Emerson Exchange 365

DeltaV Blog

DeltaV distributed control system blog
- 700 posts
- Updated 7 days ago
Operations Management Blog
- 77 posts
- Updated 9 months ago
Ovation Blog
- 86 posts
- Updated 3 months ago
PAC Systems & Industrial Computing Blog
- 0 posts
Safety Instrumented Systems Blog
- 93 posts
- Updated 22 days ago

Blog - Post List

Jim Cahill
- 7 Nov 2019
DeltaV Blog: Migrating Legacy Control Systems and PLCs with FlexConnect Solutions

Scott Ross Now, with these control systems being more than 30+ years old, most of these legacy systems have been placed in to end of life or retired lifecycle status which means no further factory support is available. I caught up with Emerson’s Scott Ross about the choices that must be considered moving forward. Manufacturers and producers face options whether to modernize to a newer family of distributed control...
Jim Cahill
- 31 Oct 2019
DeltaV Blog: Migrating Legacy PLC-5s to DeltaV

Way back in the mid-1980’s, when I was a newly-minted engineer working oil & gas production projects offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, a new series of PLCs came on the scene to replace the Allen-Bradley PLC-2’s we had been using. They were the PLC-5 series. Javier DeLuna Now, more than 30 years old, the CPUs used in these PLCs were placed into end of life status which meant no further factory support for the CPUs as...
Jim Cahill
- 23 Oct 2019
Safety Instrumented Systems Blog: Approaches to Partial Stroke Testing Safety Valves

The safety valve within a safety instrumented function (SIF) must be tested regularly to help assure proper operation in the event of a safety demand. Operators usually perform an offline full stroke test during a scheduled shutdown because of the impact of this test on the process. But when a SIF (a.k.a. safety loop) requires more frequent testing, users can perform a partial stroke test (PST) , per the global IEC 61511...
Jim Cahill
- 25 Sep 2019
Safety Instrumented Systems Blog: Safety Instrumented System Cybersecurity Best Practices

Emerson’s Sergio Diaz and Alexandre Peixoto presented Best Practices for a Cybersecure SIS at the 2019 Emerson Exchange conference. Sergio opened that the goal of this presentation is to provide practical information to maintain a more defendable security posture for safety instrumented systems (SISs) . Like control systems, defense in depth is an important concept for an SIS. It starts at plant level security, work...
Jim Cahill
- 30 Aug 2019
DeltaV Blog: Security for Safety System Logic Solvers-Physical Key Switches and Software Locks

Sergio Diaz Author: Sergio Diaz As a product marketing manager for DeltaV safety instrumented systems (SIS) , I have been asked a few times why the key switch on the CHARMs Smart Logic Solver (CSLS) does not control the lock state as is common with many safety controllers. DeltaV CHARMs Smart Logic Solver (CSLS) The next question is, “Why does the user still need to lock the CSLS via software?” The reason is...
Jim Cahill
- 30 Aug 2019
Safety Instrumented Systems Blog: Security for Safety System Logic Solvers-Physical Key Switches and Software Locks

Sergio Diaz Author: Sergio Diaz As a product marketing manager for DeltaV safety instrumented systems (SIS) , I have been asked a few times why the key switch on the CHARMs Smart Logic Solver (CSLS) does not control the lock state as is common with many safety controllers. DeltaV CHARMs Smart Logic Solver (CSLS) The next question is, “Why does the user still need to lock the CSLS via software?” The reason is...
Jim Cahill
- 23 Aug 2019
DeltaV Blog: Dynamic Simulations Create Value across Lifecycle

Simulations can add value across the lifecycle of a manufacturing or production process—from the upfront design work for the capital project portion of the lifecycle to the ongoing operations and maintenance. In a Processing magazine article, Using Life Cycle Dynamic Simulation to Drive Projects And Performance , Emerson’s Sean Sullivan teamed with a third-party consultant working at chemical manufacturing facility...
Jim Cahill
- 6 Aug 2019
Ovation Blog: Ovation Advanced Condition Monitoring

Jason King Emerson’s Jason King shares an update on advanced condition monitoring in the Ovation distributed control system at last week’s 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference. This integrated machinery protection and condition monitoring module built directly into the Ovation system. It is capable of typical equipment protection functions, but also has condition monitoring technology built in, so no separate software...
Jim Cahill
- 1 Aug 2019
Ovation Blog: Ovation Intelligence Framework

Alvin Faustino Azime Can-Cimino Emerson’s Alvin Faustino and Azime Can-Cimino discussed plant prognostics with the Ovation Intelligence Framework at the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference. Here’s a visual of the framework: Azime opened explaining that prognostic maintenance requires starting with data—sensor data and generated data. This data is pre-processed and used to develop a detection or prediction...
Jim Cahill
- 1 Aug 2019
Ovation Blog: Electrical Generator Excitation Control

Emerson’s Matt Musko shared the basics and installation best practices for generator excitation controls at the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference. Matt opened describing the fundamentals of generator excitation. Three things are necessary to generate electricity: current carrying conductors in the generator armature windings, a magnetic field created by DC current supplied to the field windings, and relative motion...
Jim Cahill
- 1 Aug 2019
Ovation Blog: Ovation System Forward View

Rick Kephart rounds out the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference with a look into the future around architectures and algorithms. Rick opened with a discussion of Ovation Droplets. It is a lightweight controller that’s part of the 3.7 release. Any Compact Controller can be configured as a Droplet in the Dev Studio configuration software. These compact controllers, configured as standalone, can be adopted as Droplets...
Jim Cahill
- 31 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: Suppressing Plant Alarms

