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14 | Operational technology cybersecurity
INNOVATIONS
53 | New Products for Engineers
Easy-to-use human-machine interface, stepper motor integrates controller and encoder, multivariable transmitter, faster intelligent actuator, analytics software, gear units, Ethernet switch, analog I/O terminal, Coriolis mass flowmeter
See more products online www.controleng.com/products
55 | Back to Basics: Benefits of edge-hosted AI for manufacturers
Edge-hosted AI can increase the efficiency and resilience of process control and automation operations, especially remotely or when cloud connections break.
NEWSLETTERS ONLINE
CE Mechatronics & Motion Control Newsletter
• Connected workforce benefits, Mobile robot market
CE System Integration Newsletter
• Integrating DAQ, automation technologies for better results
IIoT Sensing, Connectivity and Analytics Newsletter
JULY/AUGUST 2024
Control Engineering eBook series, now available: Summer Edition
u Control
Systems eBook
Think redundantly about automation controllers without high costs; DCS of the future; Automation enables success and improves workforce; HMI excellence
We’re collecting case studies, trends and tutorial articles for the November/December edition!
Want to contribute? Contact Chris Vavra at cvavra@wtwhmedia.com. www.controleng.com/GSIR
Contact:
kparker@cfemedia.com; cvavra@cfemedia.com.
How to choose a VFD for mediumvoltage motors; Energy efficient motion control; low-voltage ac drives, modular motors and gearboxes
More topics at: www.controleng.com/ebooks
u Control Engineering digital edition
Five digital edition advantages: 1. Useful links throughout. 2. Click on headlines to see online version with more text and often more images and graphics. 3. Download a PDF version. 4. Cover page faces a wide selection of topical eBooks. 5. Sustainability. www.controleng.com/ magazine
Online Highlights
u INTERNATIONAL: Time to replace a DCS with a universal control system? Stone Shi, executive editor-in-chief, Control Engineering China www.controleng.com
u Preventing safety interlock operator bypass – from Control Engineering Europe; David Dearden is managing director at Euchner UK. https://www.controleng.com/articles/preventing-safety-interlock-operator-bypass
WEBCASTS topics
u FUTURE: Smart factories, Augmented reality, Visualization and case study, PLC programming tips, SCADA integration https://www.controleng.com/webcasts
u ON DEMAND: Motors and drives predictive maintenance, arc flash mitigation, SCADA upgrades or replacements, edge data gathering https://www.controleng.com/webcasts/past
INSIGHTS NEWS
u Guidance, tools provided to help AI developers mitigate potential risks; Edited from a NIST press release by Control Engineering. https://www.controleng.com/articles/guidance-tools-provided-to-help-ai-developers-mitigate-potential-risks
u Creating and verifying stable AI-controlled systems; Alex Shipps, MIT CSAIL (A) https://www.controleng.com/articles/creating-and-verifying-stable-ai-controlled-systems-in-a-rigorous-and-flexible-way
u Soft, flexible device makes robots move by expanding, contracting; Amanda Morris, science and engineering writer, Northwestern University https://www.controleng.com/articles/soft-flexible-device-makes-robots-move-by-expanding-contracting
u VIDEO: U.S. price not competitive? Look at TCO, automate, says Reshoring Initiative; Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative. (B) See article and video. www.controleng.com/videos
u VIDEO: Top 5 Control Engineering content: July 22-28, 2024; Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media LLC, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com, discusses recent leading articles. https://www.controleng.com/articles/top-5-control-engineering-content-july-22-28-2024
ANSWERS
u How to meet sustainability goals, part 1: High-efficiency motors; Benjamin Hinds is vice president of product management and marketing at the NEMA Motors Division of ABB. (C)
u Non-contact radar offers benefits in food and beverage applications; Control Engineering Europe - Vladislav Snitko, market development engineer, measurement instrumentation, Emerson.
u Variable frequency drive advice, best practices for engineers; Control Engineering Europe, spoke to Kes Beech, technical manager at Invertek Drives. (D)
u Four criteria for selecting the right industrial gas chromatograph - Michael Palacios, global product manager, Emerson, Rosemount natural gas chromatographs (E)
u PID spotlight, part 6: Deadtime? How to boost controller performance anyway - Ed Bullerdiek, retired process control engineer.
https://www.controleng.com/articles/pid-spotlight-part-6-deadtime-how-to-boost-controller-performance-anyway u The benefits of simulation training for engineers - Christopher Parker, engineering supervisor at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence (F)
u Benefits of getting ahead on FSMA 204 updates; David McKenna, Grantek. https://www.controleng.com/articles/benefits-of-getting-ahead-on-fsma-204-updates
u How real-time alarms, historical data drive better processes; Cody P. Bann is director of engineering at SmartSights; David Nolan is senior application engineer at SmartSights. (G) https://www.controleng.com/articles/how-real-time-alarms-historical-data-drive-better-processes/ u Selecting the right Ethernet, bus cables for industrial applications; Horst Messerer, product & sales manager – Data, network and bus technology, Helukabel https://www.controleng.com/articles/selecting-the-right-ethernet-bus-cables-for-industrial-applications
u What’s driving the IT/OT divide for manufacturers; Tom Weingartner, PI North America https://www.controleng.com/articles/whats-driving-the-it-ot-divide-for-manufacturers
u Making 5G the engine of smart manufacturing productivity and flexibility; Anthony Murphy is vice president and head of product management for Plex. https://www.controleng.com/articles/making-5g-the-engine-of-smart-manufacturing-productivity-and-flexibility u Understanding edge technology complexities and choosing the right device; Mario Torre is digital architect, IoT, at Sensia (a JV of Rockwell Automation and SLB). https://www.controleng.com/articles/understanding-edge-technology-complexities-and-choosing-the-right-device u Deploying custom HMIs with the right development tool; Daniel Hong, Aerotech. https://www.controleng.com/articles/deploying-custom-hmis-with-the-right-development-tool/
u Advanced contextualization and visualization adds value to data; Sasha Jones, director of product and customer success; Petter Mörée is managing director, both IOTA Software. (H) https://www.controleng.com/articles/advanced-contextualization-and-visualization-adds-value-to-data u Leveraging industrial data software platforms for full value; Megha Agrawal, Red Lion. https://www.controleng.com/articles/leveraging-industrial-data-software-platforms-to-achieve-their-full-value u How to understand considerations for data acquisition systems; Dr. Michael Wrinch, founder, Hedgehog Technologies. (I)
Mobile robots providing strong growth to precision gearbox market
uTHE GLOBAL PRECISION gearbox and geared motors market is expected to generate revenue of $3.4 billion in 2024, which is up 2.9% from 2023. However, over the next five years we predict a steady growth rate of 7.9%, with 2025 expected to be a strong rebound year and offering the biggest annual growth (10.2%). This is expected to drive growth in the global precision gearbox and geared motors, which is forecast to increase from $3.3 billion in 2023 to $4.8 billion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.9%. The largest growth overall is attributed to planetary precision gearboxes and geared motors, where we anticipate a CAGR of 10.2%, taking revenue from $1 billion in 2023 to nearly $1.8 billion in 2028.
robots where the “smoothness” of their acceleration and motion can be a benefit.
The mobile robot market has continued to outperform most other industries in recent years and the growth and appetite does not seem to be as heavily affected by the slowdowns felt in other industries. Our forecast for the mobile robots market has dampened from previous years, but we still expect to see consistent growth of between 30-50% out to 2028.
‘The mobile robot market has continued to outperform most other industries in recent years. ’
Planetary gearboxes and geared motors will continue to benefit from this substantial growth. With all major regions showing significant growth out to 2028, we predict Japan will benefit from the highest CAGR (60.2%), followed by the Americas (49.5%), APAC (44.3%), and then EMEA (42.3%).
Guidance, tools provided to help AI developers mitigate potential risks
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE announced the release of new guidance and software to help improve the safety, security and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Planetary gearboxes do not offer the highest levels of precision, found with devices such as strainwave and cycloidal precision gearboxes (which most commonly have a backlash of <1 arc minute). However, they still have very low backlash ratings, which makes them a cheaper and efficient alternative, especially in mobile
The global market for precision gearboxes and geared motors in the mobile robots market is expected to grow from $129 million in 2023 to more than $850 million in 2028. ce
Jonathan Sparkes is a research analyst with Interact Analysis, a content partner. Edited by Control Engineering.
Automation mergers, acquisitions roundup
THE BUNDY GROUP, an investment bank and advisory firm, reports on mergers and acquisitions within the automation, engineering and system integration industries monthly for Control Engineering. They reported 11 transactions in May, five transactions in June and nine transactions in the month of July.
ONLINE: See additional information about these reported transactions at https://www.controleng.com/control-systems/automation/
The department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released three final guidance documents that were first released in April for public comment, as well as a draft guidance document from the U.S. AI Safety Institute that is intended to help mitigate risks. NIST is also releasing a software package designed to measure how adversarial attacks can degrade the performance of an AI system. In addition, Commerce’s U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a guidance update on patent subject matter eligibility to address innovation in critical and emerging technologies, including AI.
‘NIST software will measure how adversarial attacks can degrade AI system performance. ’
“For all its potentially transformational benefits, generative AI also brings risks that are significantly different from those we see with traditional software. These guidance documents and testing platform will inform software creators about these unique risks and help them develop ways to mitigate those risks while supporting innovation,” said Laurie E. Locascio, undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director in a press release. ce
- Edited from a NIST press release by Control Engineering
IMTS: Manufacturing show has automation, integrated technologies
uIMTS 2024 – The International Manufacturing Technology Show offers contract manufacturers, job shops and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) the opportunity to explore thousands of solutions to address workforce, quality and efficiency issues. It is at McCormick Place in Chicago on Sept. 9-14, will feature the new Automation Sector, accelerated by SPS –smart production solutions in the North Building, which features companies specializing in robots, collaborative robots (cobots), motion control, data management and automation integration. Exhibits throughout IMTS also will demonstrate automated solutions for computer numerical control (CNC) machining, additive manufacturing, vision systems, metrology, tooling, workholding, abrasive machining, gear generation, parts handling and cleaning and other manufacturing technologies.
“Automation is omnipresent at IMTS because exhibitors know industry needs automation technologies to leverage worker productivity and boost business profitability,” said Peter R. Eelman, chief experience officer, the Association for Manufacturing Technology; AMT owns and produces IMTS.
Ian Stringer, AMT vice president of data strategy, said, “The push toward greater adoption of industrial automation is influenced by an aging workforce and geopolitical uncertainties that have
increased defense spending and led to a revitalization of the U.S. supply chain.”
Stringer cited capital intensity (the amount of capital used per unit of labor) has that increased almost 12% from 2017 to 2023, in the March 21 economic news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Stringer said this figure “is solid evidence” of a significant shift toward more capitalintensive and labor-efficient manufacturing processes facilitated by the automation solutions shown at IMTS 2024.
Collaborative robots (cobots) are a true workforce multiplier and will be demonstrated in conjunction with tooling and workholding, welding, metrology, machining, part handling, and scores of other applications at IMTS.
Other areas of interest include use of collaborative robots, generative AI innovation in automation and analytics for product design, research, production, supply chain, customer service and other manufacturing processes. Other highlights include system solutions, robotics and vision, system integration, controls and control systems and additive manufacturing. ce
Summarized fromhttps://www.plantengineering.com/articles/manufacturing-showpushing-automation-integrated-solutions Watch for more on www.imts.com and for show coverage at www.controleng.com.
Other coverage from Control Engineering
Other Control Engineering coverage will include:
• Pack Expo 2024 Chicago, is Nov. 3-6, https://www.packexpointernational.com
• Digital Transformation Forum, April 30 - May 1, 2025, Boston, https:// www.digitaltransformationforum.com
This year at IMTS, Siemens plans to demonstrate the path to “Empowering the Digital Machine Shop.” By integrating hardware automation, digitalization software and services, Siemens will present the new path toward digitalization for machine tool users and machine builders, along with the introduction of the new Machinum to the North American market. Courtesy: Siemens press release
Vogtle power unit startup in April, using automation, instrumentation
Southern Co. nuclear electrical generating plant Vogtle 4 entered commercial operation April 29. Unit 3 entered commercial operation July 31, 2023. The four-unit plant, located in Waynesboro, Georgia, uses automation, instrumentation and highly skilled operators to deliver carbon-free nuclear-generated electricity to more than 1 million homes and businesses. The Southern news release said “This long-term investment will benefit customers and communities for the next 60-80 years and help ensure we meet the energy needs of our growing economy,” adding that units 3 and 4 support 800 permanent, high-paying positions. ce Learn more. https://www.southerncompany.com/innovation/vogtle-3-and-4.html
Remote wireless devices connected to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) run on Tadiran bobbin-type LiSOCl2 batteries.
Our batteries offer a winning combination: a patented hybrid layer capacitor (HLC) that delivers the high pulses required for two-way wireless communications; the widest temperature range of all; and the lowest self-discharge rate (0.7% per year), enabling our cells to last up to 4 times longer than the competition.
Looking to have your remote wireless device complete a 40-year marathon? Then team up with Tadiran batteries that last a lifetime.
Ethernet TSN architecture benefits
Time-sensitive networking (TSN) enhances standard Ethernet by providing deterministic communication, synchronized clocks, traffic shaping and more.
Industrial networks enable communication among elements of a control system. These include sensors, valves, motors, pumps, drives and more. Control communications can impact performance, quality and reliability. In addition, control devices or the controller play an important role in information gathering to support layered analytics. Selecting an industrial network is pivotal to creating the most competitive machine, production line or process.
Ethernet with time-sensitive networking (TSN) is an advanced networking technology that enhances standard Ethernet with features required for deterministic communication and precise time synchronization in industrial and automation applications. TSN is an IEEE 802.1 standard that adds mechanisms to Ethernet to enable deterministic real-time communication with bounded latency, low packet delay variation and extremely low data loss. This makes it suitable for applications with stringent timing requirements, such as industrial automation, automotive, aerospace and professional audio/video.
Nine criteria network selection
When it comes to choosing an industrial network, prioritize nine things:
1. Performance – Speed and determinism. Small applications will have fewer devices and can tolerate lower communication bandwidths. Motion control applications may need higher performance communications and even deterministic communications. Bandwidths are now less of a consideration as in the past, and gigabit Ethernet is becoming more common. In addition, new technologies such as Ethernet with TSN can improve performance and can give machine vendors a competitive advantage.
2. Reliability – The proper architecture can deliver tolerance to communication failures, either using redundant communication paths, or ring architectures that can deliver continued control in the event of a break in a communications link.
3. Medium – The medium (optical, wired or wireless): High electrical noise environments or
applications that require electrical isolation will benefit from optical fiber communications. Applications with mobility requirements benefit from wireless communications. Wired applications are still the default and often the most cost-effective.
4. Connections – For industrial use, the Ethernet connection RJ-45 standard is the dominant connection type. Water or dust protection may define others, such as M12 and M8 circular connectors.
5. Convergence: Selecting communications that leverage TSN will let you prioritize critical communications and without impacted from general-purpose communications. A converged network has simpler architecture, easier troubleshooting and lower costs.
