Activity
  • Compressor Anti-Surge Control Value Improvement Practice

    Pete Sharpe Author: Pete Sharpe An ethylene plant has a number of very large, very critical compressors which will cause the entire plant to shutdown if they ever trip. The cracked gas compressor increases the entire cold-side feed from around 3 psig to ~475 psig, typically through 5 stages. The two refrigeration compressors are the next biggest compressors that can also shut down the entire plant if they trip.…
  • Modernization of DCS and PLC with Electronic Marshalling

    Scott Ross Now, with many control systems being 30+ years old, most of these legacy systems have been placed in to end of life or retired lifecycle status. This means no further factory support is available. I caught up with Emerson’s Scott Ross about some of the choices that must be considered moving forward. Manufacturers and producers face options whether to modernize to a newer family of distributed control systems…
  • A Glimpse into Future Control Systems

    Let’s end this week before Thanksgiving here in the U.S. with a vision, “…on how plant managers, operators, and engineers may digitally transform the way plants and teams operate.”, with this 3-minute YouTube video, DeltaV Technology for Next-Generation Operations . Technologies shown in this vision include facial recognition for secure operator login, voice & gesture user interface for simplified operations, application…
  • A Glimpse into Future Control Systems

    Let’s end this week before Thanksgiving here in the U.S. with a vision, “…on how plant managers, operators, and engineers may digitally transform the way plants and teams operate.”, with this 3-minute YouTube video, DeltaV Technology for Next-Generation Operations . Technologies shown in this vision include facial recognition for secure operator login, voice & gesture user interface for simplified operations, application…
  • 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…
  • 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…
  • 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…
  • 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…
  • 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…
  • Controlling Surge in Centrifugal Compressors

    Centrifugal and axial compressors can experience a potentially destructive condition known as surge. Emerson’s Mikhail Ilchenko describes it for me. Mikhail Ilchenko Surge is a condition that occurs in compressors when the amount of gas they are trying to compress is insufficient for the size of the compressor and the blades lose their ability to transfer energy from the shaft to the fluid, causing a reverse…
  • Optimizing Hydrocyclone Separation Processes

    Diagram of a hydrocyclone: 1. the liquid-solid mixture enters, 2. heavy solids leave, 3. cleaned liquid leaves. Photo credit: “hydrocyclone” by VanBuren is licensed under CC BY 3.0 In the mining industry, hydrocyclones are mineral processing equipment used in slurry pulps to separate coarse and fine particles according to their size and density. From Wikipedia : The mixture [slurry pulp] is injected into the hydrocyclone…
  • Applying Embedded Model Predictive Control

    James Beall The history of model predictive control (MPC) dates back to the early 1970s invented at Shell Oil and was known as Dynamic Matrix Control . MPC was designed at that time to solve largescale control challenges. As technology advanced, this technology could be more widely applied on smaller-scale challenges. At this past 2019 AIChE Spring Meeting , Emerson’s James Beall presented Unique Applications for…
  • Creating a Digitally-Enabled Workforce

    Edition #14 of Innovations in Process Automation is now available. And it’s available not only in English, but also in German , Italian , Spanish and French . This latest edition includes articles about: Emerson’s commitment to training and education is closing the skills gap STEM initiatives inspire next generation of innovators The business case for gender balance is clear Training solutions help maximise…
  • Creating a Digitally-Enabled Workforce

    Edition #14 of Innovations in Process Automation is now available. And it’s available not only in English, but also in German , Italian , Spanish and French . This latest edition includes articles about: Emerson’s commitment to training and education is closing the skills gap STEM initiatives inspire next generation of innovators The business case for gender balance is clear Training solutions help maximise…
  • Better Decisions with Intelligent Mobile Access

    The rise of smart phone and tablets has enabled businesses to completely rethink workflows and access to information. Within the world of manufacturing, this is even true for supervising and managing the process. In a Chemical Engineering article, Engineering Challenges? There’s a Mobile Application for That , Emerson’s Mariana Dionisio describes how the DeltaV Mobile application: …allows users, such as operations…
  • Better Decisions with Intelligent Mobile Access