Ben Poskie Since the early days of distributed control systems, much work has been done to improve alarm management and prevent alarms from flooding operators to prevent them from properly diagnosing and correcting abnormal situations. The ANSI/ISA 18.2 alarm management standard began development back in 2003 and built off of the work of other alarm management initiatives. It published as ANSI/ISA-18.2-2009 Management...
Jim Cahill
- 31 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: Ovation Compact Controller Update

Tom Snowdon As renewable energy supplied to electrical grids continues to grow, the need for more scalable options to control these additional sources of energy. In a 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference presentation on the Ovation Compact Controller (OCC) , Emerson’s Tom Snowdon shared an update on the OCC, the use of 3 rd party I/O and engineering tool options. Tom opened defining a standalone as one controller...
Jim Cahill
- 31 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: Gas Turbine Control Enhancements

Emerson’s Laurence O’Toole and Felipe Londono were joined by Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS)’s Michael Glover to present on gas turbine control enhancements at the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference. MHPS and Emerson formed an alliance in 2008 to provide state of the art turbine and controls solutions. The solutions include balance of plant (BOP) controls, generator excitation, process control devices and...
Jim Cahill
- 31 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: Ovation Turbine Overspeed Protection

At the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference, Emerson’s Sam Onuska and Greg Lieb provided an update on turbine overspeed protection in Ovation distributed control systems. Sam opened discussing the purpose of turbine overspeed protection. It’s required for personnel safety and machinery protection against overspeed condition. Overspeed protection is applied to steam turbines, boiler feed pump turbines, combustion turbines...
Jim Cahill
- 30 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: Ovation Lifecycle Planning

Emerson’s Mike Ames and Nick Koonce teamed up to discuss Ovation Lifecycle Planning and the need to think beyond periodic upgrades at the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference. Nick opened by defining lifecycle planning for the Ovation system: Ovation Lifecycle Planning provides a broader or more holistic approach to best align Ovation products and services to customers’ business drivers (KPI’s) and problem-solving...
Jim Cahill
- 30 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: Air Management and Emissions Control

Emerson’s James Bare shared how effective process control and tuning improves combustion air management and improves overall emissions control at the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference. James opened describing different types of boilers and their operation in different regions. The focus of the presentation was on coal-fired boilers. Combustion of coal with air creates steam from water which drives a steam turbine...
Jim Cahill
- 30 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: Cooling Tower Solutions

At the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference, Emerson Jason King provided an update on Ovation DCS solutions for cooling towers. Jason opened explaining that $450,000 USD can be saved using automated cooling tower monitoring and optimization solutions. Several challenges exist for cooling towers in the power generation industry. Cooling towers are used to condense the steam exiting the steam turbine. This helps complete...
Jim Cahill
- 30 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: Ovation Digital Twin Technology-Embedded Simulation Update

Some key ways simulation technology is used by manufacturers and producers for training, optimizing operating procedures and engineering to evaluate ways to improve overall performance. In a 2019 Ovation Users’ Group Conference presentation, Ovation Digital Twin Technology – Embedded Simulation Update & New Applications, Emerson’s James Thompson and Shen Zhang provides an overview of Digital Twin technology, how it integrates...
Jim Cahill
- 30 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: The Industrial Cyber Threat Landscape

At the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group conference, Dragos CEO Robert M. Lee provided an update on the cyber threats facing manufacturers and producers. Emerson and Dragos yesterday announced an agreement, Emerson Selects Dragos to Collaborate on Cybersecurity Protection for Power and Water Industries . The news: Emerson and Dragos, Inc., developer of the Dragos Platform for industrial cybersecurity asset detection, threat...
Jim Cahill
- 29 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: Heat Recovery Steam Generator Purge Credit Success

At the 2019 Ovation Users’ Group Conference , a U.S. power producer shared their story about shrinking down to a 17-minute purge on their combustion turbine (CT) startup. A heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) purge removes combustible levels of fuel mixtures prior to startup. A purge credit allows credit for a prior purge for the next startup with a normal shutdown occurs or modified fuel systems for both CT and duct...
Jim Cahill
- 16 Jul 2019
Safety Instrumented Systems Blog: Reducing Level Detector Proof Testing Complexity

Each safety instrumented function (SIF) including its sensor, logic solver and final control element must be periodically tested to make sure it will perform as designed in the event of a safety demand. These “proof tests” help to uncover and failure conditions which may have developed since the last proof test or safety demand. A new whitepaper, Reducing the Complexity of Proof-Testing with New Generation Point Level...
Jim Cahill
- 8 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: 5 Questions for Cybersecurity Expert Jaime Foose

Emerson’s Jaime Foose joins our continuing podcast series, 5 Questions for an Emerson Expert . Jaime is an ICS cyber security expert, Director of Security Solutions and Lifecycle Shared Services. She helps power producers and water & wastewater utilities with programs and processes to improve their cyber defenses and the ongoing health of their distributed control systems & operational technology (OT). https:/...
Jim Cahill
- 8 Jul 2019
Ovation Blog: 5 Questions for Cybersecurity Expert Jaime Foose

Emerson’s Jaime Foose joins our continuing podcast series, 5 Questions for an Emerson Expert . Jaime is an ICS cyber security expert, Director of Security Solutions and Lifecycle Shared Services. She helps power producers and water & wastewater utilities with programs and processes to improve their cyber defenses and the ongoing health of their distributed control systems & operational technology (OT). https:/...
Jim Cahill
- 19 Jun 2019
DeltaV Blog: Cybersecurity Considerations in Safety Instrumented System Architectures

Sergio Diaz Alexandre Peixoto Safety instrumented systems (SIS), which are designed to take the process to a safe state in trip conditions, come in several architectures with the basic process control system (BPCS). The SIS and BPCS can be totally separate, interfaced or integrated, yet separate. While the debate on which approach is best has been going on for a long time, what are they cybersecurity considerations...