Blog

Heavy duty, intrinsically safe, low power pilot with metal enclosure rated to IP 67, is ideally suited to severe environments

ASCO Numatics announces the new low power LI and WSLI pilot with Ex ia certification for the compact 551, 552 and 553 series pilot valves. The introduction of the new pilot means that ASCO can now offer both intrinsically safe (LI and WSLI series) and flameproof/explosion proof (WS LPKF series) low power pilot valves for aggressive environments across the process industry.

Available with either an aluminium or stainless steel enclosure rated to IP 67, the pilot has a power consumption of just 0.5W at 24V DC. The low wattage coil reduces battery drain and heat rise, minimises wiring costs and provides energy savings. These benefits lower the total cost of ownership over the installed life of the solenoid valve.

The pilot is compatible with the ASCO Numatics 551, 552 and 553 ranges in aluminium, brass (551 range only) and stainless steel. These valves have a large flow range of up to 860 l/min for the 551 valve and 3800 l/min for the 553 valve. The pilot is certified to ATEX, Zone 1-21 (aluminium enclosure) and Zone 0-21 for the stainless steel, and is IEC Ex approved and certified to IEC 61508 functional safety (SIL 3). The new range is ideally suited to applications in the offshore market where high levels of safety and superior resistance to aggressive operating environments are required.

The housing and cover of the pilot enclosure are in 316L stainless steel or painted aluminium and the operator can be rotated 360° to select the best position for cable entry. Electrical connection is via either a shielded or unshielded cable gland (½” NPT) to easy access screw terminals.

The enclosure is supplied with a plastic exhaust protector fitted on the pilot exhaust for dust protection. A metal exhaust protector is available as an option. The operators are suitable for use in ambient temperatures from -40°C to +60°C, and the flameproof aluminium enclosure is rated to ll 2G Ex ia IIC T6 GbT6 ll 2DEx t lllC T85°C IP67 Db and stainless steel aluminium enclosure is rated to ll 1G Ex ia IICGa T6 ll 2D Ex t lllC T85°C IP67 Db, Certification: IEC Ex, SIL and EN 60079-0, EN 60079-ll, EN 61241 and EN 61241-1.

Series 452 cylinders offer advantages of lower weight, easier installation  and long service life

ASCO Numatics announces the introduction of the 452 series of ISO 15552 cylinders. The compact cylinders have many unique features that make them ea sy to install, easy to set up and easy to maintain. Up to 38 per cent lighter than competitor products, the cylinders have all connections, switches and cushioning adjusters on one side, simplifying installation and set up. The brass cushioning screws at either end of the cylinder feature a fine pitch thread enabling precise adjustment.

Magnetic switches can be mounted in the two ‘T’ grooves, from the top. When installed they are located below the surface – minimising the potential for accidental damage. A lubricated, sintered brass guide bearing, permanently lubricated piston seal and hard chromed steel rod enable a long service life of greater than 3,000 km.

Available in 32 to 100 mm diameters, the cylinders can be supplied as a single or through rod construction and can have type U or H guiding. A wide range of accessories can be added, these include switches, flanges, feet, clevises and trunnions. Standard stroke cylinders should be delivered within 5 working days. Intermediate and non-standard strokes are also available.

The series 452 cylinders are one range of an extensive cylinder offering. These include compact cylinders, stopper cylinders, mini cylinders, rotary actuators and slide tables, as well as a wide range of accessories. ASCO Numatics UK offers an industry-leading four hour, make-to-order service on many cylinder types and sizes. Further details can be obtained from the UK sales office on 01695 713600.

As well as offering a wide range of fluid power equipment, ASCO Numatics also has an extensive range of fluid control products. These include solenoid and pressure operated valves and valve islands. Whether you need a simple pneumatic cylinder, a sophisticated proportional valve, actuator or a fieldbus system, ASCO Numatics has the technology and the expertise to meet your automation needs.

This four page brochure was commissioned by ASCO Numatics on behalf of the Emerson UK Nuclear Power Industry Working Group.  Aimed to show the broad range of automation technology available from both Emerson Industrial Automation and Emerson Process Management, the brochure was written, designed and the artwork produced in our offices. 

Emerson’s European Flow Centre achieves ISO 17025 accreditation for flow calibration

Internationally accepted accreditation reduces costs by eliminating the need for an independent audit or retesting in other countries

Emerson Process Management announces that its European Flow Centre’s calibration procedures and facilities have been certified as meeting the requirements of ISO 17025, titled ‘General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories’. The accreditation – by the internationally recognised Dutch Accreditation Council RvA – confirms Emerson’s ability to perform testing and calibration of flowmeters at its European Flow Centre.