6. Open – Leverage open networks with support by many industrial automation product vendors.
7. Proven – The most widely-used networks have been made open and registered as IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) Standard (IEC61158: CC-Link IE TSN).
8. Embracing – No company can offer all products an application or market may need. No one protocol is supported by all devices. Ensure the industrial network is supported by protocol converters.
9. Supports standard IT tools – Simple network management protocol (SNMP) is an IT resource for monitoring and managing network devices. ce
Thomas Burke is the Global Strategic Advisor for CCLink Partner Association (CLPA), a content partner. Edited by Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
FIGURE: The main benefit of Ethernet with TSN is communications convergence. Courtesy: CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA)
u
Online
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KEYWORDS: Time-sensitive networking, TSN, Ethernet CONSIDER THIS How can TSN improve performance at your facility?
Insightsu
Time-sensitive networking (TSN) insights
u Industrial networks are crucial for control system performance and reliability, impacting quality through efficient communication between sensors, valves, motors, and other elements.
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Frank Lamb, founder and owner Automation Consulting LLC, www.automationllc.com
Joe Martin, president and founder Martin Control Systems, www.martincsi.com
Rick Pierro, president and co-founder Superior Controls, www.superiorcontrols.com
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Content For Engineers. WTWH Media focuses on engineers sharing with their peers. We welcome content submissions for all interested parties in engineering. We will use those materials online, on our Website, in print and in newsletters to keep engineers informed about the products, solutions and industry trends.
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* If the content meets criteria noted in guidelines, expect to see it first on the website. Content for enewsletters comes from content already available on the website. All content for print also will be online. All content that appears in the print magazine will appear as space permits, and we will indicate in print if more content from that article is available online.
* Deadlines for feature articles vary based on where it appears. Print-related content is due at least three months in advance of the publication date. Again, it is best to discuss all feature articles with the content manager prior to submission. Learn more at: https://www.controleng.com/connect/how-to-contribute
Three new tips for revitalizing control systems
Three control system improvements: Heed these open-loop PID tuning tips, create a 30% throughput increase and optimize control system alarms.
Three of many favorite excerpts from this issue follow to help improve effectiveness of control systems.
Three open-loop tuning tips
Ed Bullerdiek, retired process control engineer offers PID tuning with three open-loop tuning tips and two limitations. Three open-loop tuning tips are:
1. Make multiple steps when performing the open loop test (minimum of three).
2. The step sizes should be different.
Aveva, explains how a centralized, scalable data infrastructure creates closer understanding and real-time collaboration. Within a connected industrial ecosystem, everyone can make better decisions, business operations become more efficient, resource use is optimized and waste minimized.
3. The step sizes should be made in opposite directions. This is necessary to see if the valve is working. (A cascade master may not require multiple steps as valve performance should not be a problem.)
Two open-loop tuning limitations are:
1. Slow control loops may be difficult to test. External disturbances may make it difficult to guess an ultimate gain and curve inflection point, which will make it impossible to calculate loop-tuning constants.
2. Bad valves will warp the results. Estimated ΔPV can be wildly inaccurate, especially with small step sizes. Deadtime may also appear variable based on valve response. As a matter of good practice before tuning an existing control loop, you should check the loop for valve problems and other non-loop tuning related problems.
See more on Page 25, “PID spotlight, part 7: Open-loop tuning of a self-limiting process.”
Automation software: 30% output gain, better decisions
Rob McGreevy, chief product officer at
He continued with a quantified example of benefits. “By modeling the impact of changes such as higher temperatures or water use, Pet Nutrition can adjust manufacturing processes in real time to keep quality on track. The result? Process-to-product output is up 30% while waste is down.” Get more advice from McGreevy on Page 17, “From ecosystems and AI to the industrial metaverse.”
Alarming challenges? Get help
System integrator Jason Israelsen, PE, control engineer for APCO Inc., examines alarm-system health in supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA). Four-step process identifies, addresses and maintains the health of an alarm system with analysis, review, acting and repeating. Israelsen provides more details and examples start on Page 19, “Improve SCADA systems by analyzing alarm system health.”
Think again about how to share your summer wisdom with Control Engineering peers. https://www.controleng.com/connect/ how-to-contribute ce
Mark T. Hoske is editor-in-chief, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, mhoske@wtwhmedia.com.
Mark T. Hoske Control Engineering
Matthew J. Lick, CDM Smith
Operational technology cybersecurity: Easier said than done
How do engineers deal with construction challenges associated with implementing cybersecurity in operations technology? This article will discuss the lack of experience system integrators have with cybersecurity and the lack of experience cybersecurity implementation firms have with design/ bid/build project delivery.
Cybersecurity is becoming one of the most discussed topics as it relates to operational technology (OT) systems used in utilities and manufacturing. The National Institute of Standards and Technology defines OT as “programmable systems or devices that interact with the physical environment,” which is comprehensive of most electronic devices deployed in industry today.
We cannot avoid the headlines of the next water treatment facility, pipeline, food processing plant or industrial manufacturer that has suffered yet another ransomware attack. Cybersecurity is one of the biggest gaps in existing infrastructure and are often included in many recent design projects.
Leaving cybersecurity vulnerabilities unaddressed could lead to significant issues that affect an organization’s reputation, profitability and safety. Equally troubling is when an unqualified design engineer includes broad requirements for “un-hackable” systems without any specific requirements.
While many understand they need to improve cybersecurity, many don’t understand what it means to implement comprehensive cybersecurity controls. For years, the thought process for systems such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems or programmable logic controllers (PLCs) was get them running quickly and keep them running as efficiently as possible.
Many times, OT systems have been supported by electricians or dedicated instrumentation and controls staff who have limited exposure to advanced networking and software components. Including cybersecurity as a capital improvement project designed by an engineering firm and installed by a contractor can be an efficient way to implement a comprehensive and secure system. However, what happens when the experts responsible for implementing cybersecurity
FIGURE 1 COVER: A control systems engineer works on a human machine interface/supervisory control and data acquisition system server. All images courtesy of CDM Smith.
‘ It is unrealistic to assume system integrators can deploy new security requirements without having a cybersecurity background. ’
controls for the project are not familiar with how construction projects are executed?
Design engineers learn quickly that if their documentation (drawings and specifications) is not clear, specific and detailed, the product their client will receive will be less than adequate. The expertise of the contractor often plays a role in the quality of the product, which can complicate things.
As I started implementing cybersecurity requirements in projects, I thought, “Just be very clear what the expectations are, use industry best standards, and enforce the execution, similar to how we enforce requirements for system integrators implementing traditional SCADA systems.” While it might be easy to create requirements during design, when construction begins, the organizations responsible for providing the system are generally either:
• Unqualified to execute the project's requirements. This leads to a subpar system where foundational requirements are implemented poorly or not at all or
• Unexperienced with the design/bid/build process. This leads to challenges in a typical contract execution and can cause project delays and undesired changes to system requirements when installers default to their standard offerings.
Unqualified system integrators
Traditional system integrators are experts in constructing industrial enclosures, programming PLCs, and human-machine interface (HMI) graphic creation. Ethernet allows these systems to communicate and quickly replaced earlier technologies because of its ease of use and widespread adoption by equipment manufacturers. The ease of including more and more devices on an Ethernet network was appealing from a cost standpoint. Integrators needed to become familiar with the basics of Ethernet networks, however, this is commonly where their experience in Ethernet ends.
While some integrators continue to develop their expertise, in many cases, systems integrators still deploy systems on “flat” networks with no or limited network segmentation. Any device on the network can see any other device, and if the user has physical access to the network, they have full control. Furthermore, HMI software packages are often installed on a Microsoft Windows-based OS. Often, once the OS is installed, it is off to the races to get the HMI up and operational. Security is often an afterthought when something is not functioning correctly. Call any tech support, and they will first ask users to turn the firewall off. Do they tell anyone to turn it back on when the issue is resolved? It’s a common oversight because past focus has been on process control rather than protecting equipment performing process control.
It is unrealistic to assume integrators can deploy new security requirements without having a background in cybersecurity. While some integrators are savvy enough to figure out the implementation of cybersecurity controls, it is difficult for inexperienced staff to determine if they were implemented correctly. End users have to trust it has been done correctly or end up spending money to verify this themselves. It is hard to trust a company with little experience in the field. We want to be very confident security configurations are implemented correctly because the consequences can be devastating if they fail.
Unqualified cybersecurity professionals
Many cybersecurity vendors have a business model that starts when an end user contacts the vendor to improve their system. The vendor arrives on site, performs an initial assessment, educates the client on the recommendations, and implement their typical offer-
FIGURE 2: A firewall installed in a server rack is used to protect the supervisory control and data acquisition network.
controleng.com
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand the challenges system integrators encounter when implementing cybersecurity controls for process control systems.
Learn about the challenges cybersecurity providers have when delivering products in design/bid/build projects.
Learn about some ways to ensure the project cybersecurity requirements are met.
CONSIDER THIS
What are you doing to meet cybersecurity requirements and overcome challenges?
ANSWERS
ings. During a traditional design/bid/build project, the problem is much of the initial site survey, end user education and design have already been performed. In a risk-based approach, the designer implements controls in a fashion that reflects use of and risk to the system with a focus on critical assets. Implementations differ among clients, and standard or typical offerings from a security vendor may not apply in all cases. Drawings and specifications are used to detail the scope of work. Many cybersecurity vendors are not well-versed in the design documentation that contractors and system integrators work with daily. The vendor may follow their typical project flow without realizing what their contract specifies they need to provide. To compound the problem, many equipment manufacturers used to improve cybersecurity are unfamiliar with this type of project execution. They may offer little support on how to submit documentation for approval, which is typical during construction.
Recommendations for collaboration
While system integrators become more proficient with cybersecurity, there are a few things cybersecurity providers can do to help. First, they need to have discussions with the companies that supply these types of services. Speak with the integrators you work with frequently, and let them know the concerns with cybersecurity requirements. Try to make new contacts with companies who specialize in cybersecurity implementations, and describe the types of projects they are responsible for designing so they better understand how to execute a project. It also is helpful to start introducing system integrators to cybersecurity providers. It may be helpful to discuss design information with cybersecurity companies. Ask them what they would have done differently in the design or if the
and
requirements deviate from their standard offerings. Even if their comments do not align with the end user’s requirements, it helps to understand their perspective. It often is in the best interest of a system integrator to hire a cybersecurity vendor as a subcontractor. This lets the system integrator to lead the effort, teaching the cybersecurity provider how to best execute the project requirements. While this might seem like an ideal solution, project construction rarely goes smoothly. Design engineers or construction managers need to be diligent in ensuring the project execution is delivered. Ensuring important coordination workshops, submittals and test procedures occur is imperative to project success. If not encouraged, they may occur too late in the project to be effective.
While implementation is a challenge, cybersecurity is important to include in designs. Challenges during construction should not cause designers to deviate from project requirements. Understand the landscape to shape projects in a more impactful way. With added diligence during design and construction to guide system providers, there is a path toward improving cybersecurity in industrial control systems (ICSs). ce
Matthew J. Lick, PE, CISSP, is an automation engineer and operational technology cybersecurity discipline leader at CDM Smith. Edited by Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
FIGURE 4: Network cabling associated with server equipment used for a supervisory control
data acquisition system.
FIGURE 3: Server racks with hypervisors are used to run virtual machines associated with operational technology systems.
Rob McGreevy, Aveva
From ecosystems and AI to the industrial metaverse
The next wave of industrial transformation depends on a handful of technologies.
The industrial world faces a data explosion. From readouts on temperature furnaces and warehouse movements to smart meters tracking energy usage, industries have more data about a greater number of operational processes than ever. Half of all industrial data has been created in the last two years. Estimates show that another 38% of new operational data will be stored and processed in the cloud in 2024. Global technology spending is expected to hit $5 trillion this year. How we collate, analyze and collectively leverage this wealth of data will shape future industrial value. A more connected world can support responsible use of the world’s resources during an era of unprecedented disruption.
Industrial clouds, collaboration
Businesses don’t work in isolation. The act of creating value requires connecting and collaborating with other entities. So why don’t we connect our data streams? Industrial data too often remains siloed in organizations. Sometimes, it even rests unsorted and unanalyzed at the point of collection. But knowledge is power. It is only when industrial units securely share data internally and with external partners that they can unlock the actionable insights needed to spark innovation and growth. Many industrial businesses now use digital twins — interactive virtual representations of physical objects and processes — to simulate real outcomes and preview new ventures to address flaws and enhance decisions.
Companies democratize access to information, improving productivity and enhancing collaboration when access is shared to the digital twin via the cloud. Industrial-intelligence-as-a-service (IIaaS) is key to unleashing the next wave of industrial transformation. Automotive manufacturer HENN is in the fast lane
to efficiency. Using an integrated data collection application and a scalable cloud-based data management program, the car parts manufacturer can monitor and dashboard products across dispersed assembly lines, in one window, anywhere. Authorized stakeholders in the company, including those at headquarters and remotely at branch offices, now have real-time insight into production lines. Issues are swiftly identified and managed, with efficiency gains of 10%.
Data ecosystems add value
What happens if we extend cloud data-sharing to external partners? Dominion Energy in the U.S. is taking an innovative approach to stand out in the increasingly crowded renewable power sector. Dominion collates and shares real-time data from across its North American grid network with utility customers over the cloud. This provide investors, regulators and auditors with proof of sustainable conduct. An integrated digital data highway brings new business to Dominion as demand for transparent and measurable reporting increases. Dominion is an example of a new kind of connected industrial ecosystem. In the new connected ecosystem, each entity in an industrial value chain shares one digital source of truth. A one-window dashboard integrates data from disparate streams, such as industrial assets, suppliers and other value chain partners. When each entity can see system-wide data in context and according to its needs, it can understand the impact of its actions for its own business, on the business of every other value chain player, as well as on the ecosystem. A centralized, scalable data infrastructure creates closer understanding and real-time collaboration. Within a connected industrial ecosystem, everyone can make better decisions, business operations
Learn about the connected industrial ecosystem and how it can benefit enterprises through connecting disparate streams of data across their value chain
Discover how AI and ML are being used outside of the generative AI hype
Understand how cloud data ecosystems will lead to the next phase of innovation ONLINE
If reading from the digital edition, click on the headline for more resources.
CONSIDER THIS
How is the metaverse changing how you approach manufacturing? Online controleng.com
ANSWERS
FIGURE: Aveva Connect industrial intelligence platform serves design and build (shown), operate and optimize applications. Courtesy: Aveva
Insightsu
Industrial metaverse insights
uThe industrial sector is experiencing a data explosion, with half of all industrial data created in the last two years and significant growth expected in cloud-based data storage and processing in 2024.
uCollaborative industrial cloud platforms, digital twins, and integrated data management are key to unlocking innovation and efficiency, as demonstrated by companies like HENN and Dominion Energy.
u AI analytics and the emerging industrial metaverse are set to revolutionize industrial operations by enhancing decision-making, optimizing processes and fostering real-time virtual collaboration.
become more efficient, resource use is optimized and waste minimized.
