Chemical Processing - September 2007 - (Page 54)

Many cheMical plants are abuzz with talk about using wireless technology. the noise is apt to get louder now with the launch of a new wireless protocol for hart devices. after all, 23 million to 25 million hart devices are installed globally, with about 40% used by the process industries, notes ron helson, executive director of the hart communication Foundation, austin, texas. the new wirelesshart protocol is backward-compatible with existing hart devices and applications. helson understandably applauds the wireless-meshnetwork communications protocol. “it represents a major step for the industry,” he says. “we’ve defined it in terms of what users know and love about hart devices.” the new specification, a key part of the hart Field communications protocol revision 7, was approved June 15 by the hart users Group. “with proper installation, i would think wirelesshart would be quite successful in doing its job,” believes hesh kagan, president of the wireless industrial networking association and also director of technology development and new-business development for invensys process systems, Foxboro, Mass. “by definition, it’s a process measurement tool,” he says. “now the question is: how many process measurements are going to be incremental, based on wireless sensors or wirelesshart?” For process automation, it represents wireless communication’s future, believes Guido stephan, director of technology and processes within siemens’ research & Development’s technology & processes group, 54 • september 2007 karlsruhe, Germany. “Our conclusion is that wirelesshart will become a standard.” pepperl+Fuchs (p+e) is “very excited” about the new protocol, says robert J. schosker, product manager for intrinsic safety, hart, at the firm’s process automation Division, twinsburg, Ohio, calling it “the first standard for a wireless network in the process automation area.” “i believe wirelesshart now gives the user added flexibility in installation and helps give those riding the fence that extra push to get them to use hart,” he adds. Key features wireless hart comprises three distinct parts, explains kagan. One is the radio, which many manufacturers can provide. the second is the stack, which handles the physical, data-link and network layers. Finally, there’s the protocol, which he calls “the handshake between the applications and the systems — a data frame out of the hart 7.0 standard.” helson cites two particularly noteworthy attributes. the physical and data-link layers adhere to the 2.4-Ghz ieee 802.15.4 low-rate wireless personal area network standard, and wireless mesh networking forms the network layer. the specification has a full-mesh topology, meaning each device connects to all others, directly or through other devices. stack definition owes a lot to Dust networks, berkeley, calif. it includes much of the firm’s proprietary time synchronized Mesh protocol (tsMp), used in ultra-low-power wireless sensor networking, notes Joy weiss, Dust networks’ ceO. tsMp helps the protocol “provide wire-like reliability www.chemicalprocessing.com http://www.chemicalprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chemical Processing - September 2007

Contents From the Editor Field Notes In Process Energy Saver Compliance Advisor Succeed at Simulation Rethink Your Approach to Process Safety Avoid Blending Blunders Get the Right Cartridge or Bag Filter Wireless Proponents Take HART Membrane Boasts Material Benefits Process Puzzler Plant InSites Chem Show Product Preview ISA Product Preview Equipment & Services Product Spotlight/Classifieds Ad Index End Point

Chemical Processing - September 2007

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