Control
Content
PIG IRON
GETS A BRAIN
EMBRACING THE
SAFETY LIFECYCLE
SIL FOR
FIRE AND GAS
SYSTEMS?
NOVEMBER 2014
Better
Together?
Combining building
and process automation
systems can ease plant
support, but be prepared
to ante up.
W O R K F O R C E
E N A B L E M E N T
S O L U T I O N S
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© 2014 Schneider Electric. All rights reserved. Schneider Electric, Invensys, Avantis, Condition Manager and Workforce Enablement Solutions are trademarks of Schneider Electric, its subsidiaries or affiliates. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
© 2014 Siemens Industry, Inc.
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Process and power automation
Better together
It just makes sense. Every industrial process is dependent on power to operate. In order to provide visibility, it's
long been the status quo for information from various electrical components to be brought into the automation
system through hardwired I/O signals. Using System 800xA’s digital fieldbus technologies (IEC 61850,
MODBUS TCP, PROFINET, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, Ethernet IP), users can not only import status information
without adding to a project's I/O count, but they are afforded better diagnostic and load information, enabling
predictive maintenance and opportunities to save energy.
System 800xA. It’s all about control.
www.abb.com/800xA
ABB Process Automation Division
Visit us at our blog or on YouTube:
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www.youtube.com/user/ProcessAutomation
November 2014 • Volume XXVII • Number 11
Better
Together?
Combined building and process
automation systems can ease plant
support, but be prepared to ante up.
by Dan Hebert, PE
32
F E AT U R E S
2 5
Y E A R S
O F
C O N T R O L
47 / Pig Iron Gets a Brain
Over the past 25 years, valve technology has consistently outrun what you generally find in the field. by Paul Studebaker
P
R
O
C
E
S
S
S
A
F
E
T
Y
53 / Embracing the Safety Lifecycle
BP and Emerson Process Management show how to prevent
systemic failures in safety instrumented systems.
by Jim Montague
A
S
S
E
T
M
A
N
A
G
E
M
E
N
T
57 / Design to the Abilities
Use these five perspectives to improve functionality and reduce
lifecycle cost. by William Mostia, PE
W E B
E X C L U S I V E S
So Many Tuning Rules, So Little Time
Control Hall of Famer Greg McMillan walks you through
the complexities of loop tuning. www.controlglobal.com/
whitepapers/2014/so-many-tuning-rules-so-little-time/
CONTROL (ISSN 1049-5541) is published monthly by PUTMAN Media COMPANY (also publishers of CONTROL DESIGN, CHEMICAL PROCESSING, FOOD PROCESSING, INDUSTRIAL NETWORKING,
PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING, and PLANT SERVICES ), 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 2014. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part
without consent of the copyright owner. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CONTROL, P.O. Box 3428, Northbrook, IL 60065-3428. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Qualified-reader subscriptions are accepted from Operating Management in the
control industry at no charge. To apply for qualified-reader subscription, fill in subscription form. 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.
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
5
Simply reliable:
Process safety from Endress+Hauser.
Eliminate the risk of storage tank overfill
Do you need to revamp your safety instrumented system? Do you want to
comply to the latest safety guidelines and standards such as API2350 Edition 4
and IEC 61511/61508? Eliminate your risk of storage tank overfi ll without
compromising availability and e�ciency.
Together with our partners, such as Rockwell Automation, we can provide a complete
solution for field-proven, standardized overfi ll prevention systems which include:
• “Safety by design” - systems with built-in mechanical integrity
• State-of-the-art vibronic fork technology with failsafe design - a second
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November 2014 • Volume XXVII • Number 11
D E PA RT M E N T S
9 / Editor’s Page
Meet Us at the Corners
It’s where the action—and the progress—are.
11 / Control Online
Raising the next generation of engineers,
building better plant information libraries,
and chemistry saves the world.
13 / Feedback
30 / Resources
PLCs and industrial computers online.
61 / Technically Speaking
BACnet for Process Control? Really.
It’s not a plug-and-play hack, but connecting
these systems makes sense in some cases.
62 / Ask the Experts
Our readers on standards, fieldbus and
losing the manuals.
Is SIL Required for Fire and Gas Systems?
Our experts sort through the complexities
of safety systems.
14 / Lessons Learned
65 / Roundup
SIS: Standards by Committee
Current SIS standards are like baby camels;
they need more work to make them truly
useful.
19 / On the Bus
Two Buses, One Foundation
What the merger of the Foundation and
HART fieldbus groups really means.
20 / Without Wires
“Hands-Free” Valves
Why are we still messing about with
manually controlled valves?
22 / In Process
GE Intelligent Platforms looks to a
“cloudy” future; ABB’s new oil and gas
center; Stührenberg takes control at
Phoenix Contact; and other process news.
the ceo speaks
Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, addresses
the audience at the GE Intelligent
The latest in level technology is here.
Platforms user conference.
68 / Products
An exclusive look at MACTek’s Viator+
USB HART interface, plus dataloggers,
pressure transmitters and transducers,
butterfly valves and more.
71 / Control Talk
Getting Started for Start-Ups
McMillan,
Weiner
and
Maverick
Technologies’ Tim Green talk safe startups
and how to do them.
73 / Ad Index
These folks would like a word with you.
you’ve got connections
74 / Control Report
Dig Out of the Buzzword Blizzard
What are the next big things actually going
to do for you?
MACTek’s new Viator+ USB HART
interface offers a novel route to
connectivity.
Circulation aUdited june 2014
Food & Kindred Products.....................................................................................15,398
Chemicals & Allied Products..................................................................................9,095
Systems Integrators & Engineering Design Firms...................................................7,458
Primary Metal Industries.........................................................................................4,272
Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services............................................................................3,847
Petroleum Refining & Related Industries.................................................................3,600
Miscellaneous Manufacturers.................................................................................3,597
Paper & Allied Products..........................................................................................3,522
Pharmaceuticals......................................................................................................3,496
Rubber & Miscellaneous Plastic Products..............................................................2,855
Stone, Clay, Glass & Concrete Products.................................................................1,733
Textile Mill Products...............................................................................................1,047
Tobacco Products.......................................................................................................100
Total Circulation....................................................................................................60,020
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
7
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EDITOR’S PAGE
Meet Us at the Corners
I
t’s common knowledge that innovation often lies at the intersections of developments
in established fields—just Google “innovation happens at intersections.” You can even
read a book about it, titled The Medici Effect:
Breakthrough Insights at the Intersections of
Ideas, Concepts and Cultures. The point is that
we need to get outside our individual fields of
expertise to see the possibilities coming from
other directions.
So I was a little disappointed, if not surprised,
that this month’s cover story on the state of the
art of integrating process and building automation systems doesn’t overflow with innovations.
Yes, you can gain the expected efficiencies
in energy, manpower, maintenance and decision-making by using a single system or by
closely integrating building and automation
systems, but there are plenty of drawbacks. So
like any engineering problem, there’s a need to
do a cost-benefit analysis, and find the sweet
spot that’s most likely to yield the highest ROI.
That’s the state of the art.
I think that state is in flux. Just as we’re finding that integrating IT and control systems has
led to a revolution in critical decision-making,
and joining safety and process systems is offering the potential to reduce costs while significantly improving both functions, we can expect merging building and automation systems
to bring some surprising benefits.
We were given a glimpse of the possibilities at the recent opening of Honeywell’s new
customer experience center in Houston. Designed to bring to life new, high-tech innovations for the company’s traditional automation clients in process industries, the center
includes a plant control room outfitted with
Honeywell’s Experion Process Knowledge
System (PKS). The beautiful Orion console
demonstrates large, integrated screens, touchscreen displays, mobile device capabilities and
other technologies that assist plant operators
who are charged with running some of the
Paul Studebaker
world’s most critical and complex manufacturing facilities.
The PKS displays and drill-downs are designed to support situational awareness, and “orchestration” brings relevant graphics up in sets to
direct the operator’s attention where it’s needed
the most. That can include video surveillance
with cameras that automatically shift and focus
to present a view of a fire or other emergency,
or of an intruder breaching the perimeter fence.
Operators can pan through and zoom large
displays, and integrated procedures guide and
validate their progress through unfamiliar startup and shutdown procedures. An integrated
“collaboration station” offers the right level of
detail for engineers and managers to facilitate
real-time, high-level decisions.
As process control specialists, we’re all familiar
with Honeywell as the company that pioneered
the distributed control system, but we might forget
that it also specializes in cyber and physical security, as well as process and personnel safety. Honeywell’s new customer center reminds us with displays of personal protective equipment and cyber
security systems, as well as field instrumentation.
Honeywell is not the only process control company with expertise in other fields. ABB, Emerson, GE, Rockwell, Schneider/Invensys and Siemens all have notable strengths in both highly
and vaguely related fields from power systems
and transportation to appliances and, of course,
building automation. These other product lines
range from industrial to commercial to consumer,
where developments in web connectivity, pervasive sensing, human-centered design and many
other areas are coming on hot, heavy and cheap.
Here at Control, we’re always keeping an eye
out for innovations at the intersections, asking
questions, and finding out about how they’re
relating to process automation. If you know of
something we haven’t covered, drop me a line.
If you’re interested, stay tuned.
Editor in chief
[email protected]
Honeywell is not
the only process
control company
with expertise in
other fields.
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
9
800 453 6202
C o n t r o l o n l i ne
Raising the Next Generation of Engineers
O
ur September cover story, “Spring Chickens”
(www.controlglobal.com/articles/2014/automation-companies-prepare-younger-generations-to-replace-retiring-employees), addresses the
challenges of growing and acquiring newly minted
Spring
engineers, and turning them into the seasoned professionals needed to keep operations running, and Chickens
has generated a lot of readership. So has the podcast
conversation between Control’s executive editor Jim
Montague and ARC’s Dick Hill at www.controlglobal.com/multimedia/2014/podcast-stem-spring-chickens-.
A BETTER WAY TO
HANDLE CONSTRAINTS
OPERATORS GET
WHAT THEY DESERVE
FLEXIBILITY FUELS
STRONG MOTORS
Worms in Your Molassas?
Read how American Crystal Sugar got
itself out of a sticky situation with a
new kind of RTD flexible sensor. www.
controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2014/
measuring-molasses-with-a-worm
THE YOUNG
ENGINEER’S
FIRST LIBRARY
Attack of the Dragonfly
SEPTEMBER 2014
How targeted programs are raising a fresh
flock of fledglings to replace retiring
engineers and technicians.
CT1409_01_CVR.indd 9
The Cure for Opaque Automation
Concepts of
operations
Verification
and
validation
8/26/14 8:49 AM
Operation
and
maintenance
“The reason why procedures become opaque
is that they’re designed by clever engineers and
programmers, who are focused on getting the
IMPLEMENTATION
job done without considering the need for a
clear human interface. The result is inscrutable
logic encoded into procedures that are not readable by ordinary mortals, assuming
that most people don’t know a database from first base,” writes William Hawkins in
“The Case for Using Natural Language.” Find Hawkins’ cure at www.controlglobal.
com/articles/2014/process-automation-programming-language-one-for-all.
Project
definition
Requirements
and
architecture
System
verification
and validation
Integration,
test and
verification
Detailed
design
Project
test and
integration
Time
This newest bit of malware is a nasty bug
indeed. This two-part article analyzes it,
its targets, methods of attacks, results,
and how to defend against it. www.
controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2014/
defending-against-the-dragonfly-cybersecurity-attacks-part-a-identifying-thetargets and www.controlglobal.com/
whitepapers/2014/defending-againstthe-dragonfly-cybersecurity-attackpart-b-analyzing-the-malware
Accurate, Reliable Temperature
Measurement
This webinar will help you improve
citical
temperature
measurement
practices.
www.controlglobal.com/
whitepapers/2014/emersons-offersfree-webinar-on-high-accuracy-andreliability
Building a Better Plant Information Library
There are four stages of content management maturity: content
under control, access anywhere, managing change and integration with the business. Sounds easy enough when put that way,
but as with all such projects, the reality is not so simple. Senior
Technical Editor Dan Hebert walks you through the process of
getting those piles of paperwork everyone needs and no one wants
to deal with under control and available where, when and for whom they’re needed.
www.controlglobal.com/articles/2014/improve-access-to-plant-information.
Chemistry Saves the World
People such as Steve Jobs and Henry Ford get all the credit, admittedly much of
it well-deserved, for “world-changing” inventions or developments. But that leaves
some of the most important inventions that underlie our civilization flying well
under the radar (Can you say “clean drinking water?”). Here’s where the “Top 10
Chemically Engineered Inventions” come in. Check www.controlglobal.com/industrynews/2014/top-10-chemically-engineered-inventions for the complete list.
Let’s hear it for chemical engineers!
Free Ebook on Process Automation
Industry Guide to Control System Engineering has helpful resources and
tips for the specification, design and
installation of automated control systems.
www.controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2014/download-an-industryguide-to-control-system-engineering
ControlGlobal E-News
Multimedia Alerts
White Paper Alerts
Go to www.controlglobal.com and
follow instructions to register for our
free weekly e-newsletters.
Updated every business day, the Control Global online magazine is available at no charge.
Go to www.controlglobal.com and follow instructions to register for our free weekly e-newsletters.
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
11
ACE
IN THE
HOLE
And the Knock Out Drum. And the Separator.
And the Feedwater Heater. And the Sump.
When process applications require best-in-class level control technology, you’ve got to play your
cards right. The Eclipse® Model 706 guided wave radar transmitter can deal with nearly any process
condition – even the most challenging.
• Superior signal-to-noise ratio provides the most accurate and reliable level measurement available
• Extensive line of probes, including overfill safe probes, handle a variety of level challenges
• Advanced diagnostics take the user interface to new levels of convenience and functionality
• HART® and FOUNDATION fieldbus™ protocols provide full digital communications capabilities
• Convenient pre-configuration reduces installation time – apply 24 VDC and walk away
• Quick-disconnect probe coupling makes servicing easier
Don’t gamble with reliability. Contact Magnetrol® –
the guided wave radar innovator – to learn more about
the ECLIPSE Model 706 transmitter.
eclipse.magnetrol.com • 1-800-624-8765 • [email protected]
©2014 Magnetrol International, Incorporated
G N I K A E P S YL L A C I N H C E T
FEEDBACK
IN MEMORY OF JULIE CAPPELLETTI-LANGE,
VICE PRESIDENT 1984-2012
1501 E. WOODFIELD ROAD, SUITE 400N
SCHAUMBURG, ILLINOIS 60173
Editor in Chief: PAUL STUDEBAKER
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Senior Managing Editor, Digital Media: KATHERINE BONFANTE
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Managing Editor: NANCY BARTELS
nbar [email protected]
Senior Technical Editor: DAN HEBERT
dheber [email protected]
Senior Technical Editor: LESLIE GORDON
[email protected]
Contributing Editor: JOHN REZABEK
Columnists: BÉLA LIPTÁK, GREG MCMILLAN,
IAN VERHAPPEN, STAN WEINER
Editorial Assistant: LORI GOLDBERG
design & production team
VP, Creative Services: STEVE HERNER
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Art Director: BRIAN HERTEL
bher [email protected]
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FINALIST JESSE H. NEAL AWARD, 2013
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FOUR OZZIE AWARDS FOR GRAPHICS EXCELLENCE
Lose the Manual
As always, I enjoyed reading your article
in Control, “Pitch the Manual,” (Control,
September 2014, www.controlglobal.com/
articles/2014/to-toss-or-not-to-toss-papermanuals-and-reference-books/)
Of course, this is how we’ve moved.
Strangely, I still like to read the hard copy
of my Wall Street Journal. Perhaps it’s the
feel of the paper? Or the nostalgic warm
feeling that comes with the setting, sipping warm coffee and pondering the
world? Or perhaps it’s the fact that I spend
most of my day in an electronic world and
associate that with work?
No matter what it is, in another related
area I’m not old fashioned. Yes, “Pitch the
manual,” but way further than where you
suggest. We all download apps for that on
our smart phones. Free. Sweet. And if we
can’t figure them out in five minutes, they
get deleted because there is another appfor-that.
No PDF. No F1. Just intinuity. (Google
that one.)
Thanks for the wake-up articles. Keep
them coming.
DUNCAN SCHLEISS
EMERSON PROCESS MANAGEMENT
[email protected]
Users Need to Step Up for Standards
Regarding John Rezabek’s September “On
the Bus” column, (www.controlglobal.
com/articles/2014/hungry-for-open-network-protocol-standards/): John, thanks
for sharing your direct experience and for
trying to march down the wireless road as
far as it would take you. When the ISA100
standards committee was formulating its
requirements, we used exactly the same
set of specifications that were used to develop the ISA S50.02 standard that became
Foundation fieldbus H1 and later HSE.
In short, we were attempting to make
sure that the ISA100 network would be
suitable to become the network for a “wireless Foundation fieldbus” when the technology was ready. If the field instruments
must be battery-powered, then the technology is not quite ready for high- samplerate control, such as for flow or pressure
loops, but it should be ready for temperature and most level control loops—except
that no supplier has yet to offer a wireless
Foundation fieldbus instrument.
If energy harvesting, as documented
by the ISA100.18 subcommittee, is considered, then all process control loops are
ready for wireless Foundation fieldbus using ISA100 Wireless (IEC 62734).
ISA100 already supports direct, peerto-peer, dual-path,
Spring
mesh networking,
very low power con- Chickens
sumption, and a
speed that’s much
higher than hardwired H1.
Now all we need is for users like you
to talk to your instrumentation suppliers
about building wireless Foundation fieldbus. Too bad the right components were
not available for your last project.
A BETTER WAY TO
HANDLE CONSTRAINTS
OPERATORS GET
WHAT THEY DESERVE
FLEXIBILITY FUELS
STRONG MOTORS
THE YOUNG
ENGINEER’S
FIRST LIBRARY
How targeted programs are raising a fresh
flock of fledglings to replace retiring
engineers and technicians.
SEPTEMBER 2014
editorial team
CT1409_01_CVR.indd 9
DICK CARO, CAP
CO-CHAIR ISA100.8 USERS WORKING GROUP
[email protected]
Simplified Fieldbus
Regarding “The Long Greenfield” in the
August issue (www.controlglobal.com/
articles/2014/process-control-innovations-what-future-process-plants-can-belike/#comment-1129): “Complex, macrocycle calculations” are not required for
fieldbus on DeltaV. Also, “complex fieldbus devices” are not the case with DeltaV,
since with a human-centered design dashboard, Foundation has the same look and
feel as a 4-20 mA/HART device. DeltaV
makes fieldbus very easy, eliminating marshalling cabinets, marshalling signals virtually from software, etc. Also, it’s possible
to get as much diagnostics from a HART
5 device as a HART 7 device. The diagnostics aren’t dependent on the HART
version. In fact, you can get more diagnostics from some HART 5 devices than from
some HART 6 or HART 7 devices.
JONAS BERGE
EMERSON PROCESS MANAGEMENT
[email protected]
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
13
8/26/14 8:49 AM
LESSONS LEARNED
SIS: Standards by Committee
BÉL A LIPTÁK
W
[email protected]
The problem with
the PFD values
is that they’re
determined by selfcertification by the
manufacturer
or a hired
evaluation firm.
control loop (called a safety instrumented function or SIF) to protect the process from accidents. Conversely, the probability of failure on
demand (PFD) is the mathematical complement of RSA (PFD = 1 - RSA), expressing the
probability that the SIF will fail to do its job. Unfortunately, it’s much easier to write three zeros
in a table than to increase the safety of a real
process a thousandfold.
Yet, when a CEO of an insurance company
sees this table with all those zeros, particularly
if at the same time he is having a nice business
lunch with this charming salesman, the table
looks pretty good, and by the time the coffee is
served, he might agree to insure the plant if it’s
designed for a target of, say, SIL3. Right? Well,
let’s look at this closer.
e all know the saying that the “camel
is a horse designed by committee.” Today’s safety instrumented system (SIS)
standard (ANSI/ISA 84.00.01 (2004), which is
a relaxed version of IEC 61508/61511 (1996), is
not a camel yet, only a camel baby. It can still
be trained, but training needs trainers! Before
explaining why I say this, let us look at what a
safety integrity level (SIL) is.
The Safety Integrity Level
The SIS standard considers SIL to be a quantifiable measurement of risk that can be used as
a way to establish safety performance targets.
The potentially achievable levels of reliability
of the expected performance of this safety system are defined by Table 1 (page 16).
The required safety availability (RSA) value
refers to the reliability of a particular safety
Safety at the Component Level
PFDFCE
PFDSensor
Total loop SIL = PFDPLC + PFDSensor + PFDFCE
A PFD IS NOT A SIL
Figure 1: Loop components do not have SIL levels, only probability of failure on
demand (PFD) values, and these PFD values do not determine the SIL level of the
loop (as implied here), but only indicate that in the supplier’s judgement, these
components are suitable for being used in a particular SIL level system.
14
www.controlglobal.com N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4
Based on a drawing from Emerson Process Management.
PFDPLC
As shown in Figure 1, at the individual instrument
component level (sensor, valve, safety control
logic, power supply, communication), the standard only requires determination of PFD, but the
components themselves don’t have safety integrity
levels. The main problem with the PFD values
is they’re determined by self-certification by the
manufacturer or by the manufacturer’s hired evaluation firm, and this “certification” doesn’t need
to be approved by any safety authority. Also, component PFDs don’t determine the SIL level of the
loop. They only imply that the loop components
are suitable for a particular level.
On top that, the standard doesn’t even apply to pneumatic or hydraulic logic systems,
nor does it apply to fire and gas systems, safety
alarms, safety controls or to plants that were in
operation before 1996.
SIL Level of a Loop
The SIL level of a loop is not the sum of the
PFDs of its components, but is the product of
the loop’s safe failure fraction (SFF) and the
PFDs of the loop components. The equations
for calculating SFF, PFD and SIL are:
It feels like we’re running in circles trying
to meet regulations and process demands.
I wish we could operate at a higher level.
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instruments. We understand that you need to keep employees safe and equipment in compliance
with regulations. And that’s getting more difficult as the process industry changes. Fisher products can
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LESSONS LEARNED
SIL
number
Required Safety
Availability (RSA)
Probability of Failure
on Demand (PFD)
SIL1
90% to 99%
0.1 to 0.01
SIL2
99% to 99.9%
0.01 to 0.001
SIL3
99.9% to 99.99%
0.001 to 0.0001
SIL4
99.99% to 99.999%
0.0001 to 0.00001
SIL LEVELS
Table 1. A SIL level is a quantifiable measurement of risk used to
establish safety performance targets.
SFF = (lSD + lSU + lDD) / (lSD + lSU + lDD + lDU)
PFD = (lDU)(Proof Test Interval)/2 + (lDD)(Down Time or
Repair Time)
SIL = (SFF)(PFD)
I will not bother to list what each of the terms in these equations mean or explain how they can be determined. I will only
note (obviously jokingly) that to apply them takes the collaboration of an IRS accountant and a rather “flexible” consultant, whose conclusions might just happen to coincide with
the plant’s views.
SIL and Our Manual Culture
According to one survey, 70% of furnace explosions occur during startup and shutdown, when operator involvement is maximum, and 21% occur because undocumented changes were
made by the operators after commissioning. Only 9% of accidents were due to non-operator-related causes.
I’ve written a lot about the need for overrule safety control
(OSC) for critical processes. The key difference between SIS
and OSC is that OSC overrules! In other words, it brings the
plant into a safe state no matter what the basic control system
or the operators do.
SIS doesn’t do that because the committee that developed
it still lives in a “manual culture.” They still trust men more
than machines. They do not understand that OSC is also
made by men, except that the men who design the OSCs are
not panicked operators running around in the dark at 2 a.m.,
but professional control engineers, who had months to identify all potential “what if” sources of possible accidents and
evaluated their potential consequences before deciding on the
emergency actions to be triggered when they arise.
It is this hazard and operability (HAZOP) study during the design phase that is the key to safety. It must be conducted by a team
whose members are fully familiar with the process from their diverse perspectives, including chemical, mechanical, heat transfer,
electrical, etc. In addition, the team should be lead by a process
control engineer who is knowledgeable about the state of the art
16
www.controlglobal.com N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4
THE ALPHABET SOUP OF SIS DISCUSSIONS
BPCS: basic process control system
ESD: emergency shutdown down
FMEA: failure modes and effects analysis
FMECA: failure modes, effects and criticality analysis
FGS logic: fire and gas system logic
FOD: failure on demand (PFD)
F&G: fire and gas
FT: fault tolerance
HAZOP: hazard and operational studies
HIPS: high-integrity protection system
IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission
IEC 61508 is generic functional safety standard
IEC 61511 defines good engineering practices for SIS
IPF: instrument protective functions
ANSI/ISA 84.00.01 (2004): IEC 61511 relaxed for pre-996
plants
LOPA: layers of protection analysis
OSC: override safety controls
MOC: management of change
PFD: probability of failure on demand
PHA: process hazard analysis
RL: reliability level
RSA: required safety availability
SFF: safe failure fraction
SH&E: safety, health and environmental
SIF: safety instrumented function
SIL: safety integrity level
SIS: safety instrumented system
UPS: uninterruptible power supply
of safety automation. This what-if analysis (fault tree analysis) is
the key, and SIS standards committees are a long way from understanding that.
What Else?
What’s probably the worst aspect of SIL ratings is that they
do not apply to entire unit operations such as boilers or distillation columns. In fact, it’s quite possible that a boiler with
a SIL3 steam overpressure protection system can also have a
SIL1 low water level protection loop.
It’s also unfortunate that the SIS committees don’t like
plain English. Their work is peppered with high-tech buzzwords, abbreviations and acronyms that make these documents harder to read and hence less valuable (see sidebar).
In January, Part 2 will outline the safety system standards
that we really need.
Béla Lipták, PE, control consultant, is also editor of the Instrument Engineers’
Handbook and is seeking new co-authors for the for coming new edition of that
multi-volume work. He can be reached at [email protected].
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ON THE BUS
Two Buses, One Foundation
Y
ou’ve probably heard by now that there’s
been a merger of fieldbus protocol foundations representing HART and Foundation
fieldbus (FF). After 2014, there will no longer be
separate foundations governing the HART and
FF protocols. There will be one group, one board
of directors and one president.
But news of the merger has also created speculation and outright dreaming. One end user asked
Chuck Micallef, marketing director for the HART
Communication Foundation, “Will this mean I’ll
be able to use my HART device for Foundation
fieldbus?” Sadly, such dreams will have to be left
on the pillow. We may sooner see interoperability between WirelessHART and ISA 100.11a. So
why won’t HART and FF beget an even cuter and
more lovable protocol like a Labradoodle of buses?
HART and FF do indeed share a lot of
the same DNA. That’s one of the reasons the
merger makes a lot of sense. Back in the days
of the enhanced electronic device description
language (EDDL) cooperation group, it was often heard, “When we looked at HART, FF and
Profibus PA, we found we had 97% of parameters in common.” Humans are said to share
99% of their DNA with chimps and bonobos,
too. While we don’t expect any chimps to be
boarding the bus with the kids in the morning,
the three aforementioned protocols merged
their DD languages into a single IEC standard
a few years ago. Why would these three protocols have this much in common to begin with?
While we may think of the communication
technologies as separate “houses,” they are, in fact,
composed of nearly the same member companies. I can count on one hand the suppliers that
don’t have an offering in at least two of the major
protocols, if not all three. Most of our favorite suppliers belong to all three clubs, and the disparate
technologies really are fueled both intellectually
and financially by the members of each club, so
we shouldn’t be shocked or amazed when similar
features emerge from all three protocols.
On the system side, the economies of conver-
john Rez abek
gence can be even more compelling. A site can
easily find itself employing multiple protocols,
from HART and Modbus to DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP, Profibus and Foundation fieldbus. All
these are integrated—or not—into what’s often a
single host or asset management system. An abundance of intelligence and features on the device
side are “stranded” if there are no services on the
system side to interpret, organize and display the
useful insights and diagnostics to thinking humans. Having greater uniformity between a few of
these more common protocols can only help system developers deliver new features. The folks at
FDT group (www.ftdgroup.org) point out, “a single frame application supports HART, Profibus,
Foundation fieldbus—and others coming soon.”
Which brings us to the FDI Cooperation
(www.fdi-cooperation.org), the latest joint venture
between HART, Foundation fieldbus and Profibus PA, which also includes the FDT Group and
OPC Foundation. (FDI stands for “field device
integration.”) By deploying a unified standard for
the integration, configuration and management
of assets used in process control, FDI aims to
make the delivery and utilization of smart assets/
devices easier, more uniform and more economical for both suppliers and end users.
Many of the same engineers have been showing up at the same meetings and on the same expense accounts, and the supplier companies who
largely foot the bill for these non-profits wondered
why they belonged to so many clubs. With HART
and Fieldbus Foundation both headquartered
in Austin, Texas, the logistics and legal hurdles
were low enough to make the merger compelling.
That’s why it’s happening.
Next year, they’ll be under the same roof. So
why won’t the HART device speak FF? While
the HART device may incorporate many of the
same diagnostic capabilities of its seemingly
identical FF kin, the protocols are fundamentally different both in philosophy and use. Next
month, we’ll explore the main distinctions in a
little more depth.
contributing Editor
[email protected]
So why won’t HART
and FF beget an
even cuter and
more lovable
protocol like a
Labradoodle of
buses?
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
19
Without wires
“Hands-Free” Valves
ian verhappen
Director,
Industrial Automation Ne t works
[email protected]
Protocols such
as Bluetooth
can be used as
a configuration
interface to allow
maintenance work
on the device
without having
to remove it
from service.
20
B
y some estimates, 60-80% of valves are
used in open-loop control, which effectively means they’re controlled manually.
Of course, a number of these valves are strictly
for isolation purposes, and therefore, have no reason to be controlled remotely, since they’ll only
be changed as a result of an associated manual
procedure, such as maintenance work. However,
this does leave a significant opportunity for some
method of communicating with these valves, especially for those located in awkward locations.
“Close coupling” the control element (sensor and controller) can make this happen by
enabling the valve to be mounted in the pipe
rack rather than being brought to grade. Wireless is one way of making the connection from
the control system to the control element.
One consideration for any change from the
present operating status is the question of the
risk or perceived risk of using a wireless signal for control. However, since the loops being
discussed here are presently being controlled
manually, having the ability to be able to confirm remotely the actual position of the control
element can be considered an improvement.
The most significant consideration, however, is whether or not the infrastructure is in
place to implement a wireless system. Infrastructure includes a motive supply—usually air,
since a typical wireless transmitter and milliwatt power supply is insufficient to provide the
required torque—and the necessary equipment
to link the control element to the control system, such as gateways and repeaters.
Depending on the nature of the infrastructure (IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor networks
such as ISA100.11a, WirelessHART, ZigBee
and IEEE 802.11 or Wi-Fi), it could be dualpurposed, not only to support the backhaul of
the control network (IEEE 802.11), but also to
provide data to the field operators or technicians
to receive real-time information while they’re in
the field. For example, a maintenance technician could confirm that the valve is indeed in
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
manual prior to isolating it and starting work.
Then, as he is working on the valve, he could
also access related manuals and documentation, or warehouse inventory of necessary parts,
while performing the task, and consequently,
be a more efficient and safer worker. This requires not only the necessary infrastructure, but
also changes in work practices, which is a much
more difficult process than adding equipment.
Integration of all this is also something that
can’t be done haphazardly, as it affects many
systems across the organization, which means
it must be planned and executed as a multidiscipline project with a strong corporate sponsor.
Wireless communication with valves has
been in place for many years already. Several
suppliers use protocols such as Bluetooth as a
configuration interface to allow maintenance
work on the device without having to remove it
from service or open the enclosure to connect
to the wires. Because Bluetooth has a very limited broadcast range, it’s not practical for wireless sensor networks, though it does this particular application well. In fact, since most mobile
devices include a Bluetooth radio, the potential
(and associated cybersecurity risk) exists that
these devices could be used for calibration. All
that’s required is the appropriate app.
