As industrial wireless technology continues to evolve, it is pervading more and more parts of the plant. Madanmohan Rao reports.
The right wireless solution in an industrial setting can reduce if not eliminate “blind spots” in a plant, areas of operation which have been previously either technically or economically unreachable with wires. It can also improve efficiency and security in areas already wired up. Eventually, wireless industrial solutions will play a major role in the overall performance and safety of a facility.
A range of asset optimization tools is also emerging, to provide real-time information and enable effective decision-support critical to improving business performance. They notify plant personnel of asset health and performance to empower decisionmaking.
A number of players in Asia are also making steady progress on the implementation and innovation fronts. At the recent (August 20) Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Industrial Technologies Awards, which recognize best practices in industrial process control, measurement and instrumentation, as well as a number of other sectors, Singapore’s iWOW Connections, a provider of wireless M2M (machineto- machine) products, took home the award for Industrial Wireless Emerging Company of the Year.
Some of the newer wireless industrial solutions on the market come with a common interface for multiple wireless and wired devices, easy network management, enhanced management of and response to alerts, robust diagnostic deployment and display for instruments.
As for standards, while moving to a single standard or family of standards will still take time, many vendors are busy cultivating their existing group of clients, and even proprietary networks continue to yield operational advantages for implementing partners.
Ways to wireless Wireless devices can cater for a number of industrial needs, from process sensing to mobile worker applications to local area Ethernet networks and to remote monitoring via M2M. As vendors continue to roll out a series of industrial wireless solutions across this spectrum, features to look for in such implementations include USB programming, exception-based reporting and firmware upgrades. Some recent releases are described below.
Eurotherm/Action Instruments has extended its WiModPak wireless industrial I/O series with new expansion modules and long-range versions. Setup software has also been significantly enhanced with additional features and includes a firmware upgrade that allows existing devices to significantly improve their transmission latency.
“Significant potential cost-savings exist for plant managers who are considering implementing wireless solutions for expansion projects and new installations,” says Dan Dudici, marketing manager.
The company claims its simple “peer-to-peer” installation process with 16 I/O will take less than 15 minutes to configure.
Synapse Wireless reports that it is seeing increasing design wins from OEMs who need reliable and secure wireless control and monitoring capabilities. This acceptance is spanning across industries, from Smart Grid applications to medical, asset management, industrial automation, and many more.
The company’s SNAP mesh network software helps remove the complexity involved in creating wireless M2M applications, according to CEO Wade Patterson.
Schneider Electric has revealed a prototype of first ZigBee-compatible, self-powered switch. The new wireless, battery-less switch is said to be simple to install, operates continuously, requires no maintenance, and offers green benefits in that there is no battery wastage.
The switch embodies two industrial issues which Schneider Electric says are imperative to the company’s ideals of energy efficiency in industrial and commercial buildings: true interoperability of networked equipment, and the confidence and foundation for upgradeability provided by a shared technological standard (ZigBee).
In June, Honeywell introduced the XYR 6000 Valve Position Sensor as a latest addition to its OneWireless industrial wireless portfolio. Based on the Honeywell Micro Switch CX series hazardous location analog sensor, the new XYR 6000 monitors the position of a control valve, sending the signal from remote or potentially dangerous areas of the plant.
In addition to eliminating manual monitoring, the sensor’s accuracy improves safety by identifying linear or rotary valve positions, minimizing the risk of unwanted fluid release or unplanned product contamination.
In August, Honeywell followed this up with the launch of a ISA100.11a-ready wireless radar gauge, which aims to help process manufacturers monitor tank levels and prevent hazardous incidents in plants and terminals.
The FlexLine Wireless Radar Gauge improves operator awareness by capturing a wide array of tank measurements and quickly transmitting them via the OneWireless network to control rooms. This reduces overall operating costs and improves safety by eliminating the need for manual data collection.
In addition to level measurement, the FlexLine Wireless Radar Gauge can track temperature, pressure, water and overfill. This eliminates the need for multiple gauges and transmitters, which further reduces installation costs and increases flexibility by enabling new measurements without additional wiring. “More information and diagnostics from the field help understand how industrial assets are functioning,” says John Joosten, radar and safety product manager, Honeywell Enraf.
