Knowledge Center: Expanding Industrial Wireless Capabilities

Expanding Industrial Wireless Capabilities

As part of the latest version of Honeywell's OneWireless industrial mesh network solution for manufacturing facilities, the OneWireless R120 is the process industry's first redundant wireless system gateway (WSG), a critical prerequisite for wireless process control.

The WSG manages data between wireless field instrumentation and the plant's process control network (PCN). It serves as a backup gateway to ensure that data is always delivered even if the main gateway malfunctions or fails. Paired with existing OneWireless redundancy features, this approach, says Honeywell, creates the first industrial wireless system with complete hardware and radio-frequency redundancy from the field instrument to the PCN connection. Additionally, unique failure recovery features help prevent data loss and the network can recover in less than two seconds from any field hardware failure.

"Many plants today are only using wireless for non-critical applications, but that will undoubtedly change in the future as the trust in and adoption of wireless technology grows," said Jeff Becker, global wireless business director. "Plants will control critical processes over wireless networks, which must be as reliable as wired networks. OneWireless is ready for these new demands with built-in features that enhance data availability and system reliability."

Wireless radar gauge
Honeywell has also released a ISA100.11a-ready wireless radar gauge for tank measurements. The FlexLine Wireless Radar Gauge captures a wide array of tank measurements and transmits them via the OneWireless network to control rooms, says Honeywell. Based on equipment compatible with the ISA100.11a standard, OneWireless networks can simultaneously accommodate multiple wireless protocols and thousands of field devices ranging from transmitters and gauge readers to mobile handheld devices and RFID tags.

In addition to level measurement, the FlexLine Wireless Radar Gauge can track temperature, pressure, water and overfill. The gauge also has passed the accuracy and security standards set by The Dutch Weight and Measurement (W&M) authority, a designation for the device to be used for loading and unloading tank liquids from ships and trucks.

"Terminals today are striving for more efficient production, which means operators need more information and diagnostics from the field to better understand how their assets are functioning," said John Joosten, radar and safety product manager, Honeywell Enraf. "The FlexLine Wireless Radar Gauge enables plants to easily obtain this information, making the device an ideal solution to increase uptime, efficiency and safety for facilities with challenging infrastructures."