Another alternative is ZigBee. It’s being used
in some applications, predominantly in the
utility sector, where it’s part of the SmartGrid
suite of protocols, not only to communicate to
the controller, but also as a local configuration
option similar to Bluetooth.
Some applications are end-to-end wireless
now, but since most control engineers seem
to be from the “show-me state,” the preference continues to be hardwiring However, the
beachhead has been established, so I’m sure
that it’s only a matter of time before we see
more wireless final control elements, though
they may not always be configured or necessarily installed like the traditional control valve
used today.
In Process
GE Looks to the Future and Sees a Cloud
Immelt’s message: Get with the program or get left behind.
G
E CEO Jeff Immelt’s message to
the more than 600 attendees of
the GE Intelligent Platforms User
Summit, Oct. 27-30 in Orlando, Florida, was both exciting and blunt. He
predicted a possible future that’s bright
and glowing for manufacturers, but
one with challenges that will have to
be faced sooner rather than later and is
coming on fast.
He said that whatever it thinks it is
now, every industrial company will
soon be a software and data analytics company or risk competitive irrelevance. The advent of the cloud, the Internet of Things, pervasive sensing and
the deluge of data that these advances
bring means every company has to master that data and use it to its advantage
because the companies that do so will
leave the laggards in the dust.
Immelt admitted that even GE—
with some 400 plants and factories and
an annual manufacturing spend of $63
billion—can’t build out the industrial
Internet on its own. Collaboration and
co-innovation will be needed to realize
its promise.
Clearly, Immelt believes industry
must adapt the Internet to its own
needs, even as the need for industrial
domain expertise remains front and
center. “Machines still matter, but
they’re surrounded by analytics, services and information,” he said.
As an enabler of business outcomes,
however, “the industrial Internet is
real—it’s not a cartoon and it’s not PowerPoint,” Immelt stressed.
Companies that can harness the triple potential of smarter machines; the
enabling power of sensors, services and
connectivity; and industrial big data
and analytics can help themselves (and
their customers) optimize assets and
operations, and realize the power of
“the 1%,” which is company shorthand
for incremental improvements that pay
off big. For example, a 1% improvement in fuel efficiency of the global
airline fleet is worth $3 billion. “Small
changes can be worth tens of billions
of dollars,” Immelt said.
Other speakers reinforced the urgency
hall of famer gets hand delivery
Paul Murrill, a member of the Process Automation Hall of Fame’s Class of 2014, receives
his award from Control editor-in-chief, Paul
Studebaker at his home in Baton Rouge,
Louisana, on Sept. 17. Murrill is retired from a
career as an academic, university administrator, CFO and professional board member, all
built on a broad understanding of process
control. He is the editor of a series of 27
books on instrumentation and process
control for ISA, and served as an advisor to
the U.S. Dept of Energy’s Oak Ridge National
Laboratory. He was also included in InTech
magazine’s 50 most influential people in
automation, instrumentation and control
technologies.
Expansions and Contractions
Rockwell Automation (www.rockwellautomation.com) has purchased
the assets of ESC Services Inc. (www.
escservices.com), a hazardous energy control provider of lockout-tagout
services and solutions. ESC Services,
based in Franklin, Wisconsin, will be
integrated into Rockwell Automation’s
Control Products and Solutions segment it. Terms were not disclosed.
TE Connectivity (www.te.com) has
completed a previously announced acquisition of Measurement Specialties
22
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
Inc., a designer and manufacturer of
sensors and sensor-based systems,
including pressure, vibration, force,
temperature, humidity, ultrasonics,
position and fluid, for a wide range of
applications and industries. For reporting purposes, Measurement Specialties will be included as part of TE’s
transportation division.
Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
(www.murata.com/en-global)
and
Yokogawa Electric Corp. (www.
yokogawa.com) have agreed to co-
operate in developing communication modules for field wireless devices used in plants. Under the
terms of this agreement, Yokogawa
will license its technology to Murata,
and Murata will develop the communication modules. Through the alliance, Murata will be able to expand
its communication module business to wireless devices for use in
plants, and Yokogawa will be able
to promote wider acceptance of its
field wireless systems based on the
ISA100 wireless standard.
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In Process
of being prepared for this wave of technological change. “Over my career, I’ve
witnessed three or four major shifts in
automation,” said Bernie Anger, general
manager of GE Intelligent Platforms,
in an address on the second day of the
meeting. “Right now, we’re witnessing
the next huge wave of change and innovation. This wave of industrial Internet
and cloud-assisted automation is as big as
HMIs and PLCs were.”
He added, “Hardware matters, but
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it matters differently than it did in the
past. Hardware is the edge of the industrial Internet.” Software, meanwhile, is
at its core. The new software, computing and communications capability
now available mean that, “Every notion we’ve had about how much something costs and how long it takes to do
it are absolutely false,” he added.
The rest of the GE Intelligent Platfors User Summit backed up these
heady predictions with some new offerings. The Predix software platform
is a way for GE to develop industrial
Internet solutions that close the gap between operations technology, such as
PLCs, gateways and SCADA, and business systems, including ERP, CRM
and supply chain systems.
In addition, GE’s Proficy Monitoring and Analysis Suite (PMAS) is an
integrated stack of industrial, datamanagement and analytics software
coupled with industry-specific solutions
and cloud services. It comprises solutions that match neatly with the points
on GE’s Industrial Internet Maturity
Model—connect, monitor, analyze,
predict and optimize.
Also, Proficy Historian and Historian
HD provide the abilities to connect and
monitor. “Historian can be deployed in
a machine control and HMI SCADA all
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In Process
the way up to the cloud,” explained David Bell, commercial leader, GE Intelligent Platforms. “It scales in all of those
levels. We’re employing some visualization technology from the Predix platform, and it’s based on HTML5 web
technologies. This allows users to have
the web browser automatically adjust to
their displays.”
Analysis capabilities come from Proficy Historian Analysis, the companion
product to Historian, which has been
fully migrated to the Predix visualization platform in HTML5. This allows
browser-based access to data for ad-hoc
analysis, and Proficy Knowledge Center, which expands on the capabilities
in Historian Analysis to be more of a
fleet management solution.
It integrates with the Industrial Performance and Reliability Center (IPRC), a
GE monitoring center in Lisle, Illinois,
where analysts using Proficy SmartSignal can keep predictive tabs on equipment on a user’s behalf. Proficy SmartSignal detects the very early signs of
deterioration and failure, allowing more
proactive maintenance strategies.
Optimization is enabled by Proficy
CSense. From managing and analyzing data to visualization and workflow,
users can take data and do something
with it. PMAS supports APM through
M&D, predictive maintenance and,
above all, operations intelligence.
ABB Doubles Down
in Oklahoma
Employees, customers and public officials celebrated in late October the official grand opening of ABB’s business unit
expansion in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
The $14 million project is part of ABB’s
ongoing investment in its North American oil and gas operations, and is intended to help meet regional and global
customer demand for its measurement
products, engineering and project services. This is ABB’s third expansion of
the Bartlesville site since 2000.
The facility designs, develops and
manufactures natural gas and liquids
measurement products and analyzers,
as well as software applications and
system solutions for the global oil and
gas market under the TotalFlow brand.
The expansion effectively doubles the
facility size by adding 100,000 square
feet of space, and is expected to double the size of the local workforce over
the next 10 years by adding 250 jobs, a
majority of which are expected to be in
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In Process
technical and engineering disciplines.
“The strength of the oil and gas market, specifically unconventional drilling activity, has provided our business
a great opportunity for growth in recent years,” says Gayle Lester, general
manager of ABB’s Bartlesville Measurement Products facility. Lester said
she was particularly proud that the
17-month project was completed without a single lost-time safety incident for
ABB or its contractors.
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Stührenberg to Take
Reins at Phoenix Contact
Frank Stührenberg, executive vice
president, global sales, will become
chairman of the executive board of
Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co KG at
the beginning of 2015. He will take
over the office as well as the tasks that
so far have been held by Klaus Eisert
as managing partner. Stührenberg will
remain in charge of global sales. The
joint responsibility and tasks of the
other four executive vice presidents
will also remain unchanged.
Meanwhile, Eisert will focus his
attention on establishing an advisory
board composed of shareholders and
external personnel.
Grand Openings
Georg Fischer LLC and GF Machining Solutions LLC welcomed more
than 150 guests, including many city
and state officials, at the grand opening
of their new Irvine, California, facility in
October. The 105,000 ft2 campus includes 23,000 ft2 of office, engineering,
technical support and training space;
82,000 ft2 of manufacturing and warehouse space; and more than 100 employees. The manufacturing/fabrication area is capable of producing 3,000
different kinds of valves assembled to
specific customer requirements, and
can cut large pipe diameters as large
as 42 in.
Honeywell (www.honeywellprocess.
com) has opened a new, interactive demonstration center in Houston to give its industrial customers a
glimpse into the future of managing
their manufacturing operations. The
new Customer Experience Center
(CEC) is located at Honeywell Process Solutions’ global headquarters.
The $5 million CEC will be a destination showcase site for Honeywell’s
customers from process industries
throughout the world.
RESOURCES
Where to Find IPC and PLC Information Online
Control’s Monthly Resource Guide
IPC, DCS OR PLC?
An industrial PC (IPC) can perform
just as well as a DCS or a PLC, says
Control’s senior technical editor, Dan
Hebert, PE. And thin clients may offer
additional benefits. Let Dan walk you
through some of differences between
these technologies and help you decide
which may be best for your particular
application. www.controlglobal.com/
articles/2013/hebert-ipc/.
controlglobal.com
w w w.controlglobal.com
HOW IS YOUR CELL PHONE LIKE YOUR PLC?
This seven-page PDF explores the unlikely connection between the relentless push toward increasing energy
efficiency and processing power that
drives improvements in consumer
electronics and the same forces at work
in industrial automation. The industrial automation customer does benefit from the chip manufacturers’ perpetual goal to create processors that do
more while using less energy—a goal
that requires cramming a great deal
of functionality onto ever fewer chips.
Industrial automation users may not
worry about the processor energy requirements, but these new powerful
chips offer many advantages to the automation world in terms of price, timeto-market, flexibility and reliability.
Read more at www.controlglobal.com/
assets/14WPpdf/140916-AD-ProcessorPower.pdf.
Automation Direct
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REDUNDANCY IN PACs
Applications that require high availability, advanced data handling and
superior communication capability
are a good fit for PAC redundancy.
This whitepaper looks at the benefits of redundancy, options and implementation details. Most PLC and
PAC controllers exhibit a high degree of reliability, but certain critical
industrial automation applications
simply can’t tolerate downtime. Traditionally, redundant automation systems have been very expensive and
complex, particularly as compared to
standard automation systems. Upfront
hardware costs have been high and
implementation has been difficult,
requiring extensive software development efforts. But now, redundant
PAC automation systems are available
that greatly reduce cost and complexity. These solutions simply require
the purchase of an extra power supply and CPU, and implementation
just requires an extra configuration
step to select the redundant option.
Find out more about what to look for
when redundancy is a must in your application. This whitepaper is free, but
registration is required. Go to www.
controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2013/
pac-controller-redundancy/.
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A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO PLCS
Available for less than $10, this ebook,
Beginners Guide to PLC Programming,
by Neal Babcock, and its accompanying
tutorial provide an introduction to PLCs
and PLC control. It contains real-world
examples, tips and routines you can
start using immediately to write your
own PLC programs. The ebook will define the most commonly used terms; explain relay ladder logic in simple, easy
to understand terms; give you the “13
marks of a well-written PLC program;”
explain machine diagnostics and how
to use them in your PLC program; and
introduce you to PLC control and how
it’s used in plant automation. It summarizes dozens of techniques that are
needed to write a solid program. Go to
www.engineer-and-technician.com/beginners-guide-to-plc-programming/ for
more information or to buy and download the book.
Engineer and Technician
w w w.engineer-and-technician.com
SHOCK PROTECTION FOR YOUR IPC
THE CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR PLCS
Good maintenance of your PLCs is
basic to the successful, efficient, safe
and profitable operation of your plant.
So who’s looking out for the care and
maintenance of your PLCs? This article outlines the basics required to ensure your control systems are operating
at their best. It has samples of effective
recordkeeping formats, checklists of
questions your maintenance department should be able to answer, lists of
necessary records required and more.
Protecting an IPC from shock is not
as hard as you might think. This free
tutorial provides the basic lowdown on
what is needed to protect the machine
from vibration, jostling and other hazards during shipping, installation and
operation. Discussions of vibration theory, resonance and drive dynamics are
included. The direct link is at http://
www.chassis-plans.com/white_paper_
shock_and_vibration.html.
chassis pl ans
w w w.chassis-plans.com
If you know of any tools and resources we didn’t include, send them to [email protected] with
“Resource” in the subject line, and we’ll add them to the website.
30
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
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Better
Together?
Combining building and
process automation systems
can ease plant support,
but be prepared to ante up.
by Dan Heber t, P.E.
32
www.controlglobal.com N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4
better together?
M
ost process plants have a need for some type of facilities management and corresponding building automation systems. The degree of sophistication ranges
from very simple for a plant with mostly outdoor equipment,
such as a petrochemical facility, to quite complex for pharmaceutical and other plants where climate control and air
quality are integral parts of the process.
These degrees of sophistication, along with other factors,
drive the decision to use one system or two for process control
and building automation. Other key factors include upfront
costs, operating expenses and staffing requirements.
Sometimes there’s no choice. Paul Darnbrough, engineering manager at system integrator KDC Systems (www.
kdc-systems.com) in Los Alamitos, California, explains,
“Most places we go already have an embedded building automation vendor, and future work almost always goes to that
product line. For larger projects we typically are involved
with, the specifying engineer seems to drive the choice of
using a single, common system or multiple independent systems for manufacturing and facility automation.”
But if there’s a choice, some plants find a unified system
to be the preferred solution for their specific applications.
One System Is Simpler
End users are looking hard at single-source solutions, and in
all cases, it’s a process automation system controlling both
the process and the facility. Building automation systems
simply aren’t capable of controlling anything but the simplest processes, and thus, aren’t used as a single system for
both process and building automation.
“I’ve been involved with co-gen power plants where they
had four different systems, including their chilled water system, all on separate control systems with their own HMIs,”
says John Boyd, technology leader at Maverick Technologies
(www.mavtechglobal.com), a systems integrator in Columbia,
Illinois. “We finished one plant project about two years ago
where everything was integrated into a single control system.
It may actually have separate processors, but it’s all with one
supplier, and it looks like one system to the operators.”
All plant subsystems should be integrated into one overall monitoring and control solution, says Dennis Runo,
president of Custom Automation (www.CustomAutomation.com), a system integrator in Mesa, Arizona. “Successful plant processing is inextricably linked to the supporting
building facilities. With two separate systems, information
can be made to bridge the gap, but it’s much easier when you
have a unified system.”
One reason is to reduce operator confusion. “A well-executed system will have predictable equipment control and
alarm behaviors,” he notes. “Pop-up information, alarm and
control windows will be consistent across all equipment and
subsystems. Many HMIs have templates to make this easier.
“Successful plant processing is inextricably linked
to the supporting building facilities. With separate
systems, information can bridge the gap, but it’s
much easier when you have a unified system.”
Multiple systems could theoretically achieve this as well, but
think of the added work and expense to get them there and
keep them synced.”
The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(WIPP) in the Chihuahauan Desert of southeastern New
Mexico, some 26 miles east of Carlsbad, processes radioactive waste and safely entombs it in deep underground chambers (Figure 1). Thirteen critical subsystems are managed
in the control room on a single system that handles everything including ventilation, electrical distribution and energy monitoring, HVAC, fire protection, radiation monitoring and plant protection (Figure 2).
The WIPP site uses redundant KEPServerEX servers with
OPC and OPC UA to communicate with numerous subsystems using BACnet and other protocols. The interconnected
subsystems talk to each other and accept commands from
the operators on duty. The system is also designed to act independently to maintain a safe environment.
Reasons for choosing a single system typically involve simplicity, single-vendor responsibility, reduced maintenance
costs and standardized operations.
“If the process has many different solutions in place, it can
be expensive to support and maintain,” says Paul Matatall,
network specialist at Optimation (www.optimation.us), a system integrator in Boston. The facility will need support staff
that understands how all this equipment works and how to
resolve any issues that arise. It will increase their training budgets because their support teams will need to be trained on
the different equipment used in their facility. They’ll also
have increased cost in their spare parts inventory because of
the need to have many different products on hand.
Erik Dellinger, product manager at Kepware Technologies
(www.kepware.com) in Portland, Maine, adds, “The one-system approach affords the facility the expected benefits of minimized spare part requirements, consolidated training, integrated communications and a common look and feel.”
Ripon Cogeneration (Figure 3), a power plant in Ripon,
California, had multiple systems, but saw the advantage of
bringing them all together, so the operators could run the
system more efficiently.
“Customers ask us to integrate all the systems into one,” says
Boyd. “For companies looking to be more efficient, that’s a
positive thing. The benefit of one system is the ability to be
more efficient, and that’s in the context of large, enclosed plants
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
33
Better together?
where they have extensive HVAC and climate control units.
Those systems now are very intelligent and automated, and
they have their own web portals and pages to control them. It
doesn’t make sense to keep them separate if you can bring them
into one. I don’t know any reason why you would want to keep
them separate unless the operators are already so busy that they
can’t be distracted by the building control system.”
Another advantage of a single system is simplified communications, making it easier to perform integrated control,
obtain cost and operating data across the plant, send data
to a historian and allow building controls to handle load
changes smoothly and efficiently.
But it isn’t all rosy in single-system land. Dellinger points
out, “If it’s all in one system, and that system goes down, you
lose control of manufacturing and the building. If an operator on the manufacturing floor logs in and accidentally turns
off the HVAC, that could be a problem.”
Another drawback arises during system upgrades. “Obsolescence is a big reason against consolidating process automation,
building automation and utilities,” says Kelli Malloy, leader of
U.S. process automation at Turck (www.turck.com). “While
many DCS companies have obsolescence plans and product
Part of a Single System
Figure 1: Used for underground ventilation at a U.S. DoE nuclear
waste isolation pilot plant in New Mexico, control of this air
handling unit is incorporated into a single automation system.
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better together?
support, the reality is that one day these products will need replacing. In addition to the cost of replacing an entire system,
there are other disadvantages to forced migrations when everything is on a single system. These include extensive reprogramming and possible operational disruption, as well as the
potential for point-by-point revalidation on particularly sensitive DCS changes.”
Another reason for separates is that building automation
suppliers understand climate control much better than
process control vendors, making several companies lean
toward the two-system approach.
Separation Can Be Sensible
Can standard process control equipment and systems handle
building automation? Yes, but Darnbrough points to a harsh
reality about using them for that: “Building automation systems offer preconfigured features specific to HVAC and other
extended capabilities, such as calendar scheduling, that make
sense for the application. These same options might need to be
manually created and coded into a PLC or DCS system at great
effort. We rarely use PLC controls for building automation.”
Furthermore, building automation systems are much cheaper
“If it’s all in one system, and that system goes down,
you lose control of manufacturing and the building.
If an operator logs in on the plant floor and accidentally
turns off the HVAC, that could be a problem.”
than process automation systems—often less than half the price.
Matrix Technologies (www.matrixti.com), a system integrator in Maumee, Ohio, prefers using two systems for process control and building automation. Charles Sheets, director of the industrial systems division at Matrix, says, “Since
standard automation components can perform many functions, the same hardware and software can be used to control many different devices including HVAC, boilers, security access, compressors, water, etc.”
Sheets adds that the physical separation is beneficial for
maintenance, security and to ensure that a problem with
one system won’t affect the other. But he wants to use the
same components. “Using standard automation components
such as PLCs allows one service organization to support
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better together?
both systems for troubleshooting and spare parts.”
Support problems often come up with existing plants
that have older controls. “One of our projects involved an
industrial power plant where the original HVAC controls
had been subcontracted to a third party,” Sheets explains.
“Technical support was very difficult to obtain for their proprietary systems. Some of their equipment used PLCs, and
those could be readily supported. The systems with proprietary hardware could not.” Using the same controls—but in
separate systems—eliminates the problem.
“Another project of ours involved optimizing energy recovery from both HVAC and process equipment for a major food manufacturer. In this case, both systems use PLC
controls developed by Matrix Technologies. Since the two
systems communicate, we orchestrated a strategy based on
real-time process and HVAC conditions to optimize overall
plant performance, resulting in significant savings.”
Control and security issues are different between process and
building automation. “For example, if third-party monitoring of
fire, emergency and security is needed, then it might be better
to use a full-service building controls organization,” Sheets says.
There’s also some value in dealing with experts in the field.
“Obsolescence is a big reason against consolidating
process automation, building automation and
utilities. The reality is that one day these products
will need replacing.”
“Proprietary building control systems virtually eliminate unauthorized access,” Sheets notes. “Building control companies
typically have established knowledge of environmental and
other control equipment, and often use a pricing model of lower
initial costs with guarantees of a long-term service/monitoring
contract. Depending on cash flow, this could be a benefit.”
Process control vendors and equipment can perform
building automation, too, but maybe not as well. “Often,
the intellectual property of building control vendors is concealed as part of their offering. It’s just part of the magic. But
there aren’t any building automation functions which can’t
be readily handled by process automation HMIs, PLCs and
sensors,” Sheets says. “The challenge is in having the application knowledge to implement the functions.”
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better together?
Using one system also might put
a strain on building automation vendors. “Building automation system
vendors typically have a standard hardware and software solution and would
have to modify their controls to support
process industry equipment and standards,” says Optimation’s Matatall. “Having them change their technology to the
process standard might raise the cost of
their equipment, and even eliminate
them from bidding a project completely.”
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Why Combined systems can
work better together
• One system to learn and maintain
• Same HMI displays
• Similar control programming
• Single-vendor responsibility
• Simplified maintenance and spare
parts stocking
• Easier integration of data between
systems
• More open than using proprietary
building automation system
Reasons to Keep Process and
Building Automation Separate
•L
ower upfront costs because building automation systems are cheaper
• B uilding automation systems have
built-in building-oriented control
schemes
• Each system is simpler than a combined alternative
• A failure in one system doesn’t take
the entire plant down
The need for environmental control
varies across the process industry. “Even
within a particular facility, building management requirements differ based on the
type of space. Regulated industries, such
as life sciences, must report on conditions
that could impact production, including humidity and temperature. These
applications require industrial-grade,
precise measurement and control,” says
Bob Lenich, global Syncade business director at Emerson Process Management
(www.emerson.com). “In these same facilities, gray spaces, such as offices and
corridors, have less stringent reporting requirements, in which case, commercialgrade instrumentation and controls may
be more appropriate and less expensive.
For these spaces, a building management
system makes sense.
“There’s growing interest in understanding how building environments
affect production in the food and beverage and specialty chemicals industries. The two-system approach is an
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mation, safety and monitoring systems reach the control room via redundant networks.
effective one for them as well. They get
the benefits of best-in-class technology
for both process control and building
management without the expense of a
single, combined system.”
Every industry segment has its own requirements for process control and building automation, says Malloy. “In some
cases, such as with small chemical manufacturers, light industry or non-GMP processes, one system could potentially do it
all. However, for large processing facilities in biotech, pharmaceutical and semiconductor, where building automation
plays a role in the quality of the end product, multiple levels of control systems are
standard and for very good reasons.”
Different Strokes
Choosing between a single or multiple systems isn’t an easy choice.
“Conceivably, with the right servers
and processes in place, all manufacturing and building automation data
could be tracked by one system and
integrated in one place,” says Malloy.
“However, for most industries, this
isn’t possible or not a good idea.”
For example, pharmaceutical manufacturer Bayer HealthCare, Berkeley,
California, keeps its process and building automation systems separate. The
company has several operational areas,
and most use a combination of control
platforms. At the Berkeley site, it uses
ABB DCS controllers for process automation with a combination of Rockwell
Automation and Siemens PLCs, plus a
few proprietary systems for specialty
processes. With the DCS, the plant has
the redundancy and control capability
a major pharmaceutical facility needs.
The PLCs give it the flexibility to add
small systems when needed.
b e tt e r t o g e t h e r ?
“Getting the MES and building automation system to
communicate all information with the DCS is a large and
complicated undertaking, and gets more complicated when
the data is then fed to a historian. But having the systems
run separately gives flexibility to the control system that’s
beneficial to revalidation,” notes Chris Williams, associate
director, API engineering at Bayer.
“It’s not that we don’t see the advantages of using a single
control system; it’s that the disadvantages for our different
process areas are costly. One of the larger operating costs we
have is software and tag licensing. We can save some significant costs by keeping non-GMP processes off our DCS and
operating on a lower-cost-of-ownership SCADA. However,
the primary expense regards replacing equipment in a validated process. Using equipment that can communicate over
multiple processors is one thing that interests us, and having
partners with that kind of equipment to make validations
easier is advantageous to us.”
On the other hand, the ability to integrate multiple control
platforms and islands of control in a plant is becoming easier
and more commonplace, says Malloy. “It will become even
more feasible in the future for multiple controllers to talk over
open protocols and integrate over non-proprietary boundaries. This will minimize the risk of how controllers communicate, how resources are allocated along operational unit lines,
and how to mitigate obsolescence of technology.”
One system can work well for companies that are dedicated and vigilant about maintaining the single system. One
successful example is a large food manufacturer that opted
to switch to a single PLC manufacturer, a single platform
and, whenever possible, a single bus protocol at its facility.
“The company has seen single-system benefits through
having dedicated programmers familiar with the PLC programming language, consolidation of spare parts and the
ability to train technicians on a single platform for troubleshooting purposes,” says Malloy. “There are challenges, but
the company is committed to the success of this single system.
Management is made easier because the manufacturer does
not require revalidation. One potential problem for manufacturers considering this switch is heavy reliance on one vendor
for technical support.”
Even when systems are separate, they can be presented to
the operator as one. Boyd explains. “A Quaker-Muller yogurt
plant we completed in Batavia, New York, was originally designed and built with two separate systems, but they asked us
if there was a way to integrate the two, so that the HMI screens
and parameters on the HVAC system could be integrated into
the process automation system. At Quaker-Muller, the climate control system is very important and really integral to
the process itself, and we were able to fulfill their request.”
In either case, companies are interested in how long they’ll
be able to operate before the equipment is obsolete. Proprietary
“It will become even more feasible in the future for
multiple controllers to talk over open protocols and
integrate over non-proprietary boundaries. This will
minimize the risk.”
controllers increase the risk of obsolescence, while non-proprietary controls open opportunities for companies to gain functionality while minimizing reliance on a single manufacturer.
“Can We Talk?
One problem with a two-system approach is that building
automation systems have adopted BACnet communications,
while process control systems use fieldbus and Ethernet networks, such as EtherNet/IP and Profinet. Can the two talk
to each other?
“Companies like ProSoft Technologies [www.prosofttechnology.com] make cards that talk to the majority of
building automation systems,” says Maverick’s Boyd. “We
used the cards to integrate the HVAC systems at a Sun
Chemical plant into the main control system.”
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Figure 3: Operators of this cogeneration plant in Ripon, California, can
run it more efficiently now that it is on a single system.
Boyd believes ProSoft would not have designed and
manufactured a series of products designed to interface
with building control systems if no demand for that capability existed.
Sheets agrees. “We’re seeing two trends—a movement
of the building automation system manufacturers to use
more standard protocols, such as the Internet of Things,
and more tools to integrate them.”
Dellinger adds, “There’s no ideal solution here, but a good
one we routinely see is two separate systems that only share
the data they need. For example, PLCs and software on the
manufacturing floor might be communicating via EtherNet/
IP, and the building system might be using BACnet. These
are two different systems, but an OPC server can communicate both BACnet and Ethernet/IP, and provide access and
translation of only the data needed between systems.
“Today, it’s less common to see manufacturing and
building automation tied together into a single system. As
for the future, we’ll see—but I would bet we move more toward consolidation.”
There certainly is a trend toward consolidating process
control and building automation systems, especially in new
plants. This consolidation can range from using one system
to control everything to using two systems with tight integration via digital data networks.
In older plants, a building automation system probably already exists, may be doing its job very well, and justifying its
replacement may be difficult. Instead, an existing building system can be easily integrated into a new process control system
with tools like BACnet interface cards, OPC and Ethernet.
In newer plants, either approach will work, with selection
of a combined process and building automation system or
separates driven by the application requirements.
Dan Heber t is a Control’s senior technical editor.
©©COPYRIGHT
INCALL
ALLRIGHTS
RIGHTSRESERVED
RESERVED
COPYRIGHT 2014
2011 OMEGA
OMEGA ENGINEERING,
ENGINEERING, INC.
®
Prices listed are those in effect at the time of publication and are subject to change without notice.
Please contact OMEGA’s sales department for current prices.
© COPYRIGHT 2012 OMEGA ENGINEERING, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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25 YEARS OF CONTROL
Pig Iron Gets a Brain
Over the past 25 years, valve technology has consistently outrun
what you generally find in the field.
by Paul Studebaker
A
s we near the end of this year’s 25th anniversary retrospective of Control’s coverage
of topics ranging from analyzers and asset
management through optimization and safety
1989
systems, control valves appear to have changed
the least. Our fourth issue, in March 1990, already commented earnestly about minimizing
fugitive emissions and improving valve integrity through
better design and materials, ongoing work to standardize
a fieldbus for digital valve control, and the exciting prospect of a “smart” control valve.
The smart valve would include “electronic
pressure sensors near the upstream and downstream fl anges, effectively measuring and
sending the pressure differential that exists
2014
under flowing conditions across the valve orifice. Another sensor would transmit the valve
stem position to an attached microprocessor,”
allowing the microprocessor to calculate the mass flow “at
any given moment” and on detecting an upset, to “reposition the valve stem to reestablish the previously desired
flow rate.”
TIMELINE
OCTOBER1988
Control Is Launched at ISA/88 in Houston
The 284-page inaugural issue’s 16 pages of product
introductions included valves by Dezurik,
Milton Roy and Whitey.
MARCH1990
Control Valve Industry Update 1990
The latest developments in technology are about preventing
fugitive emissions and communication standards. “As for new
control valve products, the concept of a ‘smart’ control valve
captivated the industry’s attention.”
FEBRUARY1989
Understanding Electric
Actuators for Valve Automation
A guide for specifiers and users
outlined the operating principles of
electric actuators, spelling out the
component functions, terminology,
cam design and gearing, and
other accessories.
OCTOBER1990
The Pneumatic Actuator Argument:
Piston or Diaphragm?
We examined the differences between piston and diaphragm
pneumatic actuators, arguing that for all but the simplest
applications, piston actuators are worth the extra cost because
of performance and installation advantages.
MARCH1994
Time Is Finally Ripe for Accepting
Smart Control Valves
MAY1992
Smart Valve Is Pricey,
but Can Be Worth It
A review of Valtek International’s
Starpac Intelligent System found
the all-in-one flow controller/
valve a good choice for certain
applications, but overkill for simple
flow control.
Blaming the limited success of early smart valve introductions
in 1986 by Fisher Controls, 1990 by Valtek and 1992 by Rotork
on the need for a change in controls philosophy, executive
editor Keith Larson said, “Smart transmitters have proliferated,
and now valves are finally poised to catch up.”
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
47
25 years of control
Over the next few decades, valve
technology has stayed well ahead of the
engineering, purchasing and maintenance disciplines, which have contributed the most to valve deficiencies in
process control by ignoring the latest
innovations, specifying the wrong
sizes and trims, buying the cheapest
items that might barely work, leaving
off the positioners and consistently
over- and under-maintaining the installed base.
As editor-in-chief Walt Boyes reported in March 2007, “While suppliers continue to trumpet asset
management and smarter valves,
and end users continue not to buy
them, quietly these same suppliers
continue to improve the mechanical performance of valves.”
A November 1998 discussion of
rotary- vs. rising-shaft valves noted
that advances in valve and actuator
technologies hadn’t yet completely
overcome the inherent characteristics of the two main alternatives.