Higher up the hierarchy, ProSoft Technology has just released the Wireless Point I/O Adapter, a high-speed, standards-based 802.11g wireless I/O communication adapter that offers a wireless alternative for linking PLCs (from Rockwell Automation) to distributed process I/O modules.
The compact size of Rockwell’s Point I/O systems, when coupled with the ProSoft’s Wireless Point I/O Adapter, make them suitable for collecting data from and controlling moving systems like robots, automated carts, overhead cranes, earthmovers, as well as fixedposition racks in hard-to-reach areas of the plant.
ARC Advisory Group’s Harry Forbes notes that “the ability to wirelessly connect Point I/O modules adds new degrees of freedom for system and application designers because it enables them to design high-performance, scalable and low-latency systems in cases where wired I/O would be problematic. This is a valuable and important capability.”
In February, Emerson Process Management announced wireless and predictive maintenance enhancements to its AMS Suite asset management software that helps users optimize critical plant assets. AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager 10.0 features support for WirelessHART devices and networks, alert monitoring capabilities, and advanced diagnostics.
With the AMS Wireless Snap-On application, users can plan, customize, visualize, and manage Emerson’s Smart Wireless networks. Once the wireless network is installed, the AMS Wireless Snap-On application can provides a comprehensive view of the network’s status, enabling users to maximize reliability of the wireless network.
“The release of AMS Device Manager 10.0 is the culmination of our work to make wireless device deployment and management easy,” said Craig Llewellyn, president of Emerson’s Asset Optimization division.
Out in the field, Emerson’s CSI 9420 wireless vibration transmitter provides for vibration monitoring in hard-to-reach locations. The device can be used on a wide range of equipment such as pumps, motors, fans, compressors and pulverizers.
Evaluating economicsWith each paradigm shift – wireless being the latest – plants realize savings and became smarter through simpler engineering and construction, flexible start-up, faster deployment and project completion, and changing automation needs.
Against this backdrop, Emerson Process Management recently unveiled quantified results and other findings of two independent, real-world greenfield projects that recommend wireless infrastructure be a key component of all new projects.
In the first case, JDI Contracts, a US consultancy, worked with a major EPC and a chemical manufacturer end user to study the project impact of wireless. They compared engineering, construction, start-up, and overhead costs for approaches using wired HART, wired bus technologies, WirelessHART, and combinations of each. Emerson’s Smart Wireless technology was used for nonsafety, low speed control and monitoring, applications in the plant, which amounted to 25 percent of all points.
Through the use of wireless, overall plant engineering, construction and start-up savings were evaluated to be about 10 percent of considered costs when compared with wired HART. For the bus installation, wireless savings were on a par with wired busing. Although not quantified, other considerations of flexibility and schedule impact were deemed very important in each approach.
“Our recommendations regarding ‘best practices’ are firmly centered around procedures and technology required to meet owner objectives and deliver expected project outcomes to our clients, including scope, schedule, budget, and less tangible outcomes such as maintainability and ease of use,” said Roger Hoyum, principal engineer, JDI Contracts.
“Wireless is an important new tool for use with HART and Foundation fieldbus in capital projects,” concluded Hoyum. “It delivers savings, flexibility, and speed of implementation. With wireless technology, we can deliver a better plant.”
In its own study, Emerson used real data from a near-6000 point greenfield hydrotreater project. Wireless was applied to 44 percent of all points. Similar to the JDI study, Smart Wireless showed significant savings: 36 percent in automation and installation costs as compared with a completely wired HART solution. Foundation fieldbus was slightly less expensive than WirelessHART due to use of high density temperature measurement, although wireless has advantages of ease of use for difficult monitoring locations, flexibility and future growth.
In combination with its experience in a number of wireless brownfield installations, Emerson’s conclusions from the greenfield project studies are that wireless gives maximum cost advantage where installations are difficult, remote monitoring is required, and auxiliary systems are involved.
