IIoT & Digital Transformation Blog

Reduce Energy Consumption and Achieve Net Zero Goals with Multimedia Utilities Monitoring – Start Small and Scale Up

Jim Cahill — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 23:04:17 GMT

Driven by the need to both cut resource costs and minimize their environmental impact, companies across all industries are targeting net-zero strategies and sustainability goals. Monitoring utilities such as compressed air, water, electricity, steam and other gases are important areas to examine for process improvement. Digital resource monitoring with automated technologies allows facilities to maximize energy usage, improve sustainability and optimize operations. The best way to implement this digital strategy is to start small, prove ROI, and then scale up to quickly achieve results. Stefano Noccioli, IIoT specialist at Emerson, recently presented this topic at SPS Italia and I wanted to share this data with our readers here.

Here’s how to start small and scale up:

Begin with one machine, line or factory. Plants don’t have to implement a massive enterprise-wide change all at once but can start at a single machine.
Gather data and identify a problem area where the process can be improved.
Address that issue at the machine level and immediately reduce energy, improve sustainability, and prove ROI.
Scale up from there to more machines, lines, processes or factories.

Take for example, compressed air usage. Typically, a facility can dedicate up to 30% of its electricity usage to producing compressed air. Leaks and inefficient processes can waste a third of that and can go undetected for a long time, resulting in higher emissions, unplanned downtime and increased maintenance costs. Due to leakages, the compressed air lines can become unstable and affect the movement of the cylinders, reducing quality, machine output and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). But by monitoring compressed air with digital automated solutions, plants can quickly detect leaks to address them right away or even prevent them entirely.

Many plants today conduct manual, periodic maintenance to identify leaks, but if those labor-intensive processes are replaced with continuous automated monitoring, facilities can gain real-time visibility into equipment health and processes and improve control and operations. Pneumatic system analysis enables operators to identify problem areas and find the right pressure level to optimize performance. Intelligent sensors on the plant floor continuously monitor airflow in pneumatic systems and real-time data feeds provide insight into energy consumption and machine health. By unlocking this previously hidden or inaccessible data, operators can see what’s really happening across the plant. When sensors transmit data to a PAC device equipped with analytics software which continuously aggregates data and visualizes trends like energy efficiency and connects this data with the cloud, plants can gather the insights they need to detect leaks, excessive condensation, energy loss and system anomalies, so they can make fast, informed decisions.

Using these floor-to-cloud digital technologies, companies can reduce their compressed air consumption by more than 20-30%, decrease downtime by 20%, and improve OEE by 5-10%.

By removing the guesswork from how and where resources are used, plants can gain visibility and control of their utility consumption. Regardless of a company’s size or level of IIoT-enablement, by starting small and then scaling up from there, it can maximize energy use and reduce environmental impact through data-informed decisions that empower quick, effective action for process improvement.

To get started on that first step, Emerson offers automated multimedia monitoring solutions for such critical resources as air, water, steam, chemicals, gases and electricity. More information is available on the Emerson website about IIoT solutions for energy efficiency and sustainability.

The post Reduce Energy Consumption and Achieve Net Zero Goals with Multimedia Utilities Monitoring – Start Small and Scale Up appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Reduce Energy Consumption and Achieve Net Zero Goals with Multimedia Utilities Monitoring – Start Small and Scale Up

Jim Cahill — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 23:04:17 GMT

Here’s how to start small and scale up:

Begin with one machine, line or factory. Plants don’t have to implement a massive enterprise-wide change all at once but can start at a single machine.
Gather data and identify a problem area where the process can be improved.
Address that issue at the machine level and immediately reduce energy, improve sustainability, and prove ROI.
Scale up from there to more machines, lines, processes or factories.

Using these floor-to-cloud digital technologies, companies can reduce their compressed air consumption by more than 20-30%, decrease downtime by 20%, and improve OEE by 5-10%.

The post Reduce Energy Consumption and Achieve Net Zero Goals with Multimedia Utilities Monitoring – Start Small and Scale Up appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Ready the Plant for a New Era of Automation

Jim Cahill — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 16:17:47 GMT

Boundless automation is creating a new paradigm for enterprise control and automation.

It didn’t take long for the rise of the internet to upend the way process manufacturers do business. Over the span of just a few years, plants went from prioritizing a rigid, isolated control system structure to needing ways to integrate across the enterprise to optimize operations.