Control valves are “not just pig-iron
devices to be thrown in as an afterthought,” said J.B. Arant of DuPont.
“This is your final control element
and can make all of the fancy and
high-performance sensors and computers to no avail.”
As we progress through this decade, innovative actuators, positioners and algorithms are letting lessexpensive rotary valves perform like
pricier globes and gates. Control
system and software developers are
closing the gap between valve potential and actual performance with
diagnostics that can allow users not
only to pinpoint problem valves and
their exact valve problems, but to
overcome them with software remedies that can make an ailing valve
perform well enough to maintain
control until the underlying backlash, slip or stiction problem can be
corrected.
Today, the bad news is that our
writers continue to find that the
same old valve problems—and apparently in many cases, the same
old valves—remain major contributors to problems with loop tuning and process stability. The good
news is, such problems can be and
have been solved by savvy Control’
readers who understand the pitfalls,
then engineer and maintain them
out of their plants by applying some
of the abundant solutions they’ve
found on these pages.
25 YEARS OF CONTROL
JUNE1995
A Controlling Interest in Variable-Speed Drives
The increased reliability and precision of AC drives are raising
the interest of process control engineers, who want to increase
energy efficiency and minimize pipe and duct sizes by using
them on pumps and fans instead of throttling flows
with control valves and dampers.
NOVEMBER1997
Valves Make the Difference in Advanced Control
Small improvements in performance of control loop components
can significantly impact profitability of process optimization,
said editor-in-chief Paul Studebaker. But, “Little can be gained
by developing a sophisticated control room architecture
that’s capable of performing to half-percent accuracy, then
implementing that control strategy with a final control element
that may only be capable of 5% accuracy at best.”
NOVEMBER1998
Sliding-Stem vs. Rotary Control Valves
Advances in valve and actuator technologies haven’t yet
completely overcome the inherent characteristics of the two
main alternatives. Control valves are “not just pig-iron devices to
be thrown in as an afterthought,” said J.B. Arant of DuPont. “This
is your final control element and can make all of the fancy and
high-performance sensors and computers to no avail.”
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MARCH1996
Control Valve Diagnostics:
Ready for Prime Time
For reasons ranging from improper
selection to poor tuning, many control
valves perform inadequately. “Now
control valve manufacturers have
started to provide diagnostic tools to
test and monitor valve performance,”
wrote Robert Ancrum of Fluor Daniel.
“But what is valve performance?
Each manufacturer has a different definition.”
MARCH2000
Valves for Safety Systems
Although 85% of safety system failures are in field devices, not
controllers, we have only recently seen an increase in purpose-built
safety field devices, said Bill Mostia, PE. “More work needs to be done
on the actuator and valve areas to provide high-reliability valves for
demand-mode operation.”
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25 YEARS OF CONTROL
NOVEMBER2000
Stiction: The Hidden Menace
“The optimal tuning parameters ensure
your equipment is used at maximum
efficiency,” said Michel Ruel, but “a
valve is often the weak link of the loop.”
Ruel told readers how to recognize
stiction, backlash and hidden cycling,
to understand the real cost of 1% or
2% hysteresis or stiction, and the full
value of “the perfect valve.”
NOVEMBER2002
Keys to Selecting
Actuators/Positioners
“For decades, your biggest decision
was what color pneumatic actuator to
use,” said senior technical editor Rich
Merritt. With digital communications,
electric actuation, integrated control
and built-in diagnostics, “Today,
instead of just being reliable utility
infielders, positioners and actuators
are stepping up to the plate as home-run hitters.”
NOVEMBER2004
Should Valves Be Integrated?
Purchasing and assembling a valve with a bracket, actuator and
control accessories such as limit switches and solenoid valves used
to be complicated. Now, instead of building it yourself or having it built
by a local distributor, you can purchase a complete assembly from a
valve vendor, wrote senior tehnical editor Dan Hebert, P.E.
So why do most plants still “roll their own”?
NOVEMBER2007
Do You Know Who Made Your Valves?
Rob Bartlett, director of the British Valve and Actuator Association,
said there’s more anecdotal evidence than ever before about fake
products and parts, coming mostly from Asia and specifically China.
MARCH2011
Eliminating the Control Valve
Valves are energy hogs, they stick, they’re prone to mechanical
failure, so why the reluctance to replace them with variable-frequency
drives? Dick Caro asked control engineers that question, and
discovered that they didn’t know what a VFD is and does.
NOVEMBER2012
Is Your Control Valve an Imposter?
“Too often, to reduce project costs, plants pick on/off valves to
address requirements,” said Greg McMillan. He added that, from
quick-opening flow characteristic to backlash and stiction, “more
than an order of magnitude larger than valves originally designed for
throttling service, these valves can create performance problems that
can’t be fixed simply by adding a smart positioner.”
50
www.controlglobal.com N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4
MARCH2001
Turned-On Valves
This year’s installment in the ongoing saga of embedded
intelligence, digital communications, control at the valve and
diagnostics focused on fieldbus. Recent developments in HART
and digital positioners are helping plants focus maintenance and
reliability efforts on the valves that really need it.
AUGUST2001
Ins and Outs of
Partial-Stroke Testing
We got quantitative about
calculating test intervals based
on probability of failure and safety
integrity level (SIL) requirements.
“From a review of the above
equations, it should be apparent that
partial-stroke testing can be used to
extend your test interval,” said Bill
Mostia, PE. “But always remember these are only calculations
and not substitutes for good engineering practice.”
MARCH2003
Ungrateful Dead Band
The combination of a linear trim, an equal-percentage positioner,
backlash and stiction has “technicians lifting off their seats because
the valves will only lift off their seats when the controller output reaches
40%,” said Greg McMillan and Stan Weiner in Control Talk. Dead band
is bad, and “putting the linearization ahead of the dead band can make
the situation even worse.”
MAY2005
The Next Generation of Smarter Valves
Some intelligent positioners are capable of predictive valve
maintenance (PVM), but must introduce an artificial offset into the
control signal, and “plant operators are reluctant to accept the resulting
upset,” said Bela Liptak. “PVM and predictive diagnostics in the future
should not require ramping the valve through the full range of travel,
but should evaluate the friction in the valve under normal operation.”
MARCH2009
Old Valves, New Tricks
For technologies that are 80 years old and sometimes older, there’s a
lot going on with valves and the actuators and positioners that move
and control them, said executive editor Jim Montague, who focused on
how refinements in condition monitoring and intelligence are reducing
the frequency, time, instrumentation and expertise required to calibrate
and maintain control valves.
MAY2012
Control Valve Innovations
Control Talk’s Greg McMillan and Stan Weiner explored the history
of control valves with valve guru Hans Baumann. We learned that
many rotary valve linkages are sloppy because they were designed
as on/off valves and adapted for control. Rotary valves should have
splined shafts and be clamped to the actuator, Baumann said.
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25
SAFETY INSTRUMENTED SYSTEMS
Embracing the
Safety Lifecycle
BP and Emerson Process Management
show how to prevent systemic failures
in safety instrumented systems.
by Jim Montague
H
aving a safety instrumented system (SIS) doesn’t make process
control applications safe. Adopting it intelligently and managing it vigilantly makes them safe.
“All systems fail at some point in
time,” says Rahul Bhojani, PE, technical authority for downstream at BP
(www.bp.com) “SISs can have random
or systematic failures. Random failures are usually the result of degraded
mechanisms in the hardware, such as
corrosion or thermal shocks. Systematic failures are due to human error
during the lifecycle of the SIS or process, and so they can occur during any
phase of that lifecycle.”
Bhojani and Len Laskowski, PE, principal technical consultant at Emerson
Process Management’s Midwest Engineering Center, presented “Safety Instrumented Systems: Why Do They Fail?” on
Oct. 7 at the Emerson Global Users Exchange 2014 in Orlando, Florida.
“The good news is that failures can be
learned from and help produce process
safety standards, such as OSHA PSM
1910.119, as well as SIS standards, such
as ISA 84/IEC 61511, which have evolved
over time,” explains Bhojani. “Some
of these standards have requirements,
while others have recommended good
practices. Either way, it’s important that
applicable requirements are understood
and followed.”
For example, NFPA 86 states that,
“In the event of a loss of flame, the
burner management system on an oven
or furnace shall close the safety shutoff
valves to prevent gas from accumulating in the firebox.” However, Laskowski
reports this earlier version of the standard didn’t cover whether users needed
to make sure they didn’t have a flame
before they started. “The answer is yes!
This is because a flame detector was
once ‘stuck on,’ the flame went out and
didn’t trip the burner, and gas accumulated and caused an explosion,” says
Laskowski. “As a result, NFPA 86 now
requires you to verify that no flame is
present as part of the safe-start check.”
Bhojani adds, “This is why details
are so important in managing safety
systems. You have to get a lot right in
safety instrumented functions (SIFs) to
get them to perform properly.”
So how can you spot these issues?
Bhojani advises taking several essential steps:
• Attend a thorough hazard and operability (HAZOP) study.
• Verify the layers of protection analysis (LOPA) evaluation.
• Have a complete safety requirements specifications (SRS) analysis.
• Install new functioning hardware.
• Install new tested software.
• Conduct regular proof tests.
• Train world-class operators.
• Use engineered trip setpoints or
process delay time.
“However, you have to be careful
here as well because you can negate a
SIF because you haven’t selected the
right trip setpoint,” adds Laskowski,
who recommends adopting a three-part
safety lifecycle procedure (Figure 1):
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
53
safety instrumented systems
• T he first part, Analysis, includes
performing a process hazard and
risk analysis, allocating safety
functions to protection layers and
drafting the SIS safety requirements specification.
• T he second part, Realization, includes designing and engineering the SIS, building, integrating
and factory acceptance testing it,
installing and commissioning the
SIS, and safety-validating it.
• The third part, Operation, includes
operating and maintaining the SIS,
modifying it as needed, and decommissioning it at the end of its
lifecycle.
“Unfortunately, safety lifecycles
can fail when all initiating causes
aren’t identified, such as when all fuel
sources to BMSs [burner management
systems], SRUs [sulfur recovery units]
and thermal oxidizers aren’t identified,” explains Laskowski. “Likewise,
during overfills, all inlet lines, not just
big ones, need to be identified as closing on high level. Also, loss of utilities like power, steam, cooling water
and instrument air can lead to initiation, and need to be identified. Finally,
other consequences may have been
under or overestimated.”
To seek a stable safety lifecycle,
Laskowski also suggests that SIS and
process applications implement an
“interaction matrix,” which lists all
raw materials, end products and other
materials and equipment in a process
Process hazard and risk Analysis
(Clause 8)
Allocation of safety function to protection layers
(Clause 9)
Front-end
engineering
and design
(FEED)
Analysis
Safety instrumented system (SIS) safety requirements specification
(Clauses 10 and 11)
Concept
SIS design and engineering
(Clauses 11 and 12.4)
Design
SIS build, integration and factory acceptance test (FAT)
(Clauses 12.5 and 13)
Build
Realization
SIS installation and commissioning
(Clause 14)
Install
SIS safety validation
(Clauses 12.3, 12.7 and 15)
SIS operation and maintenance
(Clause 16)
Operation
SIS modification
(Clause 17)
Support
SIS decommissioning
(Clause 18)
What is the Safety Lifecycle?
Figure 1: The procedure for adopting an effective and successful lifecycle for safety
instrumented systems (SISs) includes three main steps—analysis, realization and operation—according to the IEC 61511-1 international standard, “Functional Safety–SISs for
the Process Industry Sector.”
54
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
application on an X-Y axis, and then
cross-references their potential interactions with each other (Figure 2). “If
two of these materials come in contact
they could decompose, polymerize or
become flammable,” says Laskowski.
“After one big explosion, the affected
R&D department said it hadn’t reported that the two materials involved
could possibly explode because they
were never supposed to be heated.
In fact, they were cooled in this process. However, during start-up or shutdown, they did become heated, and
that caused the accident.
“Many independent protection
layers [IPLs] aren’t as independent as they’re described. There are
common-cause failures. And many
safety functions aren’t clearly defined and don’t completely mitigate
their hazards. One research study reported that 44% of failures are engineered into their application’s specifications, so this is why the most
important task is to validate your
LOPA early. Further up in the process stream, the LOPA may not be
as stringent and IPLs may not be as
valid as they should be, and this little
bit of wiggle room can cause some
real problems. So users need to look
at all possible modes of failure and
also do complete testing.”
Bhojani adds, “It’s difficult to
quantify direct project savings, but
from a moral perspective, providing
employees a safe workplace is the
right thing to do, and it’s also a legal requirement. Properly designed
and operating SISs and other IPLs
are fundamental to maintaining a
license to operate a facility. This is
why proper SIS lifecycle management is required, and must be designed, operated and maintained correctly. This can be best addressed by
auditing projects and facilities, and
will reduce the user’s total cost of
ownership. It’s better to have fewer,
well-managed IPLs than numerous,
non-managed IPLs.”
safety instrumented systems
A
B
A
A
C+D
C
Flammable
B
C+D
B
Pyrophoric
C
D
Air
Water
Steam
Polymerizes
?
C
D
D
Air
Nerve gas
Flammable
Water
Nerve gas
Steam
Polymerizes
?
Acid Wash Solution
Polymerizes
?
Caustic Wash Solution
Polymerizes
?
High Temp
Polymerizes
?
Low Temp
High Pressure
O-Rings (Viton)
Decomposes
Humidity
Carbon Steel
Pyrophoric
Corrosion
Corrosion
Nerve gas
Corrosion
Corrosion
Sample Interaction Matrix
Figure 2: An interaction matrix lists all raw materials, end products, and other materials and equipment in a process application on
an X-Y axis, and then cross-references their potential interactions with each other, such as chemistry A+B leading to C+D.
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Asset Management
Design to the
Abilities
Use these five perspectives to improve functionality and reduce lifecycle costs.
by William Mostia, P.E.
E
arly in my engineering career, I was primarily focused
on designing for functionality: to provide a desired capability based on discussions with individual project
stakeholders. Because I had experience in the petrochemical industry prior to becoming an engineer, I was fairly successful in anticipating the needs of various stakeholders. I
also found that engineering departments often were more
interested in how many projects an engineer completed annually, within budget and on schedule than in the quality
of the projects, so long as operations and maintenance did
not complain too much. In the plant, however, the feedback
path to the engineer was relatively short, and plant operations and maintenance concerns were more immediate.
As time went on, I became more interested in the aspects
and considerations of a truly good project, and how to help
assure that we achieved them in our design. I found that
many of these ended in “-ability”: reliability, maintainability, operability, testability, etc. Hence, the title above and the
discussion below.
This discussion is intended to help the design engineer
get all his ducks in a row to produce a quality engineered
project. The design discussion revolves around instrument,
electrical and controls engineering in the process industries,
but can also apply to other engineering disciplines.
Quality is commonly defined as meeting specifications.
This presupposes that the requirements in the specification
properly define the project, its goals, the project’s operating environment, and the requirements and expectations
of all stakeholders. On the other hand, performance-based
specifications open the door wide to interpretation, bias and
subjectivity. Quality often is in the eye of the beholder, being somewhat subjective, fuzzy and generally qualitative in
nature, particularly when people are part of the equation.
However, generally speaking, you know a quality design
when you see one, and vice versa. The project quality goal
I’ve adopted can be generally summarized as, “works fine,
lasts a long time, and is easy to fix.”
Define Quality of Engineering
Engineering quality starts with the project’s design characteristics meeting the design specifications. A quality design provides
the functionality expected by the stakeholders, as perceived by
the engineer or designer, and based on a good design specification (without that you’re doomed from the beginning anyway).
The primary stakeholders are typically operations, maintenance
and engineering. Other stakeholders might be management,
IT, marketing, purchasing, accounting, etc.
Stakeholders will also have project expectations that may not
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
57
ASSET MANAGEMENT
The project quality goal I’ve adopted
can be generally summarized as,
“works fine, lasts a long time and is
easy to fix.”
appear in the specification, or if they do, they may have been
stated in general or in a fuzzy way, open to interpretation with
abundant uncertainty. For example, the maintenance department stakeholder will expect the project to be designed to be
maintainable, though it may not defined or stated in the spec or
the spec may state that the mean time to repair (MTTR) is to be
24 hours, but may be fuzzy about how to achieve it.
Attention to the “abilities” and other aspects of a quality
engineering design discussed here will encourage broader
and deeper thinking regarding what aspects constitute a quality engineering design and how to accomplish it. Much of
this revolves around being able to have different stakeholder
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Email: [email protected]
perspectives, sort of like out-of-the-box thinking where you
look at the box (system) from different directions or dimensions. A quality design is a gestalt—an organized whole that
is more than the sum of its parts—combining many requirements and perspectives, and accomplishing the desired project goals requires a holistic view to deal with the inherent
complexities in man-machine interactions.
Ability Number 1: Reliability
Designing for reliability means creating a design that has a
high probability of performing the required function under
given conditions for a given time interval. Reliability is a major “ability,” but may be overlooked during the design process.
Reliability engineering is not always an expected core competency for design engineers, who may have learned little on the
subject in engineering school and in their on-the-job training.
Reliability of control and safety systems is important for efficient and safe operation of the facility. Reliability and safety
should be built in and not patched or added on at later date in
the design. A reliable plant is a safer plant.
Reliability may be inherent in a company’s specs or in external standards, but may not be well understood by the engineers that use the specifications. Doing things by rote without
understanding is not really engineering. Many times systems
are designed with the expectation of success—that everything
will work as expected, and you’re on to the next project.
Choosing reliable instrumentation and using reliability
design practices are important to assure overall reliability of
control, instrumentation and safety systems. However, without consideration of what happens if the system fails, you have
looked at only at one side of the equation. Changing from designing strictly for functionality to also considering potential
system failures (what in the design can fail and how; what can
cause the failure, and what can we do about it; and how will
we repair the system if it happens?) broadens the horizons of
the design and will result in a more reliable design.
Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) or failure
modes and effects criticality analysis (FMECA) tools are
commonly used to analyze failures and their effects.
Availability is one of the “abilities” associated with reliability. Availability is commonly used for control systems
and process equipment, and is essentially the percent uptime for your system: the higher the availability, the more
reliable the system and the happier management will be.
Unavailability is primarily used for safety systems. The more
reliable a safety system is expected to be in performing its
safety function, the smaller its unavailability.
Nothing ruins a controls project more than being unreliable. Unanticipated and/or premature failures can be embarrassing and can sometimes put a major crimp in your reputation. You will know that you have arrived at the bottom when
people put your name on a system due to its unreliability.
ASSET MANAGEMENT
Unreliability not only affects the capability of the system to perform its function, but it also undermines the operator’s confidence in the system, maybe to
the point of it’s not being used anymore.
And it doesn’t make maintenance very
happy either.
Ability Number 2: Operability
Designing for operability means designing the system so that it does its
expected job reliably (high uptime)
and also has an efficient human-machine interface (HMI). The HMI is
not simply the computer screen, but
is the gestalt of the board operator’s
interaction with the control system
and process, the field operator’s interaction with the physical field installation and instrumentation, and
the situational awareness provided by
the system’s control interfaces, both
from the board and in the field, to efficiently and safely operate the plant.
The system HMI should be built
around human factors and the operating environment, and be designed to
make operating the system efficient,
easy and intuitive.
The easiest way to get a bad reputation as an engineer is to put in a system
that is hard to operate. Include operations in the design process whenever
you can, and you might be surprised
by how their suggestions help the design (and you might gain a friend or
two to help you in the future). Operators do not like change and view it with
suspicion, so including them in the design process and any new technology
can put to rest many of the operators’
concerns and fears about change.
Ability Number 3: Maintainability
Maintainability can be defined as the
ease with which a system can be maintained. Mathematically, it’ defined as
the combination of characteristics of
a design and installation that determines the probability that a system can
be restored to its normal operable state
within a given timeframe using standard practices and procedures.
Designing for maintainability requires looking at the project from a
maintenance perspective, such as it’s
broken and how will I keep it running,
or how will I fix it efficiently, quickly
and safely and return it to service in a
timely manner?
In some respects, maintainability is
the opposite of reliability, and they’re interrelated. Reliability is concerned with
running systems, while maintainability
is concerned with the repair of a failed
system or keeping the system from failing. Fast repairs improve availability. Obviously, the more reliable a system is, the
less maintenance will be required.
There is an old maintenance saying:
“Engineering may have a project for a
year, but maintenance has to live with
it for 20 years.” This is why you often
find that, if an audit is done several
years later, the project design has been
substantially modified to make it easier
to work on or to operate.
Everything fails; that’s why we have
maintenance departments. Plan ahead
in your design as to how your installation can be easily and safely maintained, and you’ll have some happy
campers in maintenance.
Ability Number 4: Testability
Testability concerns itself primarily
with safety systems such as independent protection layer (IPL) alarms,
safety instrumented systems (SIS), and
general safety instrumentation such as
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Asset Management
The easiest way to get a bad
reputation as an engineer is to put
in a system that is hard to operate.
fire and gas (F&G). It can be defined as how easily a system
can be tested and the test coverage of the test, such as what
percentage of dangerous failures are covered by a test. Testability can be significantly affected by the system technology
and installation. For example, some level and flow technologies are harder to test than others. Through-the-air radar for
level measurement is harder to test than guided wave radar,
and orifice flowmeters, which are easier to test than turbine
or vortex meters.
Testability concerns itself with the arrangement of the
physical aspects of the installation that facilitate testing. It’s
also concerned with the complexity, quality, clarity and completeness of the test procedure. Systems that are hard to test
often will have testing done improperly, put off or delayed, or
not done at all. So in your design, plan ahead for how you are
going to test those systems that require periodic testing.
Ability Number 5: Supportability
Designing for supportability considers the technology used
in the design relative to the end user’s ability to support and
maintain the technology over the lifecycle of the system. External support from vendors, manufacturers, contractors and
third parties also are considered. It obviously doesn’t pay to
have a project that works fine, but nobody except the original designer or contractor understands it. And, low and behold, when you need support, they’re nowhere to be found.
And yet, this does happen.
A good example of supportability is why PLC ladder logic
is still around and doesn’t seem to be dying out very fast.
This is because the level of support is relatively low, allowing an electrician or basic instrument techs to support it.
Higher-level PLC languages require higher levels of support
expertise, so your selection of equipment and software may
create the need for a PLC programmer or specialist, or leave
you stuck with support from an outside contractor or vendor.
As a natural consequence of technical development, instruments, electricals and controls have become more complex, requiring a higher level of expertise to be supported by
the end user, but further complicating this is the fact that
the mix should be approached very carefully.
The project-provided documentation also must be adequate for long-term engineering support. Installation documentation isn’t typically adequate for long-term engineering
and maintenance support.
60
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
Regardless of your internal level of capability, you will
probably require some vendor or manufacturer support,
such as technical, spare parts, etc. Generally speaking, the
longer the path you have to take to get a technical answer
and the more people you have to talk to before you get your
answer, the poorer the overall quality of support will be.
Generally, if a second language is involved, support transactions will be more difficult. Selecting equipment where the
quality of support might be questionable reduces the quality
of the design from an end-user perspective.
Accomplishing the Abilities
To achieve these abilities, you need to look at your project not
only from your point of view, but also as other stakeholders
and non-stakeholders might see it—sort of walk a mile in their
shoes. For example, how would a maintenance tech view your
project if he had to work on it or perform a test on it? Easy or
hard? How would an operator perform a safety task in a hurry
on the HMI? Are simple tasks really simple on the HMI?
Five years from now, if you looked back at your project,
what would you be liable to say about it? Or worse, what
would other people say about it?
It often helps to get experienced stakeholders involved
early in the design stage. Strong internal checking and internal design reviews by peers with direct experience in the
abilities also are effective. Lessons learned are often used to
propagate useful information to improve engineering design
quality. Many companies have generic checklists to help ensure that the various aspects of the abilities have been considered. Engineers should also take any opportunity to broaden
their view or to gain experience in the other design perspectives required to provide quality engineering designs.
In summary, there are many aspects in the design of a
project required to assure a quality design besides whether
the project provides the expected operational functionality. Some of these are clearly specified in the project specifications or the referenced standards, while others are more
fuzzy or vague in nature and require the engineer to fill in
the blanks. There also are expectations by stakeholders that
do not appear in the specifications, but which may be considered as good practice by industry or by the end users.
Many of these aspects of design, the abilities, are a matter of shifting perspectives to those of different stakeholders
or match a broader perspective of how industry would perceive your project. Does your company have an engineering
quality plan to help assure engineering designs consider the
abilities or other aspects of quality engineering design? Is
end-user feedback used to improve the quality of your company’s engineering designs?
William L. Mostia, P.E., fellow at SIS-TECH Solutions,
is a frequent contributor to Control .
T E C H N I C A L LY S P E A K I N G
BACnet for Process Control? Really.
A
s detailed in this month’s cover story, in
many instances process and building automation systems are separate, but need
to be connected to each other. Data to be exchanged between the two systems can be as
simple as a single temperature point or as complex as real-time energy consumption values.
Integrating process and building automation
can be done in one of two basic ways depending on the degree of connectivity required.
For process plants with little interaction between the process and building automation systems, hardwired connections between the two
systems are often the best approach due to low
cost and simplicity. With this approach, I/O is
simply hardwired between the two systems, with
the building automation system typically sending discrete and analog output signals to the process automation system indicating status, temperatures and other relevant information.
But for plants requiring extensive interaction and interconnections between process and
building automation systems, the hardwired approach quickly becomes cumbersome. Not only
is it expensive, but it’s also inflexible, as a new
hardwired connection must be made every time
additional information needs to be exchanged.
In these instances, a digital data link between
the two systems is the better solution, since a
large amount of data can be transferred as easily
as a single value. The digital link can be implemented in a variety of ways: controller to controller, controller to HMI, or HMI to HMI. In
any case, a method of connection must be selected—not always an easy choice because process and building automation systems typically
don’t use the same communication protocols.
Realizing this, process automation software
suppliers are moving to accommodate BACnet
(www.bacnet.org), the most widely used protocol in building automation. BACnet supports five
different networking technologies, but this article
will focus on the Ethernet-based protocol, referred to as BACnet/IP, which is the fastest of the
DAN Hebert
five protocols at a speed of 100 Mbps.
Most every building automation system supports BACnet/IP, so the first step to establishing communications is to pick a process automation system component that also supports
BACnet/IP.
At the HMI level, some suppliers support
BACnet natively, while others provide support
through OPC plug-ins. For example, InduSoft
(www.indusoft.com) provides native support
for BACnet, allowing its Web Studio software
to communicate to a building automation system via BACnet/IP. But any HMI supporting
OPC, which is virtually every PC-based product on the market, can talk to BACnet through
software products from suppliers such as Kepware (www.kepware.com), Matrikon (www.
matrikon.com) and Software Toolbox (www.
softwaretoolbox.com).
If the OPC option is used, a method of further translating BACnet information to a format recognizable by the HMI is required. This
can be done with some HMI software configuration and programming, but to simplify and
standardize communications, the OPC Foundation (www.opcfoundation.org) is actively
working on an OPC UA for BACnet initiative.
Another way to establish BACnet communications is at the controller level. For example, ProSoft
(www.prosoft-technology.com) offers a ControlLogix to BACnet communication interface module that plugs into a Rockwell Automation (www.
rockwellautomation.com) chassis to pass data between a ControlLogix PAC and BACnet devices
and networks. The module can be configured as
a BACnet slave or master, and in either case communications are via BACnet/IP.
This method of communication may not
be as powerful or flexible as using a PC-based
HMI, but it’s simpler and can be sufficient
for many applications. To the extent that the
controller is more reliable than the PC-based
HMI, this method of communication will also
be more robust.
Senior Technical Editor
dheber [email protected]
A digital data link
between the two
systems is the
better solution
since a large
amount of data can
be transferred as
easily as a
single value.
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
61
ask the expertS
Is SIL Required for Fire and Gas Systems?
Q
We’re going to design a fire and gas monitoring and alarm system (FGS) for an oil
and gas plant. The plant is old, and it’s not
provided with an emergency shutdown (ESD)
system. The foreseen number of input/output
signals in the anticipated fire and gas detection
system is less than 500. The fire and gas detectors will only alarm and monitor. Is it mandatory
to make an assessment for the SIL level? I’ve
checked ISA 84.01-1996, and it states, “1.2.14
Systems where operator action is the sole means
required to return the process to a safe state are
not covered by this standard (e.g., alarm systems, fire and gas monitoring systems, etc).”
My question is, do we have to design two separate control systems (one non-SIL for process
control and one SIL-certified system for (ESD/
FGS), or it is acceptable to design just one SIL
system for both process and ESD/FGS, and if
it is, what constraints should be considered? In
your judgment, must we have an SIL, or can we
proceed with a non-SIL system?
R agab Abdel Fat tah
ragab.abdelfat tah@ tecnomareegypt.com
A
This column is moderated
by Béla Lipták
(http://belaliptakpe.com),
You’ll find below many good answers,
so I’ll only say that ANSI/ISA 84.00.01
(2004), which is a relaxed version of IEC
61508/61511 (1996) does not apply to pneumatic
or hydraulic logic systems, nor to fire and gas
systems, safety alarms or safety controls. Therefore, in the case of your FGS, basic process control system (BPCS) and safety instrumented system (SIS) separation isn’t a requirement.
As you can see from the answers below, a fair
amount of confusion does exist in this area. Also
see my Lessons Learned column in this issue to
a fuller explanation of SIS.
automation and safety
bÉl a liptÁk
[email protected]
consultant and editor
of the Instrument and
Automation Engineers’
Handbook (IAEH). If you
have an automationrelated question for
this column, write to
[email protected].
62
A
First of all, the 1996 version of the ISA
84 standard is obsolete, and has been replaced by the 2004 version, which is really
the same as IEC 61511. There is no requirement
to design a FGS system according to the standard, although you may if you wish to. If anything, you should see if you need a safety in-
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
strumented system. It’s better to prevent the bad
event from happening than merely mitigating
it, or simply detecting it with a FGS system.
See my book, Safety Instrumented Systems:
Design, Analysis and Justification, 2nd edition
(www.amazon.com/Safety-Instrumented-Systems-Analysis-Justification/dp/1556179561). You
could also look at this whitepaper, “SIL Rating
for Fire and Gas System Hardware—an Introduction to ISA TR84.00.07” (www.controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2014/an-introductionto-isa-tr84-00-07/). Generally speaking, most
process facilities use two separate systems; one
for control, one for safety, and typically a separate system for fire and gas. However, the risk in
a simple gas plant may be low enough to use one
system for control and safety.
Paul Gruhn, P.E.
[email protected]
A
If there’s no executive action, and all the
mitigation upon fire and gas alarms are
manual and based on operator judgment,
there’s no need of SIL-certified FGS. However,
please remember in the future, if the company
decides to implement proper FGS functions
such as confirmed fire or gas detection and unit
blowdown, you need to go for a SIL-rated PLC.
There are three other points to remember:
1) Control and shutdown layers are independent, and hardware and other parts
shouldn’t be shared. This is to avoid commonmode failure and increase availability of respective systems. Also, it’s normal practice for
an operator to change the alarm and setpoints
for control functions during operation. ESD
PLC logic is usually fairly fixed unless there’s
a change in the process that necessitates revisiting the existing logic or to add a new trip
function. For modifying or rewriting logic,
proper change control has to be in place.
Company safety specialists must manage
and record the change based on established
management of change (MOC) procedure.
2) An ESD PLC is SIL3-rated and costly
hardware. The same hardware type can be
used for control functions, provided there is no
common hardware and utility shared by both
ask the expertS
control and ESD functions. You can choose a scalable ESD
system and choose a lower specification for control hardware. The system’s vendor also can provide different software
for systems, as ESD software should comply with IEC standards, and control software doesn’t need this. This configuration will reduce cost.