Wireless eliminates the need for and cost of building in spare I/O capacity; wireless devices allow flexibility when it comes to making changes late in a project, and for temporary installations for start-up and troubleshooting; and it’s easy to add incremental wireless points compared to wired bus points. In addition, training and engineering are simplified with the inherently easy wireless technology.
“Our takeaway from these studies is that all three technologies – HART, Foundation fieldbus and wireless – should be in the design toolbox for capital projects,” said Peter Zornio, chief strategic officer, Emerson Process Management.
“Foundation fieldbus continues to offer the lowest cost installation for process control points. While for monitoring points, both Foundation fieldbus and wireless offer good alternatives and similar installation savings. However, over the plant lifecycle, wireless adds significant benefits with simplified training, flexibility and allows very easy and lowest cost incremental expansion,” concluded Zornio.
Ethernet angle While much development revolves around clusters like ZigBee and WirelessHART, debates also revolve around the role and potential of industrial Ethernet, in its wired and wireless incarnations. Some critics claim industrial Ethernet is too new to be trusted on the plant floor, or that it is too expensive when compared to fieldbus technology.
Defenders say the basic technology has been around for more than 30 years and today’s industrial offerings build on that foundation, adding key functionalities that provide the determinism, reliability and ease-of-use required for the plant floor.
Initial implementation costs are about the same as fieldbus. The single, open infrastructure is very important, says Jeremy Bryant, Industrial Communications manager with Siemens Energy & Automation.
With industrial Ethernet, a powerful area and cell network is available for industrial applications, in line with standards IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) and 802.11 (wireless LAN). ARC Advisory Group pegged the market for industrial Ethernet at one million nodes in 2007 with growth to more than three million by 2012.
In the long run, that common infrastructure will drive down total cost of ownership because specialists will not be necessary for each type of field bus in use. Many industrial Ethernet networks are designed to be set up by automation engineers and do not necessarily need IT experts, according to Raj Rajani, an Ethernet marketing manager with Siemens.
In terms of wireless Ethernet offerings, Weidmuller has rolled out a range of communications products for industrial environments. Its WL-EM-240 Wireless Ethernet modem provides a power output of 300 mW, which helps strengthen signals in industrial environments. Both 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz Ethernet modems also support separate RS232 and RS485 interfaces, which can be used to provide wireless serial device server capabilities and can be run concurrently with Ethernet communications.
Meanwhile, AvaLAN Wireless Systems’ AW5800HTP-PAIR long range 5 Mbps industrial outdoor wireless Ethernet bridge is designed for robust and reliable machine-to-machine communications. Such infrastructure is well suited for the industrial automation, remote sensing and remote control markets, according to CEO Matt Nelson.
Positive penetration In its Wireless Technology Trends Report, research firm WTRS evaluates the market potential for emerging wireless technologies, including applications of WiMAX, IEEE 802.16m, LTE, Bluetooth, UWB, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.15.4, and ZigBee.
“From wireless sensor networks to wireless connectivity to telecom applications, emerging wireless-based products are beginning to penetrate the market. While growth in some sectors has been slowed by current economic conditions, the overall picture today is one of general positive market expansion,” says Kirsten West, principal analyst with WTRS. The publication of the ZigBee Smart Energy profile is cited as driving the release of many new products.
In summary, with growing vendor support and a range of solution offerings, automation engineers should pay attention to configuration and calibration of wireless network products, diagnostics, troubleshooting, provisioning of devices, and future upgrades and cost-performance profiles.
Madanmohan Rao is the editor of “Asia Unplugged: The Wireless & Mobile Media Boom in Asia Pacific”.----------------------------------------------------------
2010 Planning & Budgeting for WirelessThis checklist from wireless technology provider Apprion can be used to plan and prioritize industrial wireless projects.Use this checklist from as a guide for your 2010 planning. If you have obsolete or aging equipment that could potentially fail soon, if you need to replace any of your automation systems or they are no longer working effectively – you will need to put together a budget for wireless.
