Wireless innovation recognition for Emerson

BP has presented its prestigious Digital & Communications Technology (DCT) Helios awards to its teams that collaborated with Emerson Process Management to develop innovative wireless technology. BP’s internal DCT Helios Award Program is designed to recognize the digital technology projects that add extraordinaryvalue to BP’s operations.

The DCT Helios award in the Performance category was presented for wireless innovation at BP’s Cherry Point refi nery in Washington State. To operate safely and efficiently, refineries, plants and platforms need data on factors such as temperature, pressure and vibration of equipment. Working collaboratively, the BP and Emerson team developed the world’s fi rst intrinsically safe motebased system to capture valuable measurements in BP’s challengingrefi nery environments.

Motes are sensors with built-in power, memory and communications ability that can gather a vast amount of sensory input Wireless innovation recognition for Emerson and communicate it over a self confi guring wireless network. The wireless system cuts the cost of installing sensors by an order of magnitude, enabling increased monitoringto improve maintenance and safety.

“The new wireless technology enabled us to do things we simply could not do before, either because of cost or physical wiring obstacles” said David Lafferty, Senior Consultant with BP’s Chief Technology Offi ce. “Our BP teams gained experience in exploiting this new technology for business value, and Emerson gained a real world environment for valuable testing and feedback on their technology.”

Said John Berra, President of Emerson Process Management: “These awards represent the innovation and real business value of Smart Wireless technology that Emerson is currently introducing for mainstream in-plant applications; further, the awards represent a successful technology development partnership with BP that we believe is an ideal model for shaping and validating new technology like wireless.”