Control System World

Technip was awarded a contract by Air Products to provide technology, engineering and procurement services for a grassroots hydrogen plant in Baytown, Texas, USA. The 3.5 million standard cubic meters per day plant will produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO) to be supplied to customers from Air Products’ established Gulf Coast Hydrogen and CO Pipeline Networks.

The plant will be built through the global hydrogen alliance(1) between Air Products and Technip. It will feature Technip’s proprietary high efficiency steam methane reforming (SMR) technology to produce high purity hydrogen, carbon monoxide and export steam. It will also use the latest nitrogen oxide reduction technology to reduce emissions.

Technip’s operating center in Claremont, California, USA, will execute the project, which is scheduled for completion in 2018.

Stan Knez, President, Technip Stone & Webster Process Technology, commented: "We are proud that our SMR technology is helping customers meet the world’s growing energy needs in a reliable, efficient and sustainable manner. We look forward to executing this new project under our global alliance with Air Products. This is the longest and most productive global hydrogen alliance supporting the oil and gas industry around the world.”

Advantech, global top market-share holder in the field of industrial computing, announced it has joined Microsoft Azure Certified for Internet of Things (IoT), ensuring that customers can get IoT solutions up and running quickly with hardware and software that has been pre-tested and verified to work with Microsoft Azure IoT services. Advantech IoT devices certified by Azure allow businesses to reach customers where they are, working with an ecosystem of devices and platforms, which allows for faster time-to-production.

There are already five Advantech IoT devices certified by Microsoft Azure which turn IoT solution into a new era. These devices focus on vertical markets in industrial automation, transportation, and the IoT field, which will be expanding rapidly in the near future. To speed up the implementation of POC and product prototyping, Advantech offers a further IoT starter software development kit to help realize customers’ IoT applications as efficiently as possible.

“To promote IoT industry development, Advantech works with Microsoft to build our WISE-PaaS software service, which integrates Advantech’s IoT software solutions and Microsoft’s Azure cloud services,” said Allan Yang, CTO of Advantech. “To accelerate clients’ IoT deployment, we’ve joined the Microsoft Azure IoT Certified program to ensure our IoT gateway UTX-3115, ARK-1123C, ARK-2121L, in-vehicle computer TREK-674, and automation controller UNO-1372G are pre-integrated with Azure cloud services. By doing so, we can provide clients with more comprehensive, end-to-cloud IoT integrated solutions.”

“We are able to jumpstart customers’ IoT projects with pre-tested device and operating system combinations that are validated through Microsoft Azure cloud services,” said Vice President Miller Chang. “Decreasing the usual customization and work required for compatibility ensures Advantech helps customers get started quickly on their IoT solutions.”

“Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT extends our promise to bring IoT to business scale, starting with interoperable solutions from leading technology companies around the world,” said Barb Edson, general manager for Data Platform and Internet of Things, Microsoft. “With trusted offerings and verified partners, Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT accelerates the deployment of IoT even further.”

IoT projects are complex and take a long time to implement. Customers find that choosing and connecting the right set of devices, assets or sensors to the cloud can be time-consuming. To jumpstart their IoT projects with confidence, customers are looking for the right IoT devices and platforms that are tested for readiness, compatibility, and usability. By choosing from Advantech’s certified by Microsoft Azure IoT program, customers can save time and effort on project specs and RFP processes, knowing in advance that devices and offerings will work with the Azure IoT Suite.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that Dave Emerson, director of the U.S. Development Center at Yokogawa Corporation of America, has been elevated to the distinguished membership grade of Fellow of the International Society of Automation (ISA), a leading, global, nonprofit organization that is setting the standard for automation. The award presentation was held on October 11, 2015.

Founded in 1945, the ISA is an organization that sets and advocates technology standards for the control industry to improve safety, efficiency, and profitability at manufacturing sites. An ISA fellowship recognizes qualified ISA members who have made exceptional engineering or scientific contributions to the automation profession. Based upon peer evaluation, it is the highest grade of ISA membership. The criteria for selection are demanding and only a few members are elected each year, making this grade a coveted honor. This year five people received this honor.

This acknowledgment of Mr. Emerson reflects the following major contributions he has made to the control industry:

At ISA, he was involved in standardizing the field data used in process automation and drawing up the specifications of the interface for exchanging this data. Specifically, he worked on the development of ISA-88 (international standard for batch process control) and ISA-95 (international standard for integrating management systems and production systems). In 2014, he was selected by CONTROL, a prestigious and influential industry magazine in the U.S., to enter the “Process Automation Hall of Fame.” For Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International, which is an organization for standardizing manufacturing execution systems (MES), he standardized a batch interface. For the OPC Foundation, which is a standardization consortium that develops and promotes communication interfaces, he drew up the specifications for the OPC interface.