AI analytics, insights
Artificial intelligence (AI) has shown that it can improve our work in very real terms. It also helps get the most from industrial data by surfacing actionable insights to maximize operational performance.
to maximize operational
As the hype around generative AI dies down, we expect to see a broader uptake of different, more industrial AI tools over the coming months. Machine learning (ML) could become more widespread, but other types of AI will be used more prolifically. Industries are onboarding many AI technologies, including advanced analytics and predictive asset optimization.
Advanced analytics programs can effortlessly construct and run no-code AI-driven models, simplifying how industrial workers optimize production efficiency. For example, consider that even minor process variations can greatly impact production outcomes. By crunching hundreds of variations with detailed recommendations, AI models enable operators to make confident decisions while improving profitability and sustainability. Think ‘‘planet and profit’’ as opposed to ‘‘planet versus profit.’’
In the short-term, efficiency gains help reduce energy consumption and slash greenhouse gas emissions. Over the medium-term, AI tools function as an engine of innovation, leading to industrial process improvements and even new value chains by speeding the development of hydrogen as a fuel, for example.
Hill’s Pet Nutrition uses intelligent analytics to determine how variations in the manufacturing process could positively or negatively change the product. By modeling the impact of changes such as higher temperatures or water use, Hill’s can adjust manufacturing processes in real time to keep quality on track. The result? Process-to-product output is up 30% while waste is down.
Predictive asset optimization combines predictive, prescriptive, and prognostic analytics with process optimization to create a hybrid digital twin, blending physical and simulated data to inform decisions.
With such a 360-degree view of asset health and performance, operators can identify problems earlier, establish their causes more accurately, and forecast the
best possible timing to implement a solution. Operational uptime and availability are maximized, leading to better profitability and sustainability. Feeding these insights back into the design of future assets kicks off a cycle of continuous improvement.
Industrial metaverse usefulness
When access to real-time data and intelligent insights are democratized across the ecosystem value chain, the stage is set for the next step in industrial transformation: the industrial metaverse.
This game-changing technology is way of virtually integrating teams to do their jobs better. In the industrial metaverse, people collaborate virtually around a real-time representation of physical assets, with live data and analytics available on command.
The industrial metaverse will be a layer of collaboration on top of a digital twin, with industrial AI in the complementary role of assistant, bringing sharper and more accurate insights to human decision makers. The industrial metaverse is a logical extension of industrial companies’ existing technology investments. It offers closer interactions and uses industrial data to spark innovation and drive new value. It turns growing volumes of data into sustainable returns. ce
Rob McGreevy is the chief product officer at Aveva. Edited by Tyler Wall, associate editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media.
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Improve SCADA systems by analyzing alarm system health
Alarming is fundamental to a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. However, its effectiveness is lost when it is implemented poorly. Improve the alarm system to improve the system’s operation.
While acquainting themselves with a new plant’s operations, a controls engineer delved into the alarm summary to gather insights. What they discovered was staggering: The system was inundated with hundreds of alarms. Some were being triggered more than 50 times a day while others remained in a constant state of alarm for weeks at a time.
Further inquiry revealed this scenario was considered normal within the day-to-day operations of the plant. The plant staff were comfortable with the state of their system and the volume of alerts.
However, as an outsider, the controls engineer felt overwhelmed and struggled to effectively navigate the system. The disconnect between experiences prompted the engineer to consider how to bridge this gap in understanding and propose a feasible solution to address the issue.
What is alarming?
Alarming serves a critical function within a SCADA system, alerting operations (either audibly or visibly) to items that need to be addressed, such as process deviation, abnormal conditions, or equipment malfunction. The alarm system is often compromised when high frequencies of alarms occur, leading to habituation, desensitization, and complacency among operators. This overstimulation diminishes the significance of alarms and hinders the system’s ability to bring attention to genuine emergencies.
The classic tale “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” provides an analogy of consequences of a poorly per-
forming alarm system. In the tale, the boy repeatedly falsely alarms townspeople who become indifferent to the alarms. When a real wolf appears, the people no longer heed the boy’s cries, and the sheep suffer the consequences. Comparable situations are not uncommon in SCADA systems, where an operator’s desensitization to authentic alarms endangers operations and threatens safety.
Assessing SCADA alarm system health
Based on situations like the one mentioned, with the understanding the scenario described is unfortunately quite common in SCADA systems, it is recommended to approach alarm system health holistically. Crises can be averted by conducting an objective assessment of an alarm system’s state and address areas of concern. This proactive stance allows users to identify potential issues before they escalate, enabling timely intervention and effective implementation.
Develop a SCADA alarm system process
Through systematic evaluation and targeted action, organizations can mitigate risks and ensure continued safety, efficiency and reliability of critical industrial processes. With a well-defined process, an unbiased perspective of alarm system health can be achieved. This four-step process identifies, addresses and maintains the health of an alarm system:
1. Analysis: Use standards to measure the alarm system’s health. This serves as a baseline for the evaluation, removing subjectivity.
KEYWORDS : SCADA, alarm systems, control systems
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Learn the benefits of a healthy SCADA alarm system. Understand alarm system health standards are useful. Learn about potential solutions to improve the SCADA alarm system’s health.
ONLINE
This article online has another graphic and citations. Fine more SCADA stories at https://www.controleng. com/control-systems/ dcs-scada-controllers/ CONSIDER THIS What are the biggest challenges for your SCADA alarm system?
FIGURE 1: A sample alarm distribution of alarm priorities, the bar chart shows the distribution in percentages and the table shows the distribution by counts. Note in this sample the distribution is often heavy on the higher priority alarms ("HIGH" and "MEDIUM"), versus the low priority alarms ("LOW" AND "INFO"). Images courtesy: APCO Inc.
2. Review: Review results with a multidisciplinary group (programmers, operations personnel, engineers, etc.). During this phase, prioritize actions by addressing a manageable subset of alarms, rather than attempting to tackle all issues simultaneously. Then, form solutions; often a combination of approaches will be necessary.
3. Act: Implement solutions based on the results of the alarm analysis and review steps.
4. Repeat: Run the analysis, review, act and continually repeat the process for ongoing improvement and maintenance of alarm system health.
With this process, it’s important to keep in mind:
• The value in a healthy alarm system includes reduced load to operate the system, increased responsiveness to urgent alarms and improved overall system performance.
• Each alarm system is unique, varying in size, complexity, personnel and cohesion, which impacts the ease or complexity of each step.
• If the alarm system is in a critical state, achieving and maintaining system health may require regular attention and involvement from the controls systems team. It’s important to acknowledge the system’s health didn’t deteriorate overnight and restoring it to an acceptable level requires time and effort.
Analyze the alarm system’s health
An effective way to assess the health of an alarm system is to measure it against a standard. This helps remove subjectivity and mitigate habituation, also known as ’Tuning Out’. One such
standard for alarm systems is found in IEC 62682 a set of guidelines developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC, 2022).
This standard offers recommendations for the design, implementation, operation and management of industrial alarm systems. It delineates principles for alarm management covering aspects like design, prioritization and documentation, with the aim to enhance safety, efficiency, and situational awareness in industrial settings. Adherence to IEC 62682 facilitates the establishment of best practices for alarm systems, providing direction on items such as:
• Priority distribution (Figure 1)
• Maximum number of alarms in a period of time
• Acceptable duration for “flood” conditions (Figure 2)
• The amount of “chattering” and “fleeting” alarms
• Allowable percentage the most frequent alarms should account for (Figure 3, online).
Review alarm analysis results
With the alarm analysis process outlined, the next step is reviewing the results, which should be conducted with a multidisciplinary group. The group should include programmable logic controller (PLC) programmers, human-machine interface (HMI) developers, engineers, operators and others who could provide a valuable perspective.
The group's perspectives, expertise and insights lead to more thorough results compared to individual efforts. As listed, the analysis results are broken down into various measurables. The priorities should be determined by the group, based
off need. When meeting, consider that smaller, frequent meetings will be more effective. There’s no need to tackle the whole task at once. Keep in mind there isn’t one solution to every alarm problem. Alarm issues will require different approaches and solutions to create a healthy alarm system.
Implementing effective solutions
The next crucial step is to translate the insights gathered into actionable strategies and ensure the identified concerns will be effectively addressed. The actions taken in this stage will vary, but some samples are provided below to provide guidance and inspiration. These issues outline commonly found deficiencies along with actions that can be taken to resolve them:
Priority distribution
• Issue: The distribution of alarm severity is inverted from the IEC recommendations (IEC, 2022). Analysis shows the occurrences of most frequent alarms to least frequent are: High, medium and low. For proper distribution, the order of occurrences should be in ascending frequency with low occurring the most and high occurring the least.
• Resolution: The alarm priorities are reviewed, and a new standard of alarm priority categorization is established. This new categorization focuses on a simple “need to respond in ‘x’ minutes” metric. The standard was developed in the review based on needs. The alarm review process consisted of the following: Training on alarm prioritization, a discussion of alarm priorities and input from various supervisors and operators on re-prioritizing.
Bad actors
• Issue: The top 10 worst offenders for alarming accounted for more than 75% of the alarms. In
comparison to IEC standards, the number should be in the realm of 1 to 5% (IEC, 2022).
• Resolution: After identifying and researching the worst offenders, a plan was made to address each alarm. The variety of solutions included adjustments to alarm setpoints, deadbands, and the creation of an “info” category.
Stale alarms
• Issue: Several identified alarms that have been in an active state for weeks or months.
• Resolution: Many of these alarms came from equipment that were down for an extended period due to construction, maintenance or being broken. An “out of service” state was created to disable alarms from equipment not currently in use.
Re-analysis
• Issue: Over time, with the addition of new processes, the changing of the seasons and the different demands placed on equipment, significant changes in the occurrences of alarms result in variations to the previously established alarm categorization.
• Resolution: A regular schedule was put together to analyze the health of the alarm system. This schedule is intended to create actionable plans to address alarming, focusing on manageable bitesized amounts. An unexpected benefit was during this maintenance process many obsolete alarms were found and removed. Some of the alarms got lost with changes to processes and equipment. This re-analysis process provided a means for review and identifying of these obsolete points. ce
Jason Israelsen, PE, is a control engineer for APCO Inc. Edited by Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
FIGURE 2: A sample of alarm floods occurring in a system where the size of bubble is the number of alarms in the flood and the height of the bubble indicates how long the flood occurred. Note the frequency of the floods, number of “large” floods, and the percentage that last longer than an hour.
Insightsu
SCADA alarm system insights
uThe high frequency of alarms in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems can lead to desensitization and complacency among operators, reducing the effectiveness of the alarms in signaling genuine emergencies.
u To maintain a healthy alarm system, a holistic and proactive approach is recommended, including regular assessment, multidisciplinary review, targeted action, and continuous re-evaluation to ensure operational efficiency and safety.
ANSWERS
David Dudley, Inductive Automation
Building an enterprise framework for SCADA system for better results
Replacing a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system allowed California American Water to improve efficiency, compliance and reporting at a facility that had endured many challenges.
California American Water found the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system at its Monterey, California, facility was consistently faulting and struggling to maintain the high standards required of a water utility, especially one in a “hydraulically challenged” area along California’s central coast.
With the help of system integrator Flexware Innovation, California American Water – Monterey
was able to replace its legacy SCADA system with an industrial automation platform.
American Water Corp.’s relationship originated from a project to develop an enterprise framework for standardizing color scheming, symbol layouts, and faceplates between locations. Each American Water facility was previously responsible for its own visualization, resulting in a lack of consistency among locations, making remote troubleshooting efforts confusing and difficult.
To create this framework, the industrial automation platform software provided reusable templates and tag structures, and an unlimited licensing model meant American Water could implement the framework without needing to consider the individual size of each facility.
As the developer of the framework, the system integrator was the “gatekeeper” for each implementation. While some installations have been handled by other integrators, the system integrator vets any additions or modifications to ensure high quality.
“[American Water] tasked us with developing a SCADA platform that any SI can come in and use,” said TJ Holt, team lead at Flexware.
A large-scale SCADA implementation
For the Monterey implementation at Monterey, the system integrator worked closely with California American Water to migrate from a legacy SCADA system to a mature and mobile-friendly distributed system. The new system monitors and controls close to 130 remote sites, while providing key performance indicator (KPI) data to American Water’s enterprise portal. The legacy SCADA system could not meet current operational needs, offering a clunky interface that required operators to drill down through multiple screens to view KPIs and excessive implementation time to add sensors or pumps.
Beyond its inefficient interface, the legacy system lacked the capability to upgrade to Industry 4.0
FIGURE 1: California American Water’s new system monitors and controls close to 130 remote sites. With the help of system integrator Flexware Innovation, California American Water – Monterey replaced its legacy SCADA system with Inductive Automation’s Ignition software, an industrial automation platform. Images courtesy: Inductive Automation
KEYWORDS: SCADA, system integration, SCADA upgrades
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Learn how a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system upgrade can help improve a facility’s operations. Understand some of the challenges companies may face when upgrading the system.
Learn how access to more information can provide better insights for companies.
CONSIDER THIS
How has a SCADA system upgrade improved your facility?
standards like mobile accessibility, advanced data analytics, and modern cybersecurity measures.
The sheer magnitude and scope of the facility made the idea of migrating to a new system a daunting task. The system encompasses over 120,000 tags, over 13,000 OPC tags and 140 programable logic controllers (PLCs) on one platform.
The unlimited licensing model, along with the flexibility and dynamism of the established framework, allowed the system integrator to rapidly scale out the solution despite the project’s size.
Streamlined visualization, HMI design
Flexware designed the system’s visualization following ISA-101 high-performance human-machine interface (HMI) standards, replacing the legacy system’s bright colors and inconsistent screens with streamlined grayscale to emphasize changes and alarms. For navigation through the HMI, the system integrator took American Water’s existing structure and separated it by sub-area, then moved critical KPIs to page headers so parts of the system, like wells and tanks, could be constantly monitored.
The new HMI has helped California American Water’s alarm management. “Having this ISA-101 standard template is probably the best way to identify where those problems are before they actually become a real problem,” said Mike Grondin, SCADA manager for California American Water. In the legacy system, low-level alarm notifications tended to be lost in the overly colorful display. To make alarm response easier, an in-application alarm dock aggregates all alarms and gives supervisors control of alarm severity.
“Anybody at the supervisor level and above can make changes to what calls out, what alarm calls out, and what level of alarm it is,” Grondin said. Simplified rosters allow supervisors to easily toggle between the pump, treatment and wastewater groups to dictate alarm and schedule management.
SCADA on the go, mobile accessibily
One of the most critical features was mobile-responsiveness and accessibility. This was accomplished using a module in the industrial automation platform software allowing the system integrator to develop screens and templatized views that smoothly transition from desktop to tablet and mobile.
“The automatic scaling allows different devices to be used,” Grondin said. “An operator can be at the tank or a pump site and view the active values of the site on a mobile phone without having to log in anything and be connected just about anywhere.”
Combined with the high-performance framework, these screens have enabled operators to quickly ascertain the status of the system, whether they are
3: Mobile-responsive screens have enabled operators to quickly ascertain the status of the system on the plant floor or at a remote site. Mobile-responsiveness and accessibility were provided with Inductive Automation’s Ignition’s Perspective Module, allowing Flexware to develop screens and templatized views that smoothly transition from desktop to tablet and mobile.