3) You can combine fire and gas logic in the same ESD
PLC, provided you provide a minimum of eight hours of UPS
backup for the combined system. Also, you need to segregate
at the I/O level, as FGS logic will be non-fail-safe, and you
need line monitoring. In conclusion, you can use the same
vendor and system hardware type for control and safeguarding for small-scale projects, provided you don’t share any hardware or software or any other aspects.
Debasis Guha
[email protected]
A
In general, the ESD and process control systems are separate, and if you are to follow the IEC 61508 standard,
then that requires separation of the BPCS from your SIS.
Once you’ve decided to follow IEC 61508/61511, you are
then going to follow the safety lifecycle. One of the steps in the
lifecycle is to perform an analysis of your plant’s operations to
identify those instrumented loops that are safety-related and
assign a target SIL (layer of protection analysis (LOPA), etc.)
to each of those loops, now referred to as safety instrumented
functions (SIF). The SIF with the highest target SIL will determine the required maximum SIL capability for the safety
logic solver.
I would recommend that you read IEC 61508 (parts 1-3) or
IEC 61511 (application of IEC 61508 to process safety) if you
are not familiar with the requirements.
Simon Pate
[email protected]
A
Consider the purpose of the SIL system: to bring the process to a safe state if something fails. The process control
system is one of the things that can fail or be compromised by its Internet connection
In general, people who design dangerous processes avoid
single points of failure.
Regardless of what the vendors and the laws that they have
bought say, the safety of your process depends on a separate
SIL system that is not connected to the Internet. Use a hardwired contact to tell the PCS that the SIL has stopped the process. Some people use double or triple redundancy for the SIL
system. It all depends on your organization’s tolerance for risk.
The PCS should be programmed for similar shutdown actions as the SIL. Then you have at least two independent ways
to shut down the process. But if your only goal is to reduce
cost, not danger to others, then the combined PCS and SIS
looks good—until it fails.
Bill Hawkins
[email protected]
A
You will probably hear from purists who say that the
BPCS must always be separated from the ESD system,
the SIS. While this is implied by the way the standards
are written, practically, it is not necessary. It is possible to build
a single system with appropriate levels of redundancy and configured to accomplish both functions if such a system is approved by an appropriate certification authority to do the SIS
work. The fact that it can also accomplish BPC work does not
prevent it from correctly responding to the requirements of
a SIS. In fact, the BPC function is often supplemented with
work to examine process data and trends under software control to locate and compensate for abnormal behavior prior to a
shutdown condition. Systems with shutdown prevention make
processes both more economical and safer.
Dick Caro
[email protected]
A
I thought that all SIL should be certified by TÜV for programmable safety down to the module level or electronic
level required by the user. This should include SIL for
emergency shutdowns.
Ger ald Liu, P.Eng.
[email protected]
A
If a SIL study has to be implemented, it, not the fact that
the plant is antiquated, will define the type of control system or actions necessary.
A FGS is independent of the control system, and can be used
as a monitoring system without activation, as long as the insurance companies, local standards organizations and/or company
and corporate standards allow it. Nowadays, most don’t.
The biggest fundamental issue is the products being handled. If, for example, you’re working in a desalinization plant,
the chief purpose of the FGS may be monitoring, but in a gas
plant where high concentrations of H2S may be present, the
need for activation may be more important than monitoring,
since you may not have enough time to react.
Even though it may be acceptable to use one single SILrated system to do everything, in the specific case of ESD and
ESD for fire and gas, it may not be the wisest or best solution.
To have both pieces of logic in one system could lead to
conflicts, and unless there are some very expert programmers,
the system action could cause problems. I suggest that you
keep each function separate, so that conflicting interactions
are held to a minimum.
Ale jandro Varga
[email protected]
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
63
ROUNDUP
Level Field
Devices to help determine the amount of material in a tank, hopper or vessel.
VIBRATION LIMIT SWITCH
READS LEVEL BY RADAR
LVL-B Series vibration limit
switches sense levels of bulk
solids. They have no mechanical moving parts. The
switches are FM- and CSAcertified as dust ignition
proof (DIP) for Class II and
Class III, Divisions 1 and 2,
Groups E-G. They feature a 250 mm (10 in.) vibrating rod,
and are available with 500 mm (20 in.), 1,000 mm (40 in.)
and 1,500 mm (60 in.) extension pipes.
Pepperl+Fuchs
330-486-0002; www.pepperl-fuchs.us
Type 8136 non-contact radar
level measuring device is for
continuous level measurement. One version has an
encapsulated horn antenna
suitable for measuring levels
of aggressive liquids in small
vessels. Another option has a
plastic horn antenna for measuring open flumes or performing gauge measurement in waters. Users can adjust the device via the display, key operation or a PC-based tool.
Burkert Fluid Control Systems
949-223-3100; www.burkert-usa.com
JUST ADD 4-20 MA
LEVEL SWITCH ALSO DOES FLOW OR TEMPERATURE
Jupiter
magnetostrictive
transmitter provides a 4-20
mA output, and is easily attached to the company’s
magnetic level indicators or
directly inserted into vessels.
The dual compartment enclosure separates wiring and
electronics to facilitate installation and set-up. Features include an LCD and pushbutton operation. Options include
HART, alloy construction and threaded or flanged fittings.
Orion Instruments
225-906-2343; www.orioninstruments.com/jupiter
FLT93 Series FlexSwitch
brochure showcases an innovative thermal dispersion
flow and level switch, along
with complete product and
application information. The
switches are dual-function instruments that can be configured for flow or level sensing, flow and temperature sensing,
or level and temperature sensing. Also, these switches are
SIL2-rated.
Fluid Components International
800-854-1993; www.fluidcomponents.com
SEES SOLIDS WITH SUPER SENSITIVITY
CUSTOM MAGNETIC LEVEL INDICATORS
VegaPuls 68 has high sensitivity to detect and evaluate
echoes in low dielectric conditions at long ranges. The
loop-powered transmitter is
available with a swivel antenna for mounting to match
the angle of repose created by
fill or empty conditions. Unaffected by dust or pneumatic
filling, it offers ±2 mm accuracy at -40-482°F and -14.52,320 psi.
Vega Americas
800-367-5383; www.vega-americas.com
1100 Series magnetic level
indicator pairs the company’s
chamber design with an indicator that gives users access
to their process information.
Each 1100 Series MLI is custom engineered and manufactured for a user’s particular
application. SOR level gauges existing process sight gauge
systems, and can be a functional bridle system for use with
other instrumentation.
SOR Inc.
913-888-2630; SorInc.com
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
65
ROUNDUP
66
GUIDED WAVE NOW ON FOUNDATION FIELDBUS
WHAT’S THE WEIGHT?
Eclipse Model 706 with
Foundation fieldbus passes
the Fieldbus Foundation’s
testing using the latest interoperability test kit (ITK)
6.1.1. Along with the HART
version’s improved signal-tonoise ratio, improved diagnostics and overfill-capable probes, it has input selector as
well as resource, transducer, analog, PID, signal characterizer and integrator blocks.
Magnetrol
800-624-8765; us.magnetrol.com
HI 6600 series of EtherNet/
IP-enabled modular industrial weight processing systems with a Rockwell EDS_
AOP lets users configure
between one and 30 channels
of stable, processed weight
over a single fieldbus connection. HI 6600 delivers processed weight with a resolution of
1:10:000 and an update speed of 110 updates per second for
up to 30 synchronized channels.
Hardy Process Solutions
858-278-2900; www.hardysolutions.com
ULTRASONIC LEVEL TRANSMITTER
SOLIDS SCANNERS
LVCN210 series ultrasonic
level transmitter and controller provides continuous level
measurement up to 3 m (9.8
ft) with a 4-20 mA signal output, and is configured via the
company’s freely downloadble software. The CE-compliant transmitter features four programmable relays, PVDF
transducer, 6P polycarbonate enclosure and automatic temperature compensation for accurate measurement.
Omega
888-826-6342; www.omega.com
Rosemount 5708 Series 3D
solids scanners continually
measure level, volume and
mass of bulk solids and powders in large vessels, bins and
silos. The devices use acoustic measurement and 3D
mapping technologies to provide accurate and reliable results. They can measure almost
any kind of material including fly ash and materials with low
dielectric constants.
Emerson Process Management
949-757-8500; www.emersonprocess.com
SUBMERSIBLE LEVEL TRANSMITTERS
GET LEVEL VIA MODBUS
ProSense SLT series submersible level sensors/transmitters continually sense hydrostatic pressure produced by
the height of liquid above the
sensor. They supply a 4-20
mA output signal. SLT1s features a 1-in. diameter housing
and a ported bullet nose cap. SLT2s feature a 2.75-in. diameter PTFE flexible diaphragm surrounded by a 316 stainless
steel, non-fouling, protective cage.
AutomationDirect
800-633-0405; www.automationdirect.com
MNU Series ultrasonic sensors are self-contained sensors that measure distance,
level or volume, with a standard Modbus RTU protocol
(RS-485) output. Units come
in sensing ranges from 4 in.
to 40 ft., and feature an accuracy of ±0.25% of detected range and resolutions of 0.1 in.
(2.5 mm). MNU level sensor users can also access their data
remotely.
Automation Products Group Inc.
888-525-7300; www.apgsensors.com
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
ROUNDUP
RADAR READING
WORKS WITH AGGRESSIVE LIQUIDS
DR6300 Series non-contact
level meter provides distance,
level, volume and mass measurements of powders, granulates and other solids. Its
frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar
reportedly gives a more stable
measurement than pulse radar. An easy-to-navigate display
features a choice of touchscreens, such as tank illustration,
bar graph, oscilloscope, signal and reflectivity.
Ametek Drexelbrook
215-293-4190; www.drexelbrook.com
King-Gage D/P purge control is a rugged, integrated
air control and transmitter
package that purges a length
of pipe extending downward
into the tank, providing continuous level measurement
and repeatability within
±0.2%, while preventing turbulence or foaming of tank liquid. Changes in hydrostatic head pressure provide 4-20 mA
output directly proportional to depth.
King Engineering
800-242-8871; www.king-gage.com
MEASURES GRANULAR VOLUMES
MEASURES LEVEL VIA RADAR
VM3D volumetric laser scanner measures volumes of bulk
granular material stockpiles
stored in the open or in large
silos, bunkers, domes and
sheds. The unit uses a narrow-beam laser and mechanical scanning technology that
results in a tight cloud of data points for developing a surface
map and calculating volume. Dust tubes keep lenses clear
and heated optics prevent condensation.
ABB
800-829-6001; www.abb.com
Optiwave 5200 C/F is a 10GHz FMCW radar level
meter for liquid applications
with up to a 30 m (98 foot)
measuring range. The twowire, loop-powered device
measures level and volume in
storage or process tanks with
process conditions up to 250° C (482° F) and pressures up to
40 bar (580 psi.) for general purpose or hazardous locations
(Class I, Division 1).
Krohne Inc.
800-356-9464; www.krohne.com
SUBMERSIBLE PRESSURE TRANSMITTER
TWO FOR ONE
Sitrans LH100 submersible
level transducer measures the
liquid levels in tanks, containers, channels and dams.
The device provides 0.3% accuracy, is available for various
measuring ranges and comes
with an intrinsic safety option. The ceramic sensor has a 0.92 in. diameter for mounting in pipes that have a 1.0 in. inside diameter. The housing
is made of 316L stainless steel.
Siemens Industry
800-743-6367; www.industry.usa.siemens.com
Deltabar FMD71 level transmitter uses two pressure sensor modules, each connected
electronically to one transmitter. The transmitter calculates the differential pressure from both sensors and
transmits the level, volume,
or mass via 4-20 mA with HART as a standard two-wire looppowered device. The electronics eliminate the clogging and
leaking associated with traditional DP measurement.
Endress+Hauser
888-363-7377; www.us.endress.com
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
67
Control Exclusive
HART Interface
Simplifies Setups
HART
Device
A
n estimated 80% to 90% of measurement devices shipped
today are HART-enabled. They can communicate calibration, configuration and diagnostic information via the
digital HART protocol overlaid on the 4-20 mA process signal.
Users can communicate with the devices using handhelds or
PCs with various software applications, whether or not the devices are installed and powered in the field.
HART allows engineers, technicians and others to benchconfigure, calibrate and test instruments, or to apply or demonstrate software applications, simply by connecting a HART instrument to a handheld or PC. But traditionally, they also need a
power supply, resister and modem to complete the setup.
To replace that collection of electronics and hardware,
MACTek has introduced the Viator+ USB HART Interface,
a universal tool that provides the USB modem and power required to quickly enable device configuration using a handheld or a PC application.
“The Viator+ provides all the items needed for a user to access intelligent device information for their application—the
modem, power supply, load resistor and quick-access points for
a multimeter or handheld, all done using a PC’s USB port,” says
Garry Cusick, vice president of sales, MACTek Corp. “And if a
PC USB port isn’t available, the product comes with an AC-toUSB power adapter. This powerful, lightweight package greatly
simplifies the needed multiple device connections and items required to access device information for safe, fast, reliable and
cost-effective device configuration and troubleshooting.”
The information from users’ intelligent measurement devices
supplies early warning and diagnostics of a pending device problem. This enables them to become more proactive with their
maintenance resources by providing the diagnostics information needed to make the right decision at the right time to possibly avoid an unplanned shutdown. And during a shutdown,
device diagnostics let them focus on the devices that really need
attention, rather than just working to a maintenance schedule.
The interface is a complete and flexible PC communication
and power kit for commissioning, servicing, calibrating or acquiring data from any HART instrument. The external interface is rugged and compact for field use. Features include:
• Fully HART-compliant for communication with any
HART instrument and error-free slave testing;
•P
owers all two-wire HART devices with the required 24
Vdc, independent of supplier;
• Easy installation (software driver included);
• CE-approval pending for use in Europe;
• Draws power from a single USB 2.x port and needs no external power supply;
• Provides 500-V isolation;
68
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
Modem only
Modem + power
DMM
HART handheld
Computer or AC
adapter
USB power
source
simple hart interface
MACTek’s new Viator+ USB HART Interface combines a modem,
power supply, load resistor and quick access points in a rugged
and compact package.
• Rugged ABS plastic case provides industrial-grade reliability in a compact, portable package;
• Integral 6-ft. connector cable terminates in two mini-grabber test clips; and
• Plug-selected Powered Modem or Modem Only modes.
“When bench technicians get new instruments to set up,
they can just hook them up at a PC and configure them.
They don’t need to locate a power supply or resistor,” says
Cusick. “In the field, the Viator+ powers the transmitter, or
not, if it’s already powered, and allows use of just the built-in
USB modem. If you’re using a handheld, you can power the
transmitter with the 110-Vac to USB wall adaptor or PC and
bypass the modem. With Viator+ providing power, you get
convenient connections for a milliammeter.”
In training sessions, the Viator+ makes device connection
easy and neat, allowing the instructor to concentrate on the lesson and not on finding a 250-Ohm resistor or a power supply.
“If you’re using—or demonstrating—a PC-based application,
you don’t have to make a lot of ad hoc wire connections or carry
a lot of hardware,” says Cusick. “It gives you all the pieces in one
convenient package.”
For more information, see www.mactekcorp.com.
Product introductions
THERMOCOUPLE LOGGER
BUTTERFLY VALVE
Lascar EL-Enviropad-TC is a
thermocouple-based temperature meter for spot readings
with additional built-in datalogging and graphing functions. It takes and records
readings via the supplied Ktype thermocouple probe.
Control and display is via a 2.8-in. color touchscreen, which
indicates current temperature to a resolution of 0.1 °C, displays maximum and minimum readings, and produces an
immediate graph of the data readings.
Saelig Inc.
888-772-3544; www.saelig.com
L700E Series grooved-end
butterfly valves are built with
an ISO mounting pad and
stem for simple automation
tasks with electric or pneumatic actuators. Standard
features include an epoxycoated ductile iron body,
EDPM-coated ductile iron disc, and a 410 stainless steel ISO
square stem. Units are available in sizes 2-12 in., and have a
maximum working pressure of 200 psi. Valves are tested to
100% of their rated pressure before shipping.
Bonomi North America
704-412-9031; www.bonominorthamerica.com
HANDHELD DATALOGGER
MANAGE THE SUPPLY CHAIN
Almemo 2590-A handheld
measuring datalogger features three measuring menus
where one to 12 measured
values can be displayed. Standard function menus include
maximum value; minimum
value; average value over
time, individual values, measuring points and smoothing;
volume flow with center point measuring; and datalogger
with configuration menus. It’s capable of rates up to 10 operations per second over 65 standard measuring ranges.
Clark Solutions
800-253-2497; www.clarksol.com
Spiral Suite software for hydrocarbon facilities improves
collaboration across the refinery. Data from in-house and
external systems are automatically made available within
workflows. Personnel can
work in parallel to build the
supply chain model without needing to know matrix math.
It’s reportedly easy enough to use that even novice planners
can make profitable, risk-adjusted feedstock purchasing and
refinery planning decisions within weeks of licensing.
Schneider Electric
888-778-2733; www.schneider-electric.com/us
HAMMER THAT OILFIELD
BE DIFFICULT
EL-GFX-TC is a standalone
USB datalogger. The unit
features an on-board, dotmatrix display, and is capable
of measuring and storing up
to 252,000 temperature readings. Information is resolved
to the nearest 0.1 digit by processing data from one J, K or T-type thermocouple input.
The unit provides real-time analysis of readings, either as
a data summary (showing highest and lowest readings and
alarm conditions) or as an updated trend graph.
Lascar Electronics
814-835-0621; www.lascarelectronics.com
U5300 is an industrial pressure transducer that measures liquid or gas pressure in
difficult media, such as contaminated water and mildly
corrosive fluids. It provides a
variety of pressure ports and
electrical configurations for
low- to medium-volume applications. The unit’s operating
temperature range is -40-125 °C. It is weatherproof, exceeds
current heavy industrial CE requirements, is made of 316L
stainless steel, and has no O-rings or welds.
Measurement Specialties, Inc.
800-745-8008; http://meas-spec.com
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
69
Product introductions
DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE TRANSMITTER
HOT FLASHES
PX2600 series has four unidirectional and four bi-directional ranges, three selectable outputs (0-5 Vdc, 0-10
Vdc, 4-20 mA), pushbutton or
remote zero, and a four-digit
LCD that shows either static
or differential pressure. The
CE-compliant device can output either static (gauge) pressure or differential pressure. It comes with a durable glassfilled polyester case. Applications include process control
systems as well as pressure drops across ductwork.
Omega
888-826-6342; www.omega.com
OptiFlash detects flash points
of up to 400 °C for materials
such as petroleums, biodiesels, solvents and fluxed bitumen, and complies with
global standards including
ASTM D93, ISO 2719, EN
ISO 2719, IP 34, JIS K2265
and GB/T 261. An intuitive user interface and built-in automation lets users easily start a test without having to manually install the flash point and temperature sensors or the test
cup for each test.
PAC
800-444-8378; www.paclp.com
United States Postal Service
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C O N T R O L TA L K
Getting Started for Startups
Stan: As instrument engineers for Monsanto,
Greg and I got to check out and start up all of
our projects. In this follow-through that was
part of our job description, we learned what
worked and didn’t work. Before smart instruments, we had to be smarter in order to calibrate and check out the instruments. Pneumatic controllers, transmitters and positioners
were a special trip because they were frequently
out of alignment and calibration just from being handled and installed.
Greg: I also spent most of the first seven years
of my 46-year career at plants in electrical and
instrument (E&I) construction, learning how to
install motor control centers and automation systems. My first two years were spent as an E&I field
construction engineer at a specialty chemicals
plant starting up four production units. I arrived
just in time for the commissioning of the first unit.
Unfortunately, plant E&I would not get involved
at all until the unit had completely demonstrated
capacity and quality requirements. Just to make it
more interesting, construction did not have any
E&I people before I showed up and didn’t know
instruments should be handled with more care
than pipe fittings. I learned quickly how bad a
startup can be. I can really relate to this next topic
and the extensive experience of Tim Green, operations manager for field services at Maverick
Technologies (www.mavtechglobal.com), where
he has been responsible for more than 50 startup/
commissioning projects and more than 100 construction/commissioning managers, technicians
and electricians.
Stan: What is the major lesson we can all
learn, besides the need for engineering and operations to have a safe startup as the most important goal?
Tim: Seventy percent of industrial accidents
occur during non-routine operations. For
most plants, startup and commissioning are
extremely non-routine. For most engineering
companies and integrators, operating plant
equipment is extremely non-routine. Safe and
effective startups require a methodology and
extensive coordination and communication to
eliminate the non-routine aspects. Since there
are activities with vastly different expertise and
focus, the people who need the knowledge to
make every activity routine must readily get it
from the people who have the knowledge.
Greg Mcmill an
Stan weiner, pe
[email protected]
Greg McMillan and
Stan Weiner bring their
wits and more than
66 years of process
control experience to
bear on your questions,
comments and
problems.
Write to them at
[email protected].
Greg: A critical part of making the operation
during startup as routine as possible is the
Stan: How did you get started, Tim?
Tim: Coming out of the Navy as an electrician mate, my first job three decades ago was
as an E&I technician at a chemical plant. My
interest in doing safer and more efficient startups dramatically increased after a disastrous
startup with numerous fatalities.
Unfortunately, advanced project planning doesn’t always make for a startup that’s just
another day in paradise.
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
71
C O N T R O L TA L K
extensive use of process simulation
for testing control systems and training the operators. What did you do to
make the startup/commissioning activities routine?
Tim: We have a three-step I&C commissioning process with traffic colors indicating the relative immediate risk level.
The colors don’t take away from the fact
that all steps must be done right for a safe
and effective startup. Our process is the
product of a lot of people who have done
a lot of startups and know what can go
wrong. The process allows I&C states of
construction, checkout and commissioning to proceed in parallel, saving a lot
time by using a piecewise “heel to toes”
approach as areas progress.
The first step is preparation and
planning with risk traffic color “green.”
People tend to slip up here by waiting
until the start of their field activities
and then trying to do as much as fast
as possible. Having people from the
startup team help do the preparation
and planning is key. Early involvement
is huge. We start working with operations on a dynamic test plan. We get
the I&C team selected, database and
checkout sheets prepared, and schedule, startup procedures and responsibilities documented. P&IDs on the
walls are highlighted in green as to
construction completeness.
The second step is pre-static inspection (PSI) with a risk traffic color “yellow.” Here, we go from P&IDs to loop
sheets, single-line drawings and motor elementary diagrams being highlighted in yellow and checkout sheets
being completed. There are a lot of
check boxes to force thoroughness
with a minimum of wasted effort. The
boxes are organized and worded to prevent blowing off the effort by just successively checking boxes.
The third step is pre-dynamic testing (PDT) with a risk traffic color red.
Systems are energized and design documents are redlined for power, sensor signal simulation, single-point
72
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
calibration checks and stroking of
valves. Motor thermal protection is
verified against nameplate data. Rotation is verified with a rotation meter.
Signals are checked to appear properly
on control room and maintenance system screens. We make sure radio communication is clear and concise. The
technician in the field states the tag
and location, but not the value of the
signal. The control room must repeat
the tag and location and say what value
is seen on the screen.
The status of final dynamic testing
via water runs is the responsibility of
operations and is highlighted in blue.
By having the steps defined, there is
less chance of skipping something important. The team and the extent of handson expertise grow as the effort moves
from one step to another. For example, as
the phases move from green to yellow to
red, the number of techs might increase
from two to six to 16, respectively.
systems today have evolved, so human
disengagement has become an increasing concern in terms of preventing an
unforeseen problem and quickly fixing
difficult application problems.
Greg: The people doing the work
don’t tend to have the time or encouragement or skills to publish what has
been learned. Most of my effort at this
point is documenting as much as possible of what I know.
Tim: We’re on the same sheet of music. The main remaining goal in my
career is to share what I’ve learned. I
have had many teachers, seen a lot
of what can go wrong, and had many
“aha moments.” This technical profession has been such a big part of my life.
I hate to see what I have gained be lost
and go away.
Greg: With some help from Tim, we
finish with this month’s Top 10:
Stan: What do you do to avoid being
overwhelmed and bogged down?
Top 10 Signs You Have a Fictitious Startup
Date
Tim: We divide and conquer. For example, if we have 1,000 loops to check out,
our goal may be 250 loops a day. We divide up into eight crews. Thirty loops
per day are expected, but if a loop can’t
be readily fixed, the loop is given off to
a SWAT team, so the crew can continue
on. The SWAT team has particular indepth troubleshooting expertise and is in
a better position to see common errors.
For widescale problems, the correction
is handed off to construction. In some
cases, the problem needs the attention of
the mechanical/piping contractor.
10. Research is still researching, and
design is still designing the process.
9. The electrical contractor is doing
the loop simulation.
8. Project plan is to use maintenance
staff to do the loop simulation when
not busy doing plant maintenance.
7. Project plans to use a staffing company to get some technicians to handle I&C commissioning because it’s
cheaper than using a company with an
instrumentation team.
6. One-stop flowmeter shopping at orifice supplier.
5. One-stop control valve shopping at
piping supplier.
4. Piping designer thinks the flowmeter orifices are restriction orifices.
3. Engineering, construction, commissioning team and operations are
strangers.
2. Engineering does not have worn-out
hard hats.
1. A year-end completion date.
Stan: What is happening to the workforce?
Tim: We’re seeing an aging workforce.
We have an ever smaller pool to draw
from, since we want people with plant
experience. The type of people we use
started when instruments had to be understood and calibrated. Automation
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Winsted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Yaskawa America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
For additional information, please contact
Foster Printing Service, the official reprint
provider for Control.
Call 866.879.9144 or
[email protected]
CONTROL REPORT
Dig Out of the Buzzword Blizzard
Jim Montague
e xecutive Editor
[email protected]
With 32 engine
sensors and 120
drive sensors on
each vehicle, Rio
Tinto’s 900 trucks
produce about
4.9 terabytes of
data daily.
74
T
here are a few common themes running
through this year’s tradeshows, user groups
and other gatherings. Chief among these
are the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0,
smart manufacturing, intelligent devices, Big
Data and the Cloud. All of these concepts are
supposedly bringing earth-shattering changes
to process control and automation in particular
and to manufacturing and business in general.
Certainly, significant changes are continuing to come from multiplying Internet connections, but this trend has been steadily unfolding
for 20 years. Sure, more machines and other
equipment now have web pages and can broadcast their data, but this is really just more of the
same Internet. IoT just sounds more dramatic.
Similarly, all the added information these
devices are generating simply means more of
the same data from more places, but Big Data
just sounds more exciting. Again, the Cloud
sounds more profound and powerful than just
adding more rack-mounted servers to the same
bunch of servers in a closet somewhere, either
onsite or at an offsite service.
Finally, I know that smart phones, tablet PCs
and other devices with onboard data processing are allowing wider access to operating performance and other key indicators, but isn’t
this an added degree of availability rather than
a profound leap in intelligence, awareness or
critical thinking skills? When sources tell me
they’re getting into smart manufacturing or the
interconnectedness of Industry 4.0, I ask, what
were they doing before? Weren’t they supposed
to be manufacturing as intelligently as possible
all along? I’m not trying to be unkind. I just
need specifics to put together useful stories.
So how can you separate the few useful
truths from the vast cacophony of hype and
baloney? Well, you can cut through the fog of
buzzwords and vague statements about IoT and
the rest by focusing on any specific gains users
achieve in actual production processes, learning what tools and best practices they use, and
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
then adapting them to your own applications.
These efforts are aided by the fact that most
Ethernet-based, Internet-enabled and other
industrial networking components are much
easier to configure, secure, deploy, monitor and
manage than they were just a few years ago.
For instance, at GE’s IoT World Forum on
Oct. 13-14 in Chicago, John McGagh, head of
innovation at Rio Tinto (www.riotinto.com), reported his company’s huge mining cranes and
trucks generate lots of data that can help improve operations and maintain equipment, but
that much of this information wasn’t collected
and organized to enable better decisions until
recently. With 32 engine sensors and 120 drive
sensors on each vehicle, Rio Tinto’s 900 trucks
produce about 4.9 terabytes of data daily.
“We have about 300 sensors at our Kennecott copper mine in Utah, but we were only
pulling about 5% of their available data, and
we needed a lot more,” says McGagh.
To capture and use more of this information,
McGagh reports that Rio Tinto worked with
the University of Sydney to develop its threepart Mine Automation System (MAS), which
pulls in and organizes data from all its mines
worldwide, then uses a visualization engine to
paint a detailed picture of operations at each
facility that users can act on in real time. MAS
includes a compilation system that collects all
sensor data and creates a mining model, while
its planning system schedules jobs and its control system sends instructions to often autonomous transportation and drilling equipment.
“Now, at mines like West Angelas in western Australia, we can talk to the three machines drilling 12-meter holes for blasting,”
explains McGagh. “These machines are sensor platforms, and their information combined
with other sources lets us interact much more
closely with the mine’s geology, and that’s extremely valuable to us. We can also use Big
Data to look at the history of blocks mined, and
this helps us make even better decisions.”
20 MILLION INVERTERS
10 MILLION SERVOS
300,000 ROBOTS
Yaskawa. Proven. Worldwide.
Nobody enjoys a larger installed base of inverters,
servos and robots around the world than Yaskawa.
Our experienced engineers, proven technology and
unsurpassed quality can
all be combined to give proven solutions in which
you can have total confidence.
In a recent internal study of 100,000 servo motors
shipped, Yaskawa found that only 7 were returned
for warranty repair. To put that in perspective, a
typical out-of-box failure rate goal for manufacturers
of brushless servo motors is 0.5% (or 500 failures
per 100,000 motors shipped).
No matter how you add it up, nobody equals Yaskawa.
Call us today.
YA S K A W A A M E R I C A , I N C .
DRIVES & MOTION DIVISION
1 - 8 0 0 - YA S K A W A | YA S K A W A . C O M
©2014 Yaskawa America Inc.
For more info:
http://Ez.com/yai694
The computer platform I bought a few
years ago is already obsolete. I need
technology that will keep pace.
YOU CAN DO THAT
DeltaV™ Virtual Studio makes it easier to keep your system current.
Keeping your control system up-to-date can be tedious, time-consuming and
expensive. With a workflow and feature set that is easy to understand, DeltaV Virtual Studio is
uniquely designed for automation engineers. Use pre-built virtual machine templates to easily
ensure accurate upgrades with minimum effort. Keep pace with the latest technology — easy.
Find out more at: DeltaV.com/Virtualization.
The Emerson logo is a trademark and a service mark of Emerson Electric Co. © 2014 Emerson Electric Co.
GETS A BRAIN
EMBRACING THE
SAFETY LIFECYCLE
SIL FOR
FIRE AND GAS
SYSTEMS?
NOVEMBER 2014
Better
Together?
Combining building
and process automation
systems can ease plant
support, but be prepared
to ante up.
W O R K F O R C E
E N A B L E M E N T
S O L U T I O N S
Collect. Analyze. Act.
Avantis Condition Manager. Turning events into improvement opportunities.
Why be satisfied with status quo? With Condition Manager, you can collect raw data in
real-time, analyze pending equipment failures on the spot and act with informed contextual
information. Condition Manager collects information from any asset
and drives maintenance workflow in any asset management system.
To learn more, download our whitepaper at
software.invensys.com/funnel.
© 2014 Schneider Electric. All rights reserved. Schneider Electric, Invensys, Avantis, Condition Manager and Workforce Enablement Solutions are trademarks of Schneider Electric, its subsidiaries or affiliates. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
© 2014 Siemens Industry, Inc.
usa.siemens.com/lr250
SITRANS LR250 – your radar solution
for liquids and slurries
SITRANS LR250 is your choice for liquid level measurement
in storage and process vessels. With its new flanged
encapsulated antenna, corrosive and other aggressive
materials are no problem for this transmitter. Reliability
and improved safety? We do that. Higher temperatures or
pressures? Those too. Welcome to liquid level perfection.
