Support End User Training in Pune, India, By Donating Your FOUNDATION Fieldbus Equipment

As you know, the Fieldbus Foundation is committed to delivering not only the best in technology, but also the essential training that allows end users to get the most out of the technology. That is why we developed our FOUNDATION Certified Training Program (FCTP), which ensures consistency and quality in training at some of the world's leading technology and industrial educational institutions around the world.

We are pleased to announce that we have added a new FCTP partner site for end user training in Pune, India, which as you know is one of the fastest growing markets for adoption of fieldbus technology. UL is a well-known supplier of automation training solutions to our industry, with an excellent reputation for quality and highly qualified personnel. 

The Foundation would like our manufacturing members to be part of the success of this important new training site by providing hosts, devices, physical layer components, and cable to properly equip the site to deliver vendor neutral, first class training to end users across a wide range of industry segments.

Think about it. Every day that an end user is in class, they are becoming more knowledgeable and comfortable with the quality products your company provides. What better way to market your automation solutions then to provide your customers and potential customers with hands on knowledge of your products? 

Many of you may know Mr. B.R. Mehta, Senior Vice President of Reliance Refining. Here is what Mr. Mehta has to say about the importance of high quality training:

"When we began our search for the automation technology essential to build the largest refinery in the world, it was obvious that to maximize our return on this significant investment, Reliance would need to educate their operating personnel in engineering, operations and maintenance. We recognized FOUNDATION fieldbus as the technology of choice, and we also recognized that for ongoing success, India needed a dedicated training institute to support an ever growing economy. The Fieldbus training site at UL Group in Pune is the culmination of that dream and the result of more and more end user demand."

Each contributing company will have their company name proudly displayed on a high visibility plaque in multiple locations within the facility. There will be no doubt as to your support and commitment of the technology and the trust you have in your products and the training center itself.

Please consider a donation of FOUNDATION-based products to our newest training center at UL Group, Pune, India. Download the equipment donation form and return it to Dileep Miskin (ff@ulepl.com) of the UL Group at your earliest convenience. If you need more information, Dileep can be reached by email or at +919970006819.

Corrosion Management and Fieldbus

The ExxonMobil pipeline rupture looks to be the most significant thing to happen in the world of process automation this week.  Like much of the North American industrial infrastructure, the pipeline is quite old and was originally constructed in the 1940s.  Although there has been no official prognosis or root cause of this incident announced, the incident has sparked discussion about the role of corrosion measurement in process automation applications.  I wrote about bad corrosion management practices when I was at ARC and the BP Alaska pipeline ruptured back in 2008.  According to ARC, the process industries spend shockingly little on corrosion management systems annually.  Here is an excerpt from the 2008 article:

"ARC Advisory Group's Plant Asset Management (PAM) Systems Worldwide Outlook estimates that manufacturers spend over $50 million on corrosion monitoring million annually. One of the fastest growing segments of PAM, the corrosion monitoring market will nearly double over the next five years. The traditional method for monitoring corrosion in pipelines is through metal coupons that are weighed, inserted into the process stream, then periodically removed to determine if corrosion has occurred, by recording the average weight loss over time. Pipeline operators also use ultrasonic testing modules on smart pigs to measure the thickness of the pipe. These are not real time measurements for corrosion, however, and merely confirm that corrosion has taken place."

Like many of the variables in process automation, particularly in remote applications like pipelines, corrosion measurement is moving from the realm of the transactional to the realm of real time.  Methods such as electrical resistance (ER) and linear polarization resistance (LPR) can measure the resistance across wires that are inserted into the process.  We are even reaching into the realm of more localized corrosion detection through methods such as harmonic distortion analysis, which is used in this Pepperl+Fuchs product.

Obviously, this is an excellent use case for FOUNDATION for ROM as well.  This is one of those variables in remote applications that is moving from a transactional variable to a real time variable that can be measured from a remote location.  Sadly, none of the latest breed of real time corrosion measurement devices are tested or registered for FOUNDATION fieldbus, but we would have the capability to integrate with such devices with our FOUNDATION for ROM solution.  

But why should you think about FOUNDATION fieldbus for your corrosion measurement solution?  Simple, FOUNDATION fieldbus was design to report the condition of the sensor and provide a mechanism for the quality of the data coming from the sensor itself.  This allows you to immediately distinguish between problems in the process versus problems with a sensor, or sensor electronics, or memory, or other aspects of the device. Our diagnostics go deeper, they are managed much better, and they provide instant notification.  