While it still makes sense to ensure each plant or unit across the enterprise is optimized, the most effective organizations do not stop there. As Emerson’s Claudio Fayad points out in his recent article in Chemical Engineering magazine,

“Sustainability, energy and reliability initiatives are refocusing efforts on optimizing the entire fleet or enterprise to capture previously unnoticed or undervalued synergies.”

Shifts in corporate and public opinion are forcing a rapid move toward more focus on reliability, sustainability, and energy use, and organizations need to quickly find ways to monitor and manage the associated benchmarks.

Doing more with less

One key way organizations are achieving optimization is by shifting focus away from building new facilities and instead exploring how they can be more efficient with the resources they already have. Tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning software can use the data plants are already collecting from a wide variety of existing sensors to analyze and trend plant performance. But to perform this trending holistically means moving the data to the enterprise from multiple locations, which, in turn, means enabling cloud connectivity.

To meet this need, more and more organizations are adopting a boundless automation vision for their environments. Claudio shares,

“To truly get the most benefit from automation, organizations need an architecture that will seamlessly integrate the software, tools, technologies, data and controls of a next-generation automation stack across every operational domain, from the field to the edge to the cloud. Driving this type of holistic optimization, necessary to compete in a global market, will require more than complex independent edge architectures to collect, standardize and democratize data.”

Democratizing data allows teams to use it to optimize operations across every domain—reliability, sustainability, energy use, quality, and more—so that cross-functional teams can innovate without wasting time trying to collect data from various silos across the enterprise. Instead, a unified software ecosystem will collect, collate, contextualize, and standardize data as part of operations, increasing the value of every piece of data across the enterprise and leveling up collaboration.

Today’s digital transformation builds tomorrow’s operations

As new technologies—Ethernet advanced physical layer, 5G, OPC UA, hyperconverged infrastructure, containerization, and more—emerge to bridge the gap between operational technology and information technology, plants can use them to take the first steps on the path to a unified boundless automation architecture. That is why Emerson is building these technologies into current and future versions of its automation technologies, like the DeltaV distributed control system, AMS Asset Monitor, and more. These technologies, and many that have yet to emerge, are the building blocks of a unified automation and control architecture that will create the next-generation, enterprise automation platforms.

The post Ready the Plant for a New Era of Automation appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Traceability Across the Entire Drug Development Pipeline

Jim Cahill — Wed, 31 May 2023 14:34:37 GMT

Recently, as cell and gene therapies have begun to emerge in the life sciences manufacturing landscape, an important concept has begun to draw attention: traceability. However, it is important to remember that traceability was critical long before today’s most cutting-edge therapies began development. Traceability has been essential in the manufacture of nearly every treatment, both in process definition and in product data, lest those steps become an impediment to speed-to-market.

Emerson’s Bob Lenich and Michalle Adkins explored the importance of traditional traceability in a recent article in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing magazine. As Bob and Michalle explain, throughout the development pipeline, teams will need to look back on previous steps to help them validate what happened, and what to do next. If they cannot easily trace the process backwards, development will be delayed.

Following what happened

Bob and Michalle explain that tracing the master recipe for a therapy is a critical element of successful manufacturing. As a treatment passes through many stages of development, it will undergo changes that impact the master recipe. To have an accurate master recipe at the end of development, teams need to ensure they have kept accurate records of which versions of a recipe were used at every stage in the pipeline.

But teams need to know more than just what changes were made to the recipe, they also need to know what happened. Bob and Michalle explain,

“It is also critically important that organizations can clearly, quickly and comprehensively trace what happened in each production batch across each development stage, including all findings. These include what worked and what didn’t, as well as feedback on what happened. All recipe elements — process sequence, materials, equipment, sampling and testing, etc. — contain key data needed for both formal records and troubleshooting problems.”

But tracing all these stages is difficult when at every step of the pipeline different teams use different tools and store data in a variety of formats and locations.

One tool to unlock traceability

Bob and Michalle stress the importance of using a single digital tool to improve collaboration and standardization across the treatment development pipeline. One of the most popular tools for this purpose has been Process and Knowledge Management (PKM ) software. With PKM, Bob and Michalle explain,

“every stage of the production pipeline uses the same web-based electronic tools to define the process recipe and to standardize manufacturing objects and data, improving accessibility and collaboration. Any authorized user can more easily create, locate, share and comprehend a therapy’s manufacturing specification data using fit-for-purpose generation and discovery tools at any stage in a product’s life cycle.”

And the best PKM software can seamlessly integrate into a company’s enterprise resource planning software for even better tracking and traceability.