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Reliable level measurement
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usa.siemens.com/lr250
Process and power automation
Better together
It just makes sense. Every industrial process is dependent on power to operate. In order to provide visibility, it's
long been the status quo for information from various electrical components to be brought into the automation
system through hardwired I/O signals. Using System 800xA’s digital fieldbus technologies (IEC 61850,
MODBUS TCP, PROFINET, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, Ethernet IP), users can not only import status information
without adding to a project's I/O count, but they are afforded better diagnostic and load information, enabling
predictive maintenance and opportunities to save energy.
System 800xA. It’s all about control.
www.abb.com/800xA
ABB Process Automation Division
Visit us at our blog or on YouTube:
www.ProcessAutomationInsights.com
www.youtube.com/user/ProcessAutomation
November 2014 • Volume XXVII • Number 11
Better
Together?
Combined building and process
automation systems can ease plant
support, but be prepared to ante up.
by Dan Hebert, PE
32
F E AT U R E S
2 5
Y E A R S
O F
C O N T R O L
47 / Pig Iron Gets a Brain
Over the past 25 years, valve technology has consistently outrun what you generally find in the field. by Paul Studebaker
P
R
O
C
E
S
S
S
A
F
E
T
Y
53 / Embracing the Safety Lifecycle
BP and Emerson Process Management show how to prevent
systemic failures in safety instrumented systems.
by Jim Montague
A
S
S
E
T
M
A
N
A
G
E
M
E
N
T
57 / Design to the Abilities
Use these five perspectives to improve functionality and reduce
lifecycle cost. by William Mostia, PE
W E B
E X C L U S I V E S
So Many Tuning Rules, So Little Time
Control Hall of Famer Greg McMillan walks you through
the complexities of loop tuning. www.controlglobal.com/
whitepapers/2014/so-many-tuning-rules-so-little-time/
CONTROL (ISSN 1049-5541) is published monthly by PUTMAN Media COMPANY (also publishers of CONTROL DESIGN, CHEMICAL PROCESSING, FOOD PROCESSING, INDUSTRIAL NETWORKING,
PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING, and PLANT SERVICES ), 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 2014. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part
without consent of the copyright owner. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CONTROL, P.O. Box 3428, Northbrook, IL 60065-3428. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Qualified-reader subscriptions are accepted from Operating Management in the
control industry at no charge. To apply for qualified-reader subscription, fill in subscription form. 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.
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
5
Simply reliable:
Process safety from Endress+Hauser.
Eliminate the risk of storage tank overfill
Do you need to revamp your safety instrumented system? Do you want to
comply to the latest safety guidelines and standards such as API2350 Edition 4
and IEC 61511/61508? Eliminate your risk of storage tank overfi ll without
compromising availability and e�ciency.
Together with our partners, such as Rockwell Automation, we can provide a complete
solution for field-proven, standardized overfi ll prevention systems which include:
• “Safety by design” - systems with built-in mechanical integrity
• State-of-the-art vibronic fork technology with failsafe design - a second
line of defense and active warning system with detailed information
• Simple and remote built-in proof testing function helps reduce downtime
and prevents staff from working in hazardous areas
• SIL3 - 1oo1 using point level tuning fork with up to 12 year proof-test interval
www.us.endress.com/overfi ll-prevention-news
Endress+Hauser, Inc
2350 Endress Place
Greenwood, IN 46143
[email protected]
www.us.endress.com
Sales: 888-ENDRESS
Service: 800-642-8737
Fax:
317-535-8498
November 2014 • Volume XXVII • Number 11
D E PA RT M E N T S
9 / Editor’s Page
Meet Us at the Corners
It’s where the action—and the progress—are.
11 / Control Online
Raising the next generation of engineers,
building better plant information libraries,
and chemistry saves the world.
13 / Feedback
30 / Resources
PLCs and industrial computers online.
61 / Technically Speaking
BACnet for Process Control? Really.
It’s not a plug-and-play hack, but connecting
these systems makes sense in some cases.
62 / Ask the Experts
Our readers on standards, fieldbus and
losing the manuals.
Is SIL Required for Fire and Gas Systems?
Our experts sort through the complexities
of safety systems.
14 / Lessons Learned
65 / Roundup
SIS: Standards by Committee
Current SIS standards are like baby camels;
they need more work to make them truly
useful.
19 / On the Bus
Two Buses, One Foundation
What the merger of the Foundation and
HART fieldbus groups really means.
20 / Without Wires
“Hands-Free” Valves
Why are we still messing about with
manually controlled valves?
22 / In Process
GE Intelligent Platforms looks to a
“cloudy” future; ABB’s new oil and gas
center; Stührenberg takes control at
Phoenix Contact; and other process news.
the ceo speaks
Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, addresses
the audience at the GE Intelligent
The latest in level technology is here.
Platforms user conference.
68 / Products
An exclusive look at MACTek’s Viator+
USB HART interface, plus dataloggers,
pressure transmitters and transducers,
butterfly valves and more.
71 / Control Talk
Getting Started for Start-Ups
McMillan,
Weiner
and
Maverick
Technologies’ Tim Green talk safe startups
and how to do them.
73 / Ad Index
These folks would like a word with you.
you’ve got connections
74 / Control Report
Dig Out of the Buzzword Blizzard
What are the next big things actually going
to do for you?
MACTek’s new Viator+ USB HART
interface offers a novel route to
connectivity.
Circulation aUdited june 2014
Food & Kindred Products.....................................................................................15,398
Chemicals & Allied Products..................................................................................9,095
Systems Integrators & Engineering Design Firms...................................................7,458
Primary Metal Industries.........................................................................................4,272
Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services............................................................................3,847
Petroleum Refining & Related Industries.................................................................3,600
Miscellaneous Manufacturers.................................................................................3,597
Paper & Allied Products..........................................................................................3,522
Pharmaceuticals......................................................................................................3,496
Rubber & Miscellaneous Plastic Products..............................................................2,855
Stone, Clay, Glass & Concrete Products.................................................................1,733
Textile Mill Products...............................................................................................1,047
Tobacco Products.......................................................................................................100
Total Circulation....................................................................................................60,020
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
7
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EDITOR’S PAGE
Meet Us at the Corners
I
t’s common knowledge that innovation often lies at the intersections of developments
in established fields—just Google “innovation happens at intersections.” You can even
read a book about it, titled The Medici Effect:
Breakthrough Insights at the Intersections of
Ideas, Concepts and Cultures. The point is that
we need to get outside our individual fields of
expertise to see the possibilities coming from
other directions.
So I was a little disappointed, if not surprised,
that this month’s cover story on the state of the
art of integrating process and building automation systems doesn’t overflow with innovations.
Yes, you can gain the expected efficiencies
in energy, manpower, maintenance and decision-making by using a single system or by
closely integrating building and automation
systems, but there are plenty of drawbacks. So
like any engineering problem, there’s a need to
do a cost-benefit analysis, and find the sweet
spot that’s most likely to yield the highest ROI.
That’s the state of the art.
I think that state is in flux. Just as we’re finding that integrating IT and control systems has
led to a revolution in critical decision-making,
and joining safety and process systems is offering the potential to reduce costs while significantly improving both functions, we can expect merging building and automation systems
to bring some surprising benefits.
We were given a glimpse of the possibilities at the recent opening of Honeywell’s new
customer experience center in Houston. Designed to bring to life new, high-tech innovations for the company’s traditional automation clients in process industries, the center
includes a plant control room outfitted with
Honeywell’s Experion Process Knowledge
System (PKS). The beautiful Orion console
demonstrates large, integrated screens, touchscreen displays, mobile device capabilities and
other technologies that assist plant operators
who are charged with running some of the
Paul Studebaker
world’s most critical and complex manufacturing facilities.
The PKS displays and drill-downs are designed to support situational awareness, and “orchestration” brings relevant graphics up in sets to
direct the operator’s attention where it’s needed
the most. That can include video surveillance
with cameras that automatically shift and focus
to present a view of a fire or other emergency,
or of an intruder breaching the perimeter fence.
Operators can pan through and zoom large
displays, and integrated procedures guide and
validate their progress through unfamiliar startup and shutdown procedures. An integrated
“collaboration station” offers the right level of
detail for engineers and managers to facilitate
real-time, high-level decisions.
As process control specialists, we’re all familiar
with Honeywell as the company that pioneered
the distributed control system, but we might forget
that it also specializes in cyber and physical security, as well as process and personnel safety. Honeywell’s new customer center reminds us with displays of personal protective equipment and cyber
security systems, as well as field instrumentation.
Honeywell is not the only process control company with expertise in other fields. ABB, Emerson, GE, Rockwell, Schneider/Invensys and Siemens all have notable strengths in both highly
and vaguely related fields from power systems
and transportation to appliances and, of course,
building automation. These other product lines
range from industrial to commercial to consumer,
where developments in web connectivity, pervasive sensing, human-centered design and many
other areas are coming on hot, heavy and cheap.
Here at Control, we’re always keeping an eye
out for innovations at the intersections, asking
questions, and finding out about how they’re
relating to process automation. If you know of
something we haven’t covered, drop me a line.
If you’re interested, stay tuned.
Editor in chief
[email protected]
Honeywell is not
the only process
control company
with expertise in
other fields.
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
9
800 453 6202
C o n t r o l o n l i ne
Raising the Next Generation of Engineers
O
ur September cover story, “Spring Chickens”
(www.controlglobal.com/articles/2014/automation-companies-prepare-younger-generations-to-replace-retiring-employees), addresses the
challenges of growing and acquiring newly minted
Spring
engineers, and turning them into the seasoned professionals needed to keep operations running, and Chickens
has generated a lot of readership. So has the podcast
conversation between Control’s executive editor Jim
Montague and ARC’s Dick Hill at www.controlglobal.com/multimedia/2014/podcast-stem-spring-chickens-.
A BETTER WAY TO
HANDLE CONSTRAINTS
OPERATORS GET
WHAT THEY DESERVE
FLEXIBILITY FUELS
STRONG MOTORS
Worms in Your Molassas?
Read how American Crystal Sugar got
itself out of a sticky situation with a
new kind of RTD flexible sensor. www.
controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2014/
measuring-molasses-with-a-worm
THE YOUNG
ENGINEER’S
FIRST LIBRARY
Attack of the Dragonfly
SEPTEMBER 2014
How targeted programs are raising a fresh
flock of fledglings to replace retiring
engineers and technicians.
CT1409_01_CVR.indd 9
The Cure for Opaque Automation
Concepts of
operations
Verification
and
validation
8/26/14 8:49 AM
Operation
and
maintenance
“The reason why procedures become opaque
is that they’re designed by clever engineers and
programmers, who are focused on getting the
IMPLEMENTATION
job done without considering the need for a
clear human interface. The result is inscrutable
logic encoded into procedures that are not readable by ordinary mortals, assuming
that most people don’t know a database from first base,” writes William Hawkins in
“The Case for Using Natural Language.” Find Hawkins’ cure at www.controlglobal.
com/articles/2014/process-automation-programming-language-one-for-all.
Project
definition
Requirements
and
architecture
System
verification
and validation
Integration,
test and
verification
Detailed
design
Project
test and
integration
Time
This newest bit of malware is a nasty bug
indeed. This two-part article analyzes it,
its targets, methods of attacks, results,
and how to defend against it. www.
controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2014/
defending-against-the-dragonfly-cybersecurity-attacks-part-a-identifying-thetargets and www.controlglobal.com/
whitepapers/2014/defending-againstthe-dragonfly-cybersecurity-attackpart-b-analyzing-the-malware
Accurate, Reliable Temperature
Measurement
This webinar will help you improve
citical
temperature
measurement
practices.
www.controlglobal.com/
whitepapers/2014/emersons-offersfree-webinar-on-high-accuracy-andreliability
Building a Better Plant Information Library
There are four stages of content management maturity: content
under control, access anywhere, managing change and integration with the business. Sounds easy enough when put that way,
but as with all such projects, the reality is not so simple. Senior
Technical Editor Dan Hebert walks you through the process of
getting those piles of paperwork everyone needs and no one wants
to deal with under control and available where, when and for whom they’re needed.
www.controlglobal.com/articles/2014/improve-access-to-plant-information.
Chemistry Saves the World
People such as Steve Jobs and Henry Ford get all the credit, admittedly much of
it well-deserved, for “world-changing” inventions or developments. But that leaves
some of the most important inventions that underlie our civilization flying well
under the radar (Can you say “clean drinking water?”). Here’s where the “Top 10
Chemically Engineered Inventions” come in. Check www.controlglobal.com/industrynews/2014/top-10-chemically-engineered-inventions for the complete list.
Let’s hear it for chemical engineers!
Free Ebook on Process Automation
Industry Guide to Control System Engineering has helpful resources and
tips for the specification, design and
installation of automated control systems.
www.controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2014/download-an-industryguide-to-control-system-engineering
ControlGlobal E-News
Multimedia Alerts
White Paper Alerts
Go to www.controlglobal.com and
follow instructions to register for our
free weekly e-newsletters.
Updated every business day, the Control Global online magazine is available at no charge.
Go to www.controlglobal.com and follow instructions to register for our free weekly e-newsletters.
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
11
ACE
IN THE
HOLE
And the Knock Out Drum. And the Separator.
And the Feedwater Heater. And the Sump.
When process applications require best-in-class level control technology, you’ve got to play your
cards right. The Eclipse® Model 706 guided wave radar transmitter can deal with nearly any process
condition – even the most challenging.
• Superior signal-to-noise ratio provides the most accurate and reliable level measurement available
• Extensive line of probes, including overfill safe probes, handle a variety of level challenges
• Advanced diagnostics take the user interface to new levels of convenience and functionality
• HART® and FOUNDATION fieldbus™ protocols provide full digital communications capabilities
• Convenient pre-configuration reduces installation time – apply 24 VDC and walk away
• Quick-disconnect probe coupling makes servicing easier
Don’t gamble with reliability. Contact Magnetrol® –
the guided wave radar innovator – to learn more about
the ECLIPSE Model 706 transmitter.
eclipse.magnetrol.com • 1-800-624-8765 • [email protected]
©2014 Magnetrol International, Incorporated
G N I K A E P S YL L A C I N H C E T
FEEDBACK
IN MEMORY OF JULIE CAPPELLETTI-LANGE,
VICE PRESIDENT 1984-2012
1501 E. WOODFIELD ROAD, SUITE 400N
SCHAUMBURG, ILLINOIS 60173
Editor in Chief: PAUL STUDEBAKER
[email protected]
Executive Editor: JIM MONTAGUE
[email protected]
Senior Managing Editor, Digital Media: KATHERINE BONFANTE
[email protected]
Managing Editor: NANCY BARTELS
nbar [email protected]
Senior Technical Editor: DAN HEBERT
dheber [email protected]
Senior Technical Editor: LESLIE GORDON
[email protected]
Contributing Editor: JOHN REZABEK
Columnists: BÉLA LIPTÁK, GREG MCMILLAN,
IAN VERHAPPEN, STAN WEINER
Editorial Assistant: LORI GOLDBERG
design & production team
VP, Creative Services: STEVE HERNER
[email protected]
Art Director: BRIAN HERTEL
bher [email protected]
Senior Production Manager: ANETTA GAUTHIER
[email protected]
publishing team
Group Publisher/VP Content: KEITH LARSON
[email protected]
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Lose the Manual
As always, I enjoyed reading your article
in Control, “Pitch the Manual,” (Control,
September 2014, www.controlglobal.com/
articles/2014/to-toss-or-not-to-toss-papermanuals-and-reference-books/)
Of course, this is how we’ve moved.
Strangely, I still like to read the hard copy
of my Wall Street Journal. Perhaps it’s the
feel of the paper? Or the nostalgic warm
feeling that comes with the setting, sipping warm coffee and pondering the
world? Or perhaps it’s the fact that I spend
most of my day in an electronic world and
associate that with work?
No matter what it is, in another related
area I’m not old fashioned. Yes, “Pitch the
manual,” but way further than where you
suggest. We all download apps for that on
our smart phones. Free. Sweet. And if we
can’t figure them out in five minutes, they
get deleted because there is another appfor-that.
No PDF. No F1. Just intinuity. (Google
that one.)
Thanks for the wake-up articles. Keep
them coming.
DUNCAN SCHLEISS
EMERSON PROCESS MANAGEMENT
[email protected]
Users Need to Step Up for Standards
Regarding John Rezabek’s September “On
the Bus” column, (www.controlglobal.
com/articles/2014/hungry-for-open-network-protocol-standards/): John, thanks
for sharing your direct experience and for
trying to march down the wireless road as
far as it would take you. When the ISA100
standards committee was formulating its
requirements, we used exactly the same
set of specifications that were used to develop the ISA S50.02 standard that became
Foundation fieldbus H1 and later HSE.
In short, we were attempting to make
sure that the ISA100 network would be
suitable to become the network for a “wireless Foundation fieldbus” when the technology was ready. If the field instruments
must be battery-powered, then the technology is not quite ready for high- samplerate control, such as for flow or pressure
loops, but it should be ready for temperature and most level control loops—except
that no supplier has yet to offer a wireless
Foundation fieldbus instrument.
If energy harvesting, as documented
by the ISA100.18 subcommittee, is considered, then all process control loops are
ready for wireless Foundation fieldbus using ISA100 Wireless (IEC 62734).
ISA100 already supports direct, peerto-peer, dual-path,
Spring
mesh networking,
very low power con- Chickens
sumption, and a
speed that’s much
higher than hardwired H1.
Now all we need is for users like you
to talk to your instrumentation suppliers
about building wireless Foundation fieldbus. Too bad the right components were
not available for your last project.
A BETTER WAY TO
HANDLE CONSTRAINTS
OPERATORS GET
WHAT THEY DESERVE
FLEXIBILITY FUELS
STRONG MOTORS
THE YOUNG
ENGINEER’S
FIRST LIBRARY
How targeted programs are raising a fresh
flock of fledglings to replace retiring
engineers and technicians.
SEPTEMBER 2014
editorial team
CT1409_01_CVR.indd 9
DICK CARO, CAP
CO-CHAIR ISA100.8 USERS WORKING GROUP
[email protected]
Simplified Fieldbus
Regarding “The Long Greenfield” in the
August issue (www.controlglobal.com/
articles/2014/process-control-innovations-what-future-process-plants-can-belike/#comment-1129): “Complex, macrocycle calculations” are not required for
fieldbus on DeltaV. Also, “complex fieldbus devices” are not the case with DeltaV,
since with a human-centered design dashboard, Foundation has the same look and
feel as a 4-20 mA/HART device. DeltaV
makes fieldbus very easy, eliminating marshalling cabinets, marshalling signals virtually from software, etc. Also, it’s possible
to get as much diagnostics from a HART
5 device as a HART 7 device. The diagnostics aren’t dependent on the HART
version. In fact, you can get more diagnostics from some HART 5 devices than from
some HART 6 or HART 7 devices.
JONAS BERGE
EMERSON PROCESS MANAGEMENT
[email protected]
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
13
8/26/14 8:49 AM
LESSONS LEARNED
SIS: Standards by Committee
BÉL A LIPTÁK
W
[email protected]
The problem with
the PFD values
is that they’re
determined by selfcertification by the
manufacturer
or a hired
evaluation firm.
control loop (called a safety instrumented function or SIF) to protect the process from accidents. Conversely, the probability of failure on
demand (PFD) is the mathematical complement of RSA (PFD = 1 - RSA), expressing the
probability that the SIF will fail to do its job. Unfortunately, it’s much easier to write three zeros
in a table than to increase the safety of a real
process a thousandfold.
Yet, when a CEO of an insurance company
sees this table with all those zeros, particularly
if at the same time he is having a nice business
lunch with this charming salesman, the table
looks pretty good, and by the time the coffee is
served, he might agree to insure the plant if it’s
designed for a target of, say, SIL3. Right? Well,
let’s look at this closer.
e all know the saying that the “camel
is a horse designed by committee.” Today’s safety instrumented system (SIS)
standard (ANSI/ISA 84.00.01 (2004), which is
a relaxed version of IEC 61508/61511 (1996), is
not a camel yet, only a camel baby. It can still
be trained, but training needs trainers! Before
explaining why I say this, let us look at what a
safety integrity level (SIL) is.
The Safety Integrity Level
The SIS standard considers SIL to be a quantifiable measurement of risk that can be used as
a way to establish safety performance targets.
The potentially achievable levels of reliability
of the expected performance of this safety system are defined by Table 1 (page 16).
The required safety availability (RSA) value
refers to the reliability of a particular safety
Safety at the Component Level
PFDFCE
PFDSensor
Total loop SIL = PFDPLC + PFDSensor + PFDFCE
A PFD IS NOT A SIL
Figure 1: Loop components do not have SIL levels, only probability of failure on
demand (PFD) values, and these PFD values do not determine the SIL level of the
loop (as implied here), but only indicate that in the supplier’s judgement, these
components are suitable for being used in a particular SIL level system.
14
www.controlglobal.com N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4
Based on a drawing from Emerson Process Management.
PFDPLC
As shown in Figure 1, at the individual instrument
component level (sensor, valve, safety control
logic, power supply, communication), the standard only requires determination of PFD, but the
components themselves don’t have safety integrity
levels. The main problem with the PFD values
is they’re determined by self-certification by the
manufacturer or by the manufacturer’s hired evaluation firm, and this “certification” doesn’t need
to be approved by any safety authority. Also, component PFDs don’t determine the SIL level of the
loop. They only imply that the loop components
are suitable for a particular level.
On top that, the standard doesn’t even apply to pneumatic or hydraulic logic systems,
nor does it apply to fire and gas systems, safety
alarms, safety controls or to plants that were in
operation before 1996.
SIL Level of a Loop
The SIL level of a loop is not the sum of the
PFDs of its components, but is the product of
the loop’s safe failure fraction (SFF) and the
PFDs of the loop components. The equations
for calculating SFF, PFD and SIL are:
It feels like we’re running in circles trying
to meet regulations and process demands.
I wish we could operate at a higher level.
YOU CAN DO THAT
You can move forward and run at a higher level with Fisher® control valves and
instruments. We understand that you need to keep employees safe and equipment in compliance
with regulations. And that’s getting more difficult as the process industry changes. Fisher products can
help you maintain a safer operation and meet growing regulatory demands. You can experience our
commitment to innovation in process control firsthand with a visit to the Emerson Innovation Center
for Fisher Technology. There, Fisher products are rigorously tested and verified beyond industry
standards by a staff of dedicated technologists. Watch a video of Fisher product testing at
www.Fisher.com/HigherLevel, then schedule a visit.
The Emerson logo is a trademark and service mark of Emerson Electric Co. ©2014 Fisher Controls International LLC. D352316X012 MAA2
LESSONS LEARNED
SIL
number
Required Safety
Availability (RSA)
Probability of Failure
on Demand (PFD)
SIL1
90% to 99%
0.1 to 0.01
SIL2
99% to 99.9%
0.01 to 0.001
SIL3
99.9% to 99.99%
0.001 to 0.0001
SIL4
99.99% to 99.999%
0.0001 to 0.00001
SIL LEVELS
Table 1. A SIL level is a quantifiable measurement of risk used to
establish safety performance targets.
SFF = (lSD + lSU + lDD) / (lSD + lSU + lDD + lDU)
PFD = (lDU)(Proof Test Interval)/2 + (lDD)(Down Time or
Repair Time)
SIL = (SFF)(PFD)
I will not bother to list what each of the terms in these equations mean or explain how they can be determined. I will only
note (obviously jokingly) that to apply them takes the collaboration of an IRS accountant and a rather “flexible” consultant, whose conclusions might just happen to coincide with
the plant’s views.
SIL and Our Manual Culture
According to one survey, 70% of furnace explosions occur during startup and shutdown, when operator involvement is maximum, and 21% occur because undocumented changes were
made by the operators after commissioning. Only 9% of accidents were due to non-operator-related causes.
I’ve written a lot about the need for overrule safety control
(OSC) for critical processes. The key difference between SIS
and OSC is that OSC overrules! In other words, it brings the
plant into a safe state no matter what the basic control system
or the operators do.
SIS doesn’t do that because the committee that developed
it still lives in a “manual culture.” They still trust men more
than machines. They do not understand that OSC is also
made by men, except that the men who design the OSCs are
not panicked operators running around in the dark at 2 a.m.,
but professional control engineers, who had months to identify all potential “what if” sources of possible accidents and
evaluated their potential consequences before deciding on the
emergency actions to be triggered when they arise.
It is this hazard and operability (HAZOP) study during the design phase that is the key to safety. It must be conducted by a team
whose members are fully familiar with the process from their diverse perspectives, including chemical, mechanical, heat transfer,
electrical, etc. In addition, the team should be lead by a process
control engineer who is knowledgeable about the state of the art
16
www.controlglobal.com N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4
THE ALPHABET SOUP OF SIS DISCUSSIONS
BPCS: basic process control system
ESD: emergency shutdown down
FMEA: failure modes and effects analysis
FMECA: failure modes, effects and criticality analysis
FGS logic: fire and gas system logic
FOD: failure on demand (PFD)
F&G: fire and gas
FT: fault tolerance
HAZOP: hazard and operational studies
HIPS: high-integrity protection system
IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission
IEC 61508 is generic functional safety standard
IEC 61511 defines good engineering practices for SIS
IPF: instrument protective functions
ANSI/ISA 84.00.01 (2004): IEC 61511 relaxed for pre-996
plants
LOPA: layers of protection analysis
OSC: override safety controls
MOC: management of change
PFD: probability of failure on demand
PHA: process hazard analysis
RL: reliability level
RSA: required safety availability
SFF: safe failure fraction
SH&E: safety, health and environmental
SIF: safety instrumented function
SIL: safety integrity level
SIS: safety instrumented system
UPS: uninterruptible power supply
of safety automation. This what-if analysis (fault tree analysis) is
the key, and SIS standards committees are a long way from understanding that.
What Else?
What’s probably the worst aspect of SIL ratings is that they
do not apply to entire unit operations such as boilers or distillation columns. In fact, it’s quite possible that a boiler with
a SIL3 steam overpressure protection system can also have a
SIL1 low water level protection loop.
It’s also unfortunate that the SIS committees don’t like
plain English. Their work is peppered with high-tech buzzwords, abbreviations and acronyms that make these documents harder to read and hence less valuable (see sidebar).
In January, Part 2 will outline the safety system standards
that we really need.
Béla Lipták, PE, control consultant, is also editor of the Instrument Engineers’
Handbook and is seeking new co-authors for the for coming new edition of that
multi-volume work. He can be reached at [email protected].
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ON THE BUS
Two Buses, One Foundation
Y
ou’ve probably heard by now that there’s
been a merger of fieldbus protocol foundations representing HART and Foundation
fieldbus (FF). After 2014, there will no longer be
separate foundations governing the HART and
FF protocols. There will be one group, one board
of directors and one president.
But news of the merger has also created speculation and outright dreaming. One end user asked
Chuck Micallef, marketing director for the HART
Communication Foundation, “Will this mean I’ll
be able to use my HART device for Foundation
fieldbus?” Sadly, such dreams will have to be left
on the pillow. We may sooner see interoperability between WirelessHART and ISA 100.11a. So
why won’t HART and FF beget an even cuter and
more lovable protocol like a Labradoodle of buses?
HART and FF do indeed share a lot of
the same DNA. That’s one of the reasons the
merger makes a lot of sense. Back in the days
of the enhanced electronic device description
language (EDDL) cooperation group, it was often heard, “When we looked at HART, FF and
Profibus PA, we found we had 97% of parameters in common.” Humans are said to share
99% of their DNA with chimps and bonobos,
too. While we don’t expect any chimps to be
boarding the bus with the kids in the morning,
the three aforementioned protocols merged
their DD languages into a single IEC standard
a few years ago. Why would these three protocols have this much in common to begin with?
While we may think of the communication
technologies as separate “houses,” they are, in fact,
composed of nearly the same member companies. I can count on one hand the suppliers that
don’t have an offering in at least two of the major
protocols, if not all three. Most of our favorite suppliers belong to all three clubs, and the disparate
technologies really are fueled both intellectually
and financially by the members of each club, so
we shouldn’t be shocked or amazed when similar
features emerge from all three protocols.
On the system side, the economies of conver-
john Rez abek
gence can be even more compelling. A site can
easily find itself employing multiple protocols,
from HART and Modbus to DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP, Profibus and Foundation fieldbus. All
these are integrated—or not—into what’s often a
single host or asset management system. An abundance of intelligence and features on the device
side are “stranded” if there are no services on the
system side to interpret, organize and display the
useful insights and diagnostics to thinking humans. Having greater uniformity between a few of
these more common protocols can only help system developers deliver new features. The folks at
FDT group (www.ftdgroup.org) point out, “a single frame application supports HART, Profibus,
Foundation fieldbus—and others coming soon.”
Which brings us to the FDI Cooperation
(www.fdi-cooperation.org), the latest joint venture
between HART, Foundation fieldbus and Profibus PA, which also includes the FDT Group and
OPC Foundation. (FDI stands for “field device
integration.”) By deploying a unified standard for
the integration, configuration and management
of assets used in process control, FDI aims to
make the delivery and utilization of smart assets/
devices easier, more uniform and more economical for both suppliers and end users.
Many of the same engineers have been showing up at the same meetings and on the same expense accounts, and the supplier companies who
largely foot the bill for these non-profits wondered
why they belonged to so many clubs. With HART
and Fieldbus Foundation both headquartered
in Austin, Texas, the logistics and legal hurdles
were low enough to make the merger compelling.
That’s why it’s happening.
Next year, they’ll be under the same roof. So
why won’t the HART device speak FF? While
the HART device may incorporate many of the
same diagnostic capabilities of its seemingly
identical FF kin, the protocols are fundamentally different both in philosophy and use. Next
month, we’ll explore the main distinctions in a
little more depth.
contributing Editor
[email protected]
So why won’t HART
and FF beget an
even cuter and
more lovable
protocol like a
Labradoodle of
buses?
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
19
Without wires
“Hands-Free” Valves
ian verhappen
Director,
Industrial Automation Ne t works
[email protected]
Protocols such
as Bluetooth
can be used as
a configuration
interface to allow
maintenance work
on the device
without having
to remove it
from service.
20
B
y some estimates, 60-80% of valves are
used in open-loop control, which effectively means they’re controlled manually.
Of course, a number of these valves are strictly
for isolation purposes, and therefore, have no reason to be controlled remotely, since they’ll only
be changed as a result of an associated manual
procedure, such as maintenance work. However,
this does leave a significant opportunity for some
method of communicating with these valves, especially for those located in awkward locations.
“Close coupling” the control element (sensor and controller) can make this happen by
enabling the valve to be mounted in the pipe
rack rather than being brought to grade. Wireless is one way of making the connection from
the control system to the control element.
One consideration for any change from the
present operating status is the question of the
risk or perceived risk of using a wireless signal for control. However, since the loops being
discussed here are presently being controlled
manually, having the ability to be able to confirm remotely the actual position of the control
element can be considered an improvement.
The most significant consideration, however, is whether or not the infrastructure is in
place to implement a wireless system. Infrastructure includes a motive supply—usually air,
since a typical wireless transmitter and milliwatt power supply is insufficient to provide the
required torque—and the necessary equipment
to link the control element to the control system, such as gateways and repeaters.
Depending on the nature of the infrastructure (IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor networks
such as ISA100.11a, WirelessHART, ZigBee
and IEEE 802.11 or Wi-Fi), it could be dualpurposed, not only to support the backhaul of
the control network (IEEE 802.11), but also to
provide data to the field operators or technicians
to receive real-time information while they’re in
the field. For example, a maintenance technician could confirm that the valve is indeed in
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
manual prior to isolating it and starting work.
Then, as he is working on the valve, he could
also access related manuals and documentation, or warehouse inventory of necessary parts,
while performing the task, and consequently,
be a more efficient and safer worker. This requires not only the necessary infrastructure, but
also changes in work practices, which is a much
more difficult process than adding equipment.
