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July 31, 2007
A Look at 30 years of Change in Pharmaceutical Automation
What were you doing in July 30 years ago? For young people (anyone under 30 let’s say) this is a silly or just non-relevant question. I bring it up; however, in light of Pharmaceutical Technology magazine having just celebrated its 30th year of publication this July. Congratulations to all the folks at Pharmaceutical Technology!
Two Emerson folks, Bob Lenich and Christie Deitz contributed to this issue with a retrospective look at the state of the pharmaceutical automation starting before the 70’s and pointing to major milestones affecting life science automation through to today. The piece is called, “A Look at 30 years of Change in Pharmaceutical Automation.” Having lived as a process engineer throughout this period, all I can say is, “We’ve come a long way!” (263KB PDF)
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 31, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 30, 2007
Controller Redundancy Whitepaper Update
This document explains the behavior of controller redundancy in a DeltaV system. (165KB PDF)
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 30, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 25, 2007
Press Release: Emerson selected as main instrumentation provider for automation of Lucite International chemical plant in Singapore
Emerson's automation services and scalable digital technology chosen for first in a series of state-of-the-art chemical plants to be built around the world
AUSTIN, TX (July 24, 2007) – Lucite International and Emerson Process Management, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), today announced that Emerson has been selected as the main instrumentation vendor for Lucite's methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant in Singapore, which is currently under construction and is scheduled to begin operation in 2008. MMA is a chemical used in consumer products including plastics, paints and adhesives.
"The Singapore MMA plant is crucial to Lucite's business strategy because it is the first plant to utilize our patented Alpha technology, which will liberate the MMA industry from its historical dependence on the pressured raw materials acetone, HCN and isobutylene," said John Noon, Lucite project engineer. "Alpha uses ethylene, methanol and carbon monoxide, which are all readily available and will not limit Alpha's unique scale potential."
Emerson will provide design verification, testing and commissioning, and will supply PlantWeb® digital plant architecture asset management programs.
"The Singapore plant will be the first in a series of state-of-the-art, Alpha-based production facilities Lucite is building around the world," Noon added. "So it is critical that the quality of the instrumentation, equipment and services be best in class and easily scalable to higher capacity plants. We selected Emerson as our main instrumentation vendor because of its excellent performance as digital automation vendor at our MMA plant near Shanghai. Emerson's strong presence in Singapore and its strong global engineering capabilities also played a role in our decision."
"We are very pleased to be selected as the main instrumentation vendor for Lucite's ground-breaking Alpha plant in Singapore," said John Berra, president of Emerson Process Management. "Emerson engineers from the United Kingdom, India, and Singapore collaborated to provide a simple and modular design that can easily be scaled up for future plants without requiring major re-design and sizing work."
Emerson's PlantWeb digital plant architecture substantially reduces project costs, with customers typically reducing their installation costs by 30 percent. The architecture's built-in predictive intelligence can improve plant efficiencies by 2 percent or more, which is key to helping customers derive full value from state-of-the-art control, automation and asset management solutions, whether at the installation or operational phase of the project.
The PlantWeb architecture at the Singapore plant will include Emerson's safety instrumented systems, a plant information management system and a laboratory information management system.
About Lucite International
Lucite International is the world leader in methacrylate materials and produces a range of high quality products comprising monomers, acrylic sheet, polymers and resins, marketed under their famous brand names including Lucite® and Perspex®. Customers convert these into a diverse range of consumer, architectural, high tech and medical products.
The Company has an annual turnover in excess of US$1.5billion and employs a workforce of over 2100 people serving customers in over 100 countries worldwide.
Lucite International strives for the highest standards in the operation of the business and places the highest priority on Safety, Health and Environmental performance with excellent results.
About Emerson Process Management
Emerson Process Management (www.emersonprocess.com), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, power, water and wastewater treatment, food and beverage, life science and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Emerson brands include PlantWeb®, DeltaV™, Ovation®, Fisher®, Micro Motion®, Rosemount®, Mobrey®, Daniel®, Bristol®, and AMS™ Suite.
