PACE - Process & Control Engineering - September 2015

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SEPTEMBER 2015 | VOL.68 NO.8 | Est. 1953

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SEPTEMBER 2015 | VOL.68 NO.8 |

INSIDE PACE

Est. 1953

Mining Automation

Water & Wastewater

Tablet Review

New trends in automating the mining industry.

Getting the water flowing right in New Zealand.

Panasonic gets even tougher with its rugged Toughpad.

Post Print Approved PP100008186

Power Generation: ABB puts wind back into the grid

EXCLUSIVE: The emerging online threats to process control

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CONTENTS

Publisher: Martin Sinclair Email: martin.sinclair@cirrusmedia.com.au Editor: Branko Miletic Tel: (02) 8484 0976 Fax: (02) 8484 0722 Email: branko.miletic@cirrusmedia.com.au

IN THIS ISSUE 20

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News 6

Water & Wastewater 18

Security for Process Control 8

Component Manufacturing Challenges 20

Mining Automation 10

Tech Review 22

Process Control in Power Generation 12

HMIs & Rugged Sensors 23

Industry Analysis 16

New Products 24

ON THE COVER SEPTEMBER 2015 | VOL.68 NO.8 |

INSIDE PACE

Est. 1953

Mining Automation

Water & Wastewater

Tablet Review

New trends in automating the mining industry.

Getting the water flowing right in New Zealand.

Panasonic gets even tougher with its rugged toughpad.

Power Generation: ABB puts wind back into the grid

Post Print Approved PP100008186

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF:

EXCLUSIVE: The emerging online threats to process control

Average Net Distribution Period ending Sept ’14 5,725

Wind power to the people MORE than ten years ago the new renewable sources of electric energy – sun and wind – began to make their way into the electric power supply system. At that time, they were seen as two additional primary energy sources that could be connected to the existing systems without making any fundamental changes. Today, these new renewable energies have, in some countries, become the largest generation subsector writes, Jochen Kreusel from ABB Smart Grids.

In light of the significant cost reductions of the past years further acceleration of this growth is expected. But the approach of connecting renewable energies to the existing systems is too shortsighted. Instead, electric power supply systems must be further developed to integrate new sources on a larger scale.

SEPTEMBER 2015 www.pacetoday.com.au 5

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COMMENT

WHAT’S ON

EDITOR’S MESSAGE

The rise and rise of Profinet

Webinar Solid Edge ST8 16 September 10.30am www.pacetoday.com.au/landingpages/solid-edge-st8 APCChE 2015 Congress Incorporating Chemeca 2015 27 September – 1 October 2015, Melbourne www.apcche2015.org

Branko Miletic Editor

Next Issue

For daily updates visit www.pacetoday.com.au

• Instrumentation • Energy Management • Minerals Processing • Process Control in Building Automation • Focus on Fieldbus

AS many PACE readers are aware, Profinet is a communications standard for industrial Ethernet based on IEEE 802x.

Where once the preferred choice for field network control was Profibus, which is used to control and monitor systems, machines and production processes while simultaneously linking to logistics, quality assurance, and other functions, this is now being replaced

by Profinet – especially for manufacturing automation.

There are a number of reasons behind this move like the need for more data, more network bandwidth and certainly more flexibility that is nowadays required of all systems and field devices.

However that is not the only reason. While industry was happy for many years to use a

proprietary field bus system in industrial automation, today it’s all about standardisation and commonality.

Unlike a proprietary field bus system like Profibus, the standardised industrial Ethernet aka Profinet seamlessly manages the flow of data from the office to the machine via a range of sensors, actuators and control units.

We have seen these kinds of communication platform standardisations in the world of IT previously. Where once there was a range of platforms available, today there is mainly one in the form of Windows.

And so it goes with industrial control systems - IP-connected Ethernet was always going to be the choice of a new engineering generation.

However, the complexity in current legacy Profibus

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systems means that the switch to Profinet will not be an overnight swap. In order to fully integrate data and information systems, and to make these reliable means that the introduction of Profinet in the process industry will be slow, methodical and above all, incremental.

Process engineering systems are highly complex and costly, and one does not just simply switch for the sake of it. The upgrade costs even for a small installation are eye watering.

But a bit like the proverbial night following the day, it can be assured that it will be Profinet that in the end, will rule over the industrial control landscape. branko.miletic@ cirrusmedia.com.au Like us on Facebook and join the conversation facebook.com/PACEtoday

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NEWS ANALYSIS

NEW TECHNOLOGY

New fibre optics tech lab

THE University of Queensland, in partnership with CRCMining, has opened a new Fibre Optic Sensing Applications Laboratory (FOSAL).

The lab, located in Brisbane, will utilise “emerging and cutting edge fibre optic sensing technology to develop new applications for the mining industry,” CRCMining stated.

“The researchers [will be] dedicated to transforming the mining industry through development of applications able to analyse data gathered from fibre optic sensing technology. In partnership with CRCMining, the collaboration provides a fundamental research capability driven by industry-relevant applications,” it said.

“As the mining industry adopts step changes in automation and process control the need for reliable, distributed and accurate sensing technology is growing,” the laboratory’s director Dr. Saiied Aminossadati explained.

“The collaboration with CRCMining and its member companies is extremely valuable, as it allows us to work directly with industry to identify and test applications with the capability to impact productivity, cost, and deliver outcomes through targeted research,” he said.

CRCMining program leader Scott Adam explained that as automation becomes more common throughout the resources industry and technology continues to evolve, then fibre optic technology will become more prevalent and crucial in mining operations.

“Through the laboratory we are able to build industrial applications able to read fibre optic sensing data and send reliable information back to operators.

FOSAL focusses on delivering outcomes that our members are truly excited to see implemented in

their mining operations,” Adam said.

“With our links to mining companies we are able to find solutions for mining operations by using the amazing capabilities of fibre optics. We value the world leading capability of the laboratory to build new industrial applications and capability around fibre technology.”

CRCMining project leader Mohammad Amanzadeh added that by combining CRCMining’s knowledge of fibre optics and understanding of mining operations the group is already leading the introduction of photonics and fibre optic sensing technology applications for the mining industry.

UQ head of School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, Professor David Mee said the FOSAL is an important testing facility used to develop new products for the mining industry and functions as an important educational platform for future fibre optics specialists.

The Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) is also backing the new laboratory, having previously collaborated on a number of projects with both UQ and CRCMining A number of research projects are already underway at the laboratory, including the development an underground mine environmental monitoring system; an underground coal mine gas pre-drainage borehole monitoring system; a multipoint fibre-optic based methane gas sensing algorithm; an all-fibre methane gas sensor; a conveyor thermal monitoring system; an underground mine roof deformation monitoring system; a fibre-optic based microseismic monitoring system, and intelligent algorithms to detect and predict conveyor system failures using fibre optic vibration and acoustic sensing technology.

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SEPTEMBER 2015 www.pacetoday.com.au 7

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SECURITY FOR PROCESS CONTROL

Process control systems face emerging online threats Dr Rajiv Shah, General Manager Australia, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence

A new threat

Process control systems and operational technology (OT) are central to keeping industries like manufacturing, oil and gas, and mining moving. In the search for ever-greater efficiency and competitiveness, OT has become increasingly converged with information technology (IT). This convergence means OT systems become more efficient, enabling activities like remote systems monitoring. However, because the OT systems were not originally designed to be fully IP-connected, this convergence can create new risks that require new solutions.

With an increase in both the prevalence and the possible severity of physical and digital security threats, it is essential to ensure operations are resilient to cyber threats. Organisations that fail to do so can open themselves up to significant risks. However, it is not as simple as replicating the usual approach 8 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

to IT security in an OT environment: the approach to effective security in a converged IT/OT environment needs to take into account the different threat environment and the potential impacts.

Even a short-term loss of network availability may equate to a safety-critical loss of control of a system, which may justify stronger controls than would be used in the normal enterprise IT context.

Three ways to protect converged systems 1. Make using the Internet less risky Users need to access the internet openly and flexibly, which presents two significant enterprise security issues: internet access gives opportunities to introduce viruses and other malware; and web connectivity gives attackers a ready path to command and control implanted malware.