In a corrosion monitoring solution, you would have much better information about wear on the sensor, and that critical information is reported to the operator much more quickly.   That real time view of corrosion also means that you can schedule maintenance and shutdowns exactly when they are needed, with a much better planning window.  FOUNDATION fieldbus then lets you prioritize that information more effectively, so the operator sees only the information that is critical to the process, while maintenance sees information that is relevant only to maintenance.  We do this through our Diagnostic Profile and adoption of NAMUR NE 107 guidelines.  So, consider asking your supplier to make a FOUNDATION fieldbus compatible version of their corrosion monitoring sensor, or you can use FOUNDATION for ROM technology to integrate wired HART or WirelessHART into a FOUNDATION fieldbus infrastructure for your remote application.  

2013 Fieldbus Foundation General Assembly Keynote Presentation Now Available!

The Fieldbus Foundation just posted the Chinese and English versions of the Keynote presentation by Mr. Lin Rong of Sinopec SEI that was given during our March 14, 2013 General Assembly in Shanghai, China. Both versions can be viewed on our slideshare account at http://www.slideshare.net/Fieldbus-Foundation. All other presentations are also available on that page.

The General Assembly in Shanghai saw over 260 end users register and over 110 manufacturers/reps in attendance. It was a great chance for everyone to talk and share their successes and solutions surrounding FOUNDATION fieldbus. To review the event agenda from the 2013 event, you can click here: Fieldbus Foundation General Assembly Agenda

You can also watch the short video shot on location to see what the General Assembly looked like in person below:

Special thanks again to all of the great sponsors supporting this annual event!

Final Stats from General Assembly and More Presentations

We just got final attendance figures from our General Assembly in Shanghai the week of March 14th, and we are pleased to say that we had over 380 attendees registered for the event.  This truly was the largest fieldbus related event to be held in China for some time and we look forward to coming back again.  Shanghai is an amazing city and has changed so much in the seven years since I had last been there.  And thanks again to all the sponsors and volunteers that made it all happen.

On another General Assembly related note, Mr. Ye Yingmin, Leader Engineer from Shanghai SECCO gave an excellent presentation on the everyday use of FOUNDATION fieldbus diagnostics.  The Shanghai SECCO petrochemical complex is one of the largest in the world, and is also one of the largest fieldbus installations in the world with over 20,000 devices and extensive use of control in the field.  Mr. Ye's presentations goes into extensive detail about how SECCO was able to achieve a true return on investment with fiedlbus through intelligent management of diagnostic data for both devices and the physical layer. This presentation is worth a read for those that want to get the most out of their diagnostic information.

FOUNDATION Fieldbus Diagnosis and Maintenance

New YouTube Videos

Here is an excellent video taken from the ARC Forum in Orlando this past February.  It shows John Rezabek of Ashland chemical and chairman of our End User Advisory Council discussing why they chose FOUNDATION fieldbus and control in the field to run their plant in Lima, Ohio.

And here is video footage from our latest General Assembly in Shanghai, China at the beautiful Portman Ritz Carlton Hotel.  We are very pleased with the attendance of over 250 end users and suppliers and some very excellent presentations.

ARC Forum: John Rezabek of Ashland Chemical Discusses FOUNDATION fieldbus

Footage from the 2013 Fieldbus Foundation General Assembly in Shanghai

Check out the new Fieldbus Flash E-Newsletter

A couple of months ago the Fieldbus Foundation formed a new media partnership with ControlGlobal to help us design and deliver our worldwide e-newsletter and bi-annual Fieldbus Report supplement.  Our new e-newsletter has been renamed the Fieldbus Flash and you can see the first issue here at ControlGlobal.

You can subscribe to the new Fieldbus Flash newsletter here.  

Fieldbus Flash E-Newsletter

Our top stories in the March issue include a preview of the General Assembly in Shanghai and more information about our keynote speaker, Mr. Lin Rong of Sinopec Engineering.  You can also read about the progress of our new ROM demo program and our media event to be held at Petrobras in Rio on April 30th. You can also read about our ongoing series of global seminars, updates to our DD library, new members, and more.  

Another new feature of our partnership with ControlGlobal includes a Fieldbus Foundation microsite hosted on the ControlGlobal web site where you can get all the latest Foundation news, downloads, videos, and more.  

March Edition of Fieldbus Flash E Newsletter

Subscribe to Fieldbus Flash E Newsletter

Fieldbus Foundation Microsite at ControlGlobal.com

Check out our General Assembly Presentations on Slideshare

You can review our presentations given at the 2013 Fieldbus Foundation General Assembly in Shanghai, China at our SlideShare account here.  There are a wide variety of presentations from local Chinese end users on the lifecycle benefits of fieldbus, as well as a market update and review of FOUNDATION for ROM technology by myself and a Technology Update presentation from Dave Glanzer.  Enjoy!

Fieldbus Foundation SlideShare Account now Features General Assembly Presentations