Integration of all this is also something that
can’t be done haphazardly, as it affects many
systems across the organization, which means
it must be planned and executed as a multidiscipline project with a strong corporate sponsor.
Wireless communication with valves has
been in place for many years already. Several
suppliers use protocols such as Bluetooth as a
configuration interface to allow maintenance
work on the device without having to remove it
from service or open the enclosure to connect
to the wires. Because Bluetooth has a very limited broadcast range, it’s not practical for wireless sensor networks, though it does this particular application well. In fact, since most mobile
devices include a Bluetooth radio, the potential
(and associated cybersecurity risk) exists that
these devices could be used for calibration. All
that’s required is the appropriate app.
Another alternative is ZigBee. It’s being used
in some applications, predominantly in the
utility sector, where it’s part of the SmartGrid
suite of protocols, not only to communicate to
the controller, but also as a local configuration
option similar to Bluetooth.
Some applications are end-to-end wireless
now, but since most control engineers seem
to be from the “show-me state,” the preference continues to be hardwiring However, the
beachhead has been established, so I’m sure
that it’s only a matter of time before we see
more wireless final control elements, though
they may not always be configured or necessarily installed like the traditional control valve
used today.
In Process
GE Looks to the Future and Sees a Cloud
Immelt’s message: Get with the program or get left behind.
G
E CEO Jeff Immelt’s message to
the more than 600 attendees of
the GE Intelligent Platforms User
Summit, Oct. 27-30 in Orlando, Florida, was both exciting and blunt. He
predicted a possible future that’s bright
and glowing for manufacturers, but
one with challenges that will have to
be faced sooner rather than later and is
coming on fast.
He said that whatever it thinks it is
now, every industrial company will
soon be a software and data analytics company or risk competitive irrelevance. The advent of the cloud, the Internet of Things, pervasive sensing and
the deluge of data that these advances
bring means every company has to master that data and use it to its advantage
because the companies that do so will
leave the laggards in the dust.
Immelt admitted that even GE—
with some 400 plants and factories and
an annual manufacturing spend of $63
billion—can’t build out the industrial
Internet on its own. Collaboration and
co-innovation will be needed to realize
its promise.
Clearly, Immelt believes industry
must adapt the Internet to its own
needs, even as the need for industrial
domain expertise remains front and
center. “Machines still matter, but
they’re surrounded by analytics, services and information,” he said.
As an enabler of business outcomes,
however, “the industrial Internet is
real—it’s not a cartoon and it’s not PowerPoint,” Immelt stressed.
Companies that can harness the triple potential of smarter machines; the
enabling power of sensors, services and
connectivity; and industrial big data
and analytics can help themselves (and
their customers) optimize assets and
operations, and realize the power of
“the 1%,” which is company shorthand
for incremental improvements that pay
off big. For example, a 1% improvement in fuel efficiency of the global
airline fleet is worth $3 billion. “Small
changes can be worth tens of billions
of dollars,” Immelt said.
Other speakers reinforced the urgency
hall of famer gets hand delivery
Paul Murrill, a member of the Process Automation Hall of Fame’s Class of 2014, receives
his award from Control editor-in-chief, Paul
Studebaker at his home in Baton Rouge,
Louisana, on Sept. 17. Murrill is retired from a
career as an academic, university administrator, CFO and professional board member, all
built on a broad understanding of process
control. He is the editor of a series of 27
books on instrumentation and process
control for ISA, and served as an advisor to
the U.S. Dept of Energy’s Oak Ridge National
Laboratory. He was also included in InTech
magazine’s 50 most influential people in
automation, instrumentation and control
technologies.
Expansions and Contractions
Rockwell Automation (www.rockwellautomation.com) has purchased
the assets of ESC Services Inc. (www.
escservices.com), a hazardous energy control provider of lockout-tagout
services and solutions. ESC Services,
based in Franklin, Wisconsin, will be
integrated into Rockwell Automation’s
Control Products and Solutions segment it. Terms were not disclosed.
TE Connectivity (www.te.com) has
completed a previously announced acquisition of Measurement Specialties
22
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
Inc., a designer and manufacturer of
sensors and sensor-based systems,
including pressure, vibration, force,
temperature, humidity, ultrasonics,
position and fluid, for a wide range of
applications and industries. For reporting purposes, Measurement Specialties will be included as part of TE’s
transportation division.
Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
(www.murata.com/en-global)
and
Yokogawa Electric Corp. (www.
yokogawa.com) have agreed to co-
operate in developing communication modules for field wireless devices used in plants. Under the
terms of this agreement, Yokogawa
will license its technology to Murata,
and Murata will develop the communication modules. Through the alliance, Murata will be able to expand
its communication module business to wireless devices for use in
plants, and Yokogawa will be able
to promote wider acceptance of its
field wireless systems based on the
ISA100 wireless standard.
ADB1401
The World’s Most Trusted
Automation Solutions
Partner Since 1915
www.yokogawa.com/us
In Process
of being prepared for this wave of technological change. “Over my career, I’ve
witnessed three or four major shifts in
automation,” said Bernie Anger, general
manager of GE Intelligent Platforms,
in an address on the second day of the
meeting. “Right now, we’re witnessing
the next huge wave of change and innovation. This wave of industrial Internet
and cloud-assisted automation is as big as
HMIs and PLCs were.”
He added, “Hardware matters, but
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it matters differently than it did in the
past. Hardware is the edge of the industrial Internet.” Software, meanwhile, is
at its core. The new software, computing and communications capability
now available mean that, “Every notion we’ve had about how much something costs and how long it takes to do
it are absolutely false,” he added.
The rest of the GE Intelligent Platfors User Summit backed up these
heady predictions with some new offerings. The Predix software platform
is a way for GE to develop industrial
Internet solutions that close the gap between operations technology, such as
PLCs, gateways and SCADA, and business systems, including ERP, CRM
and supply chain systems.
In addition, GE’s Proficy Monitoring and Analysis Suite (PMAS) is an
integrated stack of industrial, datamanagement and analytics software
coupled with industry-specific solutions
and cloud services. It comprises solutions that match neatly with the points
on GE’s Industrial Internet Maturity
Model—connect, monitor, analyze,
predict and optimize.
Also, Proficy Historian and Historian
HD provide the abilities to connect and
monitor. “Historian can be deployed in
a machine control and HMI SCADA all
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1-800-FOR-LEVEL
In Process
the way up to the cloud,” explained David Bell, commercial leader, GE Intelligent Platforms. “It scales in all of those
levels. We’re employing some visualization technology from the Predix platform, and it’s based on HTML5 web
technologies. This allows users to have
the web browser automatically adjust to
their displays.”
Analysis capabilities come from Proficy Historian Analysis, the companion
product to Historian, which has been
fully migrated to the Predix visualization platform in HTML5. This allows
browser-based access to data for ad-hoc
analysis, and Proficy Knowledge Center, which expands on the capabilities
in Historian Analysis to be more of a
fleet management solution.
It integrates with the Industrial Performance and Reliability Center (IPRC), a
GE monitoring center in Lisle, Illinois,
where analysts using Proficy SmartSignal can keep predictive tabs on equipment on a user’s behalf. Proficy SmartSignal detects the very early signs of
deterioration and failure, allowing more
proactive maintenance strategies.
Optimization is enabled by Proficy
CSense. From managing and analyzing data to visualization and workflow,
users can take data and do something
with it. PMAS supports APM through
M&D, predictive maintenance and,
above all, operations intelligence.
ABB Doubles Down
in Oklahoma
Employees, customers and public officials celebrated in late October the official grand opening of ABB’s business unit
expansion in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
The $14 million project is part of ABB’s
ongoing investment in its North American oil and gas operations, and is intended to help meet regional and global
customer demand for its measurement
products, engineering and project services. This is ABB’s third expansion of
the Bartlesville site since 2000.
The facility designs, develops and
manufactures natural gas and liquids
measurement products and analyzers,
as well as software applications and
system solutions for the global oil and
gas market under the TotalFlow brand.
The expansion effectively doubles the
facility size by adding 100,000 square
feet of space, and is expected to double the size of the local workforce over
the next 10 years by adding 250 jobs, a
majority of which are expected to be in
SECURE REAL-TIME ACCESS
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Skkynet Secure Cloud Service now makes it easy
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consolidate information from remote plants, share
data for predictive maintenance and use a web HMI
to view data from around the globe. No new security
hardware or VPN needed. Your plant systems remain
invisible to the Internet and you only share what you
want with who you want.
Real-Time Data Made Easy:
networking, web HMI,
data logging, remote monitor
and control.
Learn more at
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In Process
technical and engineering disciplines.
“The strength of the oil and gas market, specifically unconventional drilling activity, has provided our business
a great opportunity for growth in recent years,” says Gayle Lester, general
manager of ABB’s Bartlesville Measurement Products facility. Lester said
she was particularly proud that the
17-month project was completed without a single lost-time safety incident for
ABB or its contractors.
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A S I A PAC I F I C | A F R I C A | E U R O P E | M I D D L E E A S T | L AT I N A M E R I C A | N O R T H A M E R I C A
Stührenberg to Take
Reins at Phoenix Contact
Frank Stührenberg, executive vice
president, global sales, will become
chairman of the executive board of
Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co KG at
the beginning of 2015. He will take
over the office as well as the tasks that
so far have been held by Klaus Eisert
as managing partner. Stührenberg will
remain in charge of global sales. The
joint responsibility and tasks of the
other four executive vice presidents
will also remain unchanged.
Meanwhile, Eisert will focus his
attention on establishing an advisory
board composed of shareholders and
external personnel.
Grand Openings
Georg Fischer LLC and GF Machining Solutions LLC welcomed more
than 150 guests, including many city
and state officials, at the grand opening
of their new Irvine, California, facility in
October. The 105,000 ft2 campus includes 23,000 ft2 of office, engineering,
technical support and training space;
82,000 ft2 of manufacturing and warehouse space; and more than 100 employees. The manufacturing/fabrication area is capable of producing 3,000
different kinds of valves assembled to
specific customer requirements, and
can cut large pipe diameters as large
as 42 in.
Honeywell (www.honeywellprocess.
com) has opened a new, interactive demonstration center in Houston to give its industrial customers a
glimpse into the future of managing
their manufacturing operations. The
new Customer Experience Center
(CEC) is located at Honeywell Process Solutions’ global headquarters.
The $5 million CEC will be a destination showcase site for Honeywell’s
customers from process industries
throughout the world.
RESOURCES
Where to Find IPC and PLC Information Online
Control’s Monthly Resource Guide
IPC, DCS OR PLC?
An industrial PC (IPC) can perform
just as well as a DCS or a PLC, says
Control’s senior technical editor, Dan
Hebert, PE. And thin clients may offer
additional benefits. Let Dan walk you
through some of differences between
these technologies and help you decide
which may be best for your particular
application. www.controlglobal.com/
articles/2013/hebert-ipc/.
controlglobal.com
w w w.controlglobal.com
HOW IS YOUR CELL PHONE LIKE YOUR PLC?
This seven-page PDF explores the unlikely connection between the relentless push toward increasing energy
efficiency and processing power that
drives improvements in consumer
electronics and the same forces at work
in industrial automation. The industrial automation customer does benefit from the chip manufacturers’ perpetual goal to create processors that do
more while using less energy—a goal
that requires cramming a great deal
of functionality onto ever fewer chips.
Industrial automation users may not
worry about the processor energy requirements, but these new powerful
chips offer many advantages to the automation world in terms of price, timeto-market, flexibility and reliability.
Read more at www.controlglobal.com/
assets/14WPpdf/140916-AD-ProcessorPower.pdf.
Automation Direct
w w w.automationdirect.com
REDUNDANCY IN PACs
Applications that require high availability, advanced data handling and
superior communication capability
are a good fit for PAC redundancy.
This whitepaper looks at the benefits of redundancy, options and implementation details. Most PLC and
PAC controllers exhibit a high degree of reliability, but certain critical
industrial automation applications
simply can’t tolerate downtime. Traditionally, redundant automation systems have been very expensive and
complex, particularly as compared to
standard automation systems. Upfront
hardware costs have been high and
implementation has been difficult,
requiring extensive software development efforts. But now, redundant
PAC automation systems are available
that greatly reduce cost and complexity. These solutions simply require
the purchase of an extra power supply and CPU, and implementation
just requires an extra configuration
step to select the redundant option.
Find out more about what to look for
when redundancy is a must in your application. This whitepaper is free, but
registration is required. Go to www.
controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2013/
pac-controller-redundancy/.
Advantech
w w w.advantech.com
The direct link is at http://bin95.com/
maintenance_management_plc.htm.
Business Industrial Ne t work
w w w.bin95.com
A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO PLCS
Available for less than $10, this ebook,
Beginners Guide to PLC Programming,
by Neal Babcock, and its accompanying
tutorial provide an introduction to PLCs
and PLC control. It contains real-world
examples, tips and routines you can
start using immediately to write your
own PLC programs. The ebook will define the most commonly used terms; explain relay ladder logic in simple, easy
to understand terms; give you the “13
marks of a well-written PLC program;”
explain machine diagnostics and how
to use them in your PLC program; and
introduce you to PLC control and how
it’s used in plant automation. It summarizes dozens of techniques that are
needed to write a solid program. Go to
www.engineer-and-technician.com/beginners-guide-to-plc-programming/ for
more information or to buy and download the book.
Engineer and Technician
w w w.engineer-and-technician.com
SHOCK PROTECTION FOR YOUR IPC
THE CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR PLCS
Good maintenance of your PLCs is
basic to the successful, efficient, safe
and profitable operation of your plant.
So who’s looking out for the care and
maintenance of your PLCs? This article outlines the basics required to ensure your control systems are operating
at their best. It has samples of effective
recordkeeping formats, checklists of
questions your maintenance department should be able to answer, lists of
necessary records required and more.
Protecting an IPC from shock is not
as hard as you might think. This free
tutorial provides the basic lowdown on
what is needed to protect the machine
from vibration, jostling and other hazards during shipping, installation and
operation. Discussions of vibration theory, resonance and drive dynamics are
included. The direct link is at http://
www.chassis-plans.com/white_paper_
shock_and_vibration.html.
chassis pl ans
w w w.chassis-plans.com
If you know of any tools and resources we didn’t include, send them to [email protected] with
“Resource” in the subject line, and we’ll add them to the website.
30
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
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Better
Together?
Combining building and
process automation systems
can ease plant support,
but be prepared to ante up.
by Dan Heber t, P.E.
32
www.controlglobal.com N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4
better together?
M
ost process plants have a need for some type of facilities management and corresponding building automation systems. The degree of sophistication ranges
from very simple for a plant with mostly outdoor equipment,
such as a petrochemical facility, to quite complex for pharmaceutical and other plants where climate control and air
quality are integral parts of the process.
These degrees of sophistication, along with other factors,
drive the decision to use one system or two for process control
and building automation. Other key factors include upfront
costs, operating expenses and staffing requirements.
Sometimes there’s no choice. Paul Darnbrough, engineering manager at system integrator KDC Systems (www.
kdc-systems.com) in Los Alamitos, California, explains,
“Most places we go already have an embedded building automation vendor, and future work almost always goes to that
product line. For larger projects we typically are involved
with, the specifying engineer seems to drive the choice of
using a single, common system or multiple independent systems for manufacturing and facility automation.”
But if there’s a choice, some plants find a unified system
to be the preferred solution for their specific applications.
One System Is Simpler
End users are looking hard at single-source solutions, and in
all cases, it’s a process automation system controlling both
the process and the facility. Building automation systems
simply aren’t capable of controlling anything but the simplest processes, and thus, aren’t used as a single system for
both process and building automation.
“I’ve been involved with co-gen power plants where they
had four different systems, including their chilled water system, all on separate control systems with their own HMIs,”
says John Boyd, technology leader at Maverick Technologies
(www.mavtechglobal.com), a systems integrator in Columbia,
Illinois. “We finished one plant project about two years ago
where everything was integrated into a single control system.
It may actually have separate processors, but it’s all with one
supplier, and it looks like one system to the operators.”
All plant subsystems should be integrated into one overall monitoring and control solution, says Dennis Runo,
president of Custom Automation (www.CustomAutomation.com), a system integrator in Mesa, Arizona. “Successful plant processing is inextricably linked to the supporting
building facilities. With two separate systems, information
can be made to bridge the gap, but it’s much easier when you
have a unified system.”
One reason is to reduce operator confusion. “A well-executed system will have predictable equipment control and
alarm behaviors,” he notes. “Pop-up information, alarm and
control windows will be consistent across all equipment and
subsystems. Many HMIs have templates to make this easier.
“Successful plant processing is inextricably linked
to the supporting building facilities. With separate
systems, information can bridge the gap, but it’s
much easier when you have a unified system.”
Multiple systems could theoretically achieve this as well, but
think of the added work and expense to get them there and
keep them synced.”
The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(WIPP) in the Chihuahauan Desert of southeastern New
Mexico, some 26 miles east of Carlsbad, processes radioactive waste and safely entombs it in deep underground chambers (Figure 1). Thirteen critical subsystems are managed
in the control room on a single system that handles everything including ventilation, electrical distribution and energy monitoring, HVAC, fire protection, radiation monitoring and plant protection (Figure 2).
The WIPP site uses redundant KEPServerEX servers with
OPC and OPC UA to communicate with numerous subsystems using BACnet and other protocols. The interconnected
subsystems talk to each other and accept commands from
the operators on duty. The system is also designed to act independently to maintain a safe environment.
Reasons for choosing a single system typically involve simplicity, single-vendor responsibility, reduced maintenance
costs and standardized operations.
“If the process has many different solutions in place, it can
be expensive to support and maintain,” says Paul Matatall,
network specialist at Optimation (www.optimation.us), a system integrator in Boston. The facility will need support staff
that understands how all this equipment works and how to
resolve any issues that arise. It will increase their training budgets because their support teams will need to be trained on
the different equipment used in their facility. They’ll also
have increased cost in their spare parts inventory because of
the need to have many different products on hand.
Erik Dellinger, product manager at Kepware Technologies
(www.kepware.com) in Portland, Maine, adds, “The one-system approach affords the facility the expected benefits of minimized spare part requirements, consolidated training, integrated communications and a common look and feel.”
Ripon Cogeneration (Figure 3), a power plant in Ripon,
California, had multiple systems, but saw the advantage of
bringing them all together, so the operators could run the
system more efficiently.
“Customers ask us to integrate all the systems into one,” says
Boyd. “For companies looking to be more efficient, that’s a
positive thing. The benefit of one system is the ability to be
more efficient, and that’s in the context of large, enclosed plants
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
33
Better together?
where they have extensive HVAC and climate control units.
Those systems now are very intelligent and automated, and
they have their own web portals and pages to control them. It
doesn’t make sense to keep them separate if you can bring them
into one. I don’t know any reason why you would want to keep
them separate unless the operators are already so busy that they
can’t be distracted by the building control system.”
Another advantage of a single system is simplified communications, making it easier to perform integrated control,
obtain cost and operating data across the plant, send data
to a historian and allow building controls to handle load
changes smoothly and efficiently.
But it isn’t all rosy in single-system land. Dellinger points
out, “If it’s all in one system, and that system goes down, you
lose control of manufacturing and the building. If an operator on the manufacturing floor logs in and accidentally turns
off the HVAC, that could be a problem.”
Another drawback arises during system upgrades. “Obsolescence is a big reason against consolidating process automation,
building automation and utilities,” says Kelli Malloy, leader of
U.S. process automation at Turck (www.turck.com). “While
many DCS companies have obsolescence plans and product
Part of a Single System
Figure 1: Used for underground ventilation at a U.S. DoE nuclear
waste isolation pilot plant in New Mexico, control of this air
handling unit is incorporated into a single automation system.
CONTROL ROOM CONSOLES
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hazardous area
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better together?
support, the reality is that one day these products will need replacing. In addition to the cost of replacing an entire system,
there are other disadvantages to forced migrations when everything is on a single system. These include extensive reprogramming and possible operational disruption, as well as the
potential for point-by-point revalidation on particularly sensitive DCS changes.”
Another reason for separates is that building automation
suppliers understand climate control much better than
process control vendors, making several companies lean
toward the two-system approach.
Separation Can Be Sensible
Can standard process control equipment and systems handle
building automation? Yes, but Darnbrough points to a harsh
reality about using them for that: “Building automation systems offer preconfigured features specific to HVAC and other
extended capabilities, such as calendar scheduling, that make
sense for the application. These same options might need to be
manually created and coded into a PLC or DCS system at great
effort. We rarely use PLC controls for building automation.”
Furthermore, building automation systems are much cheaper
“If it’s all in one system, and that system goes down,
you lose control of manufacturing and the building.
If an operator logs in on the plant floor and accidentally
turns off the HVAC, that could be a problem.”
than process automation systems—often less than half the price.
Matrix Technologies (www.matrixti.com), a system integrator in Maumee, Ohio, prefers using two systems for process control and building automation. Charles Sheets, director of the industrial systems division at Matrix, says, “Since
standard automation components can perform many functions, the same hardware and software can be used to control many different devices including HVAC, boilers, security access, compressors, water, etc.”
Sheets adds that the physical separation is beneficial for
maintenance, security and to ensure that a problem with
one system won’t affect the other. But he wants to use the
same components. “Using standard automation components
such as PLCs allows one service organization to support
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better together?
both systems for troubleshooting and spare parts.”
Support problems often come up with existing plants
that have older controls. “One of our projects involved an
industrial power plant where the original HVAC controls
had been subcontracted to a third party,” Sheets explains.
“Technical support was very difficult to obtain for their proprietary systems. Some of their equipment used PLCs, and
those could be readily supported. The systems with proprietary hardware could not.” Using the same controls—but in
separate systems—eliminates the problem.
“Another project of ours involved optimizing energy recovery from both HVAC and process equipment for a major food manufacturer. In this case, both systems use PLC
controls developed by Matrix Technologies. Since the two
systems communicate, we orchestrated a strategy based on
real-time process and HVAC conditions to optimize overall
plant performance, resulting in significant savings.”
Control and security issues are different between process and
building automation. “For example, if third-party monitoring of
fire, emergency and security is needed, then it might be better
to use a full-service building controls organization,” Sheets says.
There’s also some value in dealing with experts in the field.
“Obsolescence is a big reason against consolidating
process automation, building automation and
utilities. The reality is that one day these products
will need replacing.”
“Proprietary building control systems virtually eliminate unauthorized access,” Sheets notes. “Building control companies
typically have established knowledge of environmental and
other control equipment, and often use a pricing model of lower
initial costs with guarantees of a long-term service/monitoring
contract. Depending on cash flow, this could be a benefit.”
Process control vendors and equipment can perform
building automation, too, but maybe not as well. “Often,
the intellectual property of building control vendors is concealed as part of their offering. It’s just part of the magic. But
there aren’t any building automation functions which can’t
be readily handled by process automation HMIs, PLCs and
sensors,” Sheets says. “The challenge is in having the application knowledge to implement the functions.”
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better together?
Using one system also might put
a strain on building automation vendors. “Building automation system
vendors typically have a standard hardware and software solution and would
have to modify their controls to support
process industry equipment and standards,” says Optimation’s Matatall. “Having them change their technology to the
process standard might raise the cost of
their equipment, and even eliminate
them from bidding a project completely.”
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Why Combined systems can
work better together
• One system to learn and maintain
• Same HMI displays
• Similar control programming
• Single-vendor responsibility
• Simplified maintenance and spare
parts stocking
• Easier integration of data between
systems
• More open than using proprietary
building automation system
Reasons to Keep Process and
Building Automation Separate
•L
ower upfront costs because building automation systems are cheaper
• B uilding automation systems have
built-in building-oriented control
schemes
• Each system is simpler than a combined alternative
• A failure in one system doesn’t take
the entire plant down
The need for environmental control
varies across the process industry. “Even
within a particular facility, building management requirements differ based on the
type of space. Regulated industries, such
as life sciences, must report on conditions
that could impact production, including humidity and temperature. These
applications require industrial-grade,
precise measurement and control,” says
Bob Lenich, global Syncade business director at Emerson Process Management
(www.emerson.com). “In these same facilities, gray spaces, such as offices and
corridors, have less stringent reporting requirements, in which case, commercialgrade instrumentation and controls may
be more appropriate and less expensive.
For these spaces, a building management
system makes sense.
“There’s growing interest in understanding how building environments
affect production in the food and beverage and specialty chemicals industries. The two-system approach is an
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mation, safety and monitoring systems reach the control room via redundant networks.
effective one for them as well. They get
the benefits of best-in-class technology
for both process control and building
management without the expense of a
single, combined system.”
Every industry segment has its own requirements for process control and building automation, says Malloy. “In some
cases, such as with small chemical manufacturers, light industry or non-GMP processes, one system could potentially do it
all. However, for large processing facilities in biotech, pharmaceutical and semiconductor, where building automation
plays a role in the quality of the end product, multiple levels of control systems are
standard and for very good reasons.”
Different Strokes
Choosing between a single or multiple systems isn’t an easy choice.
“Conceivably, with the right servers
and processes in place, all manufacturing and building automation data
could be tracked by one system and
integrated in one place,” says Malloy.
“However, for most industries, this
isn’t possible or not a good idea.”
For example, pharmaceutical manufacturer Bayer HealthCare, Berkeley,
California, keeps its process and building automation systems separate. The
company has several operational areas,
and most use a combination of control
platforms. At the Berkeley site, it uses
ABB DCS controllers for process automation with a combination of Rockwell
Automation and Siemens PLCs, plus a
few proprietary systems for specialty
processes. With the DCS, the plant has
the redundancy and control capability
a major pharmaceutical facility needs.
The PLCs give it the flexibility to add
small systems when needed.
b e tt e r t o g e t h e r ?
“Getting the MES and building automation system to
communicate all information with the DCS is a large and
complicated undertaking, and gets more complicated when
the data is then fed to a historian. But having the systems
run separately gives flexibility to the control system that’s
beneficial to revalidation,” notes Chris Williams, associate
director, API engineering at Bayer.
“It’s not that we don’t see the advantages of using a single
control system; it’s that the disadvantages for our different
process areas are costly. One of the larger operating costs we
have is software and tag licensing. We can save some significant costs by keeping non-GMP processes off our DCS and
operating on a lower-cost-of-ownership SCADA. However,
the primary expense regards replacing equipment in a validated process. Using equipment that can communicate over
multiple processors is one thing that interests us, and having
partners with that kind of equipment to make validations
easier is advantageous to us.”
On the other hand, the ability to integrate multiple control
platforms and islands of control in a plant is becoming easier
and more commonplace, says Malloy. “It will become even
more feasible in the future for multiple controllers to talk over
open protocols and integrate over non-proprietary boundaries. This will minimize the risk of how controllers communicate, how resources are allocated along operational unit lines,
and how to mitigate obsolescence of technology.”
One system can work well for companies that are dedicated and vigilant about maintaining the single system. One
successful example is a large food manufacturer that opted
to switch to a single PLC manufacturer, a single platform
and, whenever possible, a single bus protocol at its facility.
“The company has seen single-system benefits through
having dedicated programmers familiar with the PLC programming language, consolidation of spare parts and the
ability to train technicians on a single platform for troubleshooting purposes,” says Malloy. “There are challenges, but
the company is committed to the success of this single system.
Management is made easier because the manufacturer does
not require revalidation. One potential problem for manufacturers considering this switch is heavy reliance on one vendor
for technical support.”
Even when systems are separate, they can be presented to
the operator as one. Boyd explains. “A Quaker-Muller yogurt
plant we completed in Batavia, New York, was originally designed and built with two separate systems, but they asked us
if there was a way to integrate the two, so that the HMI screens
and parameters on the HVAC system could be integrated into
the process automation system. At Quaker-Muller, the climate control system is very important and really integral to
the process itself, and we were able to fulfill their request.”
In either case, companies are interested in how long they’ll
be able to operate before the equipment is obsolete. Proprietary
“It will become even more feasible in the future for
multiple controllers to talk over open protocols and
integrate over non-proprietary boundaries. This will
minimize the risk.”
controllers increase the risk of obsolescence, while non-proprietary controls open opportunities for companies to gain functionality while minimizing reliance on a single manufacturer.
“Can We Talk?
One problem with a two-system approach is that building
automation systems have adopted BACnet communications,
while process control systems use fieldbus and Ethernet networks, such as EtherNet/IP and Profinet. Can the two talk
to each other?
“Companies like ProSoft Technologies [www.prosofttechnology.com] make cards that talk to the majority of
building automation systems,” says Maverick’s Boyd. “We
used the cards to integrate the HVAC systems at a Sun
Chemical plant into the main control system.”
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Boyd believes ProSoft would not have designed and
manufactured a series of products designed to interface
with building control systems if no demand for that capability existed.
Sheets agrees. “We’re seeing two trends—a movement
of the building automation system manufacturers to use
more standard protocols, such as the Internet of Things,
and more tools to integrate them.”
Dellinger adds, “There’s no ideal solution here, but a good
one we routinely see is two separate systems that only share
the data they need. For example, PLCs and software on the
manufacturing floor might be communicating via EtherNet/
IP, and the building system might be using BACnet. These
are two different systems, but an OPC server can communicate both BACnet and Ethernet/IP, and provide access and
translation of only the data needed between systems.
“Today, it’s less common to see manufacturing and
building automation tied together into a single system. As
for the future, we’ll see—but I would bet we move more toward consolidation.”
There certainly is a trend toward consolidating process
control and building automation systems, especially in new
plants. This consolidation can range from using one system
to control everything to using two systems with tight integration via digital data networks.
In older plants, a building automation system probably already exists, may be doing its job very well, and justifying its
replacement may be difficult. Instead, an existing building system can be easily integrated into a new process control system
with tools like BACnet interface cards, OPC and Ethernet.
In newer plants, either approach will work, with selection
of a combined process and building automation system or
separates driven by the application requirements.
Dan Heber t is a Control’s senior technical editor.
©©COPYRIGHT
INCALL
ALLRIGHTS
RIGHTSRESERVED
RESERVED
COPYRIGHT 2014
2011 OMEGA
OMEGA ENGINEERING,
ENGINEERING, INC.
®
Prices listed are those in effect at the time of publication and are subject to change without notice.
Please contact OMEGA’s sales department for current prices.
© COPYRIGHT 2012 OMEGA ENGINEERING, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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25 YEARS OF CONTROL
Pig Iron Gets a Brain
Over the past 25 years, valve technology has consistently outrun
what you generally find in the field.
by Paul Studebaker
A
s we near the end of this year’s 25th anniversary retrospective of Control’s coverage
of topics ranging from analyzers and asset
management through optimization and safety
1989
systems, control valves appear to have changed
the least. Our fourth issue, in March 1990, already commented earnestly about minimizing
fugitive emissions and improving valve integrity through
better design and materials, ongoing work to standardize
a fieldbus for digital valve control, and the exciting prospect of a “smart” control valve.
The smart valve would include “electronic
pressure sensors near the upstream and downstream fl anges, effectively measuring and
sending the pressure differential that exists
2014
under flowing conditions across the valve orifice. Another sensor would transmit the valve
stem position to an attached microprocessor,”
allowing the microprocessor to calculate the mass flow “at
any given moment” and on detecting an upset, to “reposition the valve stem to reestablish the previously desired
flow rate.”
TIMELINE
OCTOBER1988
Control Is Launched at ISA/88 in Houston
The 284-page inaugural issue’s 16 pages of product
introductions included valves by Dezurik,
Milton Roy and Whitey.
MARCH1990
Control Valve Industry Update 1990
The latest developments in technology are about preventing
fugitive emissions and communication standards. “As for new
control valve products, the concept of a ‘smart’ control valve
captivated the industry’s attention.”
FEBRUARY1989
Understanding Electric
Actuators for Valve Automation
A guide for specifiers and users
outlined the operating principles of
electric actuators, spelling out the
component functions, terminology,
cam design and gearing, and
other accessories.
OCTOBER1990
The Pneumatic Actuator Argument:
Piston or Diaphragm?