The most secure way to provide true ‘internet separation’ is to provide internal access via a completely separate, physically detached infrastructure. However this is high-cost and can remove many of the productivity benefits of the interconnected world. A better option is to execute applications for browsing in a separate virtualised environment located within, or outside of, the enterprise Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).

Users can view documents securely in the virtual workplace and any malware is restricted to the sandbox, with a secure content gateway used to examine any content before allowing transfer into or out of the enterprise network.

2. Secure network segments Breaking down existing architectures into logical groups for access control means each process and its physical

assets or components are ringfenced and segregated. Doing this minimises the visible attack surface available to a hacker, and ensures that communications and processes that take place within a functional zone are both relevant and authorised for that zone.

Effectively segregating these zones requires a solution that enables assured information exchange between segmented networks so that business processes can operate securely. In such a critical environment there is a need to go beyond the usual IT firewall devices, deploying a solution that not only implements network segmentation while allowing allow bi-directional information exchange, but also prevents unauthorised systems from exchanging information by positive filtering, allowing only information verified as “good” to pass into sensitive network

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SECURITY FOR PROCESS CONTROL

segments. The solution also needs to assure end-to-end integrity of communication, maintaining reliability whilst being as transparent as possible to existing systems.

3. Monitoring LANs, ICS and OT Proactive and pragmatic monitoring of networks and network activity has always been an important factor in managing the health of any network.

In the converged IT/OT environment, effective security monitoring needs to address two domains. First, there is the usual requirement to monitor the Enterprise LAN, in this case to preventing cyber attacks/malware from using this as an attack vector into the process control networks. Secondly, we have to monitor the control networks to detect and deter any attacks that do reach these networks as early as possible.

In recent years, there has been a surge in the use of SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solutions to analyse pools of log data

collected from across an organisation, in the hope of being able to delve more deeply into network activity to see what is actually happening. However, the sophisticated cyber attacker will use a series of seemingly unrelated events, each of which does not raise suspicion.

Cyber analysts need to therefore use behavioural analytics to look for anomalous behaviour that could herald future attacker intentions, finding patterns hidden with the data, by correlating data from multiple sources, not just from log data. Furthermore, security analysts also need to source and process threat intelligence information from outside of the organisation, in order to effectively collaborate with other analysts in industry and from the intelligence organisations. To be truly effective, new ways have to be found to help security analysts analyse the data, faster, simpler, more effectively: not only through better analysis and visualisation, but by providing tools that think like analysts think.

Conclusion

The convergence of IT and OT offers companies tremendous opportunity to enhance productivity, and increase efficiency and competitiveness.

However, enterprises need to recognise that the benefit comes with increased risk of cyber attack and other security violations has increased. This requires new approaches to minimise the threat

from external access and use of the Internet, a new generation of secure network gateways that go beyond the traditional IT firewalls, and effective monitoring that goes beyond SIEM solutions to help analysts identify anomalous behaviour and detect the sophisticated attacker.

For more information, go to www. baesystems.com

SEPTEMBER 2015 www.pacetoday.com.au 9

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MINING AUTOMATION

The be all and end all?

Fully automated mines will be the norm for the mining industry says Cole Latimer.

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f the industry is to survive and grow, on this planet and off it, total automation of many of the processes is the way forward.

According to professor of mining engineering at the University of British Columbia, John Meech, autonomous vehicle operations can help increase productivity by between 15 to 20 per cent, and truck uptimes by up to a fifth.

Rio Tinto, BHP, Roy Hill, and Fortescue are making massive strides forward in implementing autonomous haulage systems in the Pilbara, forging a new place for the technology, combining them with manned operations.

This is particularly so for Rio’s Mine of the Future program, and BHP’s automated operations centre, both located in Perth.

Hitachi is also trialling its autonomous vehicle systems at the Meandu coal mine in Queensland, Total automation can also take another angle with Vale, in Brazil, looking to go completely truckless by using mobile shiftable conveyor belts.

In economic and safety terms automation is the way forward, as it allows for predictable and repeatable operations, which in turn allow for greater confidence in analysis and throughput.

10 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

Currently the industry is in the early days of this evolution, and working through the teething problems typically associated with any new technology.

One stand out factor for automation is that it was pegged as being safer than many current techniques, as by removing the man from the operation you removed them from the risk.

But what happens if the risk comes to them?

Automation, like any system on the mine, is not infallible.

An industry first?

A recent incident in Western Australia, at BHP’s Jimblebar iron ore mine saw what may be the first serious collision incident involving an autonomous vehicle.

The autonomous haul truck and a manned water cart collided on the West Australian mine site.

According to the WA Department of Mines and Petroleum, the control room operator had programmed the autonomous haul truck to turn right at a pre-defined intersection and carry out a loop so it could be repositioned underneath an excavator on the pit floor.

While the intersection and loop existed in the control system, it was not physically signposted or marked on

the ground to notify worker operated vehicles.

“A manned water cart was travelling in the opposite direction when the autonomous truck was about to turn right, the water cart driver was not aware of the autonomous truck’s pre-assigned path and – on recognising it – tried to take evasive action,” the DMP report states.

“On detecting the water cart in its assigned path of travel, the autonomous truck’s speed (about 40 kilometres per hour) and response time meant it could not prevent the collision.

“The two vehicles collided, resulting in significant damage to the autonomous truck; the water cart driver received minor injuries.”

It went on to state that change management processes for planning and assigning roads in the control system were inadequate, and that while an awareness system had been installed in the water cart to allow drivers to monitor autonomous trucks’ paths at the time of the collision the water cart driver was not aware of the intended actions of the autonomous truck.

BHP confirmed the incident, telling Australian Mining that “in August 2014, a manned water cart and an autonomous truck collided at BHP Billiton Iron

Ore’s Autonomous Haulage Production Trial at Jimblebar.

“No one was injured as a result of the incident.

“A thorough investigation into the incident has been conducted and measures have been implemented to prevent the incident from occurring again.”

The spokesperson added that this one-off incident has not dampened the miner’s push into automation, stating that “autonomous operations at Jimblebar are ongoing”.

The DMP went on to call for the elimination, or at the very least mitigation, of manned activities within autonomous mining areas.

It called for greater training of workers in their interactions with autonomous vehicles, an aspect of future mining that is likely to become more prevalent in day to day operations as automated vehicles become a common feature on site.

According to a number of experts, while this appears to be the first major incident, it is unlikely to be the last.

The first of many?

“No technology is 100 per cent, and it’s unrealistic to expect it to be,” said Toby Walsh, a professor in artificial

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MINING AUTOMATION

intelligence at the University of New South Wales, and NICTA. “However it is worth pointing out that when it comes to incidents between fully autonomous and manned vehicles – such as those seen in the trials carried out by Google – most accidents are associated with human error.”

Senior visiting researcher in artificial intelligence regulation at Australian National University, Gary Lea agreed.

“In terms of operations, if things do go wrong people instinctively blame machines, but statistically humans are the weak link in the chain,” Lea said.

When it comes to implementing the technology, Australia may have an edge compared to other nations due to the large open areas away from communities, which allow for a more controlled environment, at least in the Pilbara.

Automation is here to stay, and the industry must prepare for the mix of autonomous and manned machinery on site.

“The real issue is how do we educate people for what is going to be a situation across the board,” Lea said.

“Australia and the world are on the cusp of a new but very different industrial revolution and it is important that we are planning now to ensure our economy does not get left behind,” David Tuffley, a lecturer in applied ethics and sociotechnical studies at the School of ICT at Griffith University stated.

“When it comes to this specific incident it is a question of signage, and looking at the human factors which need more warning than the automated systems, and ensuring changes – such as the one here – are verified on the ground in these mixed environments,” Lea explained, with Walsh adding that

the focus should be on addressing the fear that automation and robots will take peoples’ jobs.

“People need to focus on upskilling, and keeping on top of technological change and work with it rather than just being replaced,” Walsh said.

“Technological developments also create new jobs, and importantly for the industry, it can also make previously unviable mines viable.