FIGURE 4: Implementing the new Ignition system did not require shutting down operations. By installing the Ignition system from Inductive Automation on the Stratus server, Flexware Innovation link to where they could download the project onto the server, preloaded with what was needed.
u
Insights
SCADA system insights
uCalifornia American Water's Monterey facility transitioned to an industrial automation platform, improving supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system efficiency, scalability and mobile accessibility.
u A system integrator streamlined visualization using ISA-101 humanmachine interface standards, enhancing alarm management and key performance indicator (KPI) monitoring while enabling mobile responsiveness for realtime system status updates.
on the plant floor or traveling to a remote site.
The increased accessibility solved another issue with the legacy system. “One of the problems we had previously was to view the SCADA system, it had to be in a secure network. One thing that we were able to do with the Ignition system is make a view-only that doesn't go into the secure side,” Grondin said.
Seamless SCADA migration
Flexware worked in the background because implementation did not require shutting down operations. Both systems were run in parallel until the legacy system could be shut down.
Installing the industrial automation system on the Stratus server “was virtually seamless.” The system integrator “had a link into where they could download the project onto the server. It was already preloaded with everything they needed,” Grondin said.
A critical aspect of migrating the system was adding devices and updating tag locations for programmable logic controllers (PLCs). The industrial automation software’s server-centric deployment and historian module made this easy, said those involved.
“Add the location and it updates the SQL table and it automatically populates the navigation header in the SCADA app,” Holt said.
“The historian being integrated into the system also is a huge benefit. It's a SQL base. So getting the information out and updating the new tag location is all integrated. So that doesn't require any special programming or changes,” Grondin said.
Making changes to the system is designed to be simple. The way the industrial automation software
“handles the upgrade is far superior than any other software I've touched before. It's zero impact onto production, and there's no gotchas,” Holt said.
Keeping up with SCADA trends
For operators, every system will have a learning curve, but to ease the transition, the system integrator moved certain gateway functions into the user interface (UI). “The operators are able to create their own custom trends… They can export all of that data into a .CSV format and they can get [key performance indicator] KPI values in a report format for compliance reasons,” Holt said. “Everything is available to them through the UI.” Generating reports with the legacy system had been a nuisance. The new system makes reporting immediate, with the option to log, download, and save reports and trends.
“The trending option allows those engineers to go in and grab the data for one point or multiple points for any time period that they need. Simply download, and then they can put in charts, [Microsoft] Excel, whatever they need to use it for, which takes a lot off of my plate,” Grondin said.
Paving the way: Scalable best practices
California American Water’s Monterey facility has a system that is scalable into the future, adheres to modern best practices and maintenance has been almost nonexistent. “Once we've established the project, established all the tags, everything is talking. We have their views configured. It just runs,” Holt said; 30 to 40 employees use the system at the Monterey facility and California American Water plans to implement Ignition in Southern California shortly, and Northern California after that. “Everybody can look in, even from the CEO down to the office clerk. Thousands of employees could be using it,” Grondin said.
Holt said, “It's really great to be a part of a company who wants to put the money and capital towards this, to pave the way for other industries to follow.” ce
David Dudley is co-director of marketing at Inductive Automation. Edited by Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
Ed Bullerdiek, process control engineer, retired
PID spotlight, part 7: Open-loop tuning of a self-limiting process
Tuning
a new PID controller begins with an open-loop step test. What are the steps? What data do I collect? What calculations are required? How well will it work? What problems might I run into?
There are three common methods used to tune control loops, open loop, closed loop, heuristics. There is considerable published literature on open- and closedloop tuning methods, and all control textbooks cover open- and closed-loop tuning. Heuristics methods are not well covered. Each has its place in your toolbox, and there are concepts unique to each method that will help you think critically about control-loop performance.
Open-loop tuning is generally the best choice when you have a “cheerfully start over” situation, either a new control loop or one where the process has been significantly modified. Existing control loops that just need to be trimmed up are best approached using heuristics. Closed-loop tuning should be avoided, however, if you happen to walk up to a loop that is already swinging, you have all the information you need to use closed-loop tuning rules.
Open-loop tuning method
Open loop controller tuning is done with the controller in manual mode (if you haven’t heard the term before, when a controller is in manual, it is considered to be operating in open loop.) The method is:
• Place the controller in manual.
• Step the output (OP) up and down 2-10% at least three times; vary the step sizes.
• From trends estimate the
–The change in OP (ΔOP – %).
–The change in process variable or PV (ΔPV – %).
–The deadtime (Dt – in the time units your control system uses).
–The first order time constant (T1 – in the time units your control system uses).
• Estimate the baseline controller gain (Kbase) Kbase = ΔOP/ΔPV
• Calculate the tuning constants using your favorite calculation method. (There are many.)
Open-loop tuning methods assume the process response is first order plus deadtime (FO+Dt). This works well for the vast majority of self-limiting process loops, however if you see a process response that is significantly different from a FO+Dt response, open-loop tuning methods will likely not work well (PID control may not work well). Processes with two or more process lags (second and higher order) generally look enough like a FO+Dt process that open loop tuning will work well.
How to execute a PID tuning step test
Figure 1 shows a step test for a process with a process gain of 2, three lags of 30 seconds and a deadtime of 30 seconds. All open-loop tuning methods use this procedure. The only difference is how you calculate the tuning constants once you have the change in output, change in PV, deadtime and first-order time constant. To execute a step test:
STEP 1: Place the controller in manual.
STEP 2: Step the controller OP.
STEP 3: Estimate the change in PV, the deadtime (Dt), and the first-order lag time (T1) from
Learn how to execute an open loop step test and how to estimate the four process parameters required to calculate proposed PID controller tuning constants. Know one method (of hundreds) to calculate PID controller tuning constants.
Understand that the calculated PID controller tuning constants are only an estimate; further trimming of the tuning constants may be required; understand the limits of the open loop tuning method.
CONSIDER THIS
After you have executed an open loop step test, calculated PID controller tuning constants and entered them into your PID controller, are you done?
ONLINE
Online version of this article has more text and graphics on lag time and deadtime.
ANSWERS
Online
controleng.com
Read Parts 1-7 online and see the Aug. 1 webcast, “How to automate series: The mechanics of loop tuning.” https://www. controleng.com/webcasts/ how-to-automate-themechanics-of-loop-tuning
ONLINE SEE FIGURE
3: Simplified IMC PID tuning of a moderate process (1.49:1 lag/ deadtime). Tuning constants are K = 0.63, Ti = 1.59 minutes/repeat, Td = 0.40 minutes.
the process reaction curve (a fancy way to say read them off the trend).
STEP 4: Write down ΔOP, ΔPV, Dt and T1:
• ΔOP = 5%
• ΔPV = 10% (Verify that your system’s PID algorithm uses % of span internally.)
While it is not necessary, calculating the lag/ deadtime ratio will provide some insight into how well this PID controller can control the process. In this case the lag/deadtime ratio is:
T1/Dt = 1.27/0.85 = 1.49
This is a moderate self-limiting process. Based on this we should expect that a PID controller can control the process, but we must be careful about the tuning. The controller gain will only be slightly above the baseline gain. The response to a setpoint
FIGURE 1: Estimating the four parameters required for open loop tuning of a self-limiting process with a process gain (Kp) of 2.0, deadtime (Dt) of 30 seconds and three lags (T1, T2, T3) of 30 seconds each. Note multiple lags extends apparent deadtime to 51 seconds. All graphics courtesy: Ed Bullerdiek, retired control engineer
(SP) change will be little faster than the process open-loop response and disturbance rejection will only be moderately effective.
Simplified IMC method
There are reportedly some 400 to 500 published loop-tuning methods. I will discuss a few of the multiple methods later on, but to get you started, I will use a simplified version of the internal model control (IMC) method. The full IMC method includes a performance tuning constant (λ –lambda) that is used to set the controller response. Tuning for a specific type of controller response is beyond what we need to cover now. The simplified IMC method presented will provide adequate response for lag dominant, moderate and deadtime dominant self-limiting processes.
In “PID spotlight, part 6: Deadtime? How to boost controller performance anyway,” [link] we saw that how much controller gain we could safely apply to a PID controller was related to the lag/ deadtime ratio. The controller gain calculation in Table 1 reflects this relationship; the baseline controller gain is modified by a variant of the lag/ deadtime ratio (the calculation provides a roughly critically damped controller for true first order plus deadtime processes).
How did we do? Moderate process
Table 2 shows the simplified IMC calculations for the process that was tested in figure 1. The calculated tuning constants are:
K = 0.63
Ti = 1.59
Td = 0.40 (if used).
At this point we enter the tuning constants in the PID controller and then test the results. Figure 2 shows controller performance for the PI tuning constants (derivative is set to 0.)
The response is too oscillatory to be considered critically damped. This points out an important aspect of using any loop-tuning method. Each one provides guidance that will get you close, but you may still have to trim the constants to get the exact performance you need. In this case the tuning calculations were set up for a true first order plus deadtime process, however the actual process
TABLE 2: Calculating simplified IMC PI and PID tuning constants for a process with a process gain (Kp) of 2.0, deadtime (Dt) of 30 seconds and three lags (T1, T2, T3) of 30 seconds each.
has three lags plus deadtime. Because the actual process doesn’t match the theoretical process the calculations can only provide an approximate answer. That’s OK; in the real world you will never know exactly what your process is, so the best that you can expect is to get a reasonable approximation. You may need to adjust the tuning constants. However, with all that said, we know that a moderate self-limiting process may benefit from the addition of derivative. Furthermore, in Part 6 of the article series, we saw that if the process has multiple lags then derivative will help performance. Figure 3 shows what happens when we add derivative.
The controller tuning is still more aggressive than critically damped, but not tremendously so. Adding derivative has, as expected, considerably damped process oscillations and PV overshoot of the SP on a SP change. If critically damped tuning is required the controller gain must be lowered.
PID tuning: Three open-loop tuning tips
Three open-loop tuning tips are:
1. Make multiple steps when performing the open loop test (minimum of three).
2. The step sizes should be different.
3. The step sizes should be made in opposite directions. This is necessary to see if the valve is working. (A cascade master may not require multiple steps as valve performance should not be a problem.)
PID tuning: Open-loop tuning limitations
1. Slow control loops may be difficult to test. External disturbances may make it difficult to guess an ultimate gain and curve inflection point, which will make it impossible to calculate loop-tuning constants.
TABLE 1: Simplified Internal Model Control PID tuning constant calculations for Proportional-Integral (PI) and Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers.
2. Bad valves will warp the results. Estimated ΔPV can be wildly inaccurate, especially with small step sizes. Deadtime may also appear variable based on valve response. (This is covered in more detail when we talk about bad valves.) As a matter of good practice before tuning an existing control loop, you should check the loop for valve problems and other non-loop tuning related problems.
Control tuning doesn’t just go bad; something has happened to equipment to cause the problem. ce
Ed Bullerdiek is a retired control engineer with 37 years of process control experience in petroleum refining and oil production. Edited by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media and Technology, mhoske@cfemedia.com.
FIGURE 2: Simplified IMC PI tuning of a moderate process (1.49:1 lag/ deadtime). Tuning constants are K = 0.63, Ti = 1.59 minutes/repeat, Td = 0 minutes.
ANSWERS
Sam Shelley, Rockwell Automation
Create more versatile operations by unlocking VFDs’ potential
Variable frequency drives (VFDs) can help manufacturers achieve major priorities in production by doing more than spinning a motor.
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KEYWORDS: VFD, variable frequency drives
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand what variable frequency drives (VFDs) can do for a manufacturing facility.
Learn how companies can improve their insights and resilience through information gleaned from VFDs.
Learn how VFDs can improve a facility’s sustainability efforts.
ONLINE
See additional stories on VFDs at https:// www.controleng.com/ motors-drives/
CONSIDER THIS
How can VFDs help optimize your production facility?
ariable frequency drives (VFDs) have a straightforward job to do in production: Spin a motor. Assessing drives only for their ability to perform this task overlooks many other powerful ways drives can impact production. Industrial producers want to get more from their control and automation technologies as they face the challenges of a changing workforce, pressures to be more profitable and expectations to reduce environmental impacts. Modern VFDs hold a lot of potential to help producers address these needs by providing access to useful data, seamless yet simplified connectivity and more design options.
Whether an engineering team is considering automation options for a new project or trying to get more from their existing equipment, they should look beyond basic motor-control functions to consider how drives can enable achievement of some of their top priorities in production today.
Maximize production, uptime
The battle against downtime is never ending. One reason for this is producers lack insights into what’s happening in their machines and equipment. Modern VFDs can provide real-time visibility into what’s happening in motor and drive applications — and even what’s going to happen in them — to help producers address problems and reduce unplanned downtime.
Some VFDs have built-in predictive maintenance algorithms that allow technicians to see the health status of key drive components and track their remaining life down to the hour. The best algorithms don’t just track drive runtime, they track environmental conditions and stresses to predict a component’s remaining life more accurately.
When a component nears the end of its life, technicians can plan its replacement during a time that works best for them, like a scheduled maintenance downtime. Producers that value predictable maintenance intervals should closely inspect the capabilities of these predictive features to ensure reliable operation up to scheduled downtime periods. Machine-level issues can be detected when drives are paired with AI-powered software. A supervisory application tool that uses machine learning (ML) can establish a baseline signature of the machine’s behavior under normal operating conditions and then monitor any deviation from that baseline. If a deviation is detected, the tool can notify maintenance technicians to investigate and address the issue. Another way modern VFDs can help improve productivity is with built-in features like adaptive control. This can help machines maintain their optimal performance even as load and mechanical dynamics change.
VFDs add resiliency to operations
Resilient operations have always been a cornerstone of manufacturing, and the pace of today’s economic climate has increased the complexity of maintaining that resiliency. While VFDs that use AI and other technologies to help maintenance teams get in front of downtime issues can certainly help producers be resilient, modern VFDs can also make operations more resilient in other ways.
For starters, they allow the insights that are produced for predictive maintenance and other purposes to be delivered in the form of actionable, contextualized insights for the people who need
them. As a result, operators don’t need to translate raw data or understand the inner workings of the drives or the machines they’re operating. Instead, they get the fault, alarm or notification on the devices they use and can take immediate action on them.
These contextualized insights are especially helpful for new generations of operators who haven’t had the luxury of getting to know the machines they’re operating over a span of years or decades. This elevates staff members’ capabilities, allowing them to disengage from device-level concerns and focus on system-level problems.
Motor control in a VFD also has a big role to play in making production operations more resilient by reducing the amount of time and expertise required to keep them at optimum performance.
Adaptive tuning provides out-of-the-box control loop settings to not only help commission a drive, but also keep it running optimally. Through sophisticated motor models and continuous analysis of motor current signatures, the VFD can operate at optimal bandwidth levels without needing a motor control expert. This capability is constantly running in the drive, meaning there’s never a need to call an expert and re-tune the system; the VFD makes these adjustments on its own.
Another capability available in modern VFDs is energy-efficient move profiles, which can optimize acceleration and deceleration to reduce wear and tear on mechanical systems. Like adaptive tuning, this is always running in the VFD and doesn’t have to be readjusted just because something in the machine or process changes, which keeps operations resilient.
