Wireless: Small Investments Quick Returns
Wednesday, February 25th Hilton Americas – Houston, TX
1:15 PM – 4:30 PM Room: Lanier Ballroom C
In response to the current economic climate, in which operating companies are trying to cut costs and improve revenues in order to cope with over capacity and a slow down in demand, daratechPLANT 2009 has teamed up with Chemical Engineering to provide an afternoon short course entitled Wireless: Small Investments Quick Returns. This session will help attendees identify the low-hanging fruit in their plants that are ripe for improvement. The focus will be on integrated solutions, such as wireless and asset management, that quickly lower total operational and lifecycle costs without the requirement for huge, upfront investments.
Up to now, there has been some hesitation to fully embrace wireless technologies due to the absence of standardization and the potential long-term complications that might ensue. But with the recently passed WirelessHART and impending ISA 100 standards, end users will be able to select products from multiple vendors that support the network they’ve chosen and know that the instruments will work together.
This course is for end users who are completely new to industrial wireless and those who have already gotten their feet wet and are ready to take the next step. Learn how mobile operator tools can reduce manpower demands, video can serve as a new process sensor, vibration sensors can improve rotating equipment health and discover many other applications that can improve plant efficiency, reliability and safety.
Moderator: Rebekkah Marshall, Editor-in-Chief, Chemical Engineering
What Has Changed and Where is the Low Hanging Fruit
• Hesh Kagan, Managing Consultant, Network Architecture Applications and Solutions, Invensys Process Systems
Bringing Asset Management Within Reach
• Al Lee, Sr. Technology Consultant, Emerson Process Management
Practical Improvements for Efficiency, Reliability and Safety
• Craig McClure, Director of Sales for Wireless, Networks and Industrial Security, Honeywell Process Solutions
Key Challenges for Applying Wireless in Industry Automation
• Penny Chen, Principal Systems Architect, Yokogawa
For more details or to register, click here
Abstracts
What Has Changed and Where is the Low Hanging Fruit
• Hesh Kagan, Managing Consultant, Network Architecture Applications and Solutions, Invensys Process Systems
Things are moving very quickly in the industrial wireless world today. Where only two years ago industrial process enterprises were strictly forbidding any wireless technologies, today most enterprises are either experimenting with or implementing wireless solutions. Small-scale implementations offer easy entrance into these new technologies and still have a compelling ROI.
This presentation will describe what is driving the market, helping to understand the technology and exploring the constraints and enablers of industrial wireless solutions. We will then discuss utilizing wireless technology at all levels of the enterprise via a range of highly valuable solutions. After that, we will discuss why operator mobility solutions are today’s most sought-after applications. We will conclude by providing a brief update on the developing standards in wireless sensors and reviewing a number of real-world implementations, taking a look at their success as well as some common bumps in the road.
Bringing Asset Management Within Reach
• Al Lee, Sr. Technology Consultant, Emerson Process Management
Today new technology is available for manufacturers to get more out of their capital investments. These technologies can be installed with low initial costs to get positive results fast. A key need of manufacturers is to get the most out of their capital assets and minimize unscheduled outages. Intelligent field devices now have the ability to diagnose potential problems and provide manufacturers with advanced warning of pending issues that could cause outages. Key to implementing these devices is the installed cost of installation. Wireless plant networks for both field devices and plant networks is a technology that can dramatically reduce the cost of data collection and considerably reduce both engineering costs and construction time.
The decision to adopt a new technology brings with it inherent risks. Key amongst these are the risk of technological dead-ends, lack of a critical mass of products, and lack of available expertise to insure the technology’s integration into other plant systems. This presentation will discuss a standards-based approach to mitigate possible start-up and obsolescence risks.
The ideal solution will be presented based on what standards, devices, and practices are available in the market today. These solutions will be shown to be amply field tested and adopted by a significant group of vendors to provide a critical mass of devices and options for the end user to choose amongst suppliers for the best in class solutions. The presentation will show how this technology can be tried with small initial cost. Finally examples will be given of how current end users have adopted this technology and have seen definite benefits to their bottom lines.
Practical Improvements for Efficiency, Reliability and Safety
• Craig McClure, Director of Sales for Wireless, Networks and Industrial Security, Honeywell Process Solutions
Wireless technology not only offers opportunities to reduce capital and operational costs, but opens the doors to high ROI solutions by extending the process control network into the field. Plants are using industrial wireless devices such as transmitters, handhelds, Tablet PCs and cameras to extend the role and enhance the value of their process automation systems. Plant-wide wireless coverage enhances applications currently in use while enabling new applications designed to meet demands of tomorrow’s plants. For example, many are using this emerging technology to address work processes and enable a mobile and more efficient workforce. With Wi-Fi enabled process units, a field operator or maintenance technician can have real-time information, from the automation or maintenance system, enabling him/her to make better decisions. As a decision support tool, technology such as mobile operator stations or handheld maintenance devices streamline field work processes and field data collection. In addition, a multi-functional wireless network can support remote video as a new process sensor. This real-time video can support proactive decision making and provides a historical record that is automatically activated by alarms, events or video motion detection. Finally low cost, battery powered wireless vibration transmitters are helping sites to monitor previously non-instrumented rotary equipments.
These applications all extend valuable information to key decision makers in the plant allow for quicker and more informed decisions. This presentation will examine applications, such as mobile solutions and equipment health monitoring, that can be quickly implemented to begin improving plant efficiency, reliability and safety.
Key Challenges for Applying Wireless in Industry Automation
• Penny Chen, Principal Systems Architect, Yokogawa
Wireless technology has changed our life style and is changing the way we do business. In recent years, wireless technology has been applied to Industry Automation in many ways. As performance and usability improved, a variety of wireless technologies has been or will be deployed in different types of applications in mixed environments. For example, RFID, UWB – Asset tracking and location awareness; ISA100.11a, Wireless HART — Field sensor wireless for data acquisition, monitoring, and even simple controls; 802.11a/b/g/n – Multimedia applications for data, video stream, VoIP applications; WiMAX, Cellular, Satellite – Middle and long distance data carrier; etc.
What are the key challenges for applying wireless in Industry Automation? Can small investments bring a quick return? What are the key elements that must consider before wireless deployment? This presentation will summarized the wireless applications in Industry Automation today; recent direction of wireless standard which includes field sensor network, backhaul network and related security standard; the challenges of applying wireless for Industry Automation; the learning experience from other industries; the key elements that must consider for wireless deployment.