“People need to ask: What are the jobs of the future?”

AI imminent?

As automation develops it will change the face of mining, its productivity, and future efficiency, as well as existing roles on site But what risks do fully ‘smart’ machines and artificial intelligence pose?

Many have focused on the potential existential risk and what it means to humanity in the future, with throwaway references to the film Terminator’s ‘Skynet’ as a future threat.

Lea explained that AI may pose a risk, if done poorly, but as we develop artificial intelligence it has to be done well, and that safety and ethical issues will be front and centre in design and research, so there will be the embedding of ethics in robotic system development.

Professor emeritus, and former professor of robotics at MIT, Rodney Brooks, also dismissed the likelihood of AI posing a threat to humanity. “[People have] made super-intelligent robots [to] be the equivalent to magic that suddenly appears, and once you have magic, you can make any argument you want. No technology is suddenly magic and suddenly overpowering,” Brooks said.

“You take it step by step and along the way, you make it so it can’t make stupid decisions. It’s asinine.

“It’s just like you could build superdangerous trains, but no, we don’t have them, because if we find something dangerous about the trains, we regulate.

We change what we do.”

Walsh added that “computers aren’t sentient”.

“Trucks aren’t going to wake up and suddenly be bored of driving dirt around the mine; there’s no desire to take over the world.”

The fact remains that as automation evolves on site, so too does the regulation which governs it.

“Automation needs to be more regulated,” Walsh stated,” Australia currently has very stringent OH&S laws but they can’t cover new technology like

this comprehensively yet.”

Lea added: “We are seeing AI get to an eventual situation where systems will be developed in a way that tasks can be done in a way you can’t predict all the states it will take in carrying out its role.”

“Due to this the law will have to evolve, most likely strict liability for workcover needs to be expanded, or potentially bring in a no fault liability in incidents related to autonomous vehicles.

“In the longer term – in the case of fatalities – criminal liability related to the programming.”

Mining is evolving, but the regulations pertaining to safety on site need to evolve in line with these technological developments to ensure workers are not exposed to risks, and operations can achieve that dream of a zero harm mine.

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PROCESS CONTROL IN POWER GENERATION

Integrating distributed renewable energies into the grid

More than ten years ago the new renewable sources of electric energy – sun and wind – began to make their way into the electric power supply system. At that time, they were seen as two additional primary energy sources that could be connected to the existing systems without making any fundamental changes. Today, these new renewable energies have, in some countries, become the largest generation subsector writes, Jochen Kreusel, ABB Smart Grids.

I

n light of the significant cost reductions of the past years further acceleration of this growth is expected. But the approach of connecting renewable energies to the existing systems is too shortsighted. Instead, electric power supply systems must be further developed to integrate new sources on a larger scale.

With its high scalability, photovoltaics is the strongest driver of this change, affecting all areas of supply and utilisation along the electric energy value chain. ABB’s in-depth knowledge of renewable power generation technologies and comprehensive experience with grid codes and utility practices in use around the world enables it to provide the full range of products, systems, solutions, services and consultant capabilities to serve the renewable energy industry.

Since the end of the 20th century, an increasing number of countries have been promoting the use of wind and solar energy. Denmark has been a pioneer in this field, and by 2011, was supplying more than 40 percent of its electric energy demand with renewable sources – three-quarters of which was wind energy.

Germany is also being watched closely as the first large industrial country attempting to transform its electricity supply with a strict focus on new renewable sources.

Graph 1 shows the five leading countries in the world in terms of installed capacity and new wind and solar capacity in 2013. Countries from all regions are active, and some of the early pioneers – recognisable by

12 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

their high installed capacities – have been overtaken by other countries. Today, the new renewable energies are a global reality, no longer dependent on the support from individual countries.

The strongest driver of this change is photovoltaics, which – after the significant cost reductions at the end of the last decade – has reached or fallen below grid parity in a number of countries. That is, photovoltaics has achieved competitive end-consumer prices in low-voltage grids.

Graph 2 shows the development of the generation costs of photovoltaic (PV) power compared with

household electricity prices in Germany. Photovoltaics are an economical option for meeting the demand of individual households, provided that the grid usage fee is largely energy-based. This makes it independent from direct subsidiaries for a large scope of applications as long as it reduces the owner’s own demand.

New renewable energy sources and system integration

New renewable energies have three main features that fundamentally change the electric power supply system: remote generation, distributed generation and volatility.

Remote generation

The share of remote generation of renewable energy is much higher than with power plant systems in

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PROCESS CONTROL IN POWER GENERATION

superimposed transmission level (overlay grid) based on high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technology appears sensible.

Distribution level

which a regional balance of generation and demand is preferred for both economic and technical reasons. This development is mainly driven by the heavily locationdependent sources of wind and water and can lead to very large generation units or clusters.

Distributed generation

The growth of distributed generation is primarily driven by photovoltaics and combined heat and power generation (CHP). For photovoltaics, this is mainly due to the relatively low economies of scale in terms of costs combined with economic performance, relative to the end-consumer prices in a low-voltage grid. CHP must be distributed in order to provide the heat close to the consumer. Very small PV systems in particular can lead to a considerable share of the generation being covered by a very large number of smaller units feeding energy into the distribution networks.

Volatility

Volatility is mainly introduced to the electric power supply system by wind and solar energy, both of which lead to faster, larger and, especially in the case of wind energy, less predictable fluctuations than before.

Remote generation, distributed generation and volatility affect all areas of electric power supply and utilisation.

Conventional provision of electric power

The rising share of renewable energies is influencing the operation of conventional power plants. The increased frequent use of power plants originally intended as base-load plants for loads following operation with steep power output gradients poses a great technical challenge.

Using Germany as an example, the effects of this change were investigated in detail. The study concluded that already in 2015 power gradients of up to 15 GW/h are expected for the conventional power generation park.

Another factor influencing the operation of conventional power plants is that, as wind and solar energy have no variable costs, they will always be placed at the lower end of the merit order in an energyonly market. This means they displace conventional generation, reducing the utilisation of conventional power plants and making fixed-cost coverage more difficult.

These economic effects mean that building and 14 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

operating conventional power plants is no longer attractive. But as conventional generating capacity is indispensable both as backup for periods of low renewable power output and for power system control, suitable adaptations of the market design are now being discussed. ABB is deeply involved in the discussions and is helping to shape the modern electric power supply system.

Transmission level

In transmission networks, remote generation leads to increased capacity requirements. Additionally, the volatility of the generation – particularly in combination with the low number of full-load hours of the renewable energies – increases transmission requirements.

Expanding the interconnected power system represents the most cost-efficient option to match volatile generation and consumption.

The benefit of regional expansion for the integration of a very high share of renewable energies into the electric power supply is illustrated in Graph 4, using the expansion of the European interconnected power system to North Africa and the Middle East as an example.

Graph 4 shows the costs for an additional MWh generated from renewable sources in Europe, provided that the European energy-political goals are met and that further cost reductions for the plants are used.

The cost advantage is a result of significantly more ideal locations in North Africa and the Middle East compared with Europe. The costs for the additional required transmission capacity are taken into account.

This cost advantage directly benefits the plant operators, and requires no special support apart from reliable framework conditions. The other cost advantage shown in Graph 4 is based on a better balance of renewable energy supply and demand resulting from the complementary seasonal variations of wind and consumption in Europe and the regions south of the Mediterranean Sea. This cost reduction requires suitable consideration in the market design.

The transmission systems required under the circumstances described in Graph 4 will presumably be different from those of the past. Considering the large transmission distances combined with the often fundamentally changing load flow situations due to the high in-feed peaks from the renewable sources, a

The changes occurring in the distribution networks are manifold. In many cases, an increase in distributed generation requires a reinforcement of the grids.

However, especially in rural grids with relatively long transmission lines, voltage support problems occur first. As this is not caused by the one load situation the network has been designed for, but by the multitude of operating conditions between feeding and extracting power, the traditional solution of manually adapting the transformation ratio of the local distribution transformer is no longer sufficient. In such cases, the often significantly more expensive grid reinforcement can be postponed or even entirely avoided by installing a voltage regulator such as a voltage-controlled distribution transformer.