Using VFDs to improve sustainability
Modern drives provide many opportunities to help producers reduce their energy costs and better meet their sustainability goals.
For example, operations become more energy efficient when they use a VFD in place of an acrossthe-line motor starter by allowing control at optimal speeds for energy consumption. These installations can be made more efficient by upgrading to permanent magnet motors or synchronous reluctance motors, which are more energy efficient than traditional induction motors. Also, the energy efficient move profile capability mentioned previously can be enabled for the aforementioned types of motors.
Drives can support sustainability in ways that resonate up to the C-suite by providing a clearer picture of energy consumption.
Many producers have a limited view of their energy usage with insights coming only from utility bills, dedicated power monitoring equipment or routine meter readings. Drives that provide energy data can be one of the most accurate power monitors in a production facility and require no additional hardware. They can provide real-time data about how much power is being drawn by a motor and when.
By collecting this data from across a production environment, producers can see how they’re consuming power at the machine or process level and at the plant level. This can help understand how they’re using energy and uncover opportunities for improvement. Periods of high energy consumption and low productivity give insight into a change that should be made to a plant process. They may notice that certain drives are consuming more energy than others operating a similar application, indicating a mechanical problem that can be addressed to prevent downtime and maximize equipment efficiency.
Smart manufacturing benefits come from the use of disruptive new technologies and from being intentional foundational technologies found in VFDs. Modern VFDs hold a wealth of information and capabilities that can help producers be more productive, resilient and sustainable. ce
Sam Shelley, portfolio manager, low voltage drives at Rockwell Automation. Edited by Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
FIGURE: Rockwell Automation’s Flexline 3500 motor control center (MCC) is designed to deliver real-time operation and diagnostic data for critical equipment to prevent failures and downtime. Courtesy: Rockwell Automation
Insightsu
Variable frequency drive (VFD) insights
uModern variable frequency drives (VFDs) enhance production uptime and productivity by providing real-time visibility and predictive maintenance, which reduces unplanned downtime through advanced algorithms and AI-powered software.
uVFDs improve operational resilience and sustainability by delivering actionable insights, adaptive control and energy-efficient profiles, allowing manufacturers to optimize performance and meet environmental goals.
ANSWERS
Lucas Paruch, Yaskawa America Inc.
How to select, apply VFDs: Medium-voltage motorstarting application tutorial
Part 3 tutorial:
Understanding the operation of closed-transition synchronous transfer and its significance in improving reliability and power quality.
Online
controleng.com
KEYWORDS: Motors and drives, variable frequency drive selection, mediumvoltage motor starting tutorial
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Receive background on medium-voltage drives and tutorial on motor physics.
Understand that reducing starting current can extend a motor’s useful life span.
CONSIDER THIS
Are you optimizing medium-voltage drives?
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With this article online, text explains how a three-motor synchronous transfer motorstarting application works and demonstrates in seven figures. Click the headline in the digital edition.
Part 1 https://www. controleng.com/articles/ how-to-choose-a-vfd-formedium-voltage-motors
Part 2 https://www. controleng.com/articles/ power-quality-harmonicshow-to-select-a-variablefrequency-drive-vfd
Electric motors play a critical role in nearly every modern industrial application, and engineers naturally focus on the specifics of the mechanical work that is to be performed. Objective specifications often are driven by the torque profile of the load, the precision required by the application, and the allowable energy consumption. Industrial motors may be run across-the-line (switched on-off) when speed and torque control is not required. Variable frequency drives (VFDs) provide a much greater level of speed and torque control when required, and generally minimize mechanical and electrical stresses on a motor system.
FIGURE 1: Electric motor physics: When electric current travels around a circular coil, a perpendicular magnetic field is induced. When a magnetic flux passes through a conductive coil, a current is induced in the coil. Current induces magnetism. Magnetism induces current. All figures courtesy: Yaskawa America Inc.
As important as motor operating characteristics are for a given application, it is no less important to consider motor-starting characteristics. The first few seconds of starting a medium voltage (MV) induction motor can present significant challenges.
Tutorial on motor physics
An induction motor is comprised of two sets of conductor coils. The stator coils (fixed “motor windings”), are perhaps the most intuitive, because they are the connections with which we interact. The rotor coils (rotating) are less intuitive. The rotor is a cylinder comprised of conductive bars (resembling a “squirrel cage” or hamster wheel) that rotates inside the stator (with no external electrical connection).
To understand the physics behind an induction motor, consider the following two statements noted in Figure 1:
1. When electric current travels around a circular coil, a perpendicular magnetic field is induced.
2. When a magnetic flux passes through a conductive coil, a current is induced in the coil.
Current induces magnetism. Magnetism induces current. When rated voltage is initially applied to the stator coil, the initial impedance of the coil is low, which results in a large current (Current = Voltage/ Impedance). This relatively high stator current induces a proportionally strong magnetic field. The magnetic field passes through the air gap to the rotor coils, inducing current to circulate in the rotor coils. Just as circulating stator current induced a magnetic field, the newly induced current in the rotor coils induces its own opposing field. The interaction of these magnetic forces results in a torque applied to the rotor shaft. As the rotor speed increases, so does the Back EMF voltage. [Here, EMF stands for electro-motive force.] The increasing back EMF counters the applied voltage, reducing the effective voltage seen by the stator coil.
Reducing the effective stator voltage in turn reduces the stator current, which reduces the magnetic field induced by the stator current, which reduces the induced current in the rotor, resulting in a reduction of the rotor field. As the motor reaches rated speed, stator and rotor currents decrease until they reach steady state operating conditions.
During this process, until the motor reaches rated speed, typical MV motor starting currents may be 5 to 7 times greater than steady state rated full-load current. Starting current creates significant mechanical and thermal stresses on the motor windings and rotor coils. For this reason, many large motors are designed and specified for a limited number of starts per hour. Restricting the number of starts allows the rotor to return to an acceptable temperature before continuing steady-state operation. It is important to note that motor RTDs (resistance temperature detectors) monitor the stator coil temperature. There is typically no direct means to measure the rotor coil temperatures.
Across the line starting current creates stress on the power supply. On a 5000 HP motor, starting current may represent 30 MVA of load on the power system. Depending on the capacity and impedance of the utility supply transformer, this starting load may result in a significant supply voltage drop, impacting other users on the power system, and potentially triggering the utility to impose financial penalties.
Extend a motor’s life span
Reduced voltage starters (RVS) and reduced voltage soft starters (RVSS) provide a traditional means of reducing harmful motor starting currents. These devices switch large resistor arrays or autotransformers in series with the motor or use semiconductor switching devices, to reduce the available voltage during start. Once the motor is started, the reduced voltage device is isolated, and full line voltage is switched to the motor.
Ohm’s law dictates that current is proportional to voltage. Using an RVS device to reduce starting voltage by 50% will result in a corresponding current reduction of approximately 50%. While this represents a significant reduction compared to 600% across the line starting current, 300% starting current will still have a negative impact on motor heating and starting duty, and still places a significant starting load on the power distribution system.
Another consideration is that as starting voltage is reduced, the available starting torque is reduced proportionally to the square of the reduction in volt-
FIGURE 2: Ohm’s law says current is proportional to voltage. Using a reduced voltage starter (RVS) device to reduce starting voltage by 50% will reduce current approximately 50%. While this represents a significant reduction compared to 600% across the line starting current, 300% starting current will still have a negative impact on motor heating and starting duty and still places a significant starting load on the power distribution system. When using a reduced-voltage starting, evaluate the required load torque. If the reduced pullup torque cannot accelerate the load, the motor will stall.
FIGURE 3: Variable frequency drives (VFDs) can adjust both the applied voltage and the applied frequency for optimal motor performance. By maintaining the optimal ratio of voltage to frequency (V/Hz), a VFD can start a motor at 100% rated current, while producing 100% rated torque throughout the speed range.
ANSWERS
FIGURE 4: This is a “closed” transition because the drive synchronizes the magnitude and phase of the utility supply to its own output so precisely that both are connected simultaneously during the “make-beforebreak” transition (the period in which “drive power” and “utility power” overlap shown).
age. For example, reducing voltage to 50% results in a reduction of starting torque to (50%)2 = 25% of rated starting torque. See Figure 2. When implementing a reduced voltage starting solution, it is critical to evaluate the required load torque. If the reduced pullup torque is insufficient to accelerate the load, the motor will stall. Mechanical systems may be employed to disengage the load during starting, but not without adding additional cost and complexity.
VFDs provide an ideal solution to manage motor starting. Unlike a reduced voltage starter, which can only control the applied voltage, VFDs can adjust both the applied voltage and the applied frequency for optimal motor performance. By maintaining the optimal ratio of voltage to frequency (V/Hz), a VFD can start a motor at 100% rated current, while producing 100% rated torque throughout the speed range.
This operational efficiency improvement allows a VFD-controlled motor to produce greater starting torque than the same motor could produce started on the line, while eliminating the motor thermal stress, mechanical stress and system voltage drops associated with line started motors and RVS solutions (Figure 3). In many applications, a VFD is the only acceptable means to start a large medium-voltage motor on the existing utility supply. The only potential disadvantage of using a VFD for medium-voltage motor starting is cost. In applications that do not require speed or torque control, using multiple VFDs to operate multiple MV motors can be cost prohibitive. For these applications, synchronous transfer provides a means
to use one VFD to efficiently start multiple motors, smoothly transferring each motor to utility line power once steady-state operation is reached.
Synchronous transfer explained
In a medium voltage closed transition synchronous transfer, a variable frequency drive is used to start and accelerate a motor as shown by the blue lines in Figure 3. Once full 60Hz rated motor speed is achieved, the drive synchronizes the voltage and frequency of its output precisely with the voltage and frequency of the utility supplied line power. When the waveforms match, a contactor is closed to connect the utility supply to the VFD output. Since the voltage and phase have been synchronized, essentially no current flows between the line and the VFD, while both provide current to the motor. After a brief (closed transition) period of synchronous operation with both sources connected, the VFD output is switched off, and a second contactor opens to isolate the VFD from the circuit, leaving the motor connected solely to utility power. Once isolated from the first motor, the VFD is available to operate other motors, while the first motor continues to operate on utility line power. This is referred to as a “closed” transition because the drive synchronizes the magnitude and phase of the utility supply to its own output so precisely that both are connected simultaneously during the “makebefore-break” transition (the period in which “drive power” and “utility power” overlap in Figure 4). It is important to distinguish a closed transition transfer from an “open” transition or “bypass” sequence. In an open “break-before-make” transition, the drive accelerates the motor to speed, but then simply disconnects, allowing the motor to spin uncontrolled until the utility line contactor closes, completing the open transition to the line. Because magnitude and phase are not synchronized and controlled, closing the bypass contactor during an open transition will create a significant mechanical torque transient as the utility supply attempts to pull the motor into sync, as well as corresponding current transients that may result in upstream overcurrent trips or unacceptable supply voltage drop. ce
Lucas Paruch is the senior development engineering manager for medium voltage drives at Yaskawa America Inc. Edited by Mark T. Hoske, editor-in-chief, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, mhoske@wtwhmedia.com.
MOTORS
Michael
AND DRIVES EFFICIENCY
Basler, U.S. system drives division, ABB
How to meet sustainability goals, part 2: The drive for industrial decarbonization
Converting carbon-intensive industrial applications helps meet decarbonization goals. Are you addressing these four areas: Renewable energy, electrification, emerging application and energy efficiency?
Daily necessities and comforts – such as food, shelter, transportation, heating and cooling, etc. – depend on output from energy- and carbon-intensive industrial sectors, such as the production of oil and gas, chemicals, cement, iron and steel and minerals. The demand for these products is expected to remain high. As explored in a prior article “How to meet sustainability goals, part 1: High-efficiency motors”, the rising global population, coupled with rapid urbanization and increasing living standards, is set to drive a significant surge in energy demand and industrial output. This heightened demand poses challenges for industries worldwide to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability. This second installment of a three-part series, explores converting carbon-intensive applications, exploring strategies to address challenges and paving the way towards a more sustainable industrial future.
Industry accounts for a third of global energy consumption1, with heat generation2 and rotating equipment being the most significant contributors. Fossil fuels remain the dominant energy source for industry, making them a bigger source of greenhouse gas emissions than power generation and transport. Whereas emissions from power generation and transport have the potential to drop through the increase in power generation from renewable energy sources and the transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles, industrial emissions are projected to grow over the coming
decades3. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the industry sector through scalable and affordable decarbonization solutions will be critical to work toward a net-zero emission scenario.
Four ways to decarbonize
To decarbonize energy-intensive industries, consider:
1. Renewable energy: Enable a shift in power generation towards renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar
2. Electrification: replace fossil fuel-based applications in rotating equipment or heat generation with electrical solutions, such as by replacing a gas turbine with an electric drivemotor powertrain
3. Emerging applications: Deploy near zeroemission production processes enabled through carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) or hydrogen
4. Energy efficiency: Reduce energy losses through the use of highly efficient electric motors in combination with a variable frequency drive (VFD).
Help for renewable energy
Renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric, offer a way to produce clean
controleng.com
KEYWORDS: Industrial motors and drives, industrial decarbonization
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand four ways decarbonize energy-intensive industries.
Review industrial decarbonization investments and examples from a provider of electrification and industrial automation and drive systems.
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Are you helping your organization meet industrial decarbonization goals with motor and drive efficiencies? ONLINE
How to meet sustainability goals, part 1: High-efficiency motors https://www. controleng.com/articles/howto-meet-sustainability-goalspart-1-high-efficiency-motors
ANSWERS
FIGURE: ABB ACS5000 medium-voltage drives controls high-power applications, such as compressors, pumps and fans based on process demands rather than running them at full speed. Drives optimize power consumption and process efficiency to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions. The drives operate in many fields; robust design especially suits the chemical, oil, gas and power generation industries. Industry-specific features integrate seamlessly and increase process productivity; an arc-resistant design lowers risk. Courtesy: ABB
electricity. Until recently, these sources have been hard to scale, making them expensive compared to fossil fuels. They also pose a challenge of consistency in delivery due to the variability of supply depending on the source. Advancements in technology and the systems used to capture and deliver energy, coupled with electric systems to provide electricity during peak demand or when a source is not available, have made the use of renewable sources more viable for industry. By 2035, projections suggest that renewables could provide more than 50% of the world’s electricity at prices lower than operating with fossil fuel4.
Grid instability is an issue that will need to be addressed as renewables become more prevalent as an energy source due to the variability of the power supply and fluctuations in demand based on location and time. Using technologies such as battery storage, converters and demand-management programs will minimize the challenges of grid stability.
Electrification to decarbonize energy-intensive industries
The decarbonization of energy-intensive industries can only be achieved through electrification. Decarbonization through electrification means replacing a fossil fuel-based application with an electrical solution. Rotating equipment, such as a compressor, can be driven by an electric powertrain – an electric motor combined with a VFD – instead of a gas or steam turbine. Besides removing carbon emissions from a process, electrical powertrains offer additional benefits over mechanical solutions, such as enhanced personal safety features, reduced maintenance, lower noise emissions or better process control. Beyond rotating equipment, significant poten-
tial for decarbonization comes from the electrification of industrial heat production. The generation of heat accounts for three-quarters of the overall energy consumption in the industrial sector; 90% of that heat is produced by burning fossil fuels2. Technological development in applications such as industrial heat pumps or plasma torch heating will increase the adoption of electrical heat generation. Combined with thermal storage solutions and the right process control, electric heat production can contribute to load balancing, which will positively contribute to grid stability and offset fluctuations in power generation from an increased mix of renewable energy.