Bob and Michalle go into much more detail surrounding software and technologies to help teams manage traceability across the entire drug development pipeline in their full article. Read it to learn more about how tools like the manufacturing execution system and digital manufacturing operations management all work together to create a single source of truth to make it easier to successfully trace a treatment across all manufacturing steps.

The post Traceability Across the Entire Drug Development Pipeline appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Simulation Drives Value From Projects Through Operations

Jim Cahill — Fri, 19 May 2023 14:19:15 GMT

Simulation and digital twin technology has a wide variety of uses that plants can leverage for faster projects and better operations. Recently, Chemical Processing magazine took a deeper dive into those uses, interviewing industry experts such as Emerson’s own Dustin Beebe.

Dustin shared some of the many ways digital twin technology can be used as a training and operations testing tool. The process is actually quite intuitive. Before project work begins, engineers create a digital twin—an exact digital replica—of the plant environment.

That replica serves a number of purposes across the lifecycle of the plant. First, it can be used to engineer, tune, and refine processes and equipment, helping both to reduce testing time and eliminate costly late-stage changes in capital projects.

More thorough, faster learning

Project design is only the beginning of the value of a digital twin. One of the most exciting things about digital twins is they can also be used as a training tool to bring operators up to speed in parallel with project implementation. When a project team employs fit-for-purpose digital twin tools—like Emerson’s Mimic simulation software—they can create a training environment that perfectly replicates what operators will see in their day to day tasks. And what’s more, that training can begin before equipment even starts arriving on site. Dustin shared an example of a chemical manufacturer,

“The company relied heavily on training to bring personnel up to speed so they could run at peak performance from the moment the plant started up.”

Geeta Pherwani of AspenTech cited another chemical manufacturing project that used dynamic simulation technology to more effectively train operators. At that site, the project team used digital twins to ensure both new and experienced operators would be ready to handle abnormal conditions, such as startup and shutdown, as well as processes to reduce flaring and improve safety.

And the benefits add up. Dustin estimates that early implementation of simulation software translates to savings of up to six weeks of project time.

To learn more about how technologies like Emerson’s Mimic simulation software can drive value across the lifecycle of plant operations, read the article in its entirety over at Chemical Processing. And while you’re here, I’d love to hear how you use simulation in your own environment. Please feel free to comment below and share your story!

The post Simulation Drives Value From Projects Through Operations appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Edge Control Technology Integrates Seamlessly with DCS to Allow Cost and Time-Effective System Upgrade

Jim Cahill — Thu, 18 May 2023 19:43:14 GMT

Many industries can benefit from an easy, seamless integration of PLC-based technology with DCS, but not all companies know how to approach such an integration. This case study is an interesting example of such an integration that saved a thermal power station substantial money and time.

During a re-design of a power plant focused on implementation of a new wet flue gas desulphurization (FGD) solution developed to reduce emissions, a power plant required modifications to its DCS control system. These modifications would cause disruption in DCS operations. As a result, the plant wanted to pursue a standalone control solution that could operate outside of the existing DCS but seamlessly communicate and integrate into it. The plant sought to implement the new FGD solution without impacting ongoing operations. In addition, they sought to define a standalone solution that would provide high availability and consistent performance once in operation.

Since redundancy was a key criteria for the selection process, Emerson’s PACSystems control platform was chosen as the solution following the OEM’s selection analysis. The control solution, which was designed with a global engineering team, focused on high availability, employing redundant Emerson PACSystems RX3i controllers. Since the Emerson PACSystems control platform provides true high availability, plus the ability to upgrade without stopping the process and a host of cybersecurity features, the PACSystems solution was considered the superior choice for the plant’s requirements.

The control solution incorporated Emerson high availability PACSystems controllers with 3,500 I/O points and 15,000 tags, as well as user-defined function blocks (UDFB) and HMI pop-up objects for customized step sequencing. This unique, flexible and customized control system allowed faster and easier implementation and installation with higher operating reliability and lower downtime.

Meeting one of the core criteria, implementation of the control solution was completed with no disruptions to plant operations. Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) blocks enabled the end user to test functionality in offline mode and ensure the solution worked as required before going online on site. The unique functionality of the Emerson PACSystems solution allowed easy integration with the plant DCS, thereby providing a central view and control of the FGD system via central DCS HMI screens.

This interesting case study suggests an easy, affordable solution of a complex DCS problem that more companies might want to consider.

Read the original case study here.

