Chemical Processing - December 2007 - (Page 21)

SyStem SimplifieS the move to wireleSS mart Wireless from Emerson Process Management’s Rosemount Measurement Division, Chanhassen, Minn., makes it easy for plants to install and integrate wireless technology. Plus, it addresses the concerns over reliability, security, standards, system architecture, and availability of sensors and transmitters that have restricted the deployment of wireless. Wireless technology has been used for decades for pointto-point telemetry applications and certainly is attracting growing interest nowadays. After all, wireless opens up the prospect of getting data impossible or uneconomic to get via traditional wired approaches. This goes beyond monitoring equipment currently not instrumented. It also promises to allow plants to take advantage of wired HART-based field devices’ embedded diagnostics now stranded because legacy control systems don’t support HART. Wireless can lead to more extensive and effective predictive maintenance and better asset management, as well as enhanced speed of response to safety and environmental incidents. Many plants are eager to try wireless. However, there’s been a sticking point — sites want to be sure that whatever wireless they put in will provide reliability and high performance and won’t become technologically obsolete. Smart Wireless offers that assurance. Its wireless instruments communicate via a self-organizing field network based on the Time Synchronized Mesh Protocol (Figure 3); new devices connect automatically. Installation doesn’t require elaborate site surveys or special tools. The network achieves greater than 99% reliability by automatically switching to clear nodes should a blockage 2007 S >> Self-organizing network Figure 3. Signals are automatically routed around any blockages, and new devices automatically connect up. >> Starter kit Figure 4. This includes wireless devices, predictive maintenance software, and the services of an onsite technician. www.chemicalprocessing.com occur, and is scalable to thousands of devices. The protocol employs channel hopping and has been shown to tolerate almost all types of interference and to be able to co-exist with other established wireless networks. The network can run as a stand-alone system, delivering significant value without the need for a plant-wide wireless infrastructure, or can be integrated within such an infrastructure. Installation offers significant savings in engineering, materials and labor compared to wired systems — this can translate to a reduction in the cost per point of as much as 90%. Smart Wireless also boasts robust security (validated by experts, including those at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security), greater-than-five-year battery life, and, importantly, a guaranteed upgrade path to the wireless standard under development. Current products in the Smart Wireless portfolio consist of level, pressure, flow and temperature measurement units, on/off indication, and a gateway to transmit wireless data to the host; many more devices, including a HART upgrade module and a vibration monitor will be out shortly. A SmartPack starter kit (Figure 4) contains a wireless gateway and the customer’s choice of from five to 100 preconfigured wireless transmitters for pressure, level, temperature and flow that can be deployed right out of the box without additional user input or setup, as well as AMS Device Manager predictive maintenance software. It also comes with SmartStart Services, which include provision of a technician onsite for the first startup, verification of device and gateway functionality, and a network health check to ensure optimal connectivity. December 2007 • 21 http://www.chemicalprocessing.com

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

Chemical Processing - December 2007 Contents From the Editor ChemicalProcessing.com Field Notes In Process Energy Saver Compliance Advisor 2007 Vaaler Award - The Quest Ends Take Equipment Diagnostics to a New Level Better Bellows Boosts Blending Process Puzzler Plant InSites Equipment & Services Product Spotlight/Classifieds Ad Index End Point

Chemical Processing - December 2007

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