Often, carbon-intensive equipment can be directly replaced with electrical alternatives. For rotating equipment, such a solution typically consists of an electric motor driven by a VFD or for electric heating, DC power is supplied by power electronic conversion equipment using similar technology as a VFD. Depending on the application, the complete system may include other components, such as electrical houses (eHouses), low-voltage or medium voltage (LV or MV) switchgear, or additional equipment. In many cases, electrical solutions are drop-in replacements, making the transition easier, while in others, they require new infrastructure and are considered in facility upgrades or retrofits. Electrification offers other benefits, such as increased reliability, ease of maintenance and better motor control and efficiency.
Electrification has a greater impact on decarbonization efforts if the solution leverages renewable power sources. However, moving to a complete motor-drive system to generate electric energy, regardless of energy source, offers a reduction in the carbon footprint.
Helping industrial decarbonization
Adopting emerging applications and new technologies is another opportunity in decarbonizing process industries. Low-carbon fuels, such as hydrogen, renewable natural gas and sustainable aviation fuels, are one area. Green hydrogen production from electrolysis bridges the gap between electricity and chemical energy carriers, where direct electrification is not feasible. Electrolysis power supplies rely on similar power conversion technology used for electric heating applications. The technology is common with VFDs, which
have been broadly used across many industries for decades.
Solutions for other applications, such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and renewable natural gas (RNG) options also are critical. Simply put, CCUS is the process of capturing, storing and reusing carbon dioxide. Carbon capture is especially attractive in hard to abate industries. RNG is a biogas produced from landfills and other waste operations, such as livestock farms, wastewater and food production operations.
Digitally enabled systems, including drives and motors, and other technologies to manage and optimize processes are required to make these applications adaptable to provide energy for different industries. Here it is also important to work with a partner that understands the challenges and can provide the right equipment as well as design, execute and deliver a solution.
Energy efficiency, decarbonization
Energy must be used efficiently to reduce our impact on the environment, making choosing the right equipment essential to achieving greater efficiency gains faster. Using high-efficiency motors in the system offers a direct reduction in electricity consumption. Even more significant energy savings can be achieved by adding a variable frequency drive to the powertrain.
Without a variable frequency drive, the motor runs constantly at full speed, and the process is controlled through valves and dampers. This results in substantial inefficiencies, as the motor runs at near-rated power, regardless of the process requirement. A variable frequency drive matches motor speed with the actual demand of the process and reduces the energy consumed by the motor. Therefore, the system operates more efficiently, especially for operating points at partial loads. Adding a variable frequency drive to the motor system results in substantial energy savings5. In the example of a fan, reducing rotating equipment speed by 20% can reduce input power requirements by approximately 50%.
Despite this opportunity, on average, only 16% of U.S. industrial motor systems use variable frequency drives6. Adding a variable frequency drive to electrification systems optimizes energy consumption and allows for smoother start-ups and better lifetime reliability of the motor-driven system.
If the demand for global energy continues to rise, as currently indicated, it is imperative that companies take the necessary steps to work towards reducing emissions and energy usage. Renewable energy sources and electrification technologies, including high-efficiency motors, variable frequency drives, energy storage systems and other areas offer solutions to reduce overall energy consumption and achieve decarbonization goals.
Decarbonization examples
ABB designs, produces, and delivers complete electrical powertrain and power conversion solutions to serve customers as they move toward more sustainable electric power generation, increase efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions from industrial processes. For instance, ABB technology supports the hydrogen industry by providing a range of comprehensive rectifier solutions for electrolyzer power supplies in the production and electric motors and VFDs in the transportation and storage of hydrogen. These components address common challenges around harmonic distortion, footprint, and energy efficiency.
‘ Renewable energy sources and electrification technologies , including high-efficiency motors, variable frequency drives, energy storage systems and other areas help reduce overall energy consumption and achieve decarbonization goals.’
In 2024, ABB is investing nearly $100 million in a greenfield campus in New Berlin, Wisconsin, that will showcase on-site generation of renewable energy through solar electricity and geothermal heat pumps to reduce wasted heat and energy usage by 45%.
Part three of this series will cover maximizing industrial energy efficiency with motion services, building upon the decarbonization strategies explored in part two and the foundational role of high-efficiency electric motors discussed in part one. Part 3 will delve into how motion services optimize energy consumption and enhance operational reliability, helping industrial sustainability and addressing the increasing global demand for energy. ce
Michael Basler is the local division manager for the system drives division at ABB in the United States. Edited by Mark T. Hoske, editor-in-chief, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, mhoske@wtwhmedia.com.
With this article online (click headline if reading the digital edition)
uRead part 1 in this series. uSee citations for this article.
Alec Abkemeier, Beckhoff Automation
How do combined DAQ and automation technologies measure up?
Demands on system-integrated measurement technology continue to grow, which makes a strong case to integrate test tech and controls engineering in production.
In an early project, there was a scene of human vs. machine that could have come straight from an old science fiction novel where a company was revamping its manufacturing and test systems, combining both onto an end-to-end software and hardware platform. The idea was to simplify implementation, operation, maintenance and overall data acquisition (DAQ) capabilities on the test and measurement side. It was working beautifully. For the customer, however, it wasn’t enough to take our word for it. Even reviewing real performance data showing this was a better approach didn’t move the needle.
They pitted their best employee with the lega-
cy equipment against the new production and test line. The two had to race to see which could manufacture the product and put it through the necessary tests as fast as possible and with the highest quality. The outcome was predictable. The machine far outperformed the hapless hero.
In this case, there was a better solution available for a combined production and test system and the data backed it up. However, it still took some spectacle to make the client accept the reality of the situation.
Automation frees up operators to perform more valuable, rewarding work at the same time as it boosts machine performance. Powerful, modular and standardized industrial automation also can combine siloed DAQ technologies. In recent years, there are more requirements for more powerful, flexible technologies as companies adapt to global events. That’s on top of tech trends that have been building for a long time. Machines are becoming more sophisticated to adopt Industry 4.0 concepts. Overall production demands have pushed companies to fundamentally rethink the approach to automated manufacturing.
Through this, hardware and software capabilities have risen to the new challenges, such as:
• Larger sets of time-stamped measurement data
FIGURE 1: By leveraging a fully integrated automation platform, engineers can implement test and measurement capabilities into a comprehensive production line. Images courtesy: Beckhoff Automation
FIGURE 2: EtherCAT communication mixes interface types and provides a mechanism to synchronize external sources (via Grandmaster clock or even via GPS).
• Insights into machine operation through advanced condition monitoring
• In-line testing applications to aid in optimizations of automated solutions.
The case for consolidation is getting stronger. What tools and technologies enable engineers accomplish the goal of integrating “black box” DAQ and robust industrial automation solutions?
Language, code collaboration
The heightened adoption of open and flexible industrial protocols has helped redefine what’s possible for in-line test systems. Today’s engineers can tackle modern challenges that require multiple communication interfaces and subsystems, high determinism and synchronization over a variety of scaled applications. In these cases, the EtherCAT industrial Ethernet system has been a game changer.
The emerging interfaces for centralized and decentralized measurement interfaces coupled with devices for synchronization from local to external solve a broad spectrum of problems when test and production automation are disjointed. These advances fulfill almost all technical needs of any engineering team to settle on a common platform and harmonize efforts — from standalone test stands to fully integrated and automated testing.
With the expansion of the test engineer’s toolbox with familiar standards, there also is a need for additional software interfaces to existing tools. Engineers can pull in legacy code from various platforms such as MATLAB/Simulink, NI LabVIEW and VeriStand. As a result, hardware-in-the-loop (HiL), model-inthe-loop (MiL), and software-in-the-loop (SiL) simulations can accelerate system development.
Remove automation, DAQ silos
With the need for integrated test and measurement solutions established and fulfilled, the challenge then
FIGURE 3: Integrated measurement terminals, such as the ELM series from Beckhoff, provide the signal processing capabilities of distributed DAQ with a LEMO™ connection interface.
becomes building a business case to justify this kind of engineering transformation. It’s important to consider the benefits and drawbacks of how this is achieved as well as how to overcome common challenges.
This combined approach excels in these ways:
• Maximized existing plant space. Condense machines that may have similar functions into a single platform. This saves valuable floorspace at a time when industrial real estate costs remain sky-high.
• Simplified workflows for sensor data. Move data through the signal and analysis tools, which are integrated into a comprehensive automation platform alongside other system functions.
• Fast and flexible communication via EtherCAT. Remove additional latencies and temporal challenges in the system by harnessing real-time communication protocols and processing them on the same controls system.
• Greatly reduced system complexity. Simplify cabling solutions by distributing DAQ systems clos-
controleng.com
KEYWORDS: data acquisition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Realize how advances in industrial automation fill the need for high-end data acquisition and testing tools
Understand the advantages of a consolidated engineering approach for production and test and measurement
Identify potential hurdles of this integrated approach and strategies to overcome them.
ONLINE
See more data acquisition stories at https://www. controleng.com/processinstrumentation-sensors/ data-acquisition-daq/
er to quantities of interest, and eliminate additional networking components, such as managed switches, through EtherCAT use of EtherCAT.
• Increased test bench modularity. Piggyback on modular approaches used in industrial automation with all-encompassing control to create modular test bench system designs.
• Streamlined test systems adjustments. Remove the difficulty of making system changes in separate production and test systems. Compartmentalized systems can make it difficult to perform system changes or service, especially when a single engineering group “owns” the system. A fully integrated approach eliminates those unnecessary delays to ensure requests are completed quickly.
• Testing only high-quality products. Enable early detection of loss of product integrity through integrated test and measurement technologies. So the production line can eject product that’s not up to standards before further processing is performed. This not only cuts useless processing times, but it also can reduce waste material and other costs by giving insights into where manufacturing defects and inefficiencies may be occurring. This approach has some drawbacks, such as:
• Disagreement on programming standards. In a siloed test, controls and software engineers often use varying engineering principles. Bridging this
gap may require settling on programming languages between multiple engineering groups. Generally, open interfaces should facilitate each group’s desired flavor of code implementation.
• Inability (or unwillingness) to consolidate tools. This approach introduces the potential of each group adding more tools to satisfy all system requirements. To overcome this, try creating an internal standard framework that is modular and can be tested, and implement standard hardware interfaces to simplify integration.
• Intensive planning among all stakeholders. To get to the technical benefits, you’ll need to undertake a strategic design effort to capture all requirements between the general manufacturing functions and test functions of machines and lines. Develop a rollout plan to approach the conversation between teams. Try starting with small, one-off applications, then grow into a combined effort.
The scale tips in favor of the joint engineering effort. The ability to use the strengths of both teams and distribute test automation throughout the production process far outweighs any downsides. ce
Alec Abkemeier is software product manager – test & measurement, Beckhoff Automation LLC. Edited by Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media LLC, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
FIGURE 4: A flexible architecture harnessing EtherCAT and EtherCAT P can draw on all required hardware components and communication interfaces into a single, universal environment.
Sean Saul, Emerson
Industry 4.0 is the springboard to a holistic automation future
As organizations evaluate the results of their Industry 4.0 investments, many are seeing them as the foundation of a boundless automation future.
For many years, the term Industry 4.0 was inspirational. Manufacturers imagined exciting new ways technology would transform their operations and drive reduced operating and energy costs, while increasing safety and performance. Today, the term has become more difficult to define. Nobody seems sure whether Industry 4.0 is over, or if the promised next Industrial Revolution is still coming, enabling Industry 4.0 to be unleashed. A key driver behind this confusion is a need for flexibility. The technologies behind Industry 4.0 arrived and have been generating massive amounts of data for years, but many operations do not look much different than they did a decade ago.
Fortunately, Industry 4.0’s promise is still ahead for many. It is the foundation upon which a new evolution of the process industries will meet the changing needs of the next generation of industrial operations. Today’s most forward-thinking manufacturers and automation suppliers are utilizing the concepts and enabling technologies of Industry 4.0 alongside a boundless automation vision to develop a unified, consistent data fabric. This approach will eliminate data silos, and it will eliminate the need for complex and fragile integrations across disparate systems and applications.
This vision will also unlock flexible application environments that interact and exchange data, increasing availability of information to drive operational performance, while simultaneously building flexibility and modularity into system architecture. Teams embracing a boundless automation vision will utilize Industry 4.0 technology to find new
ways to democratize data across their enterprise, lowering the total installed and commissioned cost, making it easier to meet modern sustainability and performance goals and delivering a reduced total cost of ownership across the lifecycle of the organization’s automation solutions.
Modern operations require flexibility
Automation has relied on rigidly defined architectures, highly specified installation requirements and hierarchical communication patterns for decades. Modern manufacturing operations, meanwhile, require more flexibility. Most high-per-
KEYWORDS : Industry 4.0
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand Industry 4.0 role for industrial operations.
Learn how manufacturing has become more flexible and data-driven.
FIGURE 1: A fit-for-purpose automation virtualization software such as Emerson DeltaV Virtual Studio for Hyperconverged Infrastructure, simplifies the process of deploying a hyperconverged infrastructure. Images courtesy: Emerson
ANSWERS
forming organizations have maximized optimization of closed-loop control at the unit and plant level. However, they are facing new industry needs requiring optimization from across multiple plants, or even across the enterprise.
These organizations are deploying a broad set of applications that require a more modern deployment approach across multiple environments, and these require an increasing volume and variety of data to deliver optimizations. Therefore, seamless data access from the intelligent field through the edge and into the cloud is critical for success.
FIGURE 2: A unified, consistent data fabric will help manufacturers deliver seamless data access across all application environments.
Today, project-based deployments of hardware and software create silos of data. Production, reliability, safety and sustainability outcomes are often driven by solutions managed at the plant level with particular, and often different, technology stacks and data models designed for one department. Extracting, transforming and landing data for cross-functional use, such as in analytics, becomes a herculean task that is manual, time-consuming and prone to error. As a result, teams need more flexibility in how they operate, empowering them to manage changing market demands, skilled labor availability and other factors.
Evolving hyperconverged infrastructure
deployed to the cloud in the future, providing organizations with the capability to standardize, transform and scale more easily.
This can provide many benefits. For example, many of today’s life sciences operations are born digital, operating from their very first moments with a combined information technology and operational technology outlook. Many of these organizations are trying to move as many workloads to the cloud as possible because cloud functionality provides them with easier deployment, increased standardization and improved visibility over the configurations and applications utilized at each site. HCI, edge technologies and cloud environments will be critical to this new operations paradigm.
Integration simplifies deployment
Insightsu
Industry 4.0 insights
Industry 4.0's promise lies in creating flexible, datadriven operations that enhance performance, improve sustainability and reduce costs through unified data integration. Modern operations need flexible, softwaredefined architectures, like hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and cloud solutions, to streamline data access and enhance enterprise-wide optimization.