1) Which of the following plant applications are under consideration for a wireless deployment in your facility?
a. Condition monitoring (temperature, pressure, vibration, etc)
b. Remote locations (tank gauging, backhauling PLCs)
c. Plant and corporate video conferencing and wireless conference rooms
d. Security – personnel entry, video perimeter
e. Safety – personnel tracking
f. Asset tracking/Equipment location
g. Operation Mobility h. Other
2) In which of the following departments or units do they reside?
a. Operations
b. Engineering
c. Maintenance d. Security e. Safety f. Other
3) What is the primary business benefit sought from those wireless applications?
a. Productivity
b. Ease of deployment and operation
c. Reduced cost of deployment and operation
d. Access to data which is currently difficult to get
e. Regulatory compliance
f. Other
4) Which wireless technologies should be considered for these applications/systems?
5) Will these wireless applications/systems need to be networked with other related applications or systems? Which ones?
6) Will these wireless applications need to feed into either the plant process network or the business network immediately or in the very near future?
7) Who/Which department will have responsibility for the budget and deployment of wireless applications/systems?
8) Who within the plant and/or IT organizations has the best knowledge of wireless technologies, networking and plant operations, applications and systems?
9) Which, if any, wireless applications have already been deployed in my plant?
10) What problems were encountered, if any, in designing and deploying those applications?
In addition to the checklist, use the online Apprion Wireless Application ROI calculator to determine cost savings and so help build your business case for wireless applications: www.apprion. com/ApprionExpertise.WirelessROI.asp
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Gauging Energy SavingsWhen it comes to capturing measurement values from manual instruments, wireless technology can prove to be a better bet than traditional wired transducers.Many industrial plants use compressed dry air (CDA) to operate pneumatic tools and equipment. When energy was relatively inexpensive, compressors for these systems were often set to deliver high pressure at all times to ensure adequate pressure was available at all points in the system.
This can waste energy since most of the pneumatic equipment does not require higher pressure to operate adequately. With the advent of higher energy prices, many plant operators are now carefully assessing how they can lower the supply pressure and reduce duty cycle and energy use.
Capturing energy savings involves reducing supply pressure sufficiently to save energy, but not by so much that the operation of the pneumatic equipment is impacted.
This is not as simple as it may seem. A CDA supply line usually feeds multiple downstream branches, and depending on which combination of equipment is operating at what time, different branches can experience different flow rates and pressure drops.
Therefore, before reducing the supply pressure, it is important to monitor the existing pressures and flow under different operating scenarios to obtain an accurate characterization of the system.Then, once an accurate picture is obtained, the supply pressure can be reduced and different flow and pressure regulators adjusted.
To avoid impact to production quality and yield, it is essential that the system is monitored such that at no time should the pressure drop below the required level at any of the branches.
Unfortunately, most existing CDA systems do not have automatic monitoring systems installed. Most only have manual dial gauges used for troubleshooting, and there is no easy way to obtain realtime data for alarming and notification.
Some plant operators have elected to install transducers to augment the dial gauges. However, this involves a host of costly and time consuming activities:
• Breaking pressure seals
• Disrupting the production process,
• Performing leak checks
• Running wiring/conduit
• Creating new drawings
• Reviewing and approving drawings
• Procuring new I/O cards
Recent surveys have indicated that the total cost to add new transducer points to an operating CDA system ranges from US$3,000-$6,000 per point, and may be higher for plants running close to capacity and which cannot afford production downtime.
However, instead of using hard-wired transducers which incur the disruption and cost described above, plant operators can take the advantage of new wireless technology, in this case, the OneWireless Gauge Reader (WGR) from Honeywell Process Solutions.
This technology non-invasively clamps on top of existing gauges already installed in the CDA system, and transmits the readings wirelessly to a central receiver and server for monitoring, trending, graphing, alarming and historization. Each WGR installs quickly and does not involve breaking seals, leak checks, or production downtime.
Less pressure, more money Take the case of a factory that has a 750 hp compressor driving its CDA system at a supply pressure of 125 psi. The compressor runs at an average duty cycle of 50 percent, and the annual cost of electricity to operate the compressor is about US$123,000.