The post Edge Control Technology Integrates Seamlessly with DCS to Allow Cost and Time-Effective System Upgrade appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Stop Putting Off Modernization

Jim Cahill — Wed, 17 May 2023 14:25:38 GMT

Modernization. We hear it is happening everywhere, and yet, when we look at our own facilities, a modernization project looks like such a massive task that it is hard to even get started. Even though technologies in the plant may be decades old, some teams continue to run them—sometimes to the point of buying spare parts on eBay—because planning and executing a modernization seems so intimidating.

But what if there were a better solution than to postpone modernization? What if there were ways to implement new, modern technologies without disrupting the way the plant operates or busting budgets? As you’ve likely guessed, there is a way, and Aaron Crews talks about it in his recent article in ISA’s InTech magazine.

Emerson’s DeltaV ReVamp provides metrics before a modernization project begins.

Modern solutions bring modern benefits

Modernization isn’t just about eliminating breakdowns in legacy technologies—though that goal is important too. Just as importantly, new automation technologies bring benefits that help teams secure competitive advantage in a modern commercial marketplace. Aaron explains,

“Highly efficient and competitive modern process control plants look very different from plants of just 10 years ago. Helpful process technologies that were unavailable or very expensive many years ago are considered best practices today. Some are critical to meeting regulations, while others keep a plant operating at peak efficiency. One example is pervasive sensing technologies.”

Whether it is new sensors that help teams with decision support, better alarm systems that keep operators safer and more aware, or even advanced process control to lock in best practice control strategies, modernized technologies build a foundation for more flexible, reliable operation.

New tools eliminate complexity

Traditional modernization projects were complex, with each engineering team creating their own tools specifically to move their legacy controls onto new hardware and software. But advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have made the task much easier. Much of the hardest work in a modernization project can now be automated, using tools like Emerson’s DeltaV ReVamp and DeltaV IO.CONNECT, allowing teams to accomplish more work faster, and with fewer mistakes. Aaron shares,

“The AI digs through the legacy code and identifies functions that are part of the tool’s past project experience. If the AI sees something repeated that matches work performed on previous projects, it extracts that code and structures it to transfer over to the new control system. Not only is the code automatically converted, but it uses a best practice structure for the new control system that is automatically documented to create a powerful automation foundation. Because the process is automated, the project team does not need to worry about errors in the code.”

Artificial intelligence and machine learning can streamline modernization projects.

Those same AI and ML tools also help teams quickly see the scope of their modernization project, so they don’t have to jump in blind. The right tools can create comprehensive project reports that help teams budget and slice modernization projects into phases well before engineering begins.

Maybe it is time to consider a modernization project of your own. Before you do, take a few minutes to read Aaron’s article in its entirety over at ISA. You’ll see some specific examples of AI and ML technologies in action and learn even more about what DeltaV ReVamp can do.

The post Stop Putting Off Modernization appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Learn How to Meet Your Productivity and Sustainability Challenges – from the Plant Floor to the Cloud – at SPS Italia

Jim Cahill — Mon, 15 May 2023 21:09:22 GMT

If you’ll be at SPS Italia, May 23-25, add these important stops to your agenda!

First, click here to receive your free pass to SPS Italia.

Floor to Cloud
How can you transform productivity, sustainability, and efficiency? These major industrial challenges are not jobs for the C-suite or the machine edge alone. It requires a new approach – a strategy that reaches from the factory floor to the cloud to achieve your goals. At SPS Pavilion 6 Stand D060, you’ll find real-world, hands-on solutions that will help you transform your production, reduce your downtime, and enhance your bottom line. Emerson experts will show you how to access and harness critical data from machines, production lines or full production plants to gain essential insights that can then drive continuous process improvement and efficiency across all operations.

Conference Presentation: Meet Net-Zero Goals
And don’t miss an engaging and informative session, “Energy Savings: How Monitoring Utilities Like Compressed Air Helps Achieve Net-Zero Goals,” by Emerson’s Stefano Noccioli, on May 25 at 11:15am-11:30am during the Scientific Conference in Hall 7. Energy consumption is a significant factor in achieving net-zero goals. Using an example from the filling and packaging industry, this presentation explains how a reliable method for multi-media monitoring, such as that of compressed air, and tracking energy usage can improve operations efficiency and meet energy reduction goals. Don’t miss this session!

And at Pavilion 6 Stand D060, you’ll also see up-close examples of exactly how monitoring utilities, such as compressed air, water, steam and other gases and electricity can achieve your company’s goals in sustainability, safety and profitability. In addition, you’ll see demonstrations on how to improve OEE, electrification and motion control, and address workforce challenges, and Emerson experts can help you solve your toughest industrial challenges with easy-to-implement and cost-effective solutions you can put to work today.

