Chemical Engineering August 2022 - 31

Feature Report
Ethernet-APL:
The Future of Field
Connectivity
Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (APL) provides connectivity between field-generated data and
enterprise systems. Presented here is information on the design and operation of this rapidly
expanding technology
Gerd
Niedermayer
BASF SE
Benedikt
Spielmann
Endress + Hauser
P
IN BRIEF
LEGACY TECHNOLOGY
CHALLENGES
STANDARD ETHERNET
LIMITATIONS
FIELD CONNECTIVITY
ETHERNET-APL
TOPOLOGIES
INTEGRATION INTO
HIGHER APPLICATIONS
FUNCTIONAL SAFETY
AND CYBERSECURITY
FEATURES AND
BENEFITS
BASF CASE STUDY
CONCLUDING REMARKS
rocess
plants
today
have
vast
amounts of data available at the field
level from smart devices. However,
these data are hardly accessible
to other levels of the organization because
of the different communications technologies
between the devices at the field level
and the Ethernet architecture at the enterprise
level. This lack of data access hinders
the implementation of digitalization projects
and prevents process plants from achieving
the maximum benefits of data-driven approaches,
such as the use of digital twins or
predictive maintenance models.
Ethernet-APL (Advanced Physical Layer)
is overcoming these challenges by providing
connectivity between field data and enterprise
systems at the speed and bandwidth
required for higher level applications. This
article explains how Ethernet APL is being
used, and details its features and benefits.
Ethernet-APL transmits power and data
via a two-wire cable and can achieve data
rates of 10 Mbit/s with long cable lengths.
Ethernet-APL complies with intrinsic safety
requirements, and functional safety solutions
are under development. Depending on the
topology design of the network, up to 50 APL
devices or even more than 200 APL devices
can exist on an Ethernet-APL segment.
The technology was launched at the
Achema Pulse Conference (Frankfurt, Germany;
www.achema.de) in 2021 [1] and has
been tested in a laboratory at BASF (Ludwigshafen,
Germany; www.basf.de). Many benefits
have been proven during this evaluation.
The technology is expected to expand rapidly
with many field devices with APL interfaces
already available or soon to be available.
Legacy technology challenges
Industrial instrumentation has progressed
from the original pneumatic technology to
analog devices, and further, to digital technologies,
such as HART, Profibus PA or Foundation
Fieldbus. Each new technology has offered
benefits over the previous
generation, but each still has
limitations of its own.
The HART protocol is exFIGURE
1. An Ethernet " gap " exists at the field-device level
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tremely slow. Troubleshooting
and parameterization must be
performed locally at the device.
Wiring is expensive, and the
system requires complex protocol
conversions for remote access.
HART technicians are required
to scale measurements
manually during initial device
setup, as well as for device replacement.
This technology is
primarily used for parameterization
and troubleshooting and
very rarely for process control.
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Chemical Engineering August 2022

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