To provide flexibility, organizations will start to move away from the traditional methods of deploying technology. Instead of implementing technology following rigid architectures defined by automation manufacturers, the nimblest organizations will begin an architecture transition, adopting solutions that can adapt to their internal operational philosophy. New, software-defined models of automation will help make this automation evolution possible.
Technologies such as hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), edge devices and the cloud are delivering a software-defined technology stack designed for an increasing span of operational supervision and control. For example, HCI-based virtualization eliminates complex networking setups with a single and highly scalable server cluster for deploying software. While proportional-integral-derivative (PID) and other algorithms are often deployed today on a fit-for-purpose controller, it is possible some of these workloads could be deployed on HCI in the future to deliver more flexible operations (Figure 1).
In fact, depending on performance requirements, some mission-critical applications could be
A unified, consistent data fabric will deliver seamless data access across all levels of operations, successfully expanding the availability and use of contextualized data across the enterprise. As operations teams begin implementing technology deployments and modernizations that will form the foundation of next-generation automation, they will want to work closely with expert automation partners. These partners will help them select solutions built on open standards and proven to handle the diversity of operational data required to deliver enterprise optimizations. Teams will benefit from choosing solutions with tools designed to make interoperability simple, secure and intuitive. Manufacturers should select forward-thinking automation technologies that make it easier to build customized solutions that will deliver fast return on investment and continuous value across the lifecycle (Figure 2).
Some of the technologies behind the boundless automation vision are years away from broad adoption, but the foundation to support those technologies will be built upon the Industry 4.0 solutions available today. Building toward that future means choosing thoughtfully today by selecting automation solutions developed with integration by design so the path to more sustainable, optimized operations will be an evolution, rather than a full-scale modernization. ce
Sean Saul is the vice president of the DeltaV Platform at Emerson. Edited by Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media LLC, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
Sunil Pandita, Honeywell
How edge computing can improve operations and sustainability
Edge computing plays a significant role in enabling digitalization for industrial companies and can improve operational management.
Industrial companies today must navigate complex challenges, but they can realize unprecedented opportunities during a time of increased digitalization. Changes brought by Industry 4.0 continue to disrupt manufacturing through the acceleration of connectivity. The manufacturing and energy sectors have embraced this new era of digitalization and connected plant devices to improve operational efficiency and sustainability. Edge computing plays a significant role enabling digitalization for industrial companies.
All about the edge
Many think of edge computing as Internet of Things (IoT) sensor devices or smart cameras. In the industrial world, it also includes processors, universal customer premises equipment (uCPEs), servers, gateways and network routers. Edge computing empowers a framework for processing data by enterprise applications close to their data sources.
Cloud computing is a bit different. Organizations use cloud computing to process and analyze data using software on the internet from a hosted cloud provider. It offers many benefits including excellent scalability and access to connected devices from anywhere. Cloud computing can enable centralized monitoring, analytics and benchmarking at an enterprise level. Moving all data to the cloud can be very expensive, so it requires strategic thinking while selecting cases for taking manufacturing and process data to the cloud.
Edge computing works well in industrial operations. Instead of computations taking place in a data center, edge devices can process significant amounts
of data to facilitate near real-time decisions driven by data. It ensures reduced latency and requires lower bandwidth; most processing happens at the edge. Industrial IoT devices can record and analyze data at the edge. Then it can send the data to the cloud for deeper analytics with other online tools.
Edge computing cases
Three of the most pressing issues industrial operations face today include improving sustainability, increasing operational efficiency and addressing skilled worker shortages. These important challenges continue to drive manufacturers to invest in edge computing as part of their digital transformation journeys. In industrial companies, the push for more sustainable operations has become an increasing priority. This extends to operations that support the energy transition with renewable energy sources, decarbonization and electrification.
Industrial companies may use sensors at the edge and apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze energy consumption in buildings. They can then optimize the energy usage required for climate control systems so facilities consume less energy. Some companies are using edge sensors to measure fugitive and process greenhouse (GHG) emission leaks and continuously monitor sites for emissions. Combined with an emissions management software system, edge data can enable emissions reductions.
To help companies increase electrification, edge devices in battery energy storage systems (BESS) can make better decisions about energy management to help deliver more efficient operations.
‘ Cloud computing can process and analyze data with cloud provider software.’
controleng.com
KEYWORDS: edge computing
LEARNING OBJECTIVES Understand the difference between edge and cloud computing and the role each plays.
Learn how edge computing can improve manufacturing operations.
Learn about edge computing cases in industrial operations and the ways it helps companies improve.
ONLINE
See additional edge and cloud computing stories at https://www.controleng. com/edge-cloud-computing/
CONSIDER THIS
What role does edge computing play in your manufacturing operation?
ANSWERS
Insights
uEdge computing enhances industrial operations by enabling near real-time data processing, reducing latency and lowering bandwidth requirements.
uImplementing edge computing helps industrial companies improve sustainability, operational efficiency and address skilled worker shortages through advanced analytics and monitoring.
BESS systems enable organizations to use stored electricity to meet demand without fossil fuels.
Many organizations invest in edge computing to drive down manufacturing costs and push for more efficient operations. When industrial IoT devices and sensors record data such as raw materials and energy consumed, this data can be analyzed to produce timely production insights. Some industries are using insights from edge devices to improve asset reliability through equipment monitoring, predictive maintenance and closed-loop control and optimization. Companies also can use edge devices to build more resilient supply chains by tracking raw materials, production flows, logistics and shipping.
u Education and personal development are vital to the advancement of the engineering community.
The shortage of skilled workers has been particularly acute in the energy industry. Connected worker solutions use edge devices to teach remote workers how to execute field work with technology such as augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) systems.
Edge computing, future manufacturing
For the foreseeable future, edge computing will
play an important role in operations because we live in a hybrid time when not everything can be moved to the cloud. Edge and cloud computing are working more closely together to deliver powerful analytics and new operational insights. They are empowering enterprise software solutions to improve performance through insights and help organizations meet important regulatory reporting requirements. Cybersecurity continues to be an important area. Edge computing provides better data security because it processes sensitive information closer to the source, which can limit exposure of certain data. In the future, deep packet inspection will be handled by edge devices to enable better connection to cloud solutions.
Edge computing will continue to play an important role in processing data to drive faster decisions. ce
Sunil Pandita, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Cyber and Connected Industrials. Edited by Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media LLC, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
We invite our readers to explore and utilize the educational efforts of this year’s participants in our annual Educating Engineers program.
A
utomationDirect provides free online PLC training to anyone and everyone with no purchase necessary.
As the world around us becomes more and more automated, an understanding of electrical control systems becomes more and more vital. Because of this, the demand for training in industrial controls has grown exponentially over the years.
Luckily, AutomationDirect has decided to meet this demand head-on by offering absolutely FREE online PLC training –no purchase necessary!
This online video training course encompasses various levels of training from entry level programming to advanced PLC functions, and is available 24/7/365 so you can learn at your pace and at your convenience.
Some of the general topics covered include:
• Logic circuits
• Basic switches
• Sinking and sourcing
• PLC scan time
• I/O fundamentals
• PLC memory addressing
Scan the QR to view video about training opportunities.
A
wide variety of free training videos can be found at automationdirect.com.
Also available are over 200 videos specifically covering AutomationDirect PLCs and include topics on how to use their rung editors, logic instructions, internal control relays, subroutines, communication, data view windows and many other functions.
• CLICK PLC Family Video Library
• Do-more\BRX PLC Family Video Library
• Productivity PLC Family Video Library
This training is provided by AutomationDirect’s education and training partner Interconnecting Automation who has been training automation professionals for more than 20 years. Interconnecting Automation’s instructors pride themselves on providing a “no hype”, “no sales pitch” type of instruction and aim to thoroughly help others learn about PLC products so they are ready to use these products to their fullest potential.
To get unlimited access to the FREE online PLC training or to see more about what is provided, head on over to www.automationdirect.com/plc-training.
Technical resources you need from an automation vendor you can depend on
The Beckhoff team works hard to design and deliver the most advanced automation and controls technologies available. Of course, that is only half the battle as offering best-inclass education and training is also crucially important. A wide range of online resources are available 24/7/365 from Beckhoff for engineers:
Free E-Learning Portal - Beckhoff USA offers an extensive e-learning portal with a range of presentations on topics related to industrial automation – and you’re invited to join! These useful educational resources are free and open to the readers of Control Engineering magazine. Multiple classes are available, including topics from all Beckhoff product families: automation software, industrial PCs, I/O, drive technology and advanced mechatronics.
Each presentation is followed by a quiz to reinforce the topics covered and gauge what you’ve learned. No Beckhoff hardware is required to participate, but there are modules that permit students to use their own Beckhoff equipment during the training.
Register for an account at learn.beckhoffus.com and start learning today!
Educational Webinars - Pressed for time? Beckhoff offers many webinars throughout the year on a wide range of interesting topics, particularly automation and controls programming, industrial Ethernet applications, tips for designing world-class motion control architectures and much more.
Visit www.beckhoff.com/webinar to learn more. Don’t forget to visit the webinar archive to view the complete history of Beckhoff webinars anytime.
FREE TwinCAT Engineering Environment - Programmers and engineers can download the base engineering module of TwinCAT 3, the leading PC-based automation software at no charge from Beckhoff (TE1000).
Visit www.beckhoff.com/twincat3 to quickly download and install TwinCAT 3 on your programming and development PC today!
Diagnostic Switches Simplify Testing
One of the benefits of switched Ethernet technology is that the switch restricts directed messages to only those ports participating in the communication by learning the MAC addresses of the devices. This improves overall network throughput by not burdening end stations with useless traffic.
However, this feature makes protocol debugging difficult because a protocol analyzer tool attached to an unused port on the switch cannot observe the directed messages.
The Skorpion Diagnostic Switch solves this issue because it never learns MAC addresses and therefore floods traffic to all ports. This feature is ideal for network troubleshooting because all network traffic can be observed from any port using sniffer tools such as Wireshark.
The Skorpion Diagnostic Switch is great replacement for old
Connect the Skorpion Diagnostic Switch between two embedded Ethernet devices and view their messages using Wireshark.
“Ethernet Hubs” requiring no additional configuration by the user.
The Skorpion Diagnostic Switch retains all the features of an unmanaged switch, such as autonegotiation and auto-MDIX, but because it does not learn, it is ideal for troubleshooting. Being able to view all the communication packets helps the user determine why devices are not responding properly.
Designed for the demanding requirements of an industrial automation environment, the Skorpion Diagnostic Switch can be permanently installed or replaced with an unmanaged
switch once the system is commissioned. This device can also be useful when developing embedded Ethernet devices because you can connect the Skorpion Diagnostic Switch between two embedded Ethernet devices and view their messages using Wireshark.
Models are available that support gigabit speeds which minimize transfer time and improve the ability to stream high-bandwidth files to connected devices without interference.
LabsLand Prism4, Available Exclusively Through DigiKey
Unveiling the next frontier in remote engineering: the LabsLand Prism4, exclusively launched by DigiKey. This groundbreaking platform redefines how engineers interact with hardware systems in real-time, setting new standards in efficiency and accessibility.
Designed in collaboration with LabsLand, the Prism4 boasts a modular structure that seamlessly integrates cameras, modular lights, and evaluation boards into Phase Dock workbench bases. Engineers can effortlessly attach and interact with devices using clicks and slides, enhancing workflow efficiency.
Ideal for educational environments, the Prism4 offers pre-configured hardware systems featuring FPGAs, microprocessors, and microcontrollers. Its design supports the creation of remote laboratories across various disciplines, empowering educators and students with hands-on learning experiences.
“LabsLand’s technology enables unparalleled remote control of hardware platforms, accessible anytime, anywhere,” emphasizes David Sandys, senior director of technical marketing at DigiKey. “This collaboration extends DigiKey’s commitment to delivering real-time evaluation and educational solutions globally.”
Beyond educational benefits, the Prism4 serves as a vital tool for engineers and designers alike. It facilitates product demonstration, evaluation, testing, and design, enabling direct interaction with hardware before purchase. Software engineers can harness the platform to develop code and program remote targets with
Prism4 technology enables unparalleled remote control of hardware platforms and extends DigiKey’s commitment to delivering educational solutions globally.
actual hardware, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Elevate your engineering capabilities with the LabsLand Prism4, now available through DigiKey. Experience firsthand the power of real-time hardware interaction and innovation. Join us in transforming the future of engineering education and development.
For more information and to explore how the LabsLand Prism4 can accelerate your projects, visit DigiKey’s website or contact our knowledgeable team today.
Endress+Hauser is a global leader in process automation with more than 70 years of history serving many industries across the world.
Our core values of sustainability, friendliness, excellence and commitment drive our desires to invest in the long-term and provide truly excellent work experiences.
Challenging work and training opportunities with an international company provides an excellent starting point for professional career development; and Endress+Hauser offers early workforce candidates extensive possibilities to grow personally and professionally. See some of the many opportunities available at Endress+Hauser.
Pre-Apprenticeship
Our program offers pre-apprenticeship opportunities to gain valuable technical and workplace skills and job experience, while completing high school and college simultaneously. Once a student
successfully graduates, they are immediately eligible for direct employment.
Endress+Hauser Apprenticeships
Apprentices can learn over 20 skilled areas ranging from mechanical, electrical, systems integration, lean principles, and problem solving. What they learn in class is then reinforced with on-the-job training and mentorship.
The advancement and placement of our apprentices is key to our business strategy, we have a 100% retention rate of our apprentices and look to build on that for long term pipeline for our future.
Summer Engineering Internship
Students can also enhance their skillset through a 12-week summer internship. Interns fully integrate into the Endress+Hauser community, working on projects that benefit our program long after the summer ends. This program is comprehensive and offers opportunities in over 16 departments including business and engineering.
From early development through future opportunities, at Endress+Hauser, we prepare the workforce for tomorrow, today.
Scan QR code to learn more
The 2024 Endress+Hauser USA apprenticeship class
Develop Engineering Talent for Top-Level Customer Service
A key aspect of developing engineering talent is to involve them in the process.
A common trait among successful companies is providing a superior customer experience. To do that, companies must invest in good systems, processes and people, especially regarding engineering talent. Continuous improvement generally occurs to maintain the preferred customer experience even with changes in customer demands and the overall economic environment. Most companies routinely invest in upgrading systems and processes based on programs like Lean Six Sigma, but not everyone takes the same approach with upgrading their engineers’ skills.
One key aspect of developing engineering talent is to involve them in the process rather than making assumptions. Development decisions made because “that’s how we’ve always done it at XYZ Corporation” are likely to fall short of the needs and expectations of today’s workforce. Generations Y and Z demonstrate a greater desire to participate in learning
and development opportunities, having navigated education systems that taught them to establish a roadmap for success.
Have managers conduct sessions with their employees to discuss their interests and create learning and development paths. Some will want to become subject matter experts in a specific area; others will want a broader range of responsibilities. Some from each category may desire to become a formal leader someday. Each path has overlaps but distinct differences. By listening to your engineering talent, you can create individualized development
plans that require little effort yet keep your crucial talent engaged in their current roles. They will be prepared to take on more while delivering that allimportant level of customer service.
