Venezuela soft drink producer goes Profibus
Jan 2000
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Ernetic introduces upgraded twisted pair transmission equipment.
Sopresa, a Venezuela-based Pepsi bottler and part of the Polar brewing group, has made the technology leap to a Profibus fieldbus communication backbone for its plant. The backbone was integrated into the plant's water treatment system which was designed and manufactured by Canadian fluid handling specialist, Sterling Berkefeld.
The reasons for choosing to go the Profibus route were the lower cabling and installation costs as well as the ease of commissioning and use. The project called for the installation of Profibus compliant process measurement instrumentation to be installed on the filtration, ion exchange and dechlorination units of the water treatment system. The bulk of instruments were supplied by Endress+Hauser and included Promag magnetic flow meters, Mycom pH measurement transmitters, Prosonic ultrasonic level measurement transmitters, Liquiphant vibrating level switches, temperature and pressure transmitters.
All of the field instruments are connected through a Siemens segment coupler to a Siemens programmable logic controller (PLC) using a simple 2-wire twisted pair cable, linking instruments as far away as 70 m to the PLC. According to Sterling Berkefeld, the initial cost of the instruments was higher but was more than offset by the shorter commissioning time compared to conventional analog units. In addition, the instruments were delivered preconfigured from the factory which drastically simplified installation for the systems integrator and local technicians. The Endress+Hauser equipment feature internal node connections. This is of particular benefit to the company as the water treatment system is situated outside and external nodes are prone to corrosion.
Sterling Berkefeld maintain that the system experienced no teething problems and have made the decision to recommend Profibus as the communication bus of choice when designing systems with eight or more instruments.
Profibus is one of the world's leading fieldbus technologies, offering fully digital, two-way communication for any plant or process. Its high transmission rates, data rich capabilities and intrinsic safety make it ideal for use in a broad spectrum of industries and applications, including hazardous areas, in mining, chemicals, food, brewing, water, wastewater treatment, paper and more. In South Africa, it has already seen its deployment in six major projects. At present there are more than two million installed Profibus compliant devices in 200 000 applications throughout the world, worth an estimated $4,5 billion.
Endress+Hauser
(011) 444 1386
Further reading:
Why secure industrial communication depends on deployment as well
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The Industrial Security Harmonisation Group has released a joint industry perspective highlighting a critical truth in industrial cybersecurity: secure communication is not determined by protocols alone, but by how they are deployed and managed in real-world environments.
Read more...
A single platform for all automation functions
Beckhoff Automation
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The introduction of TwinCAT in 1996 marked a decisive evolutionary step for PC-based control. Today, the TwinCAT platform combines all automation functions in a strictly deterministic real-time environment, from PLC and motion control through CNC and measurement technology and beyond, to vision, robotics and pioneering AI tools.
Read more...
Loop signature Part 2-4: Feedforward Control: Part 3
Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
In the previous articles in this series, the basic theory behind feedforward control was discussed, and it was also shown how to apply feedforward in practice. In this article, it will be shown how well feedforward can work in practice by giving a couple of examples.
Read more...
Control Station and Dimension Software partner to connect control performance monitoring with enterprise operations intelligence
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Control Station has entered into a strategic technology partnership with Dimension Software, a leading provider of industrial operations management platforms. The collaboration connects Control Station’s PlantESP control loop performance monitoring platform with Dimension Software’s Asset Intellect operations intelligence environment, enabling manufacturers to operationalise control performance insights across their organisations.
Read more...
PCIe digitiser cards for optimal GHz signal acquisition and analysis
Vepac Electronics
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The addition of two new PCIe Digitiser cards from Spectrum Instrumentation extends the company’s flagship M5i series to deliver optimal GHz signal acquisition and analysis capabilities.
Read more...
Precise, synchronised control for automated steel mesh handling system
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Automation specialist Hambi Maschinenbau has developed a world-first system that automates the cutting, handling and stacking of heavy reinforcing steel mesh – a task that previously required up to six human operators.
Read more...
Loop signature Part 2-3: Feedforward Control: Part 2
Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Feedforward control tuning is not nearly as critical as feedback tuning, and fairly simple models are usually fine for the purpose in hand.
Read more...
Upgrading radiological surveillance systems in nuclear facilities
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Nuclear plant operators face an uncomfortable reality. Many of the control and monitoring systems still in use today were never designed to support the full operational lifespan of the facilities they serve.
Read more...
Next-level CAN Software enables easy access to CAN XL
Industrial Data Xchange (IDX)
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
With the release of its PCAN-Explorer 7, PEAK delivers a major update that adds full support for CAN XL, multiple symbol files per connection, Python scripting and flexible licensing including floating licenses.
Read more...
Loop signature Part 2-2: Feedforward Control: Part 1
Michael Brown Control Engineering
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Feedforward control is a powerful technique that can dramatically improve control variance in cases where load changes cause big deviations from setpoint and the actual process dynamics are too slow to allow the feedback controller to operate fast enough to catch these disturbances.
Read more...
printer friendly version