The increasing variety of operating conditions in the distribution networks increases the information requirements. This leads to an at least partial automation of the distribution substations, which thus far have been minimally monitored or remotely controlled. Distributed generation as well as e-mobility (due to the mobile nature of the consumers) will lead to an insufficient capacity of distribution networks in some situations.

This means that measurement and control will be required – and as every technical system, including measurements, can be faulty, the solution will be to transfer well-known approaches from the transmission networks, such as state estimation, to the distribution level and into the secondary distribution systems.

If the grid is unable to offer sufficient capacity for all situations, possible congestion must be proactively detected and resolved – a task that is not new in the electric power supply domain. In fact, it is common practice in the coordination between (large-scale) power plants and system operators. Hence, the solutions for this electric power supply area must be largely standardised and automated. An example of predictive distribution network operation, which also takes the requirements of the deregulated market into account, has been developed and successfully taken into operation within the scope of the MeRegio E-energy project in Germany.

Consumption

Due to the volatile power output associated with renewable energies, the short-term demand response is gaining in importance. Demand-response measures, particularly those involving loads with inherent storage, may contribute to this. The requirements associated with the balancing of loads and generation for different time domains, the solutions commonly used today and the solutions expected in the future are shown in Table 6. This clearly shows that demand response can make an important contribution especially in the first 15 minutes. This is an important period because it is sufficiently long enough to ramp up power plants with fast startup capability when generation capacity

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is suddenly lacking. Whether demand response can help in the very short time frame in which the rotating mass of power plants has a stabilising effect today depends on whether an autonomous reaction of the load to imbalances between generation and consumption can be achieved. After 15 minutes the use of demand response is only realistic for selected applications.

Demand response is particularly suitable for heating and cooling applications as thermal energy storage can in most cases be implemented at a relatively low cost. Hence, a holistic approach considering the supply of electric energy as well as of heating and cooling is essential for the utilisation of demand-side flexibility options.

Storage options

Storage is another important building block for the integration of renewable energies. But due to the variety of applications and available solutions it is a highly complex topic, which requires a separate discussion.

The road ahead

Balancing loads and generation will become more difficult in systems with a strongly varying primary energy supply that is not storable. Besides the proven, but landscape-profile-dependent pumped storage plants, battery storage facilities can contribute in the short term, eg, for frequency stabilisation and peak shaving. In the long term, ie, mainly for the compensation of seasonal variations, the system boundaries will likely be expanded by extending the interconnected systems or interconnecting other systems such as heat and gas supply.

The greatest challenges in the necessary further development of the systems are – from a more organisational perspective – the coordination of the required measures in all system areas and – from a technical perspective – the development of suitable storage, the operation of the system without rotating masses and the integration of large numbers of distributed units into the system management.

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SEPTEMBER 2015 www.pacetoday.com.au 15

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COMMENT

Cloud

computing pushing data centre revenue up says Frost & Sullivan

A

s a result of the increased adoption of cloud computing, driven by the consumption of videos, social networks, mobile data and gaming, and corporate data intensive applications, the Australian outsourced data centre market continues to grow strongly.

In 2014, data centre services revenue in Australia totalled $AUD826 million; a growth of 18.3 per cent over 2013, while co-location service accounted for approximately 69 per cent of the total data centre services market.

According to Frost & Sullivan’s new report, Australian Data Centre Services Market 2015, Australia’s high growth phase of outsourced data centre adoption will peak in 2015 and ease off in 2016 and 2017 as the rate of new data centre capacity entering the market slows down.

Data centre services revenue for 2015 is predicted to grow by 18.2 per cent, but whilst managed hosting continues to see strong revenue growth, co-location revenue growth is beginning to ease as an increasing proportion of data centre clients migrate their co-location and managed hosting services to cloud services, said the Frost & Sullivan report.

Phil Harpur, Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Manager, Australia & New Zealand ICT Practice, said wholesale data centre providers and those that focus on co-location services only, face significant pressure because of this trend.

However, the growth of cloud services has been a key factor in developing new business opportunities for data centre specialist providers.

Frost & Sullivan has predicted the Australian data centre services market to grow at a CAGR of 13.7 per cent 16 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

from 2015 to 2020. Managed hosting will experience stronger growth than co-location over this period, as demand decreases due to companies migrating from co-location to cloud services.

Cloud providers, especially larger global providers such as AWS, Microsoft and IBM SoftLayer are driving strong growth in the market and rapidly expanding their cloud capacity, whilst the government sector continues to increase its use of third-party hosted data centres.

Demand is also growing for disaster recovery and business continuity services.

Connected, multi-tenanted data centres are best placed to provide these services.

Most third-party data centre providers in Australia have multiple data centres in multiple locations noted Frost & Sullivan.

The average power density requirement of data centres is now up to 40KW to 50KW per rack and continues to increase in line with the increasing demand for high-performance computing applications.

As rack densities decrease, physical data centre space needs decline. This trend impacts data centre providers offering co-location services on both a retail and wholesale level.

Harpur said, “As the Australian data centre services market expands, diversifies and matures, there are growing

opportunities for niche providers specialising in specific verticals to enter the market. For example, Canberra Data Centres and Australian Data Centres focus on the government sector in Canberra. The Australian Liquidity Centre (ALC), which is owned by the Australian Stock Exchange, services organisations in the financial services segment.”

“To cater to the growing demand for data centre services, specialist providers, including local providers such as NEXTDC, Metronode and Canberra Data Centres, and global providers such as Equinix, Global Switch and Digital Realty, have added data centre capacity, either by expanding their existing data centre facilities or building new ones.”

“A growing trend for large IT service providers and telcos that own their own data centres to consolidate their data centre footprint by shutting down older, less efficient data centres and leasing data centre space within the larger and newer facilities of these data centre specialists, as it is more cost effective,” added Harpur.

Specialist data centre service providers are carrier neutral, which encourages the development of business ecosystems within their data centres. This is attracting both local and global cloud providers to their data centres. Cloud providers are driving greater diversity as they attract a range of other companies,

such as IT service providers. Thus a virtuous cycle has been created with these data centres.

The adoption of modular data centres is still in an early growth phase, however momentum is beginning to build in the market and stronger adoption will occur as prices fall further. Modular data centres cater to niche segments of the market where companies or government departments require their own built facilities. They have higher relative cost, and most are deployed in outdoor and often remote locations, in industries such as healthcare, education, construction, mining, defence, manufacturing, oil and gas and renewable energies.

“Another growing trend over the last two years is for commercial property owners to acquire existing data centres or build new data centres and then lease them to data centre specialist providers, IT service providers or individual companies. Examples include Asia Pacific Data Centres (APDC) and Keppel DC Real Estate Investment Trust, both of which have purchased facilities from major local data centre providers,” said Harpur.

Data centre providers have several challenges. Significant new data centre capacity has entered the market over the last few years causing lower than average occupancy rates, and placing downward pressure on data centre pricing.

However, noted the Frost & Sullivan report, additional capacity is generally being absorbed quickly and securing sites in CBD locations and gaining access to sufficient power is increasingly challenging and it is becoming increasingly difficult for data centre owners to plan for additional capacity.

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2015-08-27T10:10:44+10:00

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2015-09-04T10:27:09+10:00

WATER & WASTEWATER

Hamilton City Council Meets Compliance Demands with System Upgrade

T

he Waikato River—the longest river in New Zealand— supplies all of Hamilton city’s water supply.

Water is treated, distributed, and managed by the Hamilton City Council to ensure that when water reaches consumers, it is free from harmful organisms and meets water supply standards.

Hamilton’s reticulated water supply system consists of one water treatment plant that provides potable water to eight different reservoirs located around the city through over 1000km of piping. The reticulated (piped) network delivers the water straight to the taps of consumers. Every second of each day, Hamilton City Council produces an average of 2385 glasses of high quality drinking water to over 51,000 homes and industrial premises.

The council is also responsible for the operation of the Pukete Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) — Hamilton’s only wastewater treatment facility. This plant services a region that has grown rapidly in recent decades to have a population in excess of 150,000.