Proactively maintaining electrical and automation control equipment has long been a time-consuming, manual task, as devices become more connected. The new diagnostic reliability service from Rockwell Automation helps manufacturers and industrial producers drive a streamlined maintenance strategy on these mission-critical, integrated equipment lines.

The solution deploys a layer of technology across plant devices and equipment to monitor and perform analysis, and create a continuous improvement approach to reliability maintenance, reducing operational risk. As part of the service, a Rockwell Automation domain service expert also closely tracks equipment performance to advise on reliability improvements to the production facility.

“Our customers have access to a huge amount of data within their assets, but they often struggle to turn data into useful operational intelligence,” said Ryan Williams, product manager, Rockwell Automation. “In the past, companies relied on maintenance personnel on-site to check the status of equipment in the field and then develop corrective action plans. Now, with the diagnostic reliability service, they can transform maintenance data into asset intelligence. This helps build a more Connected Enterprise, leveraging interconnected data systems and producing actionable information. Companies can better prioritize choices on maintenance and production, and do more with less.”

The solution automatically collects identity and health data from all networked devices on the production control network. The data is then modeled with asset management information to trigger events and send alerts to necessary personnel for proactive maintenance. With the service, Rockwell Automation asset reliability professionals assist users in applying the intelligence on their critical equipment to inform data-driven maintenance decisions and increase productivity.

Case in point: A major oil and gas company used the diagnostic reliability solution to help centralize information gathering and monitor hundreds of critical control assets across a California rural valley. The company also needed inventory of all the field devices in its process control network for a companywide cybersecurity policy. The automated identification and monitoring solution helped the company’s California business unit comply with the new corporate policy, reduce costs associated with field service manpower through proactive maintenance, and increase its daily oil production.

Through integrated, automated device identification and tracking, other customers using the diagnostic reliability service can realize approximately 70 percent reduction in manual data-collection time.

The diagnostic reliability offering is applicable to all manufacturers, with an industry emphasis including oil and gas, mining metals and cement, auto tire and rubber, and consumer packaged goods.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that two of its subsidiaries, Yokogawa Electric Korea and Yokogawa Solution Service Corporation, have received orders to provide control systems for thermal power and desalination plants that are to be constructed for Umm Al Houl Power, a Qatari company whose main businesses are power generation and water desalination.

The control system orders received by Yokogawa Electric Korea are for a thermal power plant and a reverse osmosis desalination plant, and they were placed by Samsung C&T and Acciona Agua, respectively. The control system order received by Yokogawa Solution Service is for a multi-stage flashing system desalination plant, and it was placed by Hitachi Zosen Corporation.

These plants are being built for Umm Al Houl Power at a location 20 km south of Doha, the capital of Qatar, and the power and water produced there will be provided to the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) for a period of 25 years. The power plant will utilize a combined cycle power generation system*1. One of the desalination plants will utilize a reverse osmosis process*2, and the other will rely on a multi-stage flash distillation process*3. The capacity of the power plant will be 2.4 GW and the combined daily capacity of the two desalination plants will be 590,000 m3. These plants are scheduled to commence providing electricity and water in 2017.

For this project, Yokogawa will deliver the CENTUMR VP integrated production control system and the ProSafe®-RS safety instrumentation system. In addition to being responsible for engineering, the company will provide support for the installation and commissioning of these systems. The CENTUM VP system will be able to monitor and control operations at all three plants.

Yokogawa's subsidiaries were able to win these orders because the following points were highly evaluated by the end user and the companies that are building these plants:

• The engineering capability that Yokogawa demonstrated in the Ras Abu Fontas A2 desalination plant project for QEWC
• Our solid global track record in executing large combined-cycle power plant projects

Kepware Technologies, a software development company focused on communications for automation, recently announced the launch of its IoT Alliance program. The alliance is composed of a strategic network of leading IoT solutions providers that are committed to growing the global IoT market potential and shaping the direction of industry through smart technology, thought leadership, and marketing initiatives. Alliance members will have access to proprietary technology from Kepware that enables their respective solutions to access industrial data from the industry’s leading communications platform, KEPServerEX.