About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2006 were $20.1 billion. For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 25, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 23, 2007
Why Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) Technology is the Right Choice for Smart Plant Installations Whitepaper Update
This EDDL Technology whitepaper is targeted to readers familiar with the device descriptor language (DDL) used for describing FOUNDATION fieldbus and HART devices. DDL has been enhanced to EDDL for a richer, secure, exchange between users and intelligent field devices. (372KB PDF)
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 23, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 19, 2007
Press Release: Emerson announces contest for "wireless innovators"
Awards will be given for the most creative use of wireless technologies and most significant business impact achieved
AUSTIN, TEXAS (July 18, 2007) – Emerson Process Management, a business of Emerson, is announcing the "Smart Wireless Innovators Contest" to recognize customers for innovative applications of the company's Smart Wireless solutions that deliver high business impact in process industry production, manufacturing, and distribution facilities. Global introduction of Smart Wireless solutions began in North America last fall, and Emerson's wireless products began shipping to users in 2006. The realization of easy, fast commissioning and up to 90% reduction of sensor and transmitter installed cost has stirred the enthusiasm of engineers toward capturing new data to improve plant performance.
"We frequently have customers trialing our Smart Wireless technologies for one reason, then finding many other good uses once they get it up and running," said Peter Zornio, chief strategic officer for Emerson Process Management. "We are introducing this contest and award to celebrate the innovative spirit of those finding new and exciting ways to experience the value of reliable, secure and easy-to-use wireless."
Open globally to all manufacturing customers, Emerson's "Smart Wireless Innovators Contest" will run until March 31, 2008. A panel of customer peers will judge the entries, and award prizes in two categories: Most innovative use of wireless technologies; and Greatest business impact from using wireless.
To qualify for the contest, applications must include at least five of Emerson's Smart Wireless instruments with a 1420 Smart wireless gateway or a ROC800-series Remote Operations Controller with on-board wireless gateway, and AMS Device Manager software with wireless PlantWeb interface. This application can be conveniently purchased and implemented as a Smart Wireless solution instrumentation order, or by using Emerson's offering of Wireless SmartPack™ Starter Kits.
Contest winners will receive free admission to the 2008 Emerson Global Users Exchange in Washington, DC, USA, where they will be formally honored with a crystal Smart Wireless Innovators Award and a $2500 cash prize. Winners will also have an opportunity to present to industry peers at the Users Exchange, sharing details of their application which makes unique use of Smart Wireless products and services.
Contest submittals must include a description of the actual Smart Wireless application, business objectives, Emerson technologies involved, an assessment of performance and results achieved. Entry forms are available at www.emersonprocess.com/smartwireless/InnovatorsContest.asp.
Smart Wireless Solutions
Emerson's Smart Wireless Solutions deliver control and monitoring functionality of new wireless field networks, expanded mobile operations of control networks, and plant functionality like asset tracking and physical security. The field networks feature the world's first intrinsically safe, high reliability devices to capture valuable measurement and diagnostic information from a wide range of field locations in the harsh environments our customers deal with every day.
The Smart Wireless field devices are built on industry leading instrument platforms from Emerson, such as the Rosemount® 3051S pressure transmitter, and incorporate built-in power and highly reliable self organizing networks communications capability. The wireless networks can retrieve data from parts of a plant that were previously unreachable due to fiscal and/or physical constraints. The new expanded data can be used for a wide range of purposes, including: monitoring, troubleshooting, or predictive maintenance, to name a few.
Smart Wireless solutions are fully compatible with all Emerson automation systems and applications, and are fully scalable so customers can expand their wireless networks as their needs dictate.
Emerson's Wireless SmartPack Starter kit includes 5 to 25 Rosemount Smart Wireless devices, industry leading Asset Management software, and SmartStart™ installation and commissioning services performed by an on site wireless technician, and is ready "out of the box" to form a secure, highly reliable, self-organizing wireless network. The kit is designed to prove the limitless potential of wireless to solve the most difficult process data needs in our customer's plants and to give potential users a risk-free way to gain practical experience with this technology in their own facilities
From the development of communications protocols like HART and FOUNDATION fieldbus, Emerson has a long history of leading the development of industry standards, and the company will help protect customer investments in wireless by guaranteeing an upgrade path of current Smart Wireless products to future wireless standards which are currently under development.
For further information on Emerson's Smart Wireless Solutions or the Wireless SmartPack Starter Kit, go to www.emersonprocess.com/smartwireless.
Hi-Res Photo is available.
