Tuesday, December 20, 2011

New FOUNDATION for SIF Logo

Check out our new logo for FOUNDATION for Safety Instrumented Functions.  It is the same design as our FOUNDATION for ROM logo. 

Monday, December 19, 2011

Fieldbus Conference in Hürth, Germany


Mannheim/Germany – Hosted by the German Marketing committee of Fieldbus Foundation, this free conference offers an overview over the development in fieldbus technologies during plenary lectures and its application on process plants. Developers and decision makers of automation solutions and process components give an overview of the current status of bus technologies, while several panels offer the opportunity to exchange with other professionals.

Topics like Control in the Field, Fieldbus for security applications and remote operations management will be addressed. Well–known professional journalists and editors will be chairing the discussions, among them Gerd Kielburger, editor–in–chief of PROCESS magazine. The conference will be held on February 1st 2012 at Feierabendhaus Knapsack, Hürth/Germany.

Link to Conference Information at Feierabendhaus Knapsack, Hürth (Information Provided in German)

FOUNDATION Fieldbus Jobs in India

I like to post job openings when I come across them.  For those of our Indian readers looking for a job related to FOUNDATION fieldbus, the TimesJobs.com site is advertising an opening for a fieldbus professional with 3-6 years experience in FOUNDATION fieldbus, Profibus, and HART.  The fieldbus jobs are out there!

Timesjobs.com: Process Automation Test Professionals

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

New FOUNDATION for ROM Video at Control Engineering

While we were at our Media Day Event at Lee College on December 1st, Peter Welander from Control Engineering shot some good videos of our FOUNDATION for ROM demonstration unit, the fieldbus training facilities at Lee College, and more.  The first of those videos is now available at the Control Engineering web site and is essentially a description of our demonstration unit and a simple explanation of how FOUNDATION for ROM works, and how it can provide value to end users in remote operations. 

Look for several more videos to come. 

Control Engineering Video on FOUNDATION for ROM

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Fieldbus Foundation Announces First H1 ITK 6.0 Registered Devices

The Fieldbus Foundation today announced that it has registered the first FOUNDATION fieldbus devices based on its H1 Interoperability Test Kit (ITK) Version 6.0.Emerson Process Management and Yokogawa supplied the registered H1 (31.25 kbit/s) devices, which were tested for their functionality and conformity with the FOUNDATION function block and transducer block specifications.

Emerson’s registered devices include the TopWorx D2-FF Discrete Valve Controller, which combines analog/digital position sensing and monitoring with FOUNDATION fieldbus communications and pilot valve output drivers for on/off applications; and the Rosemount Analytical 1066 pH Transmitter, which measures pH and ORP/Redox, and provides comprehensive sensor, transmitter, and calibration diagnostics to the bus via field diagnostics.

Yokogawa's registered devices are enhanced pressure transmitters featuring innovations in multi-sensing technology that makes optimal use of the powerful characteristics of a single-crystal silicon resonant sensor. They also support AR, IS, SC, IT and PID function blocks; NE107 field diagnostics; and software download function.

All H1 ITK 6.0 tested devices support the latest advancements in field diagnostics per the NAMUR NE107 recommendation, which build upon the existing, powerful diagnostic capabilities of FOUNDATION fieldbus equipment, and at the same time, add a greater degree of organization so field instruments can represent their diagnostics in a more consistent way.

For example, employing NE 107 field diagnostics capabilities, non-critical diagnostics can be routed to a maintenance station for future work while critical diagnostics can be routed to operations with specific recommendations on how to resolve an instrumentation issue. This and other advanced ITK 6.0 features are fully configurable to provide utmost flexibility in user applications.

A complete list of registered FOUNDATION fieldbus products is available in the Fieldbus Foundation’s registered catalog at www.fieldbus.org/registered.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Emerson Wins Large Fieldbus Project for Zinc and Lead Smelter in China

Emerson Process management has won another fielbus project, this time at large Zinc and Lead smelter in China.  The project will expand Yunnann Chihong Zinc & Germanium lead and zinc processing pant in Yunnan province to over a million tons of capacty over the next five years.  The project will incorporate a DeltaV digital automation system with FOUNDATION fieldbus and WirelessHART devices with an AMS plant asset management system. 