We examined the differences between piston and diaphragm
pneumatic actuators, arguing that for all but the simplest
applications, piston actuators are worth the extra cost because
of performance and installation advantages.
MARCH1994
Time Is Finally Ripe for Accepting
Smart Control Valves
MAY1992
Smart Valve Is Pricey,
but Can Be Worth It
A review of Valtek International’s
Starpac Intelligent System found
the all-in-one flow controller/
valve a good choice for certain
applications, but overkill for simple
flow control.
Blaming the limited success of early smart valve introductions
in 1986 by Fisher Controls, 1990 by Valtek and 1992 by Rotork
on the need for a change in controls philosophy, executive
editor Keith Larson said, “Smart transmitters have proliferated,
and now valves are finally poised to catch up.”
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
47
25 years of control
Over the next few decades, valve
technology has stayed well ahead of the
engineering, purchasing and maintenance disciplines, which have contributed the most to valve deficiencies in
process control by ignoring the latest
innovations, specifying the wrong
sizes and trims, buying the cheapest
items that might barely work, leaving
off the positioners and consistently
over- and under-maintaining the installed base.
As editor-in-chief Walt Boyes reported in March 2007, “While suppliers continue to trumpet asset
management and smarter valves,
and end users continue not to buy
them, quietly these same suppliers
continue to improve the mechanical performance of valves.”
A November 1998 discussion of
rotary- vs. rising-shaft valves noted
that advances in valve and actuator
technologies hadn’t yet completely
overcome the inherent characteristics of the two main alternatives.
Control valves are “not just pig-iron
devices to be thrown in as an afterthought,” said J.B. Arant of DuPont.
“This is your final control element
and can make all of the fancy and
high-performance sensors and computers to no avail.”
As we progress through this decade, innovative actuators, positioners and algorithms are letting lessexpensive rotary valves perform like
pricier globes and gates. Control
system and software developers are
closing the gap between valve potential and actual performance with
diagnostics that can allow users not
only to pinpoint problem valves and
their exact valve problems, but to
overcome them with software remedies that can make an ailing valve
perform well enough to maintain
control until the underlying backlash, slip or stiction problem can be
corrected.
Today, the bad news is that our
writers continue to find that the
same old valve problems—and apparently in many cases, the same
old valves—remain major contributors to problems with loop tuning and process stability. The good
news is, such problems can be and
have been solved by savvy Control’
readers who understand the pitfalls,
then engineer and maintain them
out of their plants by applying some
of the abundant solutions they’ve
found on these pages.
25 YEARS OF CONTROL
JUNE1995
A Controlling Interest in Variable-Speed Drives
The increased reliability and precision of AC drives are raising
the interest of process control engineers, who want to increase
energy efficiency and minimize pipe and duct sizes by using
them on pumps and fans instead of throttling flows
with control valves and dampers.
NOVEMBER1997
Valves Make the Difference in Advanced Control
Small improvements in performance of control loop components
can significantly impact profitability of process optimization,
said editor-in-chief Paul Studebaker. But, “Little can be gained
by developing a sophisticated control room architecture
that’s capable of performing to half-percent accuracy, then
implementing that control strategy with a final control element
that may only be capable of 5% accuracy at best.”
NOVEMBER1998
Sliding-Stem vs. Rotary Control Valves
Advances in valve and actuator technologies haven’t yet
completely overcome the inherent characteristics of the two
main alternatives. Control valves are “not just pig-iron devices to
be thrown in as an afterthought,” said J.B. Arant of DuPont. “This
is your final control element and can make all of the fancy and
high-performance sensors and computers to no avail.”
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MARCH1996
Control Valve Diagnostics:
Ready for Prime Time
For reasons ranging from improper
selection to poor tuning, many control
valves perform inadequately. “Now
control valve manufacturers have
started to provide diagnostic tools to
test and monitor valve performance,”
wrote Robert Ancrum of Fluor Daniel.
“But what is valve performance?
Each manufacturer has a different definition.”
MARCH2000
Valves for Safety Systems
Although 85% of safety system failures are in field devices, not
controllers, we have only recently seen an increase in purpose-built
safety field devices, said Bill Mostia, PE. “More work needs to be done
on the actuator and valve areas to provide high-reliability valves for
demand-mode operation.”
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25 YEARS OF CONTROL
NOVEMBER2000
Stiction: The Hidden Menace
“The optimal tuning parameters ensure
your equipment is used at maximum
efficiency,” said Michel Ruel, but “a
valve is often the weak link of the loop.”
Ruel told readers how to recognize
stiction, backlash and hidden cycling,
to understand the real cost of 1% or
2% hysteresis or stiction, and the full
value of “the perfect valve.”
NOVEMBER2002
Keys to Selecting
Actuators/Positioners
“For decades, your biggest decision
was what color pneumatic actuator to
use,” said senior technical editor Rich
Merritt. With digital communications,
electric actuation, integrated control
and built-in diagnostics, “Today,
instead of just being reliable utility
infielders, positioners and actuators
are stepping up to the plate as home-run hitters.”
NOVEMBER2004
Should Valves Be Integrated?
Purchasing and assembling a valve with a bracket, actuator and
control accessories such as limit switches and solenoid valves used
to be complicated. Now, instead of building it yourself or having it built
by a local distributor, you can purchase a complete assembly from a
valve vendor, wrote senior tehnical editor Dan Hebert, P.E.
So why do most plants still “roll their own”?
NOVEMBER2007
Do You Know Who Made Your Valves?
Rob Bartlett, director of the British Valve and Actuator Association,
said there’s more anecdotal evidence than ever before about fake
products and parts, coming mostly from Asia and specifically China.
MARCH2011
Eliminating the Control Valve
Valves are energy hogs, they stick, they’re prone to mechanical
failure, so why the reluctance to replace them with variable-frequency
drives? Dick Caro asked control engineers that question, and
discovered that they didn’t know what a VFD is and does.
NOVEMBER2012
Is Your Control Valve an Imposter?
“Too often, to reduce project costs, plants pick on/off valves to
address requirements,” said Greg McMillan. He added that, from
quick-opening flow characteristic to backlash and stiction, “more
than an order of magnitude larger than valves originally designed for
throttling service, these valves can create performance problems that
can’t be fixed simply by adding a smart positioner.”
50
www.controlglobal.com N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4
MARCH2001
Turned-On Valves
This year’s installment in the ongoing saga of embedded
intelligence, digital communications, control at the valve and
diagnostics focused on fieldbus. Recent developments in HART
and digital positioners are helping plants focus maintenance and
reliability efforts on the valves that really need it.
AUGUST2001
Ins and Outs of
Partial-Stroke Testing
We got quantitative about
calculating test intervals based
on probability of failure and safety
integrity level (SIL) requirements.
“From a review of the above
equations, it should be apparent that
partial-stroke testing can be used to
extend your test interval,” said Bill
Mostia, PE. “But always remember these are only calculations
and not substitutes for good engineering practice.”
MARCH2003
Ungrateful Dead Band
The combination of a linear trim, an equal-percentage positioner,
backlash and stiction has “technicians lifting off their seats because
the valves will only lift off their seats when the controller output reaches
40%,” said Greg McMillan and Stan Weiner in Control Talk. Dead band
is bad, and “putting the linearization ahead of the dead band can make
the situation even worse.”
MAY2005
The Next Generation of Smarter Valves
Some intelligent positioners are capable of predictive valve
maintenance (PVM), but must introduce an artificial offset into the
control signal, and “plant operators are reluctant to accept the resulting
upset,” said Bela Liptak. “PVM and predictive diagnostics in the future
should not require ramping the valve through the full range of travel,
but should evaluate the friction in the valve under normal operation.”
MARCH2009
Old Valves, New Tricks
For technologies that are 80 years old and sometimes older, there’s a
lot going on with valves and the actuators and positioners that move
and control them, said executive editor Jim Montague, who focused on
how refinements in condition monitoring and intelligence are reducing
the frequency, time, instrumentation and expertise required to calibrate
and maintain control valves.
MAY2012
Control Valve Innovations
Control Talk’s Greg McMillan and Stan Weiner explored the history
of control valves with valve guru Hans Baumann. We learned that
many rotary valve linkages are sloppy because they were designed
as on/off valves and adapted for control. Rotary valves should have
splined shafts and be clamped to the actuator, Baumann said.
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25
SAFETY INSTRUMENTED SYSTEMS
Embracing the
Safety Lifecycle
BP and Emerson Process Management
show how to prevent systemic failures
in safety instrumented systems.
by Jim Montague
H
aving a safety instrumented system (SIS) doesn’t make process
control applications safe. Adopting it intelligently and managing it vigilantly makes them safe.
“All systems fail at some point in
time,” says Rahul Bhojani, PE, technical authority for downstream at BP
(www.bp.com) “SISs can have random
or systematic failures. Random failures are usually the result of degraded
mechanisms in the hardware, such as
corrosion or thermal shocks. Systematic failures are due to human error
during the lifecycle of the SIS or process, and so they can occur during any
phase of that lifecycle.”
Bhojani and Len Laskowski, PE, principal technical consultant at Emerson
Process Management’s Midwest Engineering Center, presented “Safety Instrumented Systems: Why Do They Fail?” on
Oct. 7 at the Emerson Global Users Exchange 2014 in Orlando, Florida.
“The good news is that failures can be
learned from and help produce process
safety standards, such as OSHA PSM
1910.119, as well as SIS standards, such
as ISA 84/IEC 61511, which have evolved
over time,” explains Bhojani. “Some
of these standards have requirements,
while others have recommended good
practices. Either way, it’s important that
applicable requirements are understood
and followed.”
For example, NFPA 86 states that,
“In the event of a loss of flame, the
burner management system on an oven
or furnace shall close the safety shutoff
valves to prevent gas from accumulating in the firebox.” However, Laskowski
reports this earlier version of the standard didn’t cover whether users needed
to make sure they didn’t have a flame
before they started. “The answer is yes!
This is because a flame detector was
once ‘stuck on,’ the flame went out and
didn’t trip the burner, and gas accumulated and caused an explosion,” says
Laskowski. “As a result, NFPA 86 now
requires you to verify that no flame is
present as part of the safe-start check.”
Bhojani adds, “This is why details
are so important in managing safety
systems. You have to get a lot right in
safety instrumented functions (SIFs) to
get them to perform properly.”
So how can you spot these issues?
Bhojani advises taking several essential steps:
• Attend a thorough hazard and operability (HAZOP) study.
• Verify the layers of protection analysis (LOPA) evaluation.
• Have a complete safety requirements specifications (SRS) analysis.
• Install new functioning hardware.
• Install new tested software.
• Conduct regular proof tests.
• Train world-class operators.
• Use engineered trip setpoints or
process delay time.
“However, you have to be careful
here as well because you can negate a
SIF because you haven’t selected the
right trip setpoint,” adds Laskowski,
who recommends adopting a three-part
safety lifecycle procedure (Figure 1):
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
53
safety instrumented systems
• T he first part, Analysis, includes
performing a process hazard and
risk analysis, allocating safety
functions to protection layers and
drafting the SIS safety requirements specification.
• T he second part, Realization, includes designing and engineering the SIS, building, integrating
and factory acceptance testing it,
installing and commissioning the
SIS, and safety-validating it.
• The third part, Operation, includes
operating and maintaining the SIS,
modifying it as needed, and decommissioning it at the end of its
lifecycle.
“Unfortunately, safety lifecycles
can fail when all initiating causes
aren’t identified, such as when all fuel
sources to BMSs [burner management
systems], SRUs [sulfur recovery units]
and thermal oxidizers aren’t identified,” explains Laskowski. “Likewise,
during overfills, all inlet lines, not just
big ones, need to be identified as closing on high level. Also, loss of utilities like power, steam, cooling water
and instrument air can lead to initiation, and need to be identified. Finally,
other consequences may have been
under or overestimated.”
To seek a stable safety lifecycle,
Laskowski also suggests that SIS and
process applications implement an
“interaction matrix,” which lists all
raw materials, end products and other
materials and equipment in a process
Process hazard and risk Analysis
(Clause 8)
Allocation of safety function to protection layers
(Clause 9)
Front-end
engineering
and design
(FEED)
Analysis
Safety instrumented system (SIS) safety requirements specification
(Clauses 10 and 11)
Concept
SIS design and engineering
(Clauses 11 and 12.4)
Design
SIS build, integration and factory acceptance test (FAT)
(Clauses 12.5 and 13)
Build
Realization
SIS installation and commissioning
(Clause 14)
Install
SIS safety validation
(Clauses 12.3, 12.7 and 15)
SIS operation and maintenance
(Clause 16)
Operation
SIS modification
(Clause 17)
Support
SIS decommissioning
(Clause 18)
What is the Safety Lifecycle?
Figure 1: The procedure for adopting an effective and successful lifecycle for safety
instrumented systems (SISs) includes three main steps—analysis, realization and operation—according to the IEC 61511-1 international standard, “Functional Safety–SISs for
the Process Industry Sector.”
54
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
application on an X-Y axis, and then
cross-references their potential interactions with each other (Figure 2). “If
two of these materials come in contact
they could decompose, polymerize or
become flammable,” says Laskowski.
“After one big explosion, the affected
R&D department said it hadn’t reported that the two materials involved
could possibly explode because they
were never supposed to be heated.
In fact, they were cooled in this process. However, during start-up or shutdown, they did become heated, and
that caused the accident.
“Many independent protection
layers [IPLs] aren’t as independent as they’re described. There are
common-cause failures. And many
safety functions aren’t clearly defined and don’t completely mitigate
their hazards. One research study reported that 44% of failures are engineered into their application’s specifications, so this is why the most
important task is to validate your
LOPA early. Further up in the process stream, the LOPA may not be
as stringent and IPLs may not be as
valid as they should be, and this little
bit of wiggle room can cause some
real problems. So users need to look
at all possible modes of failure and
also do complete testing.”
Bhojani adds, “It’s difficult to
quantify direct project savings, but
from a moral perspective, providing
employees a safe workplace is the
right thing to do, and it’s also a legal requirement. Properly designed
and operating SISs and other IPLs
are fundamental to maintaining a
license to operate a facility. This is
why proper SIS lifecycle management is required, and must be designed, operated and maintained correctly. This can be best addressed by
auditing projects and facilities, and
will reduce the user’s total cost of
ownership. It’s better to have fewer,
well-managed IPLs than numerous,
non-managed IPLs.”
safety instrumented systems
A
B
A
A
C+D
C
Flammable
B
C+D
B
Pyrophoric
C
D
Air
Water
Steam
Polymerizes
?
C
D
D
Air
Nerve gas
Flammable
Water
Nerve gas
Steam
Polymerizes
?
Acid Wash Solution
Polymerizes
?
Caustic Wash Solution
Polymerizes
?
High Temp
Polymerizes
?
Low Temp
High Pressure
O-Rings (Viton)
Decomposes
Humidity
Carbon Steel
Pyrophoric
Corrosion
Corrosion
Nerve gas
Corrosion
Corrosion
Sample Interaction Matrix
Figure 2: An interaction matrix lists all raw materials, end products, and other materials and equipment in a process application on
an X-Y axis, and then cross-references their potential interactions with each other, such as chemistry A+B leading to C+D.
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Asset Management
Design to the
Abilities
Use these five perspectives to improve functionality and reduce lifecycle costs.
by William Mostia, P.E.
E
arly in my engineering career, I was primarily focused
on designing for functionality: to provide a desired capability based on discussions with individual project
stakeholders. Because I had experience in the petrochemical industry prior to becoming an engineer, I was fairly successful in anticipating the needs of various stakeholders. I
also found that engineering departments often were more
interested in how many projects an engineer completed annually, within budget and on schedule than in the quality
of the projects, so long as operations and maintenance did
not complain too much. In the plant, however, the feedback
path to the engineer was relatively short, and plant operations and maintenance concerns were more immediate.
As time went on, I became more interested in the aspects
and considerations of a truly good project, and how to help
assure that we achieved them in our design. I found that
many of these ended in “-ability”: reliability, maintainability, operability, testability, etc. Hence, the title above and the
discussion below.
This discussion is intended to help the design engineer
get all his ducks in a row to produce a quality engineered
project. The design discussion revolves around instrument,
electrical and controls engineering in the process industries,
but can also apply to other engineering disciplines.
Quality is commonly defined as meeting specifications.
This presupposes that the requirements in the specification
properly define the project, its goals, the project’s operating environment, and the requirements and expectations
of all stakeholders. On the other hand, performance-based
specifications open the door wide to interpretation, bias and
subjectivity. Quality often is in the eye of the beholder, being somewhat subjective, fuzzy and generally qualitative in
nature, particularly when people are part of the equation.
However, generally speaking, you know a quality design
when you see one, and vice versa. The project quality goal
I’ve adopted can be generally summarized as, “works fine,
lasts a long time, and is easy to fix.”
Define Quality of Engineering
Engineering quality starts with the project’s design characteristics meeting the design specifications. A quality design provides
the functionality expected by the stakeholders, as perceived by
the engineer or designer, and based on a good design specification (without that you’re doomed from the beginning anyway).
The primary stakeholders are typically operations, maintenance
and engineering. Other stakeholders might be management,
IT, marketing, purchasing, accounting, etc.
Stakeholders will also have project expectations that may not
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
57
ASSET MANAGEMENT
The project quality goal I’ve adopted
can be generally summarized as,
“works fine, lasts a long time and is
easy to fix.”
appear in the specification, or if they do, they may have been
stated in general or in a fuzzy way, open to interpretation with
abundant uncertainty. For example, the maintenance department stakeholder will expect the project to be designed to be
maintainable, though it may not defined or stated in the spec or
the spec may state that the mean time to repair (MTTR) is to be
24 hours, but may be fuzzy about how to achieve it.
Attention to the “abilities” and other aspects of a quality
engineering design discussed here will encourage broader
and deeper thinking regarding what aspects constitute a quality engineering design and how to accomplish it. Much of
this revolves around being able to have different stakeholder
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perspectives, sort of like out-of-the-box thinking where you
look at the box (system) from different directions or dimensions. A quality design is a gestalt—an organized whole that
is more than the sum of its parts—combining many requirements and perspectives, and accomplishing the desired project goals requires a holistic view to deal with the inherent
complexities in man-machine interactions.
Ability Number 1: Reliability
Designing for reliability means creating a design that has a
high probability of performing the required function under
given conditions for a given time interval. Reliability is a major “ability,” but may be overlooked during the design process.
Reliability engineering is not always an expected core competency for design engineers, who may have learned little on the
subject in engineering school and in their on-the-job training.
Reliability of control and safety systems is important for efficient and safe operation of the facility. Reliability and safety
should be built in and not patched or added on at later date in
the design. A reliable plant is a safer plant.
Reliability may be inherent in a company’s specs or in external standards, but may not be well understood by the engineers that use the specifications. Doing things by rote without
understanding is not really engineering. Many times systems
are designed with the expectation of success—that everything
will work as expected, and you’re on to the next project.
Choosing reliable instrumentation and using reliability
design practices are important to assure overall reliability of
control, instrumentation and safety systems. However, without consideration of what happens if the system fails, you have
looked at only at one side of the equation. Changing from designing strictly for functionality to also considering potential
system failures (what in the design can fail and how; what can
cause the failure, and what can we do about it; and how will
we repair the system if it happens?) broadens the horizons of
the design and will result in a more reliable design.
Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) or failure
modes and effects criticality analysis (FMECA) tools are
commonly used to analyze failures and their effects.
Availability is one of the “abilities” associated with reliability. Availability is commonly used for control systems
and process equipment, and is essentially the percent uptime for your system: the higher the availability, the more
reliable the system and the happier management will be.
Unavailability is primarily used for safety systems. The more
reliable a safety system is expected to be in performing its
safety function, the smaller its unavailability.
Nothing ruins a controls project more than being unreliable. Unanticipated and/or premature failures can be embarrassing and can sometimes put a major crimp in your reputation. You will know that you have arrived at the bottom when
people put your name on a system due to its unreliability.
ASSET MANAGEMENT
Unreliability not only affects the capability of the system to perform its function, but it also undermines the operator’s confidence in the system, maybe to
the point of it’s not being used anymore.
And it doesn’t make maintenance very
happy either.
Ability Number 2: Operability
Designing for operability means designing the system so that it does its
expected job reliably (high uptime)
and also has an efficient human-machine interface (HMI). The HMI is
not simply the computer screen, but
is the gestalt of the board operator’s
interaction with the control system
and process, the field operator’s interaction with the physical field installation and instrumentation, and
the situational awareness provided by
the system’s control interfaces, both
from the board and in the field, to efficiently and safely operate the plant.
The system HMI should be built
around human factors and the operating environment, and be designed to
make operating the system efficient,
easy and intuitive.
The easiest way to get a bad reputation as an engineer is to put in a system
that is hard to operate. Include operations in the design process whenever
you can, and you might be surprised
by how their suggestions help the design (and you might gain a friend or
two to help you in the future). Operators do not like change and view it with
suspicion, so including them in the design process and any new technology
can put to rest many of the operators’
concerns and fears about change.
Ability Number 3: Maintainability
Maintainability can be defined as the
ease with which a system can be maintained. Mathematically, it’ defined as
the combination of characteristics of
a design and installation that determines the probability that a system can
be restored to its normal operable state
within a given timeframe using standard practices and procedures.
Designing for maintainability requires looking at the project from a
maintenance perspective, such as it’s
broken and how will I keep it running,
or how will I fix it efficiently, quickly
and safely and return it to service in a
timely manner?
In some respects, maintainability is
the opposite of reliability, and they’re interrelated. Reliability is concerned with
running systems, while maintainability
is concerned with the repair of a failed
system or keeping the system from failing. Fast repairs improve availability. Obviously, the more reliable a system is, the
less maintenance will be required.
There is an old maintenance saying:
“Engineering may have a project for a
year, but maintenance has to live with
it for 20 years.” This is why you often
find that, if an audit is done several
years later, the project design has been
substantially modified to make it easier
to work on or to operate.
Everything fails; that’s why we have
maintenance departments. Plan ahead
in your design as to how your installation can be easily and safely maintained, and you’ll have some happy
campers in maintenance.
Ability Number 4: Testability
Testability concerns itself primarily
with safety systems such as independent protection layer (IPL) alarms,
safety instrumented systems (SIS), and
general safety instrumentation such as
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Asset Management
The easiest way to get a bad
reputation as an engineer is to put
in a system that is hard to operate.
fire and gas (F&G). It can be defined as how easily a system
can be tested and the test coverage of the test, such as what
percentage of dangerous failures are covered by a test. Testability can be significantly affected by the system technology
and installation. For example, some level and flow technologies are harder to test than others. Through-the-air radar for
level measurement is harder to test than guided wave radar,
and orifice flowmeters, which are easier to test than turbine
or vortex meters.
Testability concerns itself with the arrangement of the
physical aspects of the installation that facilitate testing. It’s
also concerned with the complexity, quality, clarity and completeness of the test procedure. Systems that are hard to test
often will have testing done improperly, put off or delayed, or
not done at all. So in your design, plan ahead for how you are
going to test those systems that require periodic testing.
Ability Number 5: Supportability
Designing for supportability considers the technology used
in the design relative to the end user’s ability to support and
maintain the technology over the lifecycle of the system. External support from vendors, manufacturers, contractors and
third parties also are considered. It obviously doesn’t pay to
have a project that works fine, but nobody except the original designer or contractor understands it. And, low and behold, when you need support, they’re nowhere to be found.
And yet, this does happen.
A good example of supportability is why PLC ladder logic
is still around and doesn’t seem to be dying out very fast.
This is because the level of support is relatively low, allowing an electrician or basic instrument techs to support it.
Higher-level PLC languages require higher levels of support
expertise, so your selection of equipment and software may
create the need for a PLC programmer or specialist, or leave
you stuck with support from an outside contractor or vendor.
As a natural consequence of technical development, instruments, electricals and controls have become more complex, requiring a higher level of expertise to be supported by
the end user, but further complicating this is the fact that
the mix should be approached very carefully.
The project-provided documentation also must be adequate for long-term engineering support. Installation documentation isn’t typically adequate for long-term engineering
and maintenance support.
60
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
Regardless of your internal level of capability, you will
probably require some vendor or manufacturer support,
such as technical, spare parts, etc. Generally speaking, the
longer the path you have to take to get a technical answer
and the more people you have to talk to before you get your
answer, the poorer the overall quality of support will be.
Generally, if a second language is involved, support transactions will be more difficult. Selecting equipment where the
quality of support might be questionable reduces the quality
of the design from an end-user perspective.
Accomplishing the Abilities
To achieve these abilities, you need to look at your project not
only from your point of view, but also as other stakeholders
and non-stakeholders might see it—sort of walk a mile in their
shoes. For example, how would a maintenance tech view your
project if he had to work on it or perform a test on it? Easy or
hard? How would an operator perform a safety task in a hurry
on the HMI? Are simple tasks really simple on the HMI?
Five years from now, if you looked back at your project,
what would you be liable to say about it? Or worse, what
would other people say about it?
It often helps to get experienced stakeholders involved
early in the design stage. Strong internal checking and internal design reviews by peers with direct experience in the
abilities also are effective. Lessons learned are often used to
propagate useful information to improve engineering design
quality. Many companies have generic checklists to help ensure that the various aspects of the abilities have been considered. Engineers should also take any opportunity to broaden
their view or to gain experience in the other design perspectives required to provide quality engineering designs.
In summary, there are many aspects in the design of a
project required to assure a quality design besides whether
the project provides the expected operational functionality. Some of these are clearly specified in the project specifications or the referenced standards, while others are more
fuzzy or vague in nature and require the engineer to fill in
the blanks. There also are expectations by stakeholders that
do not appear in the specifications, but which may be considered as good practice by industry or by the end users.
Many of these aspects of design, the abilities, are a matter of shifting perspectives to those of different stakeholders
or match a broader perspective of how industry would perceive your project. Does your company have an engineering
quality plan to help assure engineering designs consider the
abilities or other aspects of quality engineering design? Is
end-user feedback used to improve the quality of your company’s engineering designs?
William L. Mostia, P.E., fellow at SIS-TECH Solutions,
is a frequent contributor to Control .
T E C H N I C A L LY S P E A K I N G
BACnet for Process Control? Really.
A
s detailed in this month’s cover story, in
many instances process and building automation systems are separate, but need
to be connected to each other. Data to be exchanged between the two systems can be as
simple as a single temperature point or as complex as real-time energy consumption values.
Integrating process and building automation
can be done in one of two basic ways depending on the degree of connectivity required.
For process plants with little interaction between the process and building automation systems, hardwired connections between the two
systems are often the best approach due to low
cost and simplicity. With this approach, I/O is
simply hardwired between the two systems, with
the building automation system typically sending discrete and analog output signals to the process automation system indicating status, temperatures and other relevant information.
But for plants requiring extensive interaction and interconnections between process and
building automation systems, the hardwired approach quickly becomes cumbersome. Not only
is it expensive, but it’s also inflexible, as a new
hardwired connection must be made every time
additional information needs to be exchanged.
In these instances, a digital data link between
the two systems is the better solution, since a
large amount of data can be transferred as easily
as a single value. The digital link can be implemented in a variety of ways: controller to controller, controller to HMI, or HMI to HMI. In
any case, a method of connection must be selected—not always an easy choice because process and building automation systems typically
don’t use the same communication protocols.
Realizing this, process automation software
suppliers are moving to accommodate BACnet
(www.bacnet.org), the most widely used protocol in building automation. BACnet supports five
different networking technologies, but this article
will focus on the Ethernet-based protocol, referred to as BACnet/IP, which is the fastest of the
DAN Hebert
five protocols at a speed of 100 Mbps.
Most every building automation system supports BACnet/IP, so the first step to establishing communications is to pick a process automation system component that also supports
BACnet/IP.
At the HMI level, some suppliers support
BACnet natively, while others provide support
through OPC plug-ins. For example, InduSoft
(www.indusoft.com) provides native support
for BACnet, allowing its Web Studio software
to communicate to a building automation system via BACnet/IP. But any HMI supporting
OPC, which is virtually every PC-based product on the market, can talk to BACnet through
software products from suppliers such as Kepware (www.kepware.com), Matrikon (www.
matrikon.com) and Software Toolbox (www.
softwaretoolbox.com).
If the OPC option is used, a method of further translating BACnet information to a format recognizable by the HMI is required. This
can be done with some HMI software configuration and programming, but to simplify and
standardize communications, the OPC Foundation (www.opcfoundation.org) is actively
working on an OPC UA for BACnet initiative.
Another way to establish BACnet communications is at the controller level. For example, ProSoft
(www.prosoft-technology.com) offers a ControlLogix to BACnet communication interface module that plugs into a Rockwell Automation (www.
rockwellautomation.com) chassis to pass data between a ControlLogix PAC and BACnet devices
and networks. The module can be configured as
a BACnet slave or master, and in either case communications are via BACnet/IP.
This method of communication may not
be as powerful or flexible as using a PC-based
HMI, but it’s simpler and can be sufficient
for many applications. To the extent that the
controller is more reliable than the PC-based
HMI, this method of communication will also
be more robust.
Senior Technical Editor
dheber [email protected]
A digital data link
between the two
systems is the
better solution
since a large
amount of data can
be transferred as
easily as a
single value.
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
61
ask the expertS
Is SIL Required for Fire and Gas Systems?
Q
We’re going to design a fire and gas monitoring and alarm system (FGS) for an oil
and gas plant. The plant is old, and it’s not
provided with an emergency shutdown (ESD)
system. The foreseen number of input/output
signals in the anticipated fire and gas detection
system is less than 500. The fire and gas detectors will only alarm and monitor. Is it mandatory
to make an assessment for the SIL level? I’ve
checked ISA 84.01-1996, and it states, “1.2.14
Systems where operator action is the sole means
required to return the process to a safe state are
not covered by this standard (e.g., alarm systems, fire and gas monitoring systems, etc).”
My question is, do we have to design two separate control systems (one non-SIL for process
control and one SIL-certified system for (ESD/
FGS), or it is acceptable to design just one SIL
system for both process and ESD/FGS, and if
it is, what constraints should be considered? In
your judgment, must we have an SIL, or can we
proceed with a non-SIL system?
R agab Abdel Fat tah
ragab.abdelfat tah@ tecnomareegypt.com
A
This column is moderated
by Béla Lipták
(http://belaliptakpe.com),
You’ll find below many good answers,
so I’ll only say that ANSI/ISA 84.00.01
(2004), which is a relaxed version of IEC
61508/61511 (1996) does not apply to pneumatic
or hydraulic logic systems, nor to fire and gas
systems, safety alarms or safety controls. Therefore, in the case of your FGS, basic process control system (BPCS) and safety instrumented system (SIS) separation isn’t a requirement.
As you can see from the answers below, a fair
amount of confusion does exist in this area. Also
see my Lessons Learned column in this issue to
a fuller explanation of SIS.
automation and safety
bÉl a liptÁk
[email protected]
consultant and editor
of the Instrument and
Automation Engineers’
Handbook (IAEH). If you
have an automationrelated question for
this column, write to
[email protected].
62
A
First of all, the 1996 version of the ISA
84 standard is obsolete, and has been replaced by the 2004 version, which is really
the same as IEC 61511. There is no requirement
to design a FGS system according to the standard, although you may if you wish to. If anything, you should see if you need a safety in-
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
strumented system. It’s better to prevent the bad
event from happening than merely mitigating
it, or simply detecting it with a FGS system.
See my book, Safety Instrumented Systems:
Design, Analysis and Justification, 2nd edition
(www.amazon.com/Safety-Instrumented-Systems-Analysis-Justification/dp/1556179561). You
could also look at this whitepaper, “SIL Rating
for Fire and Gas System Hardware—an Introduction to ISA TR84.00.07” (www.controlglobal.com/whitepapers/2014/an-introductionto-isa-tr84-00-07/). Generally speaking, most
process facilities use two separate systems; one
for control, one for safety, and typically a separate system for fire and gas. However, the risk in
a simple gas plant may be low enough to use one
system for control and safety.