We hope to see you at SPS Italia! Check out more about what we’ll be featuring at the conference and don’t miss the session by Stefano Noccioli – get more information here. Or book an appointment with an Emerson expert here.

The post Learn How to Meet Your Productivity and Sustainability Challenges – from the Plant Floor to the Cloud – at SPS Italia appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Industrial Software is the Answer to Your Data Woes

Jim Cahill — Mon, 15 May 2023 18:26:30 GMT

If there is one thing the experts I work with talk about all the time, it is data.

Plants need data.

Plants have too much data.

Data is siloed.

Data is the future.

There is really only one constant: data is critical to reliable, efficient operations, but it must be handled properly to be of use.

Fortunately, some of the experts out there, like Emerson’s Monil Malhotra, have great ideas how to make this happen. In a recent article in Processing magazine, Monil shared how industrial software is the key to turning data into better plant performance.

Free the data

First, Monil explains, we have to rescue our data. The first barrier to data use is physical. As Monil shares,

“Process manufacturing plants can be large and contain numerous hazardous areas. These physical barriers increase the time and planning it takes to collect data. If it takes an hour or more to drive out to an asset to inspect it with a handheld analyzer, the asset is likely to be checked infrequently, if at all. Or if it takes an hour to get the gear and safety checks done to enter a hazardous area to check an asset, it is similarly unlikely to happen regularly.”

So, what are plants to do to avoid missing data? The answer, Monil explains, is to move away from manual collection altogether. Today’s powerful supervisory control and data acquisition software solutions are designed to connect to pervasive sensing technologies that deliver critical data in real-time directly from the field. Once that data is coming in with regularity, teams can use it in the industrial software solutions that will elicit real change.

Industrial software tools like AMS Machine Works help plant personnel better understand critical data.

Leverage comprehensive data into better maintenance

The data coming in from pervasive sensing equipment is the perfect foundation for an analytics program using reliability tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). AI and ML tools can compile, compare, and analyze the hundreds or thousands of different variables coming in from a plant’s sensors to create a holistic picture of plant health. Not only will a team using these tools know when an asset is failing, but they will also have a clearer picture of how that failure impacts other equipment and processes down the line. Savvy operations and maintenance teams use these strategies to keep a finger on the pulse of plant health to drive more efficient, effective operations while eliminating unexpected downtime. Monil explains,

“Armed with accurate data about when and how failures will occur and how to address each issue, even inexperienced personnel can create maintenance schedules based on planned outages. And in the plants lucky enough to still have technicians with decades of experience, analytics software will identify problems long before human senses can detect them, providing far more lead time to perform repairs. In addition, analytics software can also help with scheduling maintenance. Using its AI and ML engines, the software can examine multiple assets with identified problems, and then create a schedule combining repair events in the ideal order to result in minimum loss of revenue.”

Make the most of technology

Sensing technologies like Emerson’s AMS Wireless Vibration Monitor and AMS Asset Monitor are easier to install and more affordable than ever. And those same solutions feed into powerful, user-friendly industrial software solutions like AMS Machine Works to provide everyone in the plant a clear, real-time picture of their process health. It’s time to start moving away from manual rounds that never get finished, or that dump data into a bottomless pit, never to be seen again. Today’s industrial software solutions are more versatile and nimbler than ever, helping every team, regardless of experience level, perform at their best.

Sensing devices are more affordable and easier to install than ever. Industrial software can help teams make better use of the data they provide.

To learn more, including how simulation and safety tools are revolutionizing plant health, read Monil’s article in its entirety over at Processing magazine.

The post Industrial Software is the Answer to Your Data Woes appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

It’s all in the Interface

Jim Cahill — Mon, 01 May 2023 14:35:30 GMT

We’ve talked a lot in this space about the way the current personnel shortage is upending process manufacturing. Control rooms are short on personnel and are more reliant than ever on automation technologies to help operators make fast, informed decisions no matter where in the plant they may be.

In an article in Process and Control magazine, Emerson’s Mariana Dionisio tackled this new problem vexing manufacturers around the globe, but she sees a bright side that many overlook,

“Fortunately, this experienced personnel shortage comes just as new digital software and technologies are creating a boundless automation future. More than ever before, automation technologies are being designed to collate data from multiple domains and present it as actionable information for better decision making.”

