Process opens up

Interkama at this year’s Hannover Fair was abuzz with new and innovative process automation products. According to Dr.-Ing. Gunther Kegel, CEO of the Process Automation Division at Pepperl+Fuchs, worldwide economic activity accelerated the process automation market considerably in 2005 and this trend looks likely to continue in 2006. The oil and gas industries, i.e. exploration, transportation and further processing of crude oil, natural gas, as well as coal and biogas, have without doubt played a leading role in this process.

Pepperl+Fuchs featured explosion protection––comprising interface and fieldbus technology and operating and monitoring systems––which will enable users to connect and transfer process signals and information easily and reliably.

Connectivity and easy access to signals and data were hot on the agenda for many of the industry’s main players. Ming-Chin Wu, President of Advantech Co. Ltd, believes that the automation industry will follow the same pattern as the evolution of the PC age. As Ethernet and embedded systems, as well as wireless technologies, gain in popularity, automation is set to become more ’empowered’ and more open, he said.

This view was shared by Hasso Drathen, NAMUR (association of users of process control technology) Business Manager for ACHEMA Worldwide. In his report on Process Automation Trends, he commented, “Wireless technology and the Internet will revolutionize automation technology.” The importance of industrial communications will continue to increase, and this trend will be influenced by standards (Ethernet) and new customer needs such as remote diagnosis, he reported. Networks using protocols which find their own way from the sensor to the controller are set to replace hierarchical designs.

It seems that the process automation industry is going through the final stages of its restructuring phase, driven by business and organizational developments, with technology playing the leading role. While the outcome from technological changes are many, one thing is definite, work force reductions are no longer the driving force and the goal today is to enable plant operators to push the process to the limits. This, according to Drathen, means completely new automation structures, which represent a shift from the classic central control system paradigm to distributed control solutions, will be making their mark on systems engineering in the near future.

Boundaries are set to be broken, and this is a very exciting time for the process industry indeed!