Emerson and its various divisions have won an impressive list of awards over the last decade or so, but we never take such awards for granted. Winning an award means we’re keeping our position at the forefront of technological leadership, critical in our industry.
Emerson Automation Solutions won the 2017 Vaaler Award from Chemical Processing for its Plantweb Insight apps. This is a biennial award, so products introduced over the last two years are eligible. Here’s how the magazine describes the prize:
The awards are named after John C. Vaaler (1899–1963), chairman of Chemical Processing’s Editorial Board from 1961 until his death. He became editor-in-chief of Chemical Processing in 1946, after 24 years in the chemical and related industries. An impartial panel judges the entries. It consists of the members of Chemical Processing’s Editorial Board — a group of technical professionals with diverse responsibilities and from a variety of industry sectors.
Plantweb Insight is a group of apps designed to help process plants use predictive intelligence. Plantweb Insight apps enabled by wireless sensors and networks provide rich Pervasive Sensing™ data to the Plantweb digital ecosystem to gain real-time insight and actionable information for better decision making. Plantweb Applications such as Steam Trap Insight, Heat Exchanger Insight, Pump Insight, Pressure Gauge Insight and others available soon can be quickly implemented and easily accessed anytime, anywhere to improve process plant operations.
This isn’t the only award the growing suite of Plantweb Insight apps has won, and we won’t be surprised if more are on the way. Plantweb Insight represents a huge advance for plant operators wanting to use pervasive sensing to make their facilities run better. As the article announcing the Vaaler Award notes:
Plantweb Insight applications, which were announced in November 2016, ease analysis of data from wireless and wired instrumentation to solve equipment problems. Plantweb Insight apps are a breakthrough in the way engineers monitor and diagnose equipment problems, states Emerson. They provide relevant-time actionable information and insights about abnormal situations, asset performance and health, energy costs, emissions, etc. Engineers even can view results on mobile devices such as smartphones and tables.
The apps include pre-packaged analytics based on decades of experience and feature a human-centered design and user-tested interface for consistent and intuitive navigation, notes the company. Moreover, the apps boast seamless system integration, simple installation and minimal configuration or setup. Every application offers a similar look and feel. An asset summary page gives a tabular view of the monitored assets on an asset-by-asset basis. An asset details page supplies specifics on a particular asset, such as location and process, calculated insights, such as status, health, energy use and emissions, as well as a brief asset history.
The concepts for performing this kind of analysis are not new, but the ease with which it can now be done using WirelessHART and these easily configurable apps is a huge advance. For many users, this is the next big thing.
You can find more information like this, and meet with other people looking for condition monitoring solutions at the Emerson Exchange365 community. It’s a place where you can communicate and exchange information with experts and peers in all sorts of industries around the world.