There are ten founding members participating in Kepware’s IoT Alliance including Aizoon, Altizon, DeviceLynk, Falkonry, Informatica, IOT Technology Solutions, mnubo, Perseus, Splunk, and ThingWorx (a PTC business).

“The IoT Alliance has the potential to be a disruptive force in the Industrial Automation market,” said Tony Paine, CEO, Kepware. “By collaborating closely with Kepware and fellow alliance members, we have the capability to release new, innovative, and proven solutions—reducing risk and accelerating time to market. This translates to tangible IoT solutions for our customers.”

Kepware offers IoT Alliance members a connected network of more than 40 technology partners, 80 system integrators, and 90 Kepware resellers operating in more than 100 countries. By establishing relationships between alliance members and existing partners, Kepware aims to introduce members to new markets and opportunities. Furthermore, the alliance offers members proprietary insight into Kepware’s product road map and creates a safe environment for interoperability and proof of concept testing. Kepware recently released the IoT Gateway for KEPServerEX, which streams industrial data into Cloud and on-premise solutions for real-time analytics.

Rotork Skilmatic electro-hydraulic valve actuators have been ordered for increased safety ESD (Emergency Shutdown) duties on two new oil pipelines in China. Owned by the China National Petroleum Corporation, the Mahui and Yunnan Pipelines are attached to the network bringing oil and gas to China from offshore fields in the Bay of Bengal.

The Skilmatic actuators will be installed in automated and unattended valve chambers at pump stations, where they will provide isolating and failsafe ESD functions. These valves, known as ROSOV (Remote Operated Shut-off Valves), are designed to isolate sections of the pipelines in the event of a potential emergency. By providing swift and accurate valve movement in one direction and very reliable mechanical spring return movement in the failsafe direction, Rotork’s self-contained electro-hydraulic actuator design is successfully utilised for this type of critical application in many countries.

The Skilmatic actuator combines reliable failsafe performance with the benefits of Rotork IQ intelligent electric actuation technologies, facilitating remote supervision with a high level of asset management encompassing accurate control, monitoring and alarm signalling, operational data logging and diagnostics. The ESD function can be configured to operate on loss of mains power or control signal, with additional options including a second, independent ESD circuit and an ESD manual reset also available.

Designed for functional safety applications SIL 2 with a HFT 0 to IEC 61508:2010 the Skilmatic actuator is also offered with a partial stroke testing capability, enabling the valve to be function tested without interrupting the process - performed either locally or remotely from the control room. The actuator is available with worldwide hazardous area certification, whilst the double-sealed electric enclosure is watertight and dustproof in ratings up to IP68 (submersion at 7 metres for 72 hours.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that it has received the Award for New Products and the International Standardization Award: Achievement Prize from the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE)*1. The awards were presented on October 27. Encouraged by this, Yokogawa will continue working to develop and bring new products to market.

Details about these awards follow.

Award for New products

The Award for New Products is given to SICE member organizations who have released a new product in the previous two calendar years that represents a significant advance in any one of the science & technology fields or industries in which SICE is involved.

- Highly reliable gas flow rate calculation through integration between the DPharp EJX multivariable transmitter and the ProSafe®-RS safety instrumented system

Yokogawa developed functions that comply with the AGA8*2 standard for calculating the compressibility of natural gas, and expanded its natural gas flow rate measurement solutions by introducing them in its transmitters and controllers in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In 2013, Yokogawa successfully implemented a solution that made combined use of Modbus*3 communication type DPharp EJX multivariable transmitters and a ProSafe-RS safety instrumented system that was capable of performing gas flow rate calculations. This ensured not only highly precise and reliable gas flow rate measurement, control, and data management, but also proved to be a cost-effective plant safety solution that conforms to functional safety standards. For this contribution to the natural gas industry, SICE presented this award to Yokogawa.

International Standardization Award: Achievement Prize

The International Standardization Award: Achievement Prize is given to individuals and organizations who have significantly contributed to a field in which SICE is involved through the establishment of international standards.

- Tetsuo Takeuchi (Yokogawa Electric Corporation)

International standards:

IEC 61804-2 Ed.3.0 (CDV) Function blocks (FB) for process control and EDDL - Part 2: Specification of FB concept

IEC/TR 62453-41 Ed.2.0 (1CD) Field device tool (FDT) interface specification - Part 41: Object model integration profile - Common object model

IEC 62769-1 Ed.1.0 (CDV) Devices and integration in enterprise systems; Field Device Integration - Part 1: Overview