Like the city, the Pukete WWTP is continually developing, in its case to improve operational performance and maintain compliance with a changing government regulatory environment.

By using the FactoryTalk Integrated Production and Performance Suite from Rockwell Automation, Hamilton City Council implemented an upgrade to their supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system at the plant, enhancing the ability of key stakeholders to make informed decisions, improve performance efficiency and meet regulatory compliance.

Meeting compliance and productivity requirements

Safe drinking water, available to everyone, is a fundamental requirement for public health. In 2008, the New Zealand Ministry of Health issued revised drinking water standards. To comply with these regulations, it is the responsibility of water treatment facilities 18 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

Waste Water SCADA Screen

Waikato River flowing under Fairfield Bridge, Hamilton. to track, save and provide monthly reports on water production, intake and discharge levels. Crucially, the standards require that Water Treatment Plants retain operating data for 10 years.

More than a decade ago Rockwell Automation provided the council with the software suite for its previous SCADA system. However, the RSView 32 system had become outdated over time and inefficient for compliance with modern-day regulatory requirements set out by the New Zealand Government.

With its previous SCADA system the council had often recorded data manually before transferring this information into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for reporting. A faster, more accurate and automated reporting system was needed, and one that could rapidly generate pre-determined reports automatically for sharing with authorised groups.

“Our previous system was outdated and we required an upgrade to help simplify the process of complying with current water regulations in New Zealand. Not only that, but we identified the potential for improving operational efficiencies at the plant by implementing an integrated system that aims to increase productivity and reduce down-time,” said Gary Pitcaithly, automation and electrical manager at Hamilton City Council.

A key aim of the upgrade was to deliver a system with the ability to retain 10 years of data in a stable and reliable manner. At the same time, the system would need to provide operational efficiencies compared with the previous operating system, while also maintaining a secure environment only accessible by authorised stakeholders.

To improve on this process, Hamilton City Council engaged Rockwell Automation to provide the latest versions of the FactoryTalk software suite as the integral element of an upgrade to its system.

According to Prasad Nory, industry manager – South Pacific at Rockwell Automation, “FactoryTalk Historian and FactoryTalk VantagePoint are increasingly becoming standards in the water/wastewater industry – especially with the need for compliance to changing drinking water standards.

Also, FactoryTalk Historian ME has been used by some councils in their pump stations to store data locally to take care of communication failures and meet compliance.”

“By upgrading to the FactoryTalk suite the key benefits identified by council included: superior reporting for compliance to government regulations, improved system reliability and stability, and reduced risk when contractors are onsite to undertake modifications or further expansions.”

The FactoryTalk software suite delivers a real-time exchange of information throughout organisations, a critical element that allows for more informed business decisions, improved responsiveness, increased productivity, reduced costs and ease of compliance with regulations.

Implemented in-house by Pitcaithly, Hamilton City Council upgraded the WWTP’s system over six months to include the Factory View, FactoryTalk Historian, FactoryTalk VantagePoint, FactoryTalk AssetCentre and FactoryTalk ViewPoint applications. The Rockwell Automation Customer Support and Maintenance team provided support to the council during the upgrade, particularly for the migration from Historian Classic to FactoryTalk Historian.

The long-term storage and reporting capabilities required to comply with water standards are provided by FactoryTalk Historian and FactoryTalk VantagePoint. Data is stored in the Historian server for the required 10 year retention period and is easily accessed for analysis and reporting purposes.

FactoryTalk VantagePoint is used by the plant to schedule and produce automatically generated reports providing information on periodical water consumption, discharge, intake, water quality and storage levels.

FactoryTalk AssetCentre provides improved contractor control, change management and storage capabilities.

Most importantly, the plant is now

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WATER & WASTEWATER

positioned to efficiently comply with water regulations in New Zealand, including the storage of data and records for 10 years.

Delivering fresh water and a clean environment

The benefits of the new Integrated Architecture solution will help the plant supply fresh drinking water and a clean environment to residents of Hamilton for many years to come. According to Pitcaithly, historical and reporting data is now available more quickly and accurately following implementation of the FactoryTalk suite, as the council had envisioned prior to the upgrade.

“The upgrade has delivered greater ease of use of our system throughout the WWTP. The new Historian is superior in how it stores data and makes generating information for vital reports a much more efficient task to undertake,” explained Pitcaithly.

“The VantagePoint software allows us to develop reports at will, whether it is for compliance to water standards or for

other needs. These reports can then be published as web-based reports that are available for anyone authorised to view them.”

Another key result of the upgrade has been the flexibility it has added for personnel operating the system at the WWTP. “The FactoryTalk software suite has enabled our team to be more flexible with their time, as we are now able to

edit or update reports as we go. We now simply store our data directly into Historian and the data spreads directly from the PAC (Programmable Automation Controller) to a human interface. This data is incorporated into spreadsheets for us to interrogate, whether it is on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, to tell us if we’ve had a breach in turbidity or if chlorine levels aren’t what they should be,” said Pitcaithly.

The flexibility extends to the ability of system users to remotely access the software from tablet computers or smart phones. “The team has tablets and smart phones that can basically access

FactoryTalk Vantage Point Inlet screen flow comparison FactoryTalk View anywhere in the world–if they are out of the office or on-call the system can be easily accessed and key changes made,” concludes Pitcaithly.

With the FactoryTalk software suite delivering new found operational potential for the plant, the council is planning to continue to update and improve its system further in the coming years utilising these capabilities.

Rockwell Automation 03) 9757 1111 www.rockwellautomation.com

SEPTEMBER 2015 www.pacetoday.com.au 19

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2015-09-04T10:18:24+10:00

COMPONENT MANUFACTURING CHALLENGES

Stepping up to the challenge The writing is on the wall for Australian car component makers. But, while some will surely die in the next couple of years, others are redirecting their energies to new challenges.

A

lthough many component suppliers to the automotive industry are confronted with significant challenges, some are finding new opportunities as car manufacturing grinds to a halt.

Such a transition often needs an entirely new business strategy and mindset to be developed, including a preparedness to seek new niche opportunities, and to be flexible and adaptive to new production and marketing requirements.

Precision Components in the Adelaide suburb of Beverley is a tier one automotive manufacturer to Holden, Ford and Toyota including the supply of high strength light weight complex stampings and sub-assembly automotive components.

The company now also manufactures heliostats and renewable products for HeliostaSA which designs, installs and commissions major solar energy projects.

The unique heliostat technology utilised by HeliostatSA was developed by CSIRO and consists of clusters of mirrors linked to a computer controller to track, reflect and concentrate the sun’s heat onto a single receiver point to in turn create super-heated steam to drive a turbine and generate electricity.

According to the CSIRO’s Solar Research Leader, Wes Stein, CSIRO has been working on the development of advanced heliostat technology as a critical part of the next generation of solar for over 10 years.

“Our commercialisation strategy involves starting with the energy market, then working back to develop the individual components such as heliostats.

We have long held the view that this technology could not be successful without the expertise of the manufacturing industry,” he said.

“In 2009, a Newcastle manufacturing 20 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

company, Performance Engineering Group, built 450 heliostats to our design for one of our research fields. We also have a project, funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, partnering with another automotive parts company, Diver Consolidated Industries, to develop heliostats for remote areas.

“Low cost, high precision heliostats are essential for the development of competitive medium to large scale solar power projects, not only for solar electricity but also for making transport fuel. CSIRO’s heliostat design is unique in that it is smaller than conventional heliostats to benefit from mass production and uses an advanced control system to get high performance from inexpensive materials. Companies like HeliostatSA are crucial for the future of solar energy.”

HeliostatSA was formed early in 2014

by Precision Components Managing Director, Darrin Spinks, as an automotive diversification initiative into renewable energy products after the announcement to withdraw from Australia by Holden, Ford and Toyota.

Chief Executive Officer at HeliostatSA, Jason May, says renewable energy is one of the largest and fastest growing industry sectors in the world.

“We hold the licence in Australia for CSIRO’s heliostat technology and control system and have established a strategic long term relationship with the organisation as our technology partner.

