Control System World

I have a 5 MB connection out to my remote sites in the field. For each site, I need to poll for status, alarm, and historical data. If I have one hundred sites, how fast can I poll each data set? How long will it take to send a control signal? Do I need to upgrade the connection? Downgrade?

Ever find yourself asking these questions? If yes, you are officially a SCADA geek—but you are not alone. In Oil & Gas, Water & Wastewater, and Power, remote facilities like wellsites, pump stations, and substations can number in the hundreds or even thousands, and remote monitoring of these assets results in huge efficiency gains to the business.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could run dedicated fiber lines out to each site, and never worry about bandwidth? Of course this isn’t practical, and instead we need to use technologies like radio, cellular, and satellite communications that are lower bandwidth and more costly per byte. As a result, SCADA owners are required to fine tune how and when they collect data from the field.

In this whitepaper, we’ll discuss scheduling needs and how the new Scheduler Plug-In for KEPServerEX addresses them.

NI, the provider of platform-based systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, announced today the NI PXIe-8880 controller, which is based on the Intel® Xeon® processor, and the NI PXIe-1085 chassis, which is the industry’s first chassis that uses PCI Express Gen 3 technology. The combination of the eight-core, server-class Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2618L v3 and full system bandwidth of 24 GB/s delivers breakthrough performance for computationally intensive and highly parallel applications such as wireless test, semiconductor test and 5G prototyping. Customers can take advantage of the flexibility of the PXI platform to replace previous generation controllers with the NI PXIe-8880 and see up to double the performance in their test and measurement applications.

“Over the past two decades, we have witnessed a gradual shift from traditional instrumentation in favor of the PXI platform for automated test,” said Jessy Cavazos, industry manager for measurement and instrumentation at Frost & Sullivan. “With the addition of Intel® Xeon® processor technology, we expect the adoption of PXI to only increase for high-performance applications.”

NI collaborated with Intel to deliver the server-class power of Intel® Xeon® processors to the test and measurement market. The embedded controller features eight cores, up to 24 GB of DDR4 memory and 24 lanes of PCI Express Gen 3 connectivity to the backplane. This provides engineers and scientists with up to twice the processing power and bandwidth compared to previous generation controllers. In addition, the new 18-slot chassis incorporates PCI Express Gen 3 technology with eight lanes per slot for a matched total system bandwidth of 24 GB/s, so any test and measurement system can scale well into the future.

“The use of the latest Intel® Xeon® processors is a new milestone for our collaboration with NI,” said Shahram Mehraban, director of market development for Industrial IoT at Intel. “The Internet of Things requires the highest possible processing power to reduce time to market and lower the cost of test, and NI’s approach with PXI is critical toward that goal.”

An expansion of Bahrain's Sitra crude oil refinery is expected to cost around $5 billion and the facility is likely to be commissioned by 2019, the kingdom's energy minister said on Tuesday.

"We have the refinery modernisation which will cost around $5 billion. Already front-end engineering and design (FEED) has been awarded - FEED should be ready by the end of the first quarter of 2016," Abdul-Hussain bin Ali Mirza told Reuters.

"The increase in capacity according to the current plan is from 260,000 barrels per day to 360,000 and it will be commissioned by 2019." He added, "Financing will be through borrowing, we haven't finalised this yet."

Bahrain lacks the ample crude oil and financial resources of the big Gulf energy exporters, and its state finances are under heavy pressure from the plunge of oil prices since last year. But Bahraini officials have said they will press ahead with key projects that are needed to develop the economy.

Construction of a pipeline between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which will replace an ageing one and lift capacity to 350,000 bpd from 230,000, is expected to be finished by 2018, Mirza said. Previously, officials had estimated the pipeline would be completed by the third quarter of 2016. Mirza did not give a reason for the change.

He added that this year Bahrain would ask companies to bid to explore offshore blocks for oil and gas. He did not give a specific date or say which companies would participate as a roadshow for investors has not taken place yet.

The chief executive of Bahrain's National Oil and Gas Holding Co, Mohamed al-Khalifa, told reporters on Monday that the launch of the bidding round "will depend on the situation of the market".

Mirza said in a speech late on Sunday that his country had completed a pilot project to generate 5 megawatts of solar power and was close to launching another pilot plant to generate 3 MW of solar power and 2 MW of wind power.

Kepware Technologies, a software development company focused on communications for automation, today announced that in an effort to promote STEM education and workforce development in Maine, it is accepting applications for its second annual school grant contest. The contest is open to any school, classroom, school club, or educational program located and operating in the state.