In short, while the personnel shortage is uncomfortable, digital transformation is rapidly closing the gap. New technologies—particularly human machine interfaces (HMIs)—not only make it easier for a small group of operators to run complex processes, but also upskill newer personnel much faster, helping plants more quickly rebuild the teams they lost in the last few years.

Electronics Design Factory: Portrait of Handsome Male Engineer Wearing Safety Vest Working on Computer, Developing Industrial Microchips, Semiconductor, Manufacturing Processors. Side View

Dodge complexity

Mariana shares how current trends steer away from the complex, custom HMIs that were common in the past. Those systems are no longer as stable or efficient as plants need them to be.

“Custom-scripted solutions introduce additional points of failure in the system and result in maintenance issues when the people who originally created them are no longer available. Moreover, making any changes to such a system is typically time-consuming and requires extensive expertise.”

Instead, the most successful companies today are implementing HMI solutions that offer everything an agile team needs right out of the box. Solutions like Emerson’s DeltaV Live offer common dashboards immediately upon installation. However, users aren’t restricted to just those dashboards. With a few clicks, they securely add permitted information from websites, control and analytics applications, and other software—directly into the primary HMI display.

The solutions are highly customizable and easily navigable, dramatically cutting the learning curve and making it easy for operators to highlight the dashboards and displays they need at any given time.

The key to better decision making

Quality HMIs are critical to safe, successful, efficient operation. Operators can only react properly if they have the best information, and they only have the best information if they can find it. Today’s HMI solutions can deliver that ease-of-use, but only if they’re designed from the ground up with the user in mind.

To learn more about how best-in-class HMI solutions empower operators, you can read Mariana’s article in its entirety at Processing and Control.

The post It’s all in the Interface appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

The Path to Sustainability – One Critical Step at a Time

Jim Cahill — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 21:23:52 GMT

No matter the industry, sustainability is a priority for nearly every industrial company with the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 as a corporate goal for many enterprises. More than one-third (702) of the world’s largest publicly traded companies have net zero targets, up from one-fifth in December 2020. National targets covered just 16% of global gross domestic product (GDP) as recently as 2019. Fast forward three years, and net zero coverage has expanded almost six-fold to encompass 91% of the global economy. A robust net zero design requires the absolute reduction of GHG emissions by at least 90%, allowing for high-quality carbon neutralization in other parts of the ecosystem for any residual emissions, which cannot be otherwise abated. Recently, I had the privilege of presenting a best-practice session on the path to net zero at the Energy 4.0 Conference Stage at Hannover Messe. Here are a few of the salient points:

Industrial processes are responsible for a quarter of global emissions, so to achieve net zero we must learn to do more with much less. In industries where pneumatic systems are widely used, compressed air accounts for 30% of electricity consumption. At the same time, at least 30% of compressed air used in industry goes to waste due to failure at joints, suboptimization of machines, exposure to vibration and rapid movement devices reaching fatigue and general poor oversight. The consequence of this waste is higher emissions, low energy efficiency, unplanned downtime and increased maintenance costs.

Continuous compressed air monitoring and online analysis, however, helps facilities quickly detect and address leaks in their early stages or even prevent them altogether. By replacing manual, periodic maintenance with continuous monitoring using intelligent sensors, plants can gain real-time visibility into equipment health and processes using floor-to-cloud digital technologies, make informed decisions and take control of energy efficiency. The results are regularly a reduction in compressed air usage of 20-30%. A typical calculation might discover a decrease in unplanned downtime of 20% and an improvement in overall equipment effectiveness of 5-10%.

But compressed air usage is not the only area where significant savings of energy consumption can be achieved. In fact, the same approach can allow any plant to remove the guesswork from how and where they use the full spectrum of resources. Employing monitoring and advanced analytics technology, a factory or plant can gain visibility and control of the consumption and costs of water, steam, chemicals, gases and electricity.

The type of results typically seen with continuous monitoring and online visualization achieve ROI on the technology investment very quickly – assuming the automation solution is efficient and affordable. That’s where the below Emerson “Floor to Cloud” technology roadmap comes in.

Based upon a plant’s application and starting at the machine level, intelligent sensors and smart devices can be selected to measure and monitor flow, level, pressure, temperature, distance, humidity, position, speed and more. This vital data is then collected and analyzed close to the machine by edge computers and controllers that produce actionable insights to make immediate educated decisions for taking recommended actions for improvements on the plant floor, including OEE (overall equipment effectiveness). The analytics software continuously aggregates data, visualizes trends like energy efficiency, and detects anomalies on an easy-to-read dashboard. Whenever necessary, edge devices can also forward data to the cloud, where the insights can be combined with other insights to enhance sustainability, efficiency, production and OEE.