This article was written by Billy Hamilton, Senior Vice
President
of Human Resources for Motion. He has over 30 years of experience in human resources with companies such as Overhead Door Corporation and Lockheed Martin. He is passionate about talent management and data analytics.
Click here or scan QR to learn more.
For more information, visit Motion.com/learning-development/
Learn How to Add Ethernet/IP
Into Your Device.
Including Integration, Data Modeling and Conformance with RTA.
Join our Enginerds® team for a comprehensive two-day educational workshop at RTA on September 17-18, 2024. Throughout this workshop, we will guide you through the process of bringing an EtherNet/ IP-enabled device to market. You’ll benefit from detailed, step-by-step, hands-on training and gain valuable industry insights from our experts.
This workshop is for software developers deploying EtherNet/IP source code. During the workshop attendees will deploy an EtherNet/IP stack on a Raspberry Pi module and take it through conformance.
When you enroll, you’ll receive a $1,500 tuition reimbursement voucher that can be used towards any future EtherNet/IP source code project at RTA. That’s more than 1/3 of your tuition!
You’ll engage in dedicated lab sessions and hands-on training. We’ll cover data modeling, model design, TCP/IP communications, functional testing tools and systems, conformance, EDS creation and exploring current trends. Our goal is to ensure you leave equipped with the knowledge and capabilities to successfully add EtherNet/IP to your devices.
You’re receiving far more than just educational training with us. You’ll also have lodging on the nights of September 16th and 17th with a Wisconsin-style brewery tour and
Attend engaging lab sessions and hands-on training with
networking event in between. We want you to be informed, comfortable and entertained while you’re here.
If you need to stay a third night just let us know your travel plans and we’ll pay for your third night too! Plus, a full meal plan. Yes, you read that correctly – hotel and meals are included! It’s really the total package.
Five-Point Security Checklist for Industrial AI Connections
Industrial AI needs process data, but production systems must stay secure. How can you provide qualified users secure access to your process data for AI applications?
Here’s what you need to consider.
1. Outbound connections - Make only outbound connections from the plant to the cloud, IT department, or a DMZ. Keep all inbound firewall ports closed and use no VPNs for zero attack surface.
2. Flexible data flow - Enforce one-way data flow, or allow for bidirectional, if needed. Enable connectivity for the major industrial data protocols—OPC UA, OPC DA, A&E, MQTT, Modbus, and others within a unified namespace.
3. Secure nodes and networking – Restrict each interface by username and password, with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and authorization by connection source and protocol, if possible. Use SSL with the latest encryption cipher for all network connections.
4. DMZ support – Comply with the NIS2 Directive and NIST CSF 2.0 requirements for network segmentation, by using a DMZ, which is best done with a tunnel/mirroring solution. Neither OPC UA nor MQTT were designed for DMZ-based architectures.
5. Data diodes – Employ data diode hardware for an extra layer of security to ensure that absolutely no data or connection gets back to the OT system. Or use tunnel/mirror software capable of running in data diode mode.
Find out more about these five recommendations for securing industrial AI connections, and how to best implement them using Cogent DataHub software from Skkynet.
Bi-directionalsynchronization: the critical component missing from Historical Databases not designed for SCADA.
If you think a SCADA Historian is just another database, think again. Historians are designed to handle the massive amounts of process data generated by industrial systems every second. They need to make that data useful across the organization, from operators to managers. They also need to protect this history by synchronizing it across multiple locations in real time. This is where most Historians fall short. They only offer limited and complex options for distributed synchronization, which are often only feasible for large-scale applications. Even then, they can’t guarantee more than two levels of backup, sometimes within the same site. That’s not good enough for today’s SCADA needs.
The native VTScada Historian was designed specifically for SCADA. Thanks to its ability to perform
automatic bi-directional synchronisation across a LAN or WAN, it provides Enterprise-level resiliency for even the smallest applications and greatly reduces complexity and risk for massive, distributed systems. No coding required. Sharing data with other business systems is easy.
Bi-directional synchronisation means that all backup servers, wherever they’re located, automatically synchronize time-stamped data logged by the primary server. Any number of servers can take over in sequence should the primary become unavailable. If any or all servers are disconnected, they will log local I/O and distribute it to one another when their connections are restored.
Some SCADA products include a limited Historian that you will need to replace or upgrade in an expensive and involved process. Every VTScada license, even our free VTScadaLIGHT, includes the same powerful Historian that has been running multi-million tag applications for decades.
Scan the QR to learn more or visit: www.vtscada.com
Toll-free: 1-800-463-2783 (North America) Worldwide: 1-902-835-1575
info@trihedral • www.vtscada.com
Improving Plant Performance with Asset Health Monitoring: The 5 Best Practices
1. Consolidate Data
Integrating data from numerous sources is a daunting task, where automated data integration platforms prove invaluable. Yokogawa Asset Health Insights (AHI) combines maintenance and asset data for a unified and 3D view of industrial assets.
2. Optimize Performance and Profitability
Potential asset failures are flagged to site engineers by AHI, which collects data with IoT sensors to measure the delta between actual and optimal asset efficiency. This helps identify potential energy savings, detect anomalies, and generate proactive alerts.
3. Enable Predictive Asset Maintenance
Using IoT technology enables predictive maintenance in assets that require considerable care and attention to operate at their optimal level. With AHI, plant and maintenance managers benefit from a comprehensive view of assets across the operation.
4. Prioritize Operational Safety
A proactive safety approach, guided by thorough asset management, can significantly decrease accident chances and minimize avoidable risks. AHI generates proactive alerts, which flag potential risk scenarios to plant and maintenance managers for immediate action.
5. Promote Situational Awareness
Real-time situational awareness (RTSA) and asset tracking are closely linked. RTSA facilitates rapid and precise asset tracking through features like dynamic situation monitoring, data point monitoring in real-time, data aggregation, analysis of large datasets, and integration of multiple streams for centralized visualization.
yokogawa/us • Phone: (800) 888-6400
LEARN MORE ABOUT ASSET HEALTH
Innovations
Redesigned, cost-effective, made in America HMI adds patented online editing
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) integrating human-machine interfaces (HMIs) into machine designs can consider EZAutomation EZ5 series HMIs with patented online programming updates, included USB Wi-Fi communications and stable, lower-cost, made-in-America quality. The EZ5 HMI has intuitive, wireless online programming and an updated processor. The newly designed 7-inch model of the EZ5 series HMI is described as a full-featured HMI. The EZ5 series HMI also is available in 4-, 8-, 10-, 12- and 15-inch screens. All EZTouch units have capability to drag and drop code onto a ladder-logic rung for faster and easier programming updates. EZAutomation offers free code conversion for orders of $4,000 or more. A visibility tag for each object allows easy determination if an object is visible or not visible. This provides users a way to drill down to find out more about connected devices. EZ5 series HMI specifications: Can communicate to more than 95% of PLCs including via EtherNet/IP (ODVA), 2 serial ports, Ethernet, 2 USB, MicroSD ports. It has a 0.090-inch-thick touch screen, 300 Nits @ 50K hours, C-Level scripting, email/technology alerts, data logging, remote-monitoring and control over internet or smartphones, Unicode for multiple languages, on-screen recipe editing and unique visibility tag for best screen space utilization. EZ5 HMI starter kits are available for 7-inch and 12-inch sizes with EZ miniWifi, programming software, programming cable and 60W power supply. EZAutomation, https://EZAutomation.net/HMI-Human-Machine-Interface/ez5series/ez5-series-intro.php
Stepper motor integrates controller, encoder
The Nanotec PD1-C is a stepper motor with an integrated controller and encoder. With a flange size of 28 mm (NEMA 11), this compact smart servo reaches a maximum holding torque of 18 Ncm and a peak current of 3 A. Three motor versions are available: one with protection class IP20, a version with IP65 protection and a motor with open housing that can be modified for applications with custom connectors. A CANopen and a Modbus RTU interface facilitate parameterization, and Nanotec’s free plug and drive studio software ensures a user-friendly programming experience. Nanotec, www.us.nanotec.com
Multivariable (MVS) transmitter
The OleumTech H Series Multivariable Transmitter is a versatile 3-in-1 instrument designed to deliver precise measurements of differential and static absolute pressure (high side) along with process temperature through an external PT100 ohm RTD sensor (4-wire). Applications include mission-critical flow applications such as oil and gas, water and wastewater and other challenging industrial uses. It supports RS485 Modbus and is easy to install and operate, integrating easily with popular third-party flow computers. It has a variety of options.
Intelligent actuators increased speeds
OleumTech, www.oleumtech.com external applications wastewater uses. install of options.
Rotork added features to IQ3 Pro intelligent actuators, including increased speeds for the IQT3F Pro electric modulating actuators (sizes 50, 100 and 125), independent open/close speeds for part-turn actuators and closed-loop control for the multi-turn and part-turn actuators. Adjustable speed, including a slow mode for accurate positioning and a high-speed option where faster speeds are required, can fit choke valve applications. Speed setting configuration works for clockwise and anti-clockwise rotation. IQ3M Pro actuators use the PID closed-loop control method. Rotork, www.rotork.com
Innovations
Analytics software to enhance IT/OT convergence
TrendMiner 2023.R4 release enhances reporting, connectivity and cloud support. It accelerates IT/ OT convergence and simplifies integration of data sources. Easier connections to ODBC and JDBC data sources allows easier access to various types of data. It democratizes data for operational experts, provides a more comprehensive view of operations, and aids in data-driven decision-making. Schedule manager enables the configuration of different schedules to account for regional, seasonal or geographical differences, enhancing flexibility and relevance of reports and dashboards. Built on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform, the SaaS offering incorporates the latest best practices in deployment, runtime and optimization. TrendMiner, www.trendminer.com
Industrial gear units
SEW Eurodrive’s XMiner industrial gear units are specifically designed for the rigorous demands of mining and aggregates applications including conveyor systems, crushers, and apron feeders. The alignment-free plug-and-play design simplifies installation, while the Taconite heavy-duty sealing system for abrasive environments like mining and cement, features grease purge-able labyrinth seals and laminar rings to prevent debris from entering the gear units. They are said to be ideal for mining and heavy industrial operations. SEW-Eurodrive, www.seweurodrive.com
Unmanaged Ethernet series
The ToughNet TN-5300A Series M12 unmanaged Ethernet switches are designed for industrial applications in harsh environments. The TN-5300A Series switches use M12 connectors to ensure tight, robust connections, and guarantee reliable resistance against environmental disturbances, such as vibration and shock. The TN-5300A Series Ethernet switches provide 5 or 8 Fast Ethernet M12 ports, support IEEE 802.3/802.3u/802.3x with 10/100M, full/half-duplex, MDI/ MDI-X auto-sensing, and provide an economical solution for an industrial Ethernet network. All TN-5300A Series models support an extended operating temperature range of -40 to 70 °C. The TN-5300A Series also comply with all mandatory requirements of the EN 50155 standard.
Moxa, www.moxa.com
Multifunctional analog I/O terminal
Beckhoff’s EL4374 analog I/O terminal is designed to increase system flexibility and simplify parts management. The EL4374 is a multipurpose, combined input/output for -10/0 to +10 V or -20/0/+4 to +20 mA signals that can be used for standard automation tasks at a rate of 1 ksps per channel. The ability to measure such a wide range of signals enables companies to use a single terminal in place of multiple specialized terminals, reducing cost and space requirements in I/O systems. This lets engineers adapt to evolving application requirements and stock fewer part numbers while improving readiness for unforeseen challenges and future application changes. The EL4374 terminal combines two analog inputs and two analog outputs in a compact 12-mm housing. Beckhoff Automation LLC, www.beckhoff.com
Coriolis mass flowmeter
Krohne’s Optimass 1400 Coriolis mass flowmeter measures mass and volume flow, density and concentration for food and beverage industry applications. The flowmeter comes with Entrained Gas Management (EGM) for applications with aerated products (e.g raw milk, yogurt, and ice cream). It is drainable and easy to clean with a small footprint. It has twin measuring tubes, which leverage the Coriolis effect to provide highly accurate readings across a range of flow conditions and fluid types. The product is easily drained, easy to clean, and resistant to installation and process effects, achieving a long working life. Krohne, www.krohne.com
Back to Basics
Benefits of edge-hosted AI for manufacturers
Edge-hosted AI can increase the efficiency and resilience of process control and automation operations, especially remotely or when cloud connections break.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms trained on cloud-hosted datasets can be executed locally on computing devices at the edge of the network to give industrial plants the benefit of secure real-time processing and analysis of data at the point of production and consumption.
A few industries remain untouched by the transformative power of AI as a central element in their digitalization strategies. From a process control and automation perspective, AI offers huge potential to support the analysis and management of vast data sets produced by thousands of connected devices, systems and processes in a modern industrial facility.
Applied in a typical industrial environment, AI can help optimize the efficiency, reliability and safety of control processes. It can help reduce the need for human intervention in laborious or routine tasks, and ultimately it can contribute to increased plant uptime while reducing operating costs. AI paves the way towards the longer-term goal of fully automated plant operation. AI algorithms, fed by years of real-world operations data, can be trained using ML to spot trends and anomalies that no human engineer would normally notice. These insights can be harnessed to warn of the imminent failure of a sensor, or to suggest how a particular process can be fine-tuned to make it more energy efficient.
Edge AI describes the application of AI to execute tasks in real-time – or close to it – on a connected device.
edge computing’s origins date back to the turn of the millennium, deployment of AI models at the network’s edge is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Advances in CPU power and circuit miniaturization give compact hardware appliances number-crunching capabilities that would have been considered supercomputer-like a decade ago. High-speed 5G connectivity allows data to be harvested from thousands or millions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, feeding increasingly sophisticated AI/ML models hosted in the cloud or at a remote data center. As those models are trained with more devices and more data, they become iteratively smarter, more accurate and more reliable.
Shifting AI computing power to the network’s edge has several benefits. It significantly reduces the bandwidth requirements and associated costs of transporting huge amounts of data between field-based devices and the cloud. Executing applications locally, rather than at a distant location, it also slashes system latency (the round-trip time between data’s point of origin and where it’s processed). Even a hundred ms delay between system input and output could have catastrophic consequences in some applications.
Effective decision-making hinges on ensuring timely access to accurate, relevant data, with the ability to rapidly analyze and interpret that information.In the context of a process control environment, it is this imperative to ‘do more with data’ that is turning the spotlight on the use of AI where it is most valuable, where operations data is produced and consumed.
Edge AI benefits
Edge AI describes the application of AI to execute tasks in real-time, or close to it, on a connected device. Data informing the AI engine’s decision-making process may be hosted remotely in the cloud. Equally it may reside in close proximity to the device itself, at the figurative edge of the network. While
Co-locating computing resources where data is produced and consumed mitigates potential cybersecurity risks of connecting sites to a remote data center over the internet. While private and public clouds provide high levels of intrinsic security, keeping commercially sensitive data on premises, may offer reassurance about data integrity. ce
Vikas Maurya is global product line manager, edge, cloud and IoT at ABB. This originally appeared on Control Engineering Europe. Edited by Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
controleng.com
KEYWORDS: Edge AI, artificial intelligence
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