“Our testing and calibration procedures have always met the requirements of this international standard,” said Peter Peters, Director Operations EMA, Emerson Process Management. “As one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of flow meters in Europe, many of our customers have confidence in our ability to test and calibrate them. This accreditation eliminates the need for the few customers that required independent verification, to audit our facilities or retest the meters at an approved laboratory.”

ISO/IEC 17025:2005 specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and/or calibrations, including sampling. It covers testing and calibration performed using standard methods, non-standard methods, and laboratory-developed methods.

To meet the requirements of ISO 17025, the measurement uncertainty of the calibration rig must be defined and documented. Calibration uncertainty values at the Flow Centre have been established for many years with VSL (formerly NMi-VSL), the Dutch physical standards authority. The RvA accreditation process confirmed end-to-end measurement uncertainties to be just 0.017% for mass flow and 0.07 kg/m3 for density. Emerson’s European Flow Centre laboratory is also certified to ISO 9001:2008 for its quality management systems.

Emerson’s European Flow Centre at Ede, The Netherlands, offers several options to check and calibrate meters on a scheduled basis to support customer quality procedures and practices. This includes calibration of the high precision Micro Motion® ELITE® Coriolis meters with optional accuracy specification of 0.05% for mass and 0.2 kg/m3 for density. These are used for critical applications or when the meters are used as master meters to calibrate other meters in the field.

Emerson’s European Flow Centre provides a complete service for the flow and density calibration of Micro Motion and Rosemount® flowmeters. The Centre is one of the most advanced of its kind in the world and relies on gravimetric calibration as its reference method. Flow ranges from 0.01 kg/min up to 18000 kg/min allow calibration and certification of the full range of Micro Motion Coriolis flowmeters, up to line sizes of a nominal diameter of 300 mm (12”).

Technorati Tags: Emerson,accreditation,verification,measurement,Calibration,Micro Motion,Coriolis,Rosemount,certification,systems,practices,flowmeters,laboratory

Digital plant architecture helps pharmaceutical plant do more for less, contributing to 4% improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) 

Cambrex Profarmaco of Milan, Italy, has successfully implemented Emerson Process Management’s PlantWeb™ digital plant architecture at its Paullo plant. The resulting gains in product quality and production efficiency have contributed to a 4 per cent increase in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

Cambrex Profarmaco is a leading pharmaceutical company, producing more than 70 active ingredients used mainly for the production of generic drugs. Growing demand for its products meant that Cambrex needed to increase output while maintaining quality in line with the current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) guidelines.

A key strategy for achieving this objective was to replace manual monitoring and recording practices at the Paullo plant with fully automated systems. The new systems would provide precise control of process variables and replace manual record-keeping with an automated data historian, speeding process validation and simplifying batch traceability.

At the start of the project, the site director of Cambrex Profarmaco said, “We were talking to several system suppliers. However, only Emerson was able to guarantee it could meet all of our requirements. We were impressed by the professionalism and knowledge of the people on the project team. Emerson was also able to demonstrate relevant experience gained while working on similar projects.”

The PlantWeb architecture installed at the Paullo plant includes Emerson’s DeltaV™ digital automation system and AMS™ Suite: Intelligent Device Manager software. Cambrex’s system is 21 CFR Part 11 compliant, and the DeltaV system and AMS Device Manager software are proving to be not only an important factor in operations, but also indispensable for data traceability.

The flexibility and ease of use of the DeltaV system makes it ideal for this critical pharmaceutical process. The system meets the complex production needs of Cambrex and provides invaluable information for use in process development. It also provides a highly reproducible manufacturing process and supporting documentation for cGMP.

Intelligent field devices in the PlantWeb solution include Emerson’s Rosemount^® temperature and pressure instruments, Rosemount Analytical pH and conductivity meters, and Micro Motion^® F-Series Coriolis mass flowmeters. Based on their performance, stability and accuracy, Micro Motion meters have become the Paullo site’s de facto standard for all applications regardless of viscosity, density, temperature, process conditions, or corrosiveness.

Cambrex also specified Emerson’s Fisher^® control valves, which have been proven to deliver excellent performance. The accuracy, repeatability, and reliability offered by the Fisher valves meant that this investment was recovered very quickly.

