Knowledge Center: Process Performance
Interview: The True Value of Wireless
Asheesh Arora, Asia Pacific Leader, Honeywell Field Solutions, says companies should look at wireless not just as a way of saving cabling and maintenance costs but as means for enabling things that could never be done in the wired plant world.
CEA: You refer to OneWireless as your second generation wireless system?
Arora: Yes, that’s right. We launched the XYR 5000 wireless transmitters back in 2003; the first major process automation supplier with such an offering. We also released other wireless products: the IntelaTrac PKS for operator field rounds; and the Experion Mobile Station for process visibility.
Then in 2006, we announced plans for a new, multifunctional network – called OneWireless – under which all our wireless products will be unified. The point is, Honeywell is not new to wireless; we already have valuable implementation experience at some 500 sites now.
CEA: Why should customers invest in a wireless solution? Arora: There are two immediately compelling factors: savings in capital outlay for setting up a wired infrastructure; and savings in maintenance from not having to track so many wires in the plant.
Often, you want to measure some important parameters but it is not always feasible or cost-effective, such as where you have a wastewater facility located 600 meters away from the main plant. Wireless makes it feasible.
What we are not suggesting to customers is to jump in and install wireless everywhere in the plant. Rather, look at those areas where it is difficult to implement conventional wired networks as candidates for a wireless solution.
With wireless, often the hurdle is the customer’s mindset. Will it work? What are the implications in terms of security and interference? That’s where the Starter Kit comes in, to enable try out of the technology at very low cost and create a level of reassurance for the customer.
CEA: Is a site survey necessary before implementing a wireless system? Arora: Every plant will have a base level of radio noise within the 2.4 GHz spectrum, and wireless signals are also susceptible to large metal objects and thick concrete walls. For a simple network without large distances and where you’re not necessarily looking for very specific response times, then you don’t need a site survey.
But for the full-blown mesh network with lots of Multinodes and where you are relying on the data to make decisions about the plant, we believe customers would looking for the reassurance on network reliability that comes from doing a site survey. The survey is pretty straightforward, however, and it does not take more than a day to a walkthrough of the plant with a laptop and antenna.
CEA: Isn’t battery life another concern when going wireless?
Arora: I believe we would have seen wireless instruments in the plant adopted sooner had long life, reliable batteries been available earlier. Reducing the number of wires is supposed to make easier for the maintenance guys, so there’s no point giving them another headache through having to worry about constantly replacing the batteries in the wireless devices. So batteries are a crucial part of the whole solution.
As well as ensuring that we could use standard, off the shelf Lithium batteries, what we really worked on at Honeywell was smart power management technology, to ensure that a device consumes the least possible amount of power.
For example, if a transmitter is updating every 30 seconds, then it will “sleep” after each update thus conserving power. (That’s also one key advantage of the OneWireless network – being able to set different update rates for different devices.) And so, even at one second update rates, our batteries have a three to five year lifespan.
CEA: What will it take for wireless to become a common feature in process plants?
Arora: We do not believe that wireless will get very far if it remains proprietary technology. Since no one company has all of the monitoring and control elements under its belt, a key obstacle is the availability and compatibility of devices. Honeywell is willing to share its wireless technology with other device manufacturers. That’s because our vision for wireless is not exclusively about the wireless field instruments per se, but in the new applications that will surely come with the OneWireless infrastructure in place.
What that means is that the customer should not look at Honeywell as that company that can sell me some wireless boxes, but as the company that can take me from my present day wired scenario to a future wireless scenario – not just for the savings in cost but for enabling things that I could never think of doing earlier. There lies the true value of OneWireless.
Regional Sales Manager William Tan and Asheesh Arora
For more information Please visit Honeywell website at www.honeywell.com/ps/sea
Asheesh Arora, Asia Pacific Leader, Honeywell Field Solutions, says companies should look at wireless not just as a way of saving cabling and maintenance costs but as means for enabling things that could never be done in the wired plant world.
CEA: You refer to OneWireless as your second generation wireless system?
Arora: Yes, that’s right. We launched the XYR 5000 wireless transmitters back in 2003; the first major process automation supplier with such an offering. We also released other wireless products: the IntelaTrac PKS for operator field rounds; and the Experion Mobile Station for process visibility.
Then in 2006, we announced plans for a new, multifunctional network – called OneWireless – under which all our wireless products will be unified. The point is, Honeywell is not new to wireless; we already have valuable implementation experience at some 500 sites now.
CEA: Why should customers invest in a wireless solution? Arora: There are two immediately compelling factors: savings in capital outlay for setting up a wired infrastructure; and savings in maintenance from not having to track so many wires in the plant.
Often, you want to measure some important parameters but it is not always feasible or cost-effective, such as where you have a wastewater facility located 600 meters away from the main plant. Wireless makes it feasible.
What we are not suggesting to customers is to jump in and install wireless everywhere in the plant. Rather, look at those areas where it is difficult to implement conventional wired networks as candidates for a wireless solution.
With wireless, often the hurdle is the customer’s mindset. Will it work? What are the implications in terms of security and interference? That’s where the Starter Kit comes in, to enable try out of the technology at very low cost and create a level of reassurance for the customer.
CEA: Is a site survey necessary before implementing a wireless system? Arora: Every plant will have a base level of radio noise within the 2.4 GHz spectrum, and wireless signals are also susceptible to large metal objects and thick concrete walls. For a simple network without large distances and where you’re not necessarily looking for very specific response times, then you don’t need a site survey.
But for the full-blown mesh network with lots of Multinodes and where you are relying on the data to make decisions about the plant, we believe customers would looking for the reassurance on network reliability that comes from doing a site survey. The survey is pretty straightforward, however, and it does not take more than a day to a walkthrough of the plant with a laptop and antenna.
CEA: Isn’t battery life another concern when going wireless?
Arora: I believe we would have seen wireless instruments in the plant adopted sooner had long life, reliable batteries been available earlier. Reducing the number of wires is supposed to make easier for the maintenance guys, so there’s no point giving them another headache through having to worry about constantly replacing the batteries in the wireless devices. So batteries are a crucial part of the whole solution.
As well as ensuring that we could use standard, off the shelf Lithium batteries, what we really worked on at Honeywell was smart power management technology, to ensure that a device consumes the least possible amount of power.
For example, if a transmitter is updating every 30 seconds, then it will “sleep” after each update thus conserving power. (That’s also one key advantage of the OneWireless network – being able to set different update rates for different devices.) And so, even at one second update rates, our batteries have a three to five year lifespan.
CEA: What will it take for wireless to become a common feature in process plants?
Arora: We do not believe that wireless will get very far if it remains proprietary technology. Since no one company has all of the monitoring and control elements under its belt, a key obstacle is the availability and compatibility of devices. Honeywell is willing to share its wireless technology with other device manufacturers. That’s because our vision for wireless is not exclusively about the wireless field instruments per se, but in the new applications that will surely come with the OneWireless infrastructure in place.
What that means is that the customer should not look at Honeywell as that company that can sell me some wireless boxes, but as the company that can take me from my present day wired scenario to a future wireless scenario – not just for the savings in cost but for enabling things that I could never think of doing earlier. There lies the true value of OneWireless.
Regional Sales Manager William Tan and Asheesh Arora
For more information Please visit Honeywell website at www.honeywell.com/ps/sea