About Emerson Process Management
Emerson Process Management (www.emersonprocess.com), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp & paper, power, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, and project management, and maintenance services to help customers achieve the potential of their operations. Emerson brands include PlantWeb®, Rosemount®, AMS™ Suite, Fisher®, Micro Motion®, Mobrey®, Daniel®, Bristol®, DeltaV™ and Ovation®.
About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE:EMR), based in St. Louis, is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2006 were $20.1 billion. For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 19, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 18, 2007
Press Release: Emerson wins contract to digitally automate major BP chemical facility in China
Emerson's PlantWeb® digital architecture to be installed at Purified Terephthalic Acid facility, making it world's most efficient PTA plant
AUSTIN, TEXAS (July 17, 2007) – Emerson Process Management, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), has won a contract to digitally automate BP's Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) plant expansion in Zhuhai, China.
Emerson will engineer and manage the automation project, using the company's PlantWeb® digital architecture with FOUNDATION fieldbus technology for process control and data management.
As the main instrument vendor, Emerson will be responsible for the detailed design, including the engineering design, and implementation of the new digital architecture. From Emerson's Chemical Center of Excellence in Pudong, Shanghai, Emerson experts will plan and manage the automation portion of the project, including integrating Emerson's PlantWeb digital architecture with its advanced control, safety, and Asset Optimization technologies.
"We are pleased at this new opportunity to combine our technology with the solutions skill of our Chemical Center of Excellence and the engineering supervision and project management leadership in our Singapore office," commented John Berra, president, Emerson Process Management. "We are encouraged by BP's confidence in our ability to provide system design, configuration, staging, acceptance testing, commissioning, and start-up support. We are committed to delivering a world class digital automation system at Zhuhai."
Emerson's PlantWeb digital plant architecture delivers operational excellence in plants by networking smart devices throughout, enabling optimum control while continuously gathering diagnostics data that is used for Asset Optimization, including predictive maintenance. Personnel use the data to correct equipment and process issues before they can interrupt production.
PlantWeb digital architecture will use FOUNDATION fieldbus technology to form an intelligent plant network including Emerson's Rosemount® measurement and analytical instrumentation, Micro Motion® Coriolis flow and density meters, Fisher® control valves with FIELDVUE® digital valve controllers, and the DeltaV™ digital automation system. The DeltaV system will include the Advanced Control Suite, comprising DeltaV Insight, Inspect, Tune, Fuzzy, Neural, and Predict Pro.
The company's smart SIS Safety Instrumented Systems will also be installed on an independent network, with diagnostics communication to the process systems.
Within PlantWeb architecture, Emerson's Asset Optimization will center on the company's AMS™ Suite predictive maintenance software, including AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager, Asset Portal, Machinery Manager, Optimizer, and Performance Monitor.
The contract includes engineering and configuration of approximately 3,000 device signal tags, control and safety systems, and integration of an existing control system. The open and highly integrated architecture will use OPC (OLE for Process Control) technology. On-site services include a variety of operator/user training classes, as well as commissioning and start-up assistance
BP
BP is one of the world's largest oil, gas and petrochemical companies with operations in over 100 countries. The company also manufactures and sells photovoltaic panels for solar power generation and is actively looking at other forms of renewable energy, particularly hydrogen fuel cell technology. The company's current market capitalization is over $200 billion and it employs around 100,000 people worldwide. For more information about BP, please visit www.bp.com.
About BP China
BP has been operating in China since the early 1970s and has invested over $4.2 billion in commercial projects. Its activities in China include the production and importation of natural gas, supply of aviation fuel, import and marketing of LPG, fuels retailing, lubricants blending and sales, petrochemical manufacturing and solar electric facilities. As one of China's largest foreign investors, BP employs over 3,700 staff in China, either directly or through its joint ventures. For more information about BP China, please visit www.bp.com.cn.
About BP Zhuhai
BP Zhuhai is BP's 85% equity joint venture, which manufactures Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), a key raw material in the manufacture of polyester fiber, resin and film, and also an ingredient in such common products as clothing, beverage bottles, music tapes, and tires.
BP Zhuhai phase-I was commissioned in 2003, eventually reaching a capacity of 500,000 tpa. BP Zhuhai expansion involves the construction of a new 900,000 tpa plant. Once completed, the combined PTA production capacity at the Zhuhai site will be 1.4 million tpa, confirming Zhuhai as one of the major PTA production centers in China.