One of the key advantages of the “Floor to Cloud” approach is that it allows a project to start small – even on a single machine or production line – see results, achieve some level of ROI and move on to solve other clearly identified problems or scale up. This is in contrast to the many big data strategies that require large investments of time and money before any results are realized. With the floor-to-cloud approach, the project can start as small or large as desired and then scale as fast or slowly as required by the application, demand and enterprise goals. Each step eliminates stranded data and islands of automation in the plant, bringing the data and insights from every machine, production line and system into the enterprise-level decisions.

No matter a company’s size or maturity stage of digital transformation, they can maximize energy use and resource utilization, and reduce environmental impact through data-informed decisions that empower quick actions. By incorporating continuous monitoring solutions, many factories and plants have already significantly reduced resources and energy use and improved their sustainability.

Learn more here.

The post The Path to Sustainability – One Critical Step at a Time appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

The Path to Sustainability – One Critical Step at a Time

Jim Cahill — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 21:23:52 GMT

Learn more here.

The post The Path to Sustainability – One Critical Step at a Time appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Collaborating for ESG Improvements

Jim Cahill — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 20:03:54 GMT

Back in ancient times, when I worked in offshore oil & gas production in the 1980s, the Environmental team rarely interacted with the production automation teams. As regulations around emissions have increased, the need for these teams to collaborate has increased. This is especially true around compliance with methane and other emissions.

The author of a recent RBN Energy blog post noted:

Discussions around the ongoing energy transition often focus on the need to control and then reduce the volume of GHGs emitted into the atmosphere. And while carbon dioxide (CO2), the most prevalent GHG, often gets the most attention, methane is especially problematic. It is the primary constituent in pipeline natural gas and also a particularly potent GHG, with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) that is 25-36 times that of CO2 if normalized to a 100-year timeline.

At the recent 4C Health, Safety & Environmental conference, the topic of emissions detection, regulatory compliance, and reporting was frequent and recurring. I caught up with Emerson’s Marcio Donnangelo and Lara Rabbath for their impressions of some of the conversations.

Marcio noted that the focus on Environmental, Safety & Governance (ESG), specifically sustainability, pushed the need for greater standards. Today many standards for parts of ESG exist across many industries. Companies seek more explicit guidance beyond regulatory compliance to more sustainable operations.

With her experience in air permitting for a U.S. state regulatory body, Lara highlighted all the technologies and consulting services shown around the 4C Conference to comply with the U.S. Federal Environmental Protection Agency’s LDAR (leak detection and repair) regulations. Most manufacturers and producers with emissions contract consultants to develop, execute and refine LDAR compliance programs.

She also highlighted an AI-based search site, Enviro.AI’s Tundra Search, to assist in finding answers to permitting questions. From their website, the purpose of their services and search is to help:

…Petrochemical and Refining companies substantively reduce regulatory burden and risk. It is the only way to make all government and public environmental information accessible, searchable, and therefore invaluable.

As regulations grow more stringent, new technologies are creating the need for greater collaboration between the Environmental and Automation teams. The Emerson team showed several technologies, such as pressure relief valve monitoring, based on wireless sensors and built-for-purpose operational analytics, to help instantly spot emission sources from leaks or failures. Many technologies and solutions are available for tank pressure management to help avoid emissions and safety incidents.

Another source of emissions is the fuel used to create steam in the boilers. Steam traps in the distribution network “…discharge condensates and non-condensable gases with a negligible consumption or loss of live steam.” When these devices leak or fail, energy is wasted. These devices are typically manually inspected on an infrequent basis, such as yearly. With continuous steam trap monitoring, problems can be immediately identified and repaired to improve overall fuel efficiency and minimize emissions from combustion.

Lara also shared the focus at the Conference around growing the role of women in leadership in these industries. She participated in panels around diversity and inclusion and women’s networking events to discuss current challenges and best practices as companies advance the people side of their ESG initiatives.

Visit some of the links above for more on the technologies and solutions to advance your sustainability initiatives.

The post Collaborating for ESG Improvements appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Navigate Uncharted Territory with Industrial Software

Jim Cahill — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 14:40:08 GMT

The hydrocarbon industry is rapidly evolving, adapting to support new product demand, increased focus on sustainability, and an increasing need for flexibility. As a result, hydrocarbon process manufacturers have needed to dramatically change the toolbox they employ to support their operations.