As well as technical support for projects, and research and development of solar technologies, the relationship includes the development of IP retained in Australia,” he told PACE. “Precision Components owns a 50 per cent shareholding in HeliostaSA, May Brothers (an energy project development company) owns 20 per cent, UniSA as

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COMPONENT MANUFACTURING CHALLENGES

the R&D partner has 15 per cent, and Enersalt (a product developer) has 15 per cent,” he said.

“The federal government is supporting Precision Components with a $1M Automotive Diversification Programme grant for retooling to produce heliostats, whilst Precision Components has contributed $1.78M. “A major beneficial factor in our diversification and transition from the auto industry is that the press lines and robots needed for auto manufacture have similar applications in the renewable sector.”

HeliostatSA secured its first heliostat array export order with MHPS Japan in the first 6 months of its operation, but May says a key challenge is establishing an Australian company in the global renewable market, retooling, and retraining staff.

“Our technology is superior, our quality is second to none and we are competitive on price, but getting this message across takes time and money,” he said.

“Our people are highly trained in using the latest equipment to produce ultra high volume quality products.

Also, we have the perfect formula for success with government support for the next few years essential in securing a stake in the $5 trillion renewable market.

“HeliostatSA operates in the 1 Mega Watt (MW) to 10MW industrial scale sector, and in the 50MW plus utility scale sectors. Although HeliostatSA deploys photovoltaic technologies, the market is saturated, so our strategy is to adopt emerging technologies like CSP (concentrated solar power) and CSPV (the new super PV cells).

“We will continue to develop new technologies, as well as secure technologies through partnerships and acquisition.

“A global presence is progressively being developed with a prime focus on key markets in India, Africa and Australia. The aim is to grow HeliostatSA to a $1 billion company over the next five years.”

The many challenges

Multi Slide Industries is another Adelaide-based company making a transition from the automotive industry. The company currently makes the rear seat frames for all Australian built Holden vehicles as well as the

Programme for such a machine.

At present we are not receiving government assistance.”

Rebbeck says other businesses that previously provided Multi Slide with services have shut or moved. “For example, heat treatment and plating is becoming a problem in that we now often have to send product interstate for processing, which adds to costs,” he said.

“This business will survive because we are diversified and can continue to develop that strategy. We have a large customer base already, a range of equipment which can be readily adapted to new product, and we are financially sound.”

CSIRO’s Wes Stein in a heliostat field.

spring wire boot lid torsion bars and jack handles for Toyota.

Walker exhaust hanger brackets are also supplied for Holden, Toyota and Ford, and other components are provided to the auto industry for use in items such as rear view mirrors and air cleaners.

According to Multi Slide Managing Director, Rod Rebbeck, currently the sales value for all of the company’s auto products is 49 per cent of total sales, whereas a year ago it was 58 per cent.

At its height, the company ran two shifts with 158 employees, but now has 34 employees.

“It will be difficult to fully replace our automotive sales dollars, but we have recently engaged an external marketing consultant and employed a new sales engineer to search for new markets and to increase sales in existing areas,” he told PACE. “We already supply the agricultural and building industries with a range of products and want to expand that into aquaculture. Also, we are having to change our thinking from high volume, which has been the norm, to more low volume higher profit items, such as those used in niche furniture manufacture for example.

“In relation to manufacturing equipment, we need a new high tech CNC bending machine that is more easily programmable and capable of more intricate shapes in larger diameter material than we currently can handle.

This would help open up new markets in the lower volume areas we are concentrating on.

“To assist us in the way forward, we have submitted a one-for-one grant application to the federal government through the Automotive Diversification

[Hartley Henderson has been a regular contributing writer to PACE for the past eight years, covering industry developments in Victoria and South Australia. Prior to that, he held senior positions in government, semi-government and business enterprises and was National Program Director with the Productivity Promotion Council of Australia] CSIRO 02 4960 6094 www.csiro.au HeliostatSA 08 8409 1430 www.heliostat.com.au Multi Slide Industries 08 8374 1422 www.multislide.com.au

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2015-09-04T13:56:15+10:00

TECH REVIEW

Tough as nails tablet pushes the boundaries

Panasonic has a pedigree of making ruggedised electronics - their Toughbook laptops are the stuff of remote mining site legend. Now it has added to this range rough and tumble tablets that promise more of the same bulletproof capabilities. Branko Miletic reviews the Panasonic FZ-G1 Toughpad Tablet and finds that tough is as tough does, albeit with a few sensitivity issues.

The Overview

The Panasonic FZ-G1 Toughpad Tablet comes from the same stable as all of Panasonic’s toughened computing range. In fact, to prove (or disprove) this, I pulled out the heavy artillery: A 10-year old who thinks computers are to be trodden on, a small dog that like to chew on everything within snouts reach and a backyard filled with strategically-positioned really big rocks.

The first part of the test - and in fact the main part if you consider what the FZ-G1 Toughpad Tablet was designed for - was to see just how tough this piece of hardware actually was.

So after two weeks of abusing the tablet with everything that gravity could muster, I followed up this testing with some more ‘hard surface impact experiments’ as I called them. Even 22 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

exposure to water and mud does not seem to bother this tablet – which is more than can be said for some of its competitors.

In other words, the FZ-G1 Toughpad Tablet was thrown from a 1+metre height onto hard surfaces over and over again. Thanks to its magnesium alloy chassis encased with ABS and elastomer corner guards, raised bezel for LCD impact protection, MIL-STD-810G specs and all-weather IP65 dust and waterresistant design, the result was as expected and it passed with flying colours.

use, was quite useful for quick clicking from screen to screen.

All up, the tablet is as functional as any common tablet running Windows 8 with all the features of a Windows-flavoured machine.

The Specifications

The Results

The 10.1” Toughpad FZ-G1 Windows 8 Pro tablet runs Windows 8 Pro 64-bit.

Powered by a Gen 3 1.9 GHz Intel Core i5 v Pro Processor, the tablet also has an HD daylight-readable screen, 4 GB HD and boasts a USB 3.0, a USB 2.0 and10/100/1000 Ethernet ports.

From a user point of view, the near 8-hour battery life is ably complemented by the Panasonic Partition Recovery functionality on the HD which means it can be used for long periods of time and if a problem does a occur, it can be utlilised to reboot the entire system.

And it also has a stylus-type pen, which while I don’t particularly like to

The Rating • • • • •

For those that want to connect their Toughpad FZ-G1 to an AV device, [which was not tested] there is an HDMI port, integrated microphone and Realtek highdefinition audio combined with a vanilla-style speaker.

Overall, the Toughpad FZ-G1 was everything a mobile tablet should be but encased in a strong magnesium alloy cocoon.

The only downside was the sensitivity of the screen, which was less than that on an iPad however the caveat here is that this is the trade-off for all that extra toughness. While it was a bit ‘sticky’ when it came to swiping, the function of Panasonic’s Toughpad Tablet is not be sensitive to petite little fingers but rather to survive big physical shocks.

Ease of use: 4/5 Speed: 4/5 Battery Life: 3/5 Functionality: 4/5 Overall Rating: 15/20

Starting up was fast and easy.

Connection to my home Wi-Fi was as seamless as with any other device and navigating around the computer was as straightforward as any Windows device was meant to be.

Launching applications went smoothly and using the mobile device for both browsing and various other standard PC activities was almost instantaneous.

The ability to play music, videos and other multimedia comes standard with this tablet, while other options such as a GPS and microSD slot are available at extra cost.

For more information, go to www. panasonic.com/au/business.html

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2015-09-04T10:00:55+10:00

HMIs & RUGGED SENSORS

Versatile HMI for food manufacturers

V hi l mounted Vehicle t d computer Designed for use in the toughest distribution centre environments, manufacturing facilities and freight operations, the Honeywell Thor VM3 is the industry’s most capable full-size vehicle-mounted mobile computer.

Combining laptop-like simplicity with advanced application performance, the device gives operators the right tools to improve productivity and task accuracy.

The VM3 offers the best purpose-built device in its class due to its simple and easy system integration, and flexibility to support multiple operating systems.

