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No wires, no limits

The age of wireless provides the eyes and ears to move facilities to the next level
No wires, no limits

Plant operators in the control centre will in future profit from a completely new set of eyes and ears. The age of wireless already allows information from measuring points that were previously hard to reach, and in some cases totally inaccessible, to flow to a central PLC. Optimised processes, compliance with environmental protection regulations, simple retrofitting and practically no wiring are only a few of the immense benefits offered by In-Plant Smart Wireless.

On 12 December 1901 three simple tones revolutionised the world. The Morse code letter “S“ made the first wireless crossing over the Atlantic Ocean from the southernmost tip of England to Newfoundland. Giuglielmo Marconi succeeded in sending a radio signal a distance of 2500 km from a 35 kW transmitter to an antenna on Signal Hill, not far from Saint John – and transatlantic radio transmission was born. Marconi launched his experiments in 1895 at his home in Villa Griffone, south of Bologna. At the age of 21, he transmitted the first radio signals out of his window into the garden. Today, this historic villa in Pontecchio accommodates a museum dedicated to the life and work of the 1909 Nobel Prize winner. One of the museum’s sponsors is Emerson Process Management. The company recently followed in Marconi’s footsteps by fitting radio technology for the harsh environments that prevail in the chemical industry.

Fit for Europe
The 2.4 GHz Smart Wireless solution from Emerson is designed for mainstream use in European manufacturing plants. By capturing information that was previously inaccessible, the Smart Wireless network broadens asset optimisation and predictive maintenance. “Embedding predictive intelligence throughout the plant allows our customers to improve their output, cut costs and make their plant easier and safer to operate,“ said Jim Nyquist, President Europe of Emerson Process Management, at the In-Plant Smart Wireless presentation in Bologna. Monitoring will initially be the main operational area. “Our products help manufacturers to avoid costly, unexpected process interruptions and shut-downs,“ Nyquist continued. “With In-Plant Smart Wireless, their response to safety incidents can be improved and emissions reduced.“
Self-organising network
By extending Emerson’s PlantWeb digital plant architecture, Smart Wireless forms a self-organising network that is controlled by a gateway. The network delivers data with a high level of reliability from assets previously out of physical or commercial reach. Field trials over the last three years with several North American and European customers have demonstrated better than 99 % network reliability and installation costs up to 90 % lower than for wired equivalents. Self-organising networks are extremely dependable. In addition to the direct connection to the gateway, they also make use of other wireless devices within the plant for communication. “This even works if the direct route to the gateway is blocked,“ reports Mark Schumacher, Vice President and General Manager of the Pressure and CPS Business Unit. “The field device which is disconnected from the network automatically searches for an alternative communication path to the gateway, providing redundancy that enables over 99 % of all field network messages to reach their destination – no easy task in the can-yons of metal that make up today’s manufacturing facilities.“ To guarantee secure communication, networks based on Emerson technology are scalable from 5 to 100,000 devices. The more devices in the network, the more secure data transmission will be. The reliability of point-to-point transmission from a field device to the gateway is only 40 % in the harsh environment of a chemical plant. This figure is increased if more devices are installed, for example up to 85 % with three devices.
Easy installation
The installation of Emerson’s Smart Wireless solution requires no complex site surveys or special tools. The wireless measurement transmitters are installed in the same way as their predecessors. As soon as the battery is inserted, the transmitter searches for the gateway and sets up a connection automatically. Emerson currently offers the Rosemount 3051S transmitter for level, pressure and flow as well as a wireless version of the 648 temperature transmitter. Energy efficiency is a key consideration in the development of every Emerson wireless device and network component. The goal is to maximise the period before maintenance is required. This is why the field devices use SmartPower technology. Energy consumption can be reduced by electronic components with a low energy requirement, a modern power management concept and short device warm-up times. In addition, Emerson engineers have developed energy scavenging technologies such as solar or thermal power and vibration. Depending on the application, SmartPower facilitates a battery life of 5 to 15 years.
All-round manager
The 1420 wireless gateway forwards the data from the field devices. It acts as general manager not only for the network, which it continuously tests, monitors and optimises, but also for information.
The industrial-grade security of Emerson’s wireless networks has been validated in extensive field trials and reviewed by independent security experts. Encryption, authentication, verification, anti-jamming and key management techniques are used in a robust security approach.
Owing to its rugged design, the gateway can be positioned almost anywhere in the plant. The data received can be forwarded to and processed by a local area network or a control system like DeltaV via OPC, Ethernet or Modbus. “We are collaborating with equipment vendors, customers and industry associations, including the Wireless Hart working group of the Hart Communication Foundation and ISA SP100, to develop wireless networking standards that meet the requirements of industrial monitoring and control, enabling the widespread adoption of wireless sensor networking technology“, Schumacher elaborates. “Emerson guarantees an easy upgrade path for compliance to the industry standard as soon as one has been formulated.“
Smart Wireless is designed to support SP100 control and monitoring application classes 1 to 5 on the same network, and has been proven in customer applications for classes 3 to 5.
Emerson’s Smart Wireless solution can be deployed in a variety of process industries, including refining, oil and gas, chemicals, pulp and paper, and water and waste water treatment. In addition, the technology can be applied to remote monitoring of oil and gas well-heads, pipeline stations and production platforms.
Starter Kit
To make it even easier for customers to reach the next level of business improvement, Emerson will introduce a SmartPack Starter Kit, consisting of a range of SmartStart services: between 5 and 100 wireless Rosemount flow, pressure, level or temperature transmitters, a wireless gateway and an AMS Intelligent Device Manager software application for predictive diagnostic information access via the wireless gateway. In accordance with best practices, the completely assembled, configured and tested Starter Kit network is a genuine out-of-the-box solution with no additional user inputs or set-up needed.
Emerson’s global SmartStart wireless service experts help customers realise the full potential of Smart Wireless technology. Schumacher comments: “They provide assistance with the initial start-up, including a full network health assessment to ensure robust communications plus verification of device functionality using the chosen protocol (Modbus, OPC, Ethernet, etc).“
Technology experience
Emerson’s online PlantWeb University has been extended with nineteen 15-minute courses offering a practical introduction to the technology and applications of In-Plant Wireless for operators, engineers and management (www.PlantWebUniversity.com).
In the next few months, Emerson will also announce an In-Plant Smart Wireless design contest. The aim is to encourage plant engineers to demonstrate their imaginative strengths and their technical agility by following in the footsteps of Nobel Prize winner Giuglielmo Marconi. (br)
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Smart Wireless im Überblick
Marconi Museum
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