As Dustin Beebe and Monil Malhotra explain in their recent article in Hydrocarbon Engineering magazine, hydrocarbon manufacturers have more need than ever to stay flexible. Gone are the days where an increase in production means spinning up a new plant. Today’s organizations typically have neither the staff, nor the resources for such expansion. Instead, they are looking for ways to use automation to improve their existing operations. And industrial software is key to this strategy,

“Industrial software, particularly in the areas of intelligence and automation, can be used to create the foresight necessary to accomplish these and other goals, empowering organizations to continually meet the changing needs of a shifting global marketplace.”

Success through simulation

Dustin and Monil focus very closely on simulation as a critical tool to help hydrocarbon processors successfully implement the changes necessary to drive better performance. Process simulation, they explain, helps organizations adapt to change using a virtual model of the plant. This “digital twin” model helps the organization test new strategies, technologies, and operations without any risk to live equipment.

And when the team has landed on a successful new strategy or technology, the simulation continues to deliver value as a training tool. Operators can use the simulation to practice their new strategies and see the results of their decisions as if they were working on live equipment—often in parallel with installation and configuration of any new technologies. By the time a new system comes online, the operators are already prepared to use it effectively.

The benefits are significant. As Monil and Dustin explain,

“Often, these systems provide integrated tools to improve workflows, increase safety, lower costs, and drive improved energy management and more sustainable operations.”

Managing the new frontier

As plants begin to digitalize their operations for better performance, they will be adding more than just simulation software. New safety systems, alarm solutions, control systems and more will help teams ensure operational integrity as they implement new processes and equipment. Operations management software is critical to helping teams monitor and maintain these new systems. Using such a solution, operations teams can more easily adjust alarm configurations, monitor integrity of safety systems, monitor bypasses, and more to help ensure the plant runs safely and efficiently—even when operating in unfamiliar territory with new solutions.

Other solutions for improved success

Dustin and Monil explore a number of other industrial software solutions including operations testing, risk and scenario simulation, and more. They also offer some short case studies that demonstrate the need for these technologies. You can learn more by reading the article in its entirety over at Hydrocarbon Engineering.

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At Hannover Messe Learn How Monitoring Utilities Can Help You Achieve Net Zero Goals

Jim Cahill — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 17:49:45 GMT

Will you be at Hannover Messe April 17 – 21? If so, don’t miss the thoughtful and useful presentation, “Saving Energy: How Monitoring Utilities Such As Compressed Air Helps You Achieve Net-Zero Goals” by Emerson’s Eugenio Silva, Product Manager, IIoT Applications, on April 21 at 1:45pm at Energy 4.0 Conference Stage, Hall 12, Stand D35.

Get your FREE ticket to Hannover Messe now!

Industrial energy consumption is a significant factor in achieving a company’s net-zero goals. This presentation will explain why monitoring multi-media such as compressed air is critical to a successful net-zero strategy. Attendees will learn how a reliable method for tracking energy usage improves the energy efficiency of operations and allows you to reach your sustainability targets. Industrial processes are responsible for a quarter of global emissions, so effectively decarbonizing industrial operations requires a comprehensive sustainability strategy. This presentation will address how digital monitoring of resources and utilities can help drive a strategy to improve energy efficiency, optimize operations and reduce utility costs and operator time.

And if you’re attending the conference, come by the Emerson Booth, Hall 6, Stand C57 to learn more about discrete automation technologies. You’ll also see up close examples of exactly how monitoring utilities, such as compressed air, water, steam and other gases and electricity, can achieve your company’s goals in sustainability, safety, profitability and reaching net zero. Emerson experts will be on hand to walk you through these easy-to-implement and affordable solutions you can put to work today.

If the last few years have proved anything, it’s that solving big industrial challenges like productivity and sustainability are not jobs for the C-suite or the machine operators alone. They must be solved, as Emerson says, from the floor to the cloud, and at the Emerson booth, you’ll find practical hands-on solutions that will help you transform your output, cut your downtime, and enhance your bottom line, while never once losing sight of the fact that digital transformation is as much about people as it is about profit and the environment.

We hope to see you at Hannover Messe this year! Check out what we’ll be featuring at the conference and don’t miss the presentation by Eugenio Silva – get more information here. And you can book an appt with an Emerson expert now to learn how we can help you solve your biggest automation problems – learn more here.

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