It includes the largest display available in a Windows CE platform vehicle-mount computer, while equipping operators with the legacy Thor features, including a quick-mount Smart Dock and field-replaceable front panel, to allow greater worker productivity, minimise support costs, and maintain compliance with all IT policies.

The VM3 offers the latest security and productivityenhancing features and functionality to maximise efficiencies in activities such as case picking, truck loading, putaway and replenishment.

Honeywell Process Solutions 02-9353-7000 www.honeywellprocess.com

Rockwell Automation has released its new Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus 7 Performance graphic terminal to simplify and streamline visualisation in large, complex applications including food manufacturing.

The PanelView Plus 7 Performance terminal expands on the recently released PanelView Plus 7 Standard model with a larger screen option, more processing power, expanded connectivity and greater software support.

The Performance model has six screen-size options, including a new 19-inch option – the largest to date from Rockwell Automation. The 19-inch screen offers machine builders and end users more display area on which they can design, control and monitor large applications.

The Performance model also includes new keypad options to complement the terminal’s standard touch screen.

A more powerful CPU supports larger displays and larger applications. While the Standard model supports applications with up to 25 screens and 200 alarms, the Performance model supports applications much larger in size and complexity.

With the addition of an embedded Ethernet switch and two Ethernet ports, the PanelView Plus 7 Performance terminal can support a device level ring (DLR) topology for single-fault resiliency.

The terminal also has expanded mobile connectivity. Remote desktop services enable a plant manager, maintenance technician or support provider to securely access the HMI from a remote location to troubleshoot a problem, walk through setup procedures, review alarming and more. In addition, plant operators can monitor HMI data within the plant using a tablet, smartphone or other mobile device.

With video playback support, machine builders and end users can now incorporate helpful videos into the terminal to support operator training and troubleshooting. Microsoft Office viewers and Internet Explorer support give operators instantaneous access to

network-based Office files and HTML pages, such as standard operating procedures, directly from the terminal.

The PanelView Plus 7 Performance terminal also retains the benefits introduced with the PanelView Plus 7 Standard terminal. This includes the ability to save projects and critical machine information on an SD card. For example, machine builders can save a single machine’s configuration on an SD card and re-use it for multiple similar machines, while operators can archive machine data for faster terminal replacements and easier troubleshooting.

Rockwell Automation (03) 9757 1111 www.rockwellautomation.com

Rugged hygienic grade PC panel Adlink Technology has announced its new medical panel PC, the MLC 4-21, equipped with 4th generation Intel Core i7/i5 processor.

The MLC 4-21 is completely fanless and the fully sealed housing without grooves or joints has only flat surfaces to ensure fast, easy and effective cleaning. The MLC 4-21 is approved for IEC/EN60601-1 (4th Edition) and IEC/ EN60601-1-2 medical patient safety certifications.

The MLC 4-21 offers a 21.5” capacitive touchscreen with Full HD resolution

(1920x1080) with anti-glare coating for enhanced viewing capability.

Using multi touch gesture control is supported, even when wearing protective gloves. The fully-sealed aluminum housing protects against dust and liquid intrusion during the normal operation in the patient care or operating room, it also allows the use of all commonly used disinfectants and cleaning agents.

In contrast to standard PCs, the MLC 4-21’s sealed, gap-free flat surface housing and fanless design prevents

accumulation of microbes to maintain the hygienic conditions necessary in medical environments.

Designed to meet the demanding needs of healthcare facilities requiring accurate medical imaging and easy access to patient data, the MLC 4-21 provides two HDMI ports and one VGA output as standard equipment to support a flexible arrangement of external monitors as required by specific patient care applications. Standard interfaces include two USB 2.0, two USB 3.0, and audio ports.

Adlink Technology www.adlinktech.com SEPTEMBER 2015 www.pacetoday.com.au 23

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NEW PRODUCTS

Protective cable coatings for industrial control The igus e-skin and e-shell offer new options for affordable and flexible cable guiding, to make moving energy easier.

Corrugated hoses are lightweight, versatile and can guide energy, media and data at very low costs. They are used in a variety of applications, particularly where the demands on the energy supply system are not high. The e-skin is a compact, simple to open hose for unsupported lengths. Consisting of an upper and lower shell, the e-skin can simply be clipped together and opened for easy maintenance and inspection of the cables, with igus providing an additional

tool for ease. As it is abrasion resistant, dust proof and waterproof, it can also be used in clean room environments. Due to its oval design it allows more space, and the cables can be guided in carefully using interior separation modules.

The e-shell offers existing corrugated hose systems a clearer movement with the new snap on design. The clip is simply attached to the corrugated hose, so that it can be filled at the topside of the joints. It has self-supporting capabilities, and is stabilised so that it can only be moved in one direction. Due to the defined minimum bending radius, the e-shell reliably protects the cables.

Treotham Automation 02 9907 1788 www.treotham.com.au

Photoelective sensors for tight places Control Logic has released the new Panasonic EX-Z range of Thrubeam Ultra-miniature photoelectric sensors.

The new sensors are small enough to consider using in applications where previously, fibre optic sensors were the only option.

These units have the added

advantage that the sensor and amplifier are fully self-contained in one small package.

The EX-Z sensors are available in two body styles, front or side sensing and three different models with ranges of 50, 200 and 500mm.

Due to the built in slit mask, the longest range model has the ability

to detect an object as small as 1mm, whilst the shortest range unit can detect an item as small as 0.3mm.

The high-brightness 4-element red LED provides strong light emission stability over a long period of time while at the same time making sensor alignment an easy task.

All models are rated to IP67 for use in process lines where water is used or splashed and rust resistant stainless steel sensor mounting brackets and screws are also available.

Control Logic (02) 9890 1120 www.control-logic.com.au

Introducing the NEW

TG400 GREEN LASER

For deep, high contrast permanent marking.

The TG400 green laser is for perfect micro marks and can be used on sensitive components materials such as backlit panels, plastics, reflective metals, ceramics and anodized or painted surfaces. To arrange free customised laser marked samples email sales@gravograph.com.au

gravograph.com.au | 02 9684 2000 SYDNEY • MELBOURNE • BRISBANE • ADELAIDE • PERTH

24 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

Total Engraving Solutions

PA0915_000_DIR - 1 2015-08-31T10:07:37+10:00 paceaddsept15_Pace 29/08/2015 8:56 AM Page 1

We didn’t invent the PLC, we made it affordable!

Affordable hardware, small in size, rich on features

PLC CPU with three built-in communications protocols P2-550: CPU module – 50MB user memory, 5 communications ports including USB plug and play programming port, 3 communications protocols, 4 line by 10 character OLED diagnostic display, tag name based control with microSD data logging and project transfer.

Fast Programming with FREE software!

That’s right, it’s FREE! Get all of the benefits without any extra cost.

Forget licenses or licensing fees, download the software to as many PCs as needed or take it for a test drive and try it before you buy it.

After all, you bought the controller, why pay more to control it?

WWW.DIRECTAUTOMATION.COM.AU

This “.com.au” is powered by “.awesomepeople” Check us out for our prices, keep coming back for our service.

For over twenty years our sole focus has been customer service.

That takes many forms: great prices, fast delivery, and quality products.

But regardless of our product selection and other tangibles like pricing, the intangible value of customer service is something that cannot be faked, replaced by machinery or glossed over with a free lunch from a visiting sales rep.

Our team members here at DirectAutomation.com.au approach every day with this one goal in mind - serve the customer. It’s a simple philosophy that many companies forget or make too complex and then fail at it. If the answer to any decision is “Yes, this is good for our customers”, then we do it.

It’s that simple.

“Should we have real upfront pricing online” Yes, this is good for our customers.”

“Should we have FREE tech support before, during, and after any sale instead of charging yearly fees for tech support?

Yes, this is good for our customers.”

Flexible Programming The Productivity2000 is a tag name based controller which allows for more freedom and flexibility than fixed-memory controllers.

• Does your application need 2000 timers but only 15 counters? No problem!

• Or maybe it needs 4000 real numbers and only 30 integers? No problem!