About Emerson Process Management
Emerson Process Management (www.EmersonProcess.com), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, power, water and wastewater treatment, food and beverage, life sciences and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Emerson brands include PlantWeb®, Fisher®, Micro Motion®, Rosemount®, Mobrey®, Daniel®, Bristol®, DeltaV™, Ovation®, and AMS™ Suite.
About Emerson
Emerson, based in St. Louis, is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2006 were $20.1 billion. For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 18, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 17, 2007
DeltaV I/O Subsystem Carriers Product Data Sheet Update
The DeltaV modular I/O subsystem features flexible installation, allows you to expand online, and increases I/O density for cabinet-mounted systems. (301KB PDF)
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 17, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 13, 2007
Foundation Fieldbus Robustness Video Demo
A video demonstration showing how Foundation fieldbus device-based control loops remain operational even when redundant control cards are disabled. (3:21 minutes)
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 13, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 11, 2007
Press Release: Emerson completes digital automation of U.S. refinery producing 10 million gallons of gasoline daily
Motiva Norco facility deployed Emerson's PlantWeb®, improving production reliability, plant utilization, and safety and environmental performance
AUSTIN, TEXAS (July 10, 2007) – Emerson Process Management, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), today announced the completion of a digital automation project that has substantially increased the reliability and performance of Motiva Enterprises LLC's refinery in Norco, Louisiana. Motiva is an oil refining, lubricants and retail business operation owned by Shell and Saudi Refining Inc.
A leading U.S. refinery, Motiva Norco processes 225,000 barrels per day of crude oil, ranking it among the largest refineries in the world. Its daily production includes about 10 million gallons of gasoline and about 7 million gallons of jet fuel.
Refineries such as Motiva Norco distill crude oil into components called fractions, treat the fractions to remove impurities, and chemically convert them into products like diesel fuel and gasoline. Fractions are then combined to create various blends of gasoline. The Norco refinery blends finished product for New Orleans and other nearby markets.
As Main Automation Contractor for the project, Emerson performed engineering, project management and installation of its PlantWeb® digital architecture. The project scope encompassed seven major process units and consolidated five separate control rooms into one centralized, integrated control room. Digital automation was installed in various process units, including a coker, a hydrocracker, two catalytic reformers, a diesel hydrotreater, a naphta hydrotreater, and a hydrogen unit.
"A few years ago Norco cokers, reformers and hydrotreaters were running with pneumatic controls," said Jeff Funkhouser, operations manager at the Norco Refinery. "Increased sulfur content in crude demanded better hydrotreater and coker performance."
"Modernization of instrumentation and controls had not kept pace with other improvements to key units at the refinery," he added. "Poor reliability and frequent shutdowns were undermining the refinery's efforts to serve the market effectively. Our instrumentation was not up to the challenges of the 21st century."
Motiva Norco made the decision to re-instrument the plant with the goal of increasing reliability to world-class standards. "We looked for a company that had the right technology and also a strong support network that would be available to us," said Evelio Hernandez, manager process control systems department at Motiva Norco Refinery. "We selected the PlantWeb digital plant architecture from Emerson Process Management. We also selected Emerson as our main automation contractor because of its proven project management experience and intimate knowledge of the technology we had selected."
The re-instrumentation project has yielded solid results already for the facility, including its best-ever reliability utilization year on record, and increased output without adding new units and the huge investment and leadtime that would have been required.
"It has been very exciting to join the highly professional Motiva Norco refining team and bring together digital automation services, technology and people to produce such outstanding results," said John Berra, president of Emerson Process Management. "The teamwork has been great throughout the project, and we are committed to having this ongoing partnership continue to build automation excellence leading to higher and higher performance."
PlantWeb architecture is an open, standards-based digital automation solution that networks intelligent field devices, digital systems, and software to control processes and manage equipment and other assets. It delivers information for facilities management, including predictive alerts of pending malfunctions and guidance for corrective action to avoid production interruptions and shut downs.
At the Motiva refinery, PlantWeb uses FOUNDATION fieldbus communications to network Emerson's DeltaV™ digital systems, Rosemount flow, level and temperature instruments, Micro Motion® Coriolis Flowmeters and Fisher® valves with Fisher FIELDVUE® digital valve controllers. Predictive diagnostics information is collected by AMS™ Suite: Intelligent Device Manager which delivers alarms and data to operations and maintenance personnel.