    The rise of smart phone and tablets has enabled businesses to completely rethink workflows and access to information. Within the world of manufacturing, this is even true for supervising and managing the process. In a Chemical Engineering article, Engineering Challenges? There’s a Mobile Application for That , Emerson’s Mariana Dionisio describes how the DeltaV Mobile application: …allows users, such as operations…
  • Collaboration for Cybersecurity Resiliency and Robustness

    Maintaining robust defenses from cyber-attacks is a priority for manufacturers. They rely on their automation suppliers to provide security-hardened technologies and cybersecurity services to help defend against new attacks and maintain resiliency and robustness over time. One key element in robustness is quickly finding, fixing and distributing patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities. Industrial control systems…
  • Collaboration for Cybersecurity Resiliency and Robustness

    Maintaining robust defenses from cyber-attacks is a priority for manufacturers. They rely on their automation suppliers to provide security-hardened technologies and cybersecurity services to help defend against new attacks and maintain resiliency and robustness over time. One key element in robustness is quickly finding, fixing and distributing patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities. Industrial control systems…
  • Improving Control Performance

    Today is the final day of the 2018 Emerson Exchange conference. The last session I’m attending is on Control Performance with Emerson’s James Beall , Courtney (Eddie) Lane , Dirk Thiele and Aspentech’s Alex Kalafatis . After the panel introduced themselves, Dirk opened the panel with a poll question, “How would you rate the overall control performance in your plant?” More than 50% indicated that it needed improvements…
  • Improving Control Performance

    Today is the final day of the 2018 Emerson Exchange conference. The last session I’m attending is on Control Performance with Emerson’s James Beall , Courtney (Eddie) Lane , Dirk Thiele and Aspentech’s Alex Kalafatis . After the panel introduced themselves, Dirk opened the panel with a poll question, “How would you rate the overall control performance in your plant?” More than 50% indicated that it needed improvements…
  • Augmented Reality for Operators

    Augmented reality—a day in the life of operations is the intriguing title of a 2018 Emerson Exchange conference presentation. Emerson’s Aaron Crews , Mary Grace Francisco , and Mark Nixon joined University of Texas Center for Energy & Environmental Resources ‘ Robert Montgomery. Mark open the presentation introducing the panelists and noting how augmented reality (AR) is being actively incorporated into the overall…
  • Augmented Reality for Operators

    Augmented reality—a day in the life of operations is the intriguing title of a 2018 Emerson Exchange conference presentation. Emerson’s Aaron Crews , Mary Grace Francisco , and Mark Nixon joined University of Texas Center for Energy & Environmental Resources ‘ Robert Montgomery. Mark open the presentation introducing the panelists and noting how augmented reality (AR) is being actively incorporated into the overall…
  • Future of Control Systems

    The pace of technological change is dizzying. Even in our world of automation where there’s a premium on proven, amazing changes have occurred over the past decade. In a Control Engineering Europe article, Looking into the future of control systems , Emerson’s Bob Halgren shares his thoughts on where process control systems are headed in this era of Industry 4.0 and digital transformations. Bob opens noting the…
  • Future of Control Systems

    The pace of technological change is dizzying. Even in our world of automation where there’s a premium on proven, amazing changes have occurred over the past decade. In a Control Engineering Europe article, Looking into the future of control systems , Emerson’s Bob Halgren shares his thoughts on where process control systems are headed in this era of Industry 4.0 and digital transformations. Bob opens noting the changes…
  • Planning Operator Workloads

    There’s a great question on planning operator workloads. This Emerson Exchange 365 community, DeltaV group member posted, Is there a standard, industry reference or best practice to determine operator workload and staff requirement for DCS consoles? In part, they ask: I’ve been dealing with a question from our management for some time: we fear that in some scenarios we have our console operators dealing with too…