What about connectivity?

No problem there either, with P2000 you can choose to program via the Ethernet port or use the plug-and-play USB Port.

Need to incorporate an HMI/SCADA interface?

Problem solved!

Easily import your tag database into HMI/SCADA software such as Point of View, C-more and Dataworx for trouble-free development.

Improved documentation, faster troubleshooting, reduced development time, easy setup and an overall better programming experience, all at an unbeatable price!

“Should we offer FREE software on many products instead of charging licensing fees?

Yes, this is good for our customers.”

Call Toll free 1800-633040 Modbus® is a registered trademark of Schneider Electric, licensed to the Modbus Organization, Inc.

Productivity2000 ..... Our new PLC

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NEW PRODUCTS

Helping to put you in Control AirGate-3G Gateway AirGate 3G is a 3G cellular to Ethernet & serial gateway. It provides remote internet connectiitiy, read up to 64 registers of Modbus devices, generate alarm via 606 H PDLO 12986 FORXG VHUYLFH connectivitiy for data storage & browsing. 9 to 60 VDC powered.

SKU: NOW-006 Price:$749 ea + GST

N1040 USB Controller /RZ FRVW HIÂżFLHQW 86% LQterface, temp. controller with 2 x built-in timers. It accepts 7 & 3W 57' LQSXWV ,W features auto tuning PID, 3 relay outputs & 5 Vcc logic pulse output. 240 VAC powered.

SKU: NOC-310 Price: $129.95 ea + GST

LED Display Simulator/Generator The KTA-366 is a 4 to 20 mA loop powered current calibrator suitable for testing 2 & 3 wire transducers. It has 2 selectable operating modes: simulate & geerate.

Comes with backlit LED display.

LCD display is optional.

SKU: KTA-366 Price: $178 ea + GST

USB Serial Motor Controller 4-axis stepper motor controller ÂżWWHG ZLWK 86% 56 SRUWV Takes simple serial commands & produces ramped frequency SURÂżOHV IRU VWHSSHU RU VHUYR PRtor control. Now comes DIN rail mounted, analog inputs and 8 to 35 VDC powered.

SKU: KTD-290 Price: $159 ea + GST

Solar Sensor W/Transducer The KTA-304 is designed to convert Davis’ 6450 Solar radiation sensor (0 to 1800 W/ m²) to a loop powered 4 to 20 mA output signal. Adjustable offset & gain of the output. 40 VDC max loop voltage.

SKU: KTA-304 Price:$255 ea + GST

Isolated Converter 7KLV LV DQ LQGXVWULDO 86% WR 56 232/485/422 converter. It can EH SRZHUHG IURP 86% SRUW RU external power source of 9 to 48 VDC or both.

SKU: TOD-010 Price: $149 ea + GST

Single Phase SSRs +65 6/' VHULHV DUH D VOLP OLQH RI 22.5 mm wide solid state relays that are capable of switching single phase 25 A @ 264 VAC loads. It offers 4 to 32 VDC input control, 3 kV isolation between input & output. Fitted with Heatsink.

SKU: HNR-510 Price:$49.95 ea + GST

For OEM/Wholesale prices Contact Ocean Controls Ph: (03) 9782 5882 oceancontrols.com.au Prices are subjected to change without notice

26 www.pacetoday.com.au SEPTEMBER 2015

Security recording enhancements Honeywell has announced enhancements to Honeywell Digital Video Manager (DVM). The latest release, DVM R600, will enable organisations to more efficiently manage their security systems with enhanced mobile capabilities and voice command, and mitigate business risk via support for current IT platforms.

Major updates to DVM include enhanced system access and usability, which are designed to improve operator efficiency and reaction time. Security personnel now can access high-definition, full-frame-rate video on a mobile device, for example, enabling continuous monitoring from almost any location. Operators can also control DVM using voice commands to more easily manage multiple video feeds and request near-real-time system updates.

Along with an improved user experience, DVM R600 promotes IT integration and compliance with support for current Microsoft operating systems and databases, including Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1, Internet Explorer 11 and SQL Server 2014. (Windows Server 2003 is not recommended

because security systems running on the platform could be vulnerable to breaches since it’s no longer supported by Microsoft, as reported, and will not receive further updates.)

In addition, DVM R600 allows customers to deploy and intelligently group multiple back-up servers to boost system robustness, which helps protect surveillance systems from failures.

DVM is a component of Honeywell Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) that ties all aspects of

a security solution together, including video surveillance, access control and intrusion detection.

EBI also integrates comfort, life safety, energy and other core facility controls providing users a single point of access to the essential information and resources needed to monitor, manage and protect a facility, campus or multi-site operation.

Honeywell Process Solutions 1800 456 066 www.honeywellprocess.com

Absolute feedback systems for efficient drives The BML series from Balluff offers rugged, precise and quick absolute position and angle measurement systems, which are ideal for installation or direct integration into drive and positioning systems.

The new, magnetically encoded absolute position and angle measurement systems with Permagnet nonius technology close a gap in the segment of compact, integrative, absolute measurement systems with IP 67 housing for external installation.

As an open kit for full integration, they now have the option of being used in rotary applications as well. Using these systems, the formats, strokes and end positions of axes can be adjusted automatically, quickly and reliably.

The new absolute encoder disk can be

integrated easily into motors and actuators as a highly precise, absolute feedback solution. Because of this, it is an efficient alternative to conventional magnetic or optical solutions for accurate control of motors and drives. The low space requirement for the solution for rotary applications provides another eye-catching quality; it is just 12 - 20 mm in length and 30 mm in diameter depending on the design.

A fully integrated, single-chip solution is the core of the magnetic scanning and signal generation process. The position data is generated in real time and made available in absolute form using interfaces typical in drive engineering, SSI or bidirectional BiSS C. Incremental SIN/ COS analog signals and ABZ signals are also on hand for use.

Baluff 03 9720 4100 www.balluff.com

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NEW PRODUCTS

Pump & HVAC controller range The Modicon M171 controller series is at the centre of Schneider Electric’s comprehensive offering of solutions for HVAC and pumping applications, focused on building automation.

The controller can be either DIN rail or wall-mounted and is equipped with up to 27 integrated inputs and outputs, having different combinations of discrete and analogue inputs and outputs, depending upon the type. Additional Modicon M171 controllers can also be networked.

The controller is supported by ready-

to-use architectures and application function blocks (AFB), which can be managed in just one intuitive software environment. The AFBs reduce energy consumption and help to improve system efficiency.

These allow the controller to connect to a wide range of automation and instrument components, as well as providing access to the internet for remote reporting and retrieval of system data.

Another key aspect for the performance class is the ability to integrate the

solution into BMS architectures. This is achieved by docking appropriate communication modules onto the controller. Depending on the type, these modules can communicate via Ethernet (Modbus TCP, BACnet/IP, HTML5), BACnet MS/TP, Modbus SL, Profibus, or LONwork. Depending upon the version, they can also provide web visualisation and remote download functions.

The Modicon M171 optimised class offers a more streamlined unit, free

of superfluous and expensive extra functionalities, for users who want to develop simple to moderately complex solutions without requirements for BMS architecture integration. A Modbus SL or LAN expansion bus interface is integrated into the controller to allow setup of a simple communication network.

Schneider Electric 1300 369 233 www.schneider-electric.com.au

Trace oxygen analyser for cryogenic air separation The XZ400TS series oxygen analyser is a valuable instrument for quality control in cryogenic air separation.

The analyser uses Michell’s MSRS zirconium oxide oxygen sensor, which contains a metallic sealed reference and ensures long-term repeatability of

measurements as no reference air is required.

The analyser range features three configurations: rack, wall and bench mount.

All models include an intuitive touch-screen interface for quick and easy operation, barometric pressure, digital flow meters and

a 4-20mA output as standard. Options include additional outputs such as Modbus RTU over RS485 protocol, RS232 and process pressure correction.

AMS Instrumentation & Calibration Pty Ltd 03-9017 8225 www.ams-ic.com.au

SEPTEMBER 2015 www.pacetoday.com.au 27

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