Hi-Res Photos are available.
About Emerson Process Management
Emerson Process Management (www.emersonprocess.com), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, power, water and wastewater treatment, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Its brands include PlantWeb®, DeltaV™, Fisher®, Micro Motion®, Rosemount®, Mobrey®, Bristol®, Daniel®, Ovation®, and AMS™ Suite.
About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2006 were $20.1 billion. For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 11, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 10, 2007
Another Viewpoint: Implementing Foundation Fieldbus H1 Networks in Hazardous Areas
Rich Merritt's whitepaper, Implementing Foundation Fieldbus H1 Networks in Hazardous Areas, provides some insight into the process for safely implementing Foundation fieldbus in a classified area of your facility and the lessons learned while implementing Foundation fieldbus at Boehringer Ingelheim Chemicals, Inc. where the manufacturing processes are controlled primarily by a DeltaV control system.
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 10, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 9, 2007
Most Viewed Pages on EasyDeltaV.com
Ever been curious about the most popular pages on EasyDeltaV.com?
We invite you to check out the new site feature, Most Viewed Pages, to see what other visitors find most interesting on the website.
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 9, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 5, 2007
Smart SIS Services Reference Guide Update
DeltaV SIS Service Reference Guide providing an overview of DeltaV Smart SIS support to meet IEC61511 Safety Life Cycle requirements. (83KB PDF)
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 5, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 3, 2007
Press Release: Emerson Global Users Exchange 2007 online registration now open
Industry's most comprehensive user-driven conference focuses on application of Emerson's enabling technologies and services
AUSTIN, TEXAS (July 2, 2007) — Online registration is now open for the 2007 Emerson Global Users Exchange Conference (www.EmersonExchange.org) to be held September 10-14 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. Registering online by July 30 will save 25 percent in registration fees. The Emerson Global Users Exchange, Engineering Revolution—Are You Ready?, will feature educational and leadership sessions for all levels of process manufacturing professionals. The annual conference is one of the industry's most comprehensive collections of user-driven presentations and workshops on technology selection and application, investment justification and automation strategy.
"There is no better way to prepare for all the upcoming technological advances in process control than by participating in the Emerson Global Users Exchange; and the 2007 conference will be the biggest and best yet with more technology exhibits and user-led sessions than ever before," says Marty Edwards, Idaho National Laboratory, and 2007 Chairman of the Emerson Global Users Exchange. "Whether you currently use individual Emerson technologies or have a complete PlantWeb architecture installation, you don't want to miss this event where your peers will share application experiences, best practices, tips and forward directions."
Led by users for users, the 2007 Emerson Global Users Exchange will provide valuable exchange of information among process manufacturers, end-users and Emerson experts. The extensive program will feature more than 300 sessions offering best practices, implementation successes, tips and tricks, and proven project methodologies. The event includes keynote speakers, a special management seminar, expanded Educational Services courses, industry business forums, round tables, workshops, short courses, and technology exhibits.
About Emerson Users Exchange
In addition to the annual conference, the Emerson Global Users Exchange coordinates and produces activities such as special interest group meetings, newsletters, and communications related to Emerson products and solutions. Members of the Emerson Exchange actively participate in product development and application discussions with Emerson's engineering and management staff, providing feedback at conferences and other meetings. Users Exchange participant comments, conference agendas, registration and other details are available at www.EmersonExchange.org.
About Emerson Process Management
Emerson Process Management (www.emersonprocess.com), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, power, water and wastewater treatment, food and beverage, life sciences and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Emerson brands include PlantWeb®, DeltaV™, Ovation®, Fisher®, Micro Motion®, Rosemount®, Mobrey®, Daniel®, Bristol®, and AMS™ Suite.
About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2006 were $20.1 billion. For more information, visit www.GoToEmerson.com.
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 3, 2007 | TrackBack (0)
July 2, 2007
DeltaV Four-Monitor Workstation Product Data Sheet Update
The DeltaV Four-Monitor Workstation provides a flexible, easy-to-configure operator space using 4 flat-screen monitors. It provides operators additional screen "real estate" for viewing more information about process operations from a single workstation. (242KB PDF)
Posted by Emerson's EasyDeltaV.com on July 2, 2007 | TrackBack (0)