Paul Gruhn, P.E.
[email protected]
A
If there’s no executive action, and all the
mitigation upon fire and gas alarms are
manual and based on operator judgment,
there’s no need of SIL-certified FGS. However,
please remember in the future, if the company
decides to implement proper FGS functions
such as confirmed fire or gas detection and unit
blowdown, you need to go for a SIL-rated PLC.
There are three other points to remember:
1) Control and shutdown layers are independent, and hardware and other parts
shouldn’t be shared. This is to avoid commonmode failure and increase availability of respective systems. Also, it’s normal practice for
an operator to change the alarm and setpoints
for control functions during operation. ESD
PLC logic is usually fairly fixed unless there’s
a change in the process that necessitates revisiting the existing logic or to add a new trip
function. For modifying or rewriting logic,
proper change control has to be in place.
Company safety specialists must manage
and record the change based on established
management of change (MOC) procedure.
2) An ESD PLC is SIL3-rated and costly
hardware. The same hardware type can be
used for control functions, provided there is no
common hardware and utility shared by both
ask the expertS
control and ESD functions. You can choose a scalable ESD
system and choose a lower specification for control hardware. The system’s vendor also can provide different software
for systems, as ESD software should comply with IEC standards, and control software doesn’t need this. This configuration will reduce cost.
3) You can combine fire and gas logic in the same ESD
PLC, provided you provide a minimum of eight hours of UPS
backup for the combined system. Also, you need to segregate
at the I/O level, as FGS logic will be non-fail-safe, and you
need line monitoring. In conclusion, you can use the same
vendor and system hardware type for control and safeguarding for small-scale projects, provided you don’t share any hardware or software or any other aspects.
Debasis Guha
[email protected]
A
In general, the ESD and process control systems are separate, and if you are to follow the IEC 61508 standard,
then that requires separation of the BPCS from your SIS.
Once you’ve decided to follow IEC 61508/61511, you are
then going to follow the safety lifecycle. One of the steps in the
lifecycle is to perform an analysis of your plant’s operations to
identify those instrumented loops that are safety-related and
assign a target SIL (layer of protection analysis (LOPA), etc.)
to each of those loops, now referred to as safety instrumented
functions (SIF). The SIF with the highest target SIL will determine the required maximum SIL capability for the safety
logic solver.
I would recommend that you read IEC 61508 (parts 1-3) or
IEC 61511 (application of IEC 61508 to process safety) if you
are not familiar with the requirements.
Simon Pate
[email protected]
A
Consider the purpose of the SIL system: to bring the process to a safe state if something fails. The process control
system is one of the things that can fail or be compromised by its Internet connection
In general, people who design dangerous processes avoid
single points of failure.
Regardless of what the vendors and the laws that they have
bought say, the safety of your process depends on a separate
SIL system that is not connected to the Internet. Use a hardwired contact to tell the PCS that the SIL has stopped the process. Some people use double or triple redundancy for the SIL
system. It all depends on your organization’s tolerance for risk.
The PCS should be programmed for similar shutdown actions as the SIL. Then you have at least two independent ways
to shut down the process. But if your only goal is to reduce
cost, not danger to others, then the combined PCS and SIS
looks good—until it fails.
Bill Hawkins
[email protected]
A
You will probably hear from purists who say that the
BPCS must always be separated from the ESD system,
the SIS. While this is implied by the way the standards
are written, practically, it is not necessary. It is possible to build
a single system with appropriate levels of redundancy and configured to accomplish both functions if such a system is approved by an appropriate certification authority to do the SIS
work. The fact that it can also accomplish BPC work does not
prevent it from correctly responding to the requirements of
a SIS. In fact, the BPC function is often supplemented with
work to examine process data and trends under software control to locate and compensate for abnormal behavior prior to a
shutdown condition. Systems with shutdown prevention make
processes both more economical and safer.
Dick Caro
[email protected]
A
I thought that all SIL should be certified by TÜV for programmable safety down to the module level or electronic
level required by the user. This should include SIL for
emergency shutdowns.
Ger ald Liu, P.Eng.
[email protected]
A
If a SIL study has to be implemented, it, not the fact that
the plant is antiquated, will define the type of control system or actions necessary.
A FGS is independent of the control system, and can be used
as a monitoring system without activation, as long as the insurance companies, local standards organizations and/or company
and corporate standards allow it. Nowadays, most don’t.
The biggest fundamental issue is the products being handled. If, for example, you’re working in a desalinization plant,
the chief purpose of the FGS may be monitoring, but in a gas
plant where high concentrations of H2S may be present, the
need for activation may be more important than monitoring,
since you may not have enough time to react.
Even though it may be acceptable to use one single SILrated system to do everything, in the specific case of ESD and
ESD for fire and gas, it may not be the wisest or best solution.
To have both pieces of logic in one system could lead to
conflicts, and unless there are some very expert programmers,
the system action could cause problems. I suggest that you
keep each function separate, so that conflicting interactions
are held to a minimum.
Ale jandro Varga
[email protected]
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
63
ROUNDUP
Level Field
Devices to help determine the amount of material in a tank, hopper or vessel.
VIBRATION LIMIT SWITCH
READS LEVEL BY RADAR
LVL-B Series vibration limit
switches sense levels of bulk
solids. They have no mechanical moving parts. The
switches are FM- and CSAcertified as dust ignition
proof (DIP) for Class II and
Class III, Divisions 1 and 2,
Groups E-G. They feature a 250 mm (10 in.) vibrating rod,
and are available with 500 mm (20 in.), 1,000 mm (40 in.)
and 1,500 mm (60 in.) extension pipes.
Pepperl+Fuchs
330-486-0002; www.pepperl-fuchs.us
Type 8136 non-contact radar
level measuring device is for
continuous level measurement. One version has an
encapsulated horn antenna
suitable for measuring levels
of aggressive liquids in small
vessels. Another option has a
plastic horn antenna for measuring open flumes or performing gauge measurement in waters. Users can adjust the device via the display, key operation or a PC-based tool.
Burkert Fluid Control Systems
949-223-3100; www.burkert-usa.com
JUST ADD 4-20 MA
LEVEL SWITCH ALSO DOES FLOW OR TEMPERATURE
Jupiter
magnetostrictive
transmitter provides a 4-20
mA output, and is easily attached to the company’s
magnetic level indicators or
directly inserted into vessels.
The dual compartment enclosure separates wiring and
electronics to facilitate installation and set-up. Features include an LCD and pushbutton operation. Options include
HART, alloy construction and threaded or flanged fittings.
Orion Instruments
225-906-2343; www.orioninstruments.com/jupiter
FLT93 Series FlexSwitch
brochure showcases an innovative thermal dispersion
flow and level switch, along
with complete product and
application information. The
switches are dual-function instruments that can be configured for flow or level sensing, flow and temperature sensing,
or level and temperature sensing. Also, these switches are
SIL2-rated.
Fluid Components International
800-854-1993; www.fluidcomponents.com
SEES SOLIDS WITH SUPER SENSITIVITY
CUSTOM MAGNETIC LEVEL INDICATORS
VegaPuls 68 has high sensitivity to detect and evaluate
echoes in low dielectric conditions at long ranges. The
loop-powered transmitter is
available with a swivel antenna for mounting to match
the angle of repose created by
fill or empty conditions. Unaffected by dust or pneumatic
filling, it offers ±2 mm accuracy at -40-482°F and -14.52,320 psi.
Vega Americas
800-367-5383; www.vega-americas.com
1100 Series magnetic level
indicator pairs the company’s
chamber design with an indicator that gives users access
to their process information.
Each 1100 Series MLI is custom engineered and manufactured for a user’s particular
application. SOR level gauges existing process sight gauge
systems, and can be a functional bridle system for use with
other instrumentation.
SOR Inc.
913-888-2630; SorInc.com
N O V E M B E R / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
65
ROUNDUP
66
GUIDED WAVE NOW ON FOUNDATION FIELDBUS
WHAT’S THE WEIGHT?
Eclipse Model 706 with
Foundation fieldbus passes
the Fieldbus Foundation’s
testing using the latest interoperability test kit (ITK)
6.1.1. Along with the HART
version’s improved signal-tonoise ratio, improved diagnostics and overfill-capable probes, it has input selector as
well as resource, transducer, analog, PID, signal characterizer and integrator blocks.
Magnetrol
800-624-8765; us.magnetrol.com
HI 6600 series of EtherNet/
IP-enabled modular industrial weight processing systems with a Rockwell EDS_
AOP lets users configure
between one and 30 channels
of stable, processed weight
over a single fieldbus connection. HI 6600 delivers processed weight with a resolution of
1:10:000 and an update speed of 110 updates per second for
up to 30 synchronized channels.
Hardy Process Solutions
858-278-2900; www.hardysolutions.com
ULTRASONIC LEVEL TRANSMITTER
SOLIDS SCANNERS
LVCN210 series ultrasonic
level transmitter and controller provides continuous level
measurement up to 3 m (9.8
ft) with a 4-20 mA signal output, and is configured via the
company’s freely downloadble software. The CE-compliant transmitter features four programmable relays, PVDF
transducer, 6P polycarbonate enclosure and automatic temperature compensation for accurate measurement.
Omega
888-826-6342; www.omega.com
Rosemount 5708 Series 3D
solids scanners continually
measure level, volume and
mass of bulk solids and powders in large vessels, bins and
silos. The devices use acoustic measurement and 3D
mapping technologies to provide accurate and reliable results. They can measure almost
any kind of material including fly ash and materials with low
dielectric constants.
Emerson Process Management
949-757-8500; www.emersonprocess.com
SUBMERSIBLE LEVEL TRANSMITTERS
GET LEVEL VIA MODBUS
ProSense SLT series submersible level sensors/transmitters continually sense hydrostatic pressure produced by
the height of liquid above the
sensor. They supply a 4-20
mA output signal. SLT1s features a 1-in. diameter housing
and a ported bullet nose cap. SLT2s feature a 2.75-in. diameter PTFE flexible diaphragm surrounded by a 316 stainless
steel, non-fouling, protective cage.
AutomationDirect
800-633-0405; www.automationdirect.com
MNU Series ultrasonic sensors are self-contained sensors that measure distance,
level or volume, with a standard Modbus RTU protocol
(RS-485) output. Units come
in sensing ranges from 4 in.
to 40 ft., and feature an accuracy of ±0.25% of detected range and resolutions of 0.1 in.
(2.5 mm). MNU level sensor users can also access their data
remotely.
Automation Products Group Inc.
888-525-7300; www.apgsensors.com
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
ROUNDUP
RADAR READING
WORKS WITH AGGRESSIVE LIQUIDS
DR6300 Series non-contact
level meter provides distance,
level, volume and mass measurements of powders, granulates and other solids. Its
frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar
reportedly gives a more stable
measurement than pulse radar. An easy-to-navigate display
features a choice of touchscreens, such as tank illustration,
bar graph, oscilloscope, signal and reflectivity.
Ametek Drexelbrook
215-293-4190; www.drexelbrook.com
King-Gage D/P purge control is a rugged, integrated
air control and transmitter
package that purges a length
of pipe extending downward
into the tank, providing continuous level measurement
and repeatability within
±0.2%, while preventing turbulence or foaming of tank liquid. Changes in hydrostatic head pressure provide 4-20 mA
output directly proportional to depth.
King Engineering
800-242-8871; www.king-gage.com
MEASURES GRANULAR VOLUMES
MEASURES LEVEL VIA RADAR
VM3D volumetric laser scanner measures volumes of bulk
granular material stockpiles
stored in the open or in large
silos, bunkers, domes and
sheds. The unit uses a narrow-beam laser and mechanical scanning technology that
results in a tight cloud of data points for developing a surface
map and calculating volume. Dust tubes keep lenses clear
and heated optics prevent condensation.
ABB
800-829-6001; www.abb.com
Optiwave 5200 C/F is a 10GHz FMCW radar level
meter for liquid applications
with up to a 30 m (98 foot)
measuring range. The twowire, loop-powered device
measures level and volume in
storage or process tanks with
process conditions up to 250° C (482° F) and pressures up to
40 bar (580 psi.) for general purpose or hazardous locations
(Class I, Division 1).
Krohne Inc.
800-356-9464; www.krohne.com
SUBMERSIBLE PRESSURE TRANSMITTER
TWO FOR ONE
Sitrans LH100 submersible
level transducer measures the
liquid levels in tanks, containers, channels and dams.
The device provides 0.3% accuracy, is available for various
measuring ranges and comes
with an intrinsic safety option. The ceramic sensor has a 0.92 in. diameter for mounting in pipes that have a 1.0 in. inside diameter. The housing
is made of 316L stainless steel.
Siemens Industry
800-743-6367; www.industry.usa.siemens.com
Deltabar FMD71 level transmitter uses two pressure sensor modules, each connected
electronically to one transmitter. The transmitter calculates the differential pressure from both sensors and
transmits the level, volume,
or mass via 4-20 mA with HART as a standard two-wire looppowered device. The electronics eliminate the clogging and
leaking associated with traditional DP measurement.
Endress+Hauser
888-363-7377; www.us.endress.com
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
67
Control Exclusive
HART Interface
Simplifies Setups
HART
Device
A
n estimated 80% to 90% of measurement devices shipped
today are HART-enabled. They can communicate calibration, configuration and diagnostic information via the
digital HART protocol overlaid on the 4-20 mA process signal.
Users can communicate with the devices using handhelds or
PCs with various software applications, whether or not the devices are installed and powered in the field.
HART allows engineers, technicians and others to benchconfigure, calibrate and test instruments, or to apply or demonstrate software applications, simply by connecting a HART instrument to a handheld or PC. But traditionally, they also need a
power supply, resister and modem to complete the setup.
To replace that collection of electronics and hardware,
MACTek has introduced the Viator+ USB HART Interface,
a universal tool that provides the USB modem and power required to quickly enable device configuration using a handheld or a PC application.
“The Viator+ provides all the items needed for a user to access intelligent device information for their application—the
modem, power supply, load resistor and quick-access points for
a multimeter or handheld, all done using a PC’s USB port,” says
Garry Cusick, vice president of sales, MACTek Corp. “And if a
PC USB port isn’t available, the product comes with an AC-toUSB power adapter. This powerful, lightweight package greatly
simplifies the needed multiple device connections and items required to access device information for safe, fast, reliable and
cost-effective device configuration and troubleshooting.”
The information from users’ intelligent measurement devices
supplies early warning and diagnostics of a pending device problem. This enables them to become more proactive with their
maintenance resources by providing the diagnostics information needed to make the right decision at the right time to possibly avoid an unplanned shutdown. And during a shutdown,
device diagnostics let them focus on the devices that really need
attention, rather than just working to a maintenance schedule.
The interface is a complete and flexible PC communication
and power kit for commissioning, servicing, calibrating or acquiring data from any HART instrument. The external interface is rugged and compact for field use. Features include:
• Fully HART-compliant for communication with any
HART instrument and error-free slave testing;
•P
owers all two-wire HART devices with the required 24
Vdc, independent of supplier;
• Easy installation (software driver included);
• CE-approval pending for use in Europe;
• Draws power from a single USB 2.x port and needs no external power supply;
• Provides 500-V isolation;
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Modem only
Modem + power
DMM
HART handheld
Computer or AC
adapter
USB power
source
simple hart interface
MACTek’s new Viator+ USB HART Interface combines a modem,
power supply, load resistor and quick access points in a rugged
and compact package.
• Rugged ABS plastic case provides industrial-grade reliability in a compact, portable package;
• Integral 6-ft. connector cable terminates in two mini-grabber test clips; and
• Plug-selected Powered Modem or Modem Only modes.
“When bench technicians get new instruments to set up,
they can just hook them up at a PC and configure them.
They don’t need to locate a power supply or resistor,” says
Cusick. “In the field, the Viator+ powers the transmitter, or
not, if it’s already powered, and allows use of just the built-in
USB modem. If you’re using a handheld, you can power the
transmitter with the 110-Vac to USB wall adaptor or PC and
bypass the modem. With Viator+ providing power, you get
convenient connections for a milliammeter.”
In training sessions, the Viator+ makes device connection
easy and neat, allowing the instructor to concentrate on the lesson and not on finding a 250-Ohm resistor or a power supply.
“If you’re using—or demonstrating—a PC-based application,
you don’t have to make a lot of ad hoc wire connections or carry
a lot of hardware,” says Cusick. “It gives you all the pieces in one
convenient package.”
For more information, see www.mactekcorp.com.
Product introductions
THERMOCOUPLE LOGGER
BUTTERFLY VALVE
Lascar EL-Enviropad-TC is a
thermocouple-based temperature meter for spot readings
with additional built-in datalogging and graphing functions. It takes and records
readings via the supplied Ktype thermocouple probe.
Control and display is via a 2.8-in. color touchscreen, which
indicates current temperature to a resolution of 0.1 °C, displays maximum and minimum readings, and produces an
immediate graph of the data readings.
Saelig Inc.
888-772-3544; www.saelig.com
L700E Series grooved-end
butterfly valves are built with
an ISO mounting pad and
stem for simple automation
tasks with electric or pneumatic actuators. Standard
features include an epoxycoated ductile iron body,
EDPM-coated ductile iron disc, and a 410 stainless steel ISO
square stem. Units are available in sizes 2-12 in., and have a
maximum working pressure of 200 psi. Valves are tested to
100% of their rated pressure before shipping.
Bonomi North America
704-412-9031; www.bonominorthamerica.com
HANDHELD DATALOGGER
MANAGE THE SUPPLY CHAIN
Almemo 2590-A handheld
measuring datalogger features three measuring menus
where one to 12 measured
values can be displayed. Standard function menus include
maximum value; minimum
value; average value over
time, individual values, measuring points and smoothing;
volume flow with center point measuring; and datalogger
with configuration menus. It’s capable of rates up to 10 operations per second over 65 standard measuring ranges.
Clark Solutions
800-253-2497; www.clarksol.com
Spiral Suite software for hydrocarbon facilities improves
collaboration across the refinery. Data from in-house and
external systems are automatically made available within
workflows. Personnel can
work in parallel to build the
supply chain model without needing to know matrix math.
It’s reportedly easy enough to use that even novice planners
can make profitable, risk-adjusted feedstock purchasing and
refinery planning decisions within weeks of licensing.
Schneider Electric
888-778-2733; www.schneider-electric.com/us
HAMMER THAT OILFIELD
BE DIFFICULT
EL-GFX-TC is a standalone
USB datalogger. The unit
features an on-board, dotmatrix display, and is capable
of measuring and storing up
to 252,000 temperature readings. Information is resolved
to the nearest 0.1 digit by processing data from one J, K or T-type thermocouple input.
The unit provides real-time analysis of readings, either as
a data summary (showing highest and lowest readings and
alarm conditions) or as an updated trend graph.
Lascar Electronics
814-835-0621; www.lascarelectronics.com
U5300 is an industrial pressure transducer that measures liquid or gas pressure in
difficult media, such as contaminated water and mildly
corrosive fluids. It provides a
variety of pressure ports and
electrical configurations for
low- to medium-volume applications. The unit’s operating
temperature range is -40-125 °C. It is weatherproof, exceeds
current heavy industrial CE requirements, is made of 316L
stainless steel, and has no O-rings or welds.
Measurement Specialties, Inc.
800-745-8008; http://meas-spec.com
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
69
Product introductions
DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE TRANSMITTER
HOT FLASHES
PX2600 series has four unidirectional and four bi-directional ranges, three selectable outputs (0-5 Vdc, 0-10
Vdc, 4-20 mA), pushbutton or
remote zero, and a four-digit
LCD that shows either static
or differential pressure. The
CE-compliant device can output either static (gauge) pressure or differential pressure. It comes with a durable glassfilled polyester case. Applications include process control
systems as well as pressure drops across ductwork.
Omega
888-826-6342; www.omega.com
OptiFlash detects flash points
of up to 400 °C for materials
such as petroleums, biodiesels, solvents and fluxed bitumen, and complies with
global standards including
ASTM D93, ISO 2719, EN
ISO 2719, IP 34, JIS K2265
and GB/T 261. An intuitive user interface and built-in automation lets users easily start a test without having to manually install the flash point and temperature sensors or the test
cup for each test.
PAC
800-444-8378; www.paclp.com
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C O N T R O L TA L K
Getting Started for Startups
Stan: As instrument engineers for Monsanto,
Greg and I got to check out and start up all of
our projects. In this follow-through that was
part of our job description, we learned what
worked and didn’t work. Before smart instruments, we had to be smarter in order to calibrate and check out the instruments. Pneumatic controllers, transmitters and positioners
were a special trip because they were frequently
out of alignment and calibration just from being handled and installed.
Greg: I also spent most of the first seven years
of my 46-year career at plants in electrical and
instrument (E&I) construction, learning how to
install motor control centers and automation systems. My first two years were spent as an E&I field
construction engineer at a specialty chemicals
plant starting up four production units. I arrived
just in time for the commissioning of the first unit.
Unfortunately, plant E&I would not get involved
at all until the unit had completely demonstrated
capacity and quality requirements. Just to make it
more interesting, construction did not have any
E&I people before I showed up and didn’t know
instruments should be handled with more care
than pipe fittings. I learned quickly how bad a
startup can be. I can really relate to this next topic
and the extensive experience of Tim Green, operations manager for field services at Maverick
Technologies (www.mavtechglobal.com), where
he has been responsible for more than 50 startup/
commissioning projects and more than 100 construction/commissioning managers, technicians
and electricians.
Stan: What is the major lesson we can all
learn, besides the need for engineering and operations to have a safe startup as the most important goal?
Tim: Seventy percent of industrial accidents
occur during non-routine operations. For
most plants, startup and commissioning are
extremely non-routine. For most engineering
companies and integrators, operating plant
equipment is extremely non-routine. Safe and
effective startups require a methodology and
extensive coordination and communication to
eliminate the non-routine aspects. Since there
are activities with vastly different expertise and
focus, the people who need the knowledge to
make every activity routine must readily get it
from the people who have the knowledge.
Greg Mcmill an
Stan weiner, pe
[email protected]
Greg McMillan and
Stan Weiner bring their
wits and more than
66 years of process
control experience to
bear on your questions,
comments and
problems.
Write to them at
[email protected].
Greg: A critical part of making the operation
during startup as routine as possible is the
Stan: How did you get started, Tim?
Tim: Coming out of the Navy as an electrician mate, my first job three decades ago was
as an E&I technician at a chemical plant. My
interest in doing safer and more efficient startups dramatically increased after a disastrous
startup with numerous fatalities.
Unfortunately, advanced project planning doesn’t always make for a startup that’s just
another day in paradise.
N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4 www.controlglobal.com
71
C O N T R O L TA L K
extensive use of process simulation
for testing control systems and training the operators. What did you do to
make the startup/commissioning activities routine?
Tim: We have a three-step I&C commissioning process with traffic colors indicating the relative immediate risk level.
The colors don’t take away from the fact
that all steps must be done right for a safe
and effective startup. Our process is the
product of a lot of people who have done
a lot of startups and know what can go
wrong. The process allows I&C states of
construction, checkout and commissioning to proceed in parallel, saving a lot
time by using a piecewise “heel to toes”
approach as areas progress.
The first step is preparation and
planning with risk traffic color “green.”
People tend to slip up here by waiting
until the start of their field activities
and then trying to do as much as fast
as possible. Having people from the
startup team help do the preparation
and planning is key. Early involvement
is huge. We start working with operations on a dynamic test plan. We get
the I&C team selected, database and
checkout sheets prepared, and schedule, startup procedures and responsibilities documented. P&IDs on the
walls are highlighted in green as to
construction completeness.
The second step is pre-static inspection (PSI) with a risk traffic color “yellow.” Here, we go from P&IDs to loop
sheets, single-line drawings and motor elementary diagrams being highlighted in yellow and checkout sheets
being completed. There are a lot of
check boxes to force thoroughness
with a minimum of wasted effort. The
boxes are organized and worded to prevent blowing off the effort by just successively checking boxes.
The third step is pre-dynamic testing (PDT) with a risk traffic color red.
Systems are energized and design documents are redlined for power, sensor signal simulation, single-point
72
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calibration checks and stroking of
valves. Motor thermal protection is
verified against nameplate data. Rotation is verified with a rotation meter.
Signals are checked to appear properly
on control room and maintenance system screens. We make sure radio communication is clear and concise. The
technician in the field states the tag
and location, but not the value of the
signal. The control room must repeat
the tag and location and say what value
is seen on the screen.
The status of final dynamic testing
via water runs is the responsibility of
operations and is highlighted in blue.
By having the steps defined, there is
less chance of skipping something important. The team and the extent of handson expertise grow as the effort moves
from one step to another. For example, as
the phases move from green to yellow to
red, the number of techs might increase
from two to six to 16, respectively.
systems today have evolved, so human
disengagement has become an increasing concern in terms of preventing an
unforeseen problem and quickly fixing
difficult application problems.
Greg: The people doing the work
don’t tend to have the time or encouragement or skills to publish what has
been learned. Most of my effort at this
point is documenting as much as possible of what I know.
Tim: We’re on the same sheet of music. The main remaining goal in my
career is to share what I’ve learned. I
have had many teachers, seen a lot
of what can go wrong, and had many
“aha moments.” This technical profession has been such a big part of my life.
I hate to see what I have gained be lost
and go away.
Greg: With some help from Tim, we
finish with this month’s Top 10:
Stan: What do you do to avoid being
overwhelmed and bogged down?
Top 10 Signs You Have a Fictitious Startup
Date
Tim: We divide and conquer. For example, if we have 1,000 loops to check out,
our goal may be 250 loops a day. We divide up into eight crews. Thirty loops
per day are expected, but if a loop can’t
be readily fixed, the loop is given off to
a SWAT team, so the crew can continue
on. The SWAT team has particular indepth troubleshooting expertise and is in
a better position to see common errors.
For widescale problems, the correction
is handed off to construction. In some
cases, the problem needs the attention of
the mechanical/piping contractor.
10. Research is still researching, and
design is still designing the process.
9. The electrical contractor is doing
the loop simulation.
8. Project plan is to use maintenance
staff to do the loop simulation when
not busy doing plant maintenance.
7. Project plans to use a staffing company to get some technicians to handle I&C commissioning because it’s
cheaper than using a company with an
instrumentation team.
6. One-stop flowmeter shopping at orifice supplier.
5. One-stop control valve shopping at
piping supplier.
4. Piping designer thinks the flowmeter orifices are restriction orifices.
3. Engineering, construction, commissioning team and operations are
strangers.
2. Engineering does not have worn-out
hard hats.
1. A year-end completion date.
Stan: What is happening to the workforce?
Tim: We’re seeing an aging workforce.
We have an ever smaller pool to draw
from, since we want people with plant
experience. The type of people we use
started when instruments had to be understood and calibrated. Automation
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ABB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Advantech Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Allied Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Ametek Drexelbrook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
ARC Advisory Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS
AutomationDirect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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Banner Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
PLC/DCS
Sensors/Drives
Motor Control
Cashco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Daisy Data Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Emerson Process Mgt/Fisher . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
from Allen Bradley to Xycom
Emerson Process Mgt/Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Industrial Automation
www.santaclarasystems.com
Emerson Process Mgt/Wireless . . . . . . . . . . 21
EnclosureHub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Endress+Hauser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Exlar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
ITS Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
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Magnetrol International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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Meriam Process Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
SCS_1111_Classified.indd 1
11/11/11 9:53 A
Moore Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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Omega Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
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Orion Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
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ProComSol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
ProSoft Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Remote Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Rotork Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Schneider Electric. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Schneider Electric/Invensys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Siemens Industrial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Skkynet Cloud Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
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Winsted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Yaskawa America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
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CONTROL REPORT
Dig Out of the Buzzword Blizzard
Jim Montague
e xecutive Editor
[email protected]
With 32 engine
sensors and 120
drive sensors on
each vehicle, Rio
Tinto’s 900 trucks
produce about
4.9 terabytes of
data daily.
74
T
here are a few common themes running
through this year’s tradeshows, user groups
and other gatherings. Chief among these
are the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0,
smart manufacturing, intelligent devices, Big
Data and the Cloud. All of these concepts are
supposedly bringing earth-shattering changes
to process control and automation in particular
and to manufacturing and business in general.
Certainly, significant changes are continuing to come from multiplying Internet connections, but this trend has been steadily unfolding
for 20 years. Sure, more machines and other
equipment now have web pages and can broadcast their data, but this is really just more of the
same Internet. IoT just sounds more dramatic.
Similarly, all the added information these
devices are generating simply means more of
the same data from more places, but Big Data
just sounds more exciting. Again, the Cloud
sounds more profound and powerful than just
adding more rack-mounted servers to the same
bunch of servers in a closet somewhere, either
onsite or at an offsite service.
Finally, I know that smart phones, tablet PCs
and other devices with onboard data processing are allowing wider access to operating performance and other key indicators, but isn’t
this an added degree of availability rather than
a profound leap in intelligence, awareness or
critical thinking skills? When sources tell me
they’re getting into smart manufacturing or the
interconnectedness of Industry 4.0, I ask, what
were they doing before? Weren’t they supposed
to be manufacturing as intelligently as possible
all along? I’m not trying to be unkind. I just
need specifics to put together useful stories.
So how can you separate the few useful
truths from the vast cacophony of hype and
baloney? Well, you can cut through the fog of
buzzwords and vague statements about IoT and
the rest by focusing on any specific gains users
achieve in actual production processes, learning what tools and best practices they use, and
www.controlglobal.com N o v e m b e r / 2 0 1 4
then adapting them to your own applications.
These efforts are aided by the fact that most
Ethernet-based, Internet-enabled and other
industrial networking components are much
easier to configure, secure, deploy, monitor and
manage than they were just a few years ago.
For instance, at GE’s IoT World Forum on
Oct. 13-14 in Chicago, John McGagh, head of
innovation at Rio Tinto (www.riotinto.com), reported his company’s huge mining cranes and
trucks generate lots of data that can help improve operations and maintain equipment, but
that much of this information wasn’t collected
and organized to enable better decisions until
recently. With 32 engine sensors and 120 drive
sensors on each vehicle, Rio Tinto’s 900 trucks
produce about 4.9 terabytes of data daily.
“We have about 300 sensors at our Kennecott copper mine in Utah, but we were only
pulling about 5% of their available data, and
we needed a lot more,” says McGagh.
To capture and use more of this information,
McGagh reports that Rio Tinto worked with
the University of Sydney to develop its threepart Mine Automation System (MAS), which
pulls in and organizes data from all its mines
worldwide, then uses a visualization engine to
paint a detailed picture of operations at each
facility that users can act on in real time. MAS
includes a compilation system that collects all
sensor data and creates a mining model, while
its planning system schedules jobs and its control system sends instructions to often autonomous transportation and drilling equipment.
“Now, at mines like West Angelas in western Australia, we can talk to the three machines drilling 12-meter holes for blasting,”
explains McGagh. “These machines are sensor platforms, and their information combined
with other sources lets us interact much more
closely with the mine’s geology, and that’s extremely valuable to us. We can also use Big
Data to look at the history of blocks mined, and
this helps us make even better decisions.”
20 MILLION INVERTERS
10 MILLION SERVOS
300,000 ROBOTS
Yaskawa. Proven. Worldwide.
Nobody enjoys a larger installed base of inverters,
servos and robots around the world than Yaskawa.
Our experienced engineers, proven technology and
unsurpassed quality can
all be combined to give proven solutions in which
you can have total confidence.
In a recent internal study of 100,000 servo motors
shipped, Yaskawa found that only 7 were returned
for warranty repair. To put that in perspective, a
typical out-of-box failure rate goal for manufacturers
of brushless servo motors is 0.5% (or 500 failures
per 100,000 motors shipped).
No matter how you add it up, nobody equals Yaskawa.
Call us today.
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1 - 8 0 0 - YA S K A W A | YA S K A W A . C O M
©2014 Yaskawa America Inc.
For more info:
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