According to the press release, "The new automation system will help improve smelting efficiency and reduce energy consumption in the lead ISA furnace process and zinc pyrometallurgy process, as well as efficiency in sulfur dioxide emission control and waste heat recovery.

Emerson will provide a state-of-the-art control solution that includes its DeltaV™ digital automation system with DeltaV S-Series hardware, AMS Suite asset management software, and smart field devices using Foundation fieldbus and IEC 62591 (WirelessHART®) communications technology. AMS Suite will provide predictive field diagnostics to enable early detection of potential issues and proactive maintenance planning. Using wireless technology to monitor multiple hearth furnaces will eliminate the extensive cabling that would normally be required, reducing engineering complexity for the project."

The company hopes to reduce both maintenance and energy costs with the project. 

Yunnan Chihong Zinc & Germanium Co., Ltd selects Emerson to automate 160,000 ton/year lead and zinc plant  

Friday, December 9, 2011

FOUNDATION for ROM Media Day Presentations

We have uploaded the presentations from our FOUNDATION for ROM Media Day to our Slideshare account, you can access them here.  In the set you will find my overall presentation on the business value of FOUNDATION for ROM, Dave Glanzer's technical presentation, the description of the demonstration unit, and Herman Storey's presentation on the end user perspective. 

FOUNDATION for ROM Media Day Presentations on SlideShare

FOUNDATION for ROM White Paper

You can download the white paper we wrote about FOUNDATION for ROM at the Fieldbus Foundation web site:

FOUNDATION for ROM: Transforming Remote Applications

"Remote Operations Management is one of the fastest growing segments of the process automation business. However, it is also caught up in the turbulence of business challenges, technological change, personnel issues, and the need for operational excellence. Here’s how FOUNDATION technology addresses the needs of remote operations from oil and gas pipelines to tank farms and terminals with a single infrastructure built from the ground up for process automation."

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

FOUNDATION for Remote Operations Management Launch and Media Day

The Fieldbus Foundation unveiled its FOUNDATION™ for Remote Operations Management (ROM) solution at a media event held Thursday, December 1, at the Fieldbus Center at Lee College, Baytown, Texas.  Representatives from all the major process automation related media outlets attended, as well as a lot of end users and educators.  As you may know, Lee College is one of our Fieldbus Certified Training Partners (FCTP), and we incorporated a tour of the fieldbus and process automation educational facilities and pilot plant into our schedule.

We have been talking a little about FOUNDATION for Remote Operations Management on this blog, but last week was the "official unveiling" of our new approach to remote operations, and we got a sneak peak at some early prototype devices that we have been working on in our labs as we develop the overall specification. 


FOUNDATION for ROM Devices on Display
Combining the Functionality of Smart RTUs, Intelligent Wireless Gateways, and Process Controllers

FOUNDATION for ROM provides a unified digital infrastructure for asset management in remote applications from tank farms and terminals to pipelines, offshore platforms, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) skids. The technology enables fieldbus connectivity to remote I/O and the leading industrial wireless protocols, including WirelessHART® and ISA 100.11a. It provides an interface to these wireless technologies and uses Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) and function blocks to ensure interoperability with FOUNDATION for ROM devices.

The media event featured FOUNDATION for ROM technology presentations and demonstrations, followed by a tour of the Fieldbus Center at Lee College, one of the Fieldbus Foundation’s FOUNDATION Certified Training Program (FCTP) partner sites. The Fieldbus Center facility is dedicated to training the next generation of process automation operators and technicians.
FOUNDATION for ROM is important because it is the first example of being able to integrate ISA 100.11a, WirelessHART, wired HART, and wired H1 protocols into a single standard environment. More importantly, it is one that does not sacrifice diagnostic capabilities of the existing wireless devices. Instead, we map these capabilities into our block structure to provide a standard environment for data management, quality, and more. Today’s solutions are highly customized and much more costly to maintain throughout the plant lifecycle.


Dave Glanzer, Director of Technology for Fieldbus Foundation, Describes the FOUNDATION for ROM Demo Unit

I'll be doing more blog posts about the demo unit, applications, and other resources related to FOUNDATON for ROM in the coming days and weeks.  In the meantime here are links to some more information related to ROM. 

Link to Flickr Photostream from FOUNDATION for ROM Media Day