlucky universe, I'm a trade magazine columnist who needs to make a point. In this case, it's that discovering or developing an innovation can blind the inventor to unexpected consequences. These revelations usually come from passers-by, relatives and other enemies, who couldn't possibly know as much as I do about the initial problem, great idea and tool I came up with, right? Because, for many of us, admitting we're wrong is worse than dying and public speaking combined, our first instinct is to ignore the critics, and keep applying our innovation over and over. See how great it works? How could it not be perfect? Even labor-saving tools with long records of success can have unanticipated results or costs that either aren't noticed from the beginning or aren't apparent until later. Remember when handheld calculators were a costly novelty, but then dropped in price so fast that everyone had one? I recall many school districts and teachers debated requiring students to practice mathematical skills such as logarithms and trigonometry before they could use calculators in classes or tests. I don't think that resolve lasted too long. Of course, more recent innovations like the Internet and smart phones are following similar evolutions. Much of the world's knowledge is right at our fingertips, but there's increasing evidence that
we're less intelligent than ever. Closer to home, I know the best way to wake up journalists is to keep a few facts from them, and the best way to put them to sleep is to give them a big bundle of information. I think this might be because floods of input coming in all the time don't give us the pause needed to use our atrophied critical thinking skills to arrive at better decisions. Unfortunately, control and automation aren't immune from the ironies of this innovation-driven and convenience-fueled paradox. I also remember covering a blow-molding machine builder for our sister Control Design magazine, who was preparing to ship a machine to a bottler in Asia that planned to package bottled water from the Himalayas. I think the customer wanted to duplicate the success of Fiji water and its four-sided containers, even though shipping water from the middle of the Pacific Ocean likely has a terrible carbon footprint in addition to being completely unnecessaryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; apart from the priceless ability of one-upping our fellow humans, which is well worth filling a few Himalayan valleys and other places with plastic. So what's the solution? Well, just make sure your innovation or whatever else you're doing is truly useful beyond the narrow radius of optimizing production for next month's stock analyst call. No less than father-of-the-PLC Dick Morley once chided me with the well-known aphorism that "if a professional person mows their own lawn lawn, they're using the most expensive lawn service in town." This was true at first glance, until I factored in the benefits of exercise, active meditation, and character-building humility. I know I'm not getting my recommended daily allowance of any of them, so I keep on mowing. Of course, don't second guess to the point it becomes debilitating. That would be another mistake. It's easy to remember ancient Greece's Oracle of Dephi and its famous "moderation in all things" motto. It's harder to follow its advice. Maybe just maintain enough initiative to keep an eye peeled for more useful innovations after the first one. www.controlglobal.com
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