Kepware will accept applications until April 3, 2015. Applicants will be evaluated on a one-page essay detailing why the grant is needed and how it will be used to improve educational opportunities for Maine students. Up to three grant recipients will be selected. Winners will be announced on June 1, 2015 and receive the grants for use during the 2015-2016 school year.

"Developing a thriving, technical workforce starts long before one enters the job market," said Tony Paine, CEO, Kepware. "Students need to begin learning technical skills at an early age, and that starts with access to computers. Yet many schools and academic organizations in the state are lacking access to this critical resource. Companies like Kepware can help change that."

The program originated in 2014 following Paine's correspondence with Jessica Walling, a fourth grade teacher from the Farrington School in Augusta, Maine. Walling's students could only utilize a shared lab of equipment for one hour a week and sign out laptops as they were available. Concerned that such limited access would hinder the development of necessary skills, she contacted Paine to see if Kepware could help alleviate the technology gap. Ultimately, Kepware donated over $10,000 to the school to procure 25 laptops, and Paine decided to turn the program into an annual contest.

"Because of Kepware's donation, every fourth grade student at the Farrington School has access to a computer," said Walling. "Now our students have the tools they need to build the foundational technical skills that will help them succeed when they enter the competitive workforce."

The annual school grant contest is just one of several philanthropic initiatives driven by Kepware to promote STEM education and workforce development in Maine. Each year, its Summer Internship Program offers four full-time internships to students within the field of engineering, and in 2014, it donated over $30,000 in software to the University of Maine, Orono's Electrical Engineering Technology Program.

Applicants can submit essays and supporting documentation via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by post to Kepware Technologies, 2015 School Grant Contest, 400 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101. Complete contest rules and eligibility can be found online.

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management, unveiled this week the 100 teams that qualified for the semi-finals of Go Green in the City, the global student challenge focusing on innovative energy solutions for cities.

As in previous years, candidates selected will present a case study focusing on energy solutions for cities with the support of a Schneider Electric mentor. Working in teams of two, with at least one woman in the team, students will devise viable solutions for energy management sectors critical to cities, such as: home, university, retail, water and hospital.

Thanks to the 2014 edition of Go Green in the City which opened the challenge to countries across the globe (especially to Africa and Asia-Pacific) the contest expanded to many additional teams. This year, over 12,800 engineering and business, bachelor or master degree and MBA students from 168 countries registered for the contest. Among them, 904 teams from 59 countries have seen their submission considered in the Top 100 selection.

“The increasing number of participants shows that new generation of future engineers and leaders care for the planet. They are fully aware that the increased demand for energy will have to be balanced with social progress and environmental protection, said Olivier Blum, Chief Human Resources Officer, Schneider Electric. “Schneider Electric is delighted to interact with these young talents coming from all over the world and to involve them in the energy challenge of our cities.”

The Top 100 teams will have 4 weeks to expand their case study with an assigned employee mentor from Schneider Electric. The mentor will provide feedback and coaching to help them develop a synopsis and a video business case for this semi-finalist round of the competition.

On April 17th, the 12 best teams will be selected by a jury composed of Schneider Electric employees, and they will be invited to travel to Paris in June to compete in the final event. The winning team will travel the world, VIP-style, with Schneider Electric, visiting facilities and networking with employees and high-level management. The winning team will also be offered an employment opportunity with Schneider Electric.

Find out more about the challenge on www.GoGreenInTheCity.com

SITRANS F M MAG 1100 is a wafer design sensor in stainless steel with highly resistant liners and electrodes and is designed for the general industry environment. The flangeless wafer design meets all flange standards.

The SITRANS F M MAG 1100 is used in all industries where the corrosion-resistant stainless steel housing and the highly resistant liner and electrodes fit even the most extreme process media.

Benefits:

• Compact wafer design meets EN 1092, DIN and ANSI flange standards
• Easy Plug & Play field changeability of transmitter
• Compact or remote mounting possible
• Highly resistant liner and electrodes that are suitable for most extreme process media
• Designed to allow patented MAG in-situ verification using the SENSORPROM fingerprint

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Rockwell Automation reduces boot-up time and increases installation flexibility with the new space-saving Allen-Bradley PanelView 800 family of graphic terminals. The terminals, available in 4-inch, 7-inch and 10-inch display sizes, feature an 800 MHz CPU processor, up to 256 MB of flash, and dynamic memory to reduce boot-up time, making it two times faster than the previous PanelView Component terminal. The terminals also offer improved touch-screen responsiveness and can be configured in portrait and standard landscape mode for greater installation flexibility.

“The PanelView 800 family of terminals builds on the Rockwell Automation Connected Components