Cambrex is very satisfied with Emerson’s PlantWeb solution. Its management team set out with a very demanding specification for the project, which also had to be implemented in a very short time. Emerson demonstrated true expertise in all of the commissioning phases and allowed Cambrex to get the fastest possible ROI. After start-up, the improvement in efficiency has exceeded the company’s best expectations.

As a technical agency we regularly work with engineers when writing press releases and articles.  We often have to tone down the material we receive to make it less “techy”.  When you read the technical and trade press you can often spot the releases that were written by engineers with no involvement from a communications department or an agency.  These are the releases that you need an engineering degree to understand because they are so full of technical detail. 

It was interesting to read a blog post written by Walt Boyes on his “Sound off” blog about an editors reaction to releases written by Engineers.  Walt is the editor of Control magazine in the US and we had the pleasure of his company when he attended a press event that we organised in Bologna, Italy.

Walt’s reaction to the article, originally written by Venmark nternational was, “Uuuurgh! It makes my editor-skin crawl”

Walt’s full post can be read here

It has always been a tradition here that our studio designs a card for each staff member when it is their birthday. Often irreverent and normally highly topical, these cards are generally treasured by the recipient -  I know I still have all those made for me.

Today we are celebrating the birthday of our MD, Charles Lewis. To understand the background to the card you need to know that Charles is a very keen supporter of our local team, Southampton FC (the Saints).  At a recent crucial match the referee, although not biased, did not help the cause of the team. By the end of the match the Saints fans were quite vociferous in their disapproval.  The full story can be found on the web site of the local Southampton paper here and the card can be seen below.

Three-year £2.25M contract to be managed by Emerson’s METCO Services includes 60 audits per year and four full-time engineers providing measurement support

BP has selected Emerson’s METCO Services as its single-source provider for offshore and onshore measurement audits and for onshore contract measurement engineering support of BP installations in the UK. The company will also provide operational support to the existing BP Measurement engineering team.

“Selecting Emerson as the single provider for measurement audits and support will streamline management of these services,” said George Bird, Sub-Sector Lead, Procurement & Supply Chain Management, BP. “Having one team of contract measurement engineers working together to support our many offshore installations will also enable more efficient and improved servicing.”

Four full-time, UKAS-accredited auditors will complete 60 measurement audits per year. They will use the METCO ‘Inspect’ electronic audit package for reporting and scheduling audits on some of BP’s key pipeline infrastructure.

“Having all 60 measurement audits conducted by METCO will ensure that they are completed professionally, efficiently and consistent with BP processes and standards,” said Jim Barton, BP’s Measurement Manager & Technical Authority.

Emerson’s METCO Services will also provide measurement support to ensure all meter maintenance is properly completed and recorded, and to manage operational spares and fiscal test equipment to help ensure continuous uptime of metering equipment. Emerson engineers will also compute erroneous measurements so they can be corrected. This measurement support team will initially include at least four full-time engineers at Emerson’s Aberdeen facility.

Donald Angus, Business Development Director for Emerson’s METCO Services, said, “We are delighted that BP recognised the knowledge and experience of our local team, combined with our outstanding track record of delivery. We look forward to helping them make the most of their measurements.”

METCO is Emerson’s specialist measurement services organisation, providing audit and consultancy services, field technicians, and office based engineers to help oil and gas companies manage their fiscal, allocation, and environmental measurement infrastructure.

New G3 platform features a unique graphic display that supports plain-language messaging for diagnostics, shows set-up information and also allows self test functions

ASCO Numatics announces the new G3 fieldbus next-generation, electronic platform valve island. The G3 is easy to assemble, install, commission, and maintain, and features a graphic display for easy commissioning, visual status and diagnostics. The robust connections are quick, easy to use and make the platform highly distributable.

The new G3 valve island offers increased intelligence in the form of new diagnostic functions and enhanced plug-and-play capabilities for individual modules. The graphic display (in place of the usual LED indicators) supports plain-language messaging of diagnostic information at both the module and communication node level. The messages give the user direct information and this makes it easier to detect shorted and open load, shorted sensor/cable, low and missing power, and missing module. It also allows self-test activation and provides a log of any network/distribution errors.

The G3 Series product line is a completely modular system. Protected to IP65/NEMA 4, the G3 electronic modules plug together, using an innovative clip design, allowing easy module removal/replacement without dismantling the whole manifold. This makes the system highly user friendly. Additional flexibility is incorporated because the same modules can be used in either centralised or distributed applications.

SPEEDCON M12 connector technology allows for fast and efficient ½ turn I/O connector insertion and the power connector scheme allows the output power to be removed while inputs and communications are left active. An Auto Recovery Module (ARM) protects configuration information during a critical failure.