Over the years, the plant production mix has changed, and some production has been moved to other locations offshore. The plant manager believes that it is no longer necessary to operate at a supply pressure of 125 psi, since there is now less equipment with lower flow rates required, and lower associated pressure drops. In fact he believes that he can safely reduce the supply pressure to 85 psi and still operate acceptably.
Reducing the supply pressure from 125 psi to 85 psi is expected to save about $39,000 per year in electrical energy costs, and can also reduce the wear and tear and associated maintenance on the compressor.
The compressor supplies compressed air to 18 different downstream branches, with multiple tools and equipment on each branch connected to the CDA line. The plant has a batch type production process, which means that different equipment cycles on-and-off at different times to produce batches. Depending on the combination of equipment that is operating at a given time, the air flow and the pressure drops may vary by 25 psi or more at different branch locations.
The CDA energy savings opportunity was identified at a corporate level as a high priority project to reduce energy costs. To get started on the project, the main work required is to install a monitoring system to characterize the operating modes and pressures, and a notification/alarm system to ensure that maintenance staff be alerted should pressures fall too low. The plant staff also require the monitoring data to be tied to the existing Siemens Apogee automation system.
Monitoring points are needed on each CDA branch line (18 locations total), distributed across 2,800 square meters of manufacturing area. The existing Apogee system has controller and I/O panels around the perimeter walls of the manufacturing area. Most of the monitoring points are about 18-30 meters away from the nearest Apogee I/O panel. Some of the I/O panels do not have spare analog input cards and cannot accommodate any more points.
Technology choices The plant manager considered two different options for implementing the monitoring system:
• Option 1: Traditional wired transducers
The traditional transducers would be installed by adding pressure ports on the branch lines and conduit run for signal and power lines from the transducers to the nearest Apogee panel. Additional I/O cards or modules would be installed to accommodate the new points where necessary.
Plant operators would be able to monitor values and receive alarms via the Apogee system. Estimated time to install the system: 170 man-hours over 1.5 calendar months.
• Option 2: Wireless gauge readers
These devices would be installed by clamping them onto existing manual dial gauges at the different branch locations. The units are battery powered (3-5 year life) and do not require power nor signal cabling. Readings are transmitted wirelessly to a central receiver/ server and are optionally passed onto the control system via an industry-standard OPC interface.
Plant operators would be able to monitor values and receive alarms via the Apogee system, or via the built-in web interface and cell/pager notification system. Estimated time to install this system: 15 man-hours, over two calendar days.
The plant is running at close to maximum capacity, which means that any need to shutdown equipment affects production and plant revenue, is very costly. As shown in the comparison table of the upfront costs for implementing the two different options (Table 1), the total cost per point for the wireless reader gauge technology option is three times less than that for the traditional transducer option.
Table 2 shows the payback analysis for the two options. The wireless gauge reader option would achieve a payback of seven months, while it would take 21 months for the wired transducers to achieve a payback. So here, wireless technology is the clear winner.
Based on information from Honeywell Process Solutions----------------------------------------------------------
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Back to the Future: Wireless for Legacy Devices The latest technology is enabling existing, conventional devices to be retrofitted with wireless capabilities and so enhancing application possibilities. By Dr Andreas Rampe.Wireless products are now for most of us an everyday phenomenon, accustomed as we are to connecting our personal computer almost everywhere around the world or using our mobile phone whenever we like. And all this without being limited by the length of a cable. We like the flexibility and ease of use that comes with wireless
After being used for quite some time at the enterprise level of process automation plants, wireless communication is now starting to be used for some applications on the production floor. While a hard-wired signal is and will be required for all applications where high reliability or safety is first priority, for sensors used for monitoring – and this can be up to about 75 percent of all sensors – wireless communication can have significant advantages.
The reluctance to widely use wireless on the production floor can be put down to the fact that an open standard written around the needs in process automation was previously missing. These “needs” come from the fact that both sensors and actuators are complex field devices providing extensive diagnostic information and they are spread over a large area in the plant.
However, an open platform for a product development is now available with the current version 7.1 delivered by the HART Communication Foundation and with its major component: WirelessHART, which uses the license-free 2.4-GHz band and is based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard.
Based on this specification Endress+Hauser is launching a battery-powered WirelessHART Adapter – for retrofitting legacy HART and 4-20 mA field devices, and a WirelessHART Fieldgate access point – for acquiring and feeding the information to the plant network.
Monitoring mixWireless monitoring applications can be roughly classified into three areas:
1. Recording of previously manuallymonitored or even unmonitored process variables. For example, this could be for energy monitoring, measurement on rotary kilns or using moving measurement skids. The advantages are a fast, easy, and even ambulant installation.
2. Determining the content of silos and tanks without the need and the costs for wiring. Hence level gauging is getting affordable, more accurate and easy to incorporate it into an automated supply chain management. And it can increase safety, because personnel can remain on the ground.
3. Exchange of diagnostic information with sensors and actuators to support the maintenance of all plant assets. After identifying the critical process variables in the plant in a site survey, the corresponding sensors or actuators can be incorporated into the asset management system (and without changes in the process control). If corresponding sensors are not already installed, additional ones can be attached very easily.
With such a broad range of applications, it is important to have the right interfaces and protocols. On the wired interface of the Adapter, field devices with HART and 4-20 mA can be attached. Meanwhile, on the WirelessHART Fieldgate, two wired interfaces exist: an RS-485 interface with the Digital HART and Modbus-RTU protocols; and standard Ethernet with the option of HART-UDP and Modbus-TCP protocols, and a web interface (i.e. the HTTP protocol), which can be used for configuration and diagnosis.
In addition, DTMs and DDs are available for Fieldgates as well as the Adapter. These protocols make it possible to easily integrate them into various monitoring stations, e.g. using an OPC server and a Scada system.
System characteristics Each WirelessHART Adapter provides the functionality to forward data packets on behalf of all other network participants. Thus makes it possible to use a mesh network topology and to cover a large area with field devices without having too many WirelessHART Fieldgates as access points. The distance between two network members can be 60-100 meters indoors and up to 250 meters outdoors, for typical environments.
The wireless network is organized by software called Network Manager that runs on all WirelessHART Fieldgates. It organizes the complete network by itself, detects the breakdown of single data paths, and finds alternative routes. Hence the network is self-organizing and self-healing.
As for the battery life of the Adapter, if it is used with a powered sensor then the battery lifetime depends on how often it is switched on. This could be three to five years for a pressure device that switches on for about 10 seconds and measures every five minutes. If the sensor is not powered, the lifetime can by seven years and more. Both lifetime values are given for typical environmental temperature which is the most significant factor influencing the lifetime.
All data transmissions are encrypted using the Advanced Encryption Standard with a bit length of 128 bits (AES128), which was openly analyzed and then selected due to its high level of security (combined with efficiency and simplicity in the implementation). Nowadays AES become a standard (specified by NIST) and is broadly used in cryptography even for top security messages. The algorithm is used in a special mode (CCM) ensuring data privacy and authentication.
Tried & testedUsing prototype products, Endress+Hauser has conducted the first field trials. The results for a network of about 12 participants joined in one network showed that it is possible to achieve a transmission time of less than 10 seconds, with a latency time between 0.25-1.5 seconds depending on the data path. These values are of the same order as for other WirelessHART products.
Quite remarkable was the reliability of 100 percent, i.e. no data packet got lost. There are two reasons for this robustness. First, WirelessHART uses the DSSS method (direct sequence spread spectrum) to reduce the impact of narrow-band interferences and the transmitter hops across multiple frequencies (frequency hopping spread spectrum, FHSS) to sidestep interference.
Secondly, to enable various members of a network to communicate simultaneously with each other through different paths, the frequency allocation and chronology are controlled within a 10 ms grid according to the TDMA method (time division multiple access).
Nevertheless, in an automation plant it is important to manage the radio frequencies to guarantee coexistence with other wireless networks. This starts with a survey prior to the installation of already existing networks and the used frequencies.
Subsequently, the WirelessHART network is set up in such a way that that the interference is minimized. Finally, operation procedures are put in place to ensure the operation of all networks for the future.
Dr Andreas Rampe is Product Manager Wireless, Endress+Hauser Process Solutions AG.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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