The G3 supports up to 512 inputs/outputs with one communication node of up to 32 valve solenoids per manifold and up to 16 manifolds per communication node. One node supports 16 I/O modules-analogue I/O, digital I/O (NPN & PNP) and the unique distribution system allows system efficiency by allowing the same modules to be used in either centralised or distributed applications. The G3 interfaces to valves with flow from 275 up to 3820 l/min ANR.

Protocols supported include DeviceNet, DeviceNet w/Quick Connect, EtherNet/IP, PROFIBUS-DP, CANopen, PROFINET and MODBUS TCP. The G3 electronics interface with the highly modular Numatics generation 2000 Series, ISO 5599/2 and ISO15407-2 Series valve lines, to further enhance the modularity and flexibility of the entire system solution.

The G3 range of valve islands has many applications in packaging machinery, conveyors, robotics and valve piloting used in industries that include food processing and machine automation.

Self-organising wireless network minimises set up and commissioning time and enables greater flexibility and reliability

Emerson Process Management announces that Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V. (NAM) has successfully applied Emerson’s Smart Wireless technology to mobile wellhead test equipment. NAM’s Well Test Department monitors wellhead performance to ensure that output is maintained at the highest possible level. They have recently started using the wireless sensors on their test systems because they are universally deployable, easy to set up, and have greater flexibility, higher reliability, and reduced commissioning and dismantling times.

NAM is the largest gas producer in the Netherlands, with annual production of around 50 billion m³. Gas produced by NAM covers around 75% of Dutch demand. NAM also produces around 0.4 million m³ of oil a year, which accounts for a quarter of all the oil produced in the Netherlands.

For a safe and profitable exploitation of gas and oil fields, it is crucial that all the production sites function at maximum efficiency. If a well’s capacity drops, or if the well is regularly closed for maintenance or servicing, it is the job of NAM’s Well Test Department to investigate. Containers housing mobile test equipment are taken to the site and connected to the wellhead in order to identify the root cause of the problem, and bring the well’s production capacity back up to the highest attainable level as quickly as possible.

“Before we made the decision to move to Emerson’s Smart Wireless technology for our mobile test rigs we carried out extensive testing,” said André Lahuis, NAM Assistant Operation Supervisor. “We really tried everything to affect the signal between the sensor in the field and the base station. Using special equipment, we generated every possible type of signal (radiation, EMC, radio signals, magnetism, etc.) but the wireless signal was not affected. In addition, Emerson’s heavy encryption and other security features mean that the wireless system is completely secure from outside interference.”

NAM’s traditional test equipment used wired instruments to measure pressure and temperature. This meant there were many cables running over the ground and, although these were secured wherever possible, they represented a safety hazard. Set up and commissioning were time consuming and, because each location required a different sensor configuration, there were often problems with the instrument connections caused by corrosion in the connectors, or a break in the cable resulting in erroneous readings.

Following the successful trials, NAM now has three mobile test units which are equipped with Emerson’s wireless sensors for differential pressure and temperature. “The use of Emerson’s wireless technology on three of the test rigs has simplified set up and installation and reduced the time spent at each wellhead,” continued Lahuis. “When we get to a site we put the sensors on the apparatus, install the gateway receiver, switch the system on and get on with other tasks. Within a few minutes, all the sensors have automatically registered with the receiver and we only need to enter on the screen which sensor is in which position. We have to do very little to get these instruments working correctly.”

The test rigs are continually being moved between wellheads and the technology is proving ideal for the demands of this challenging application. The wireless devices are both reliable and secure and are interchangeable. This makes the system highly flexible and easily configured to suit the individual well head. As the test rigs are moved, the team of operators may change and the uniformity and ease of operation of the Emerson systems and devices has proven to be a significant benefit.

Following the successful introduction of wireless technology, NAM has identified a new opportunity to use Emerson’s recently introduced wireless pH transmitter to test the acidity of the oil being extracted. This is currently done using test strips but the wireless sensors will enable measurements to be continually made online. Klaas van Bruggen, NAM Operation Supervisor, said, “Measuring pH values online is something that we will be doing wirelessly just as soon as we can. Emerson’s Smart Wireless technology is enabling us to automate measurements that we could not previously, because it was either impossible or uneconomic to do so. If only this system was available years ago!”

For more information about Smart Wireless, visit www.EmersonProcess.eu/SmartWireless and for videos go to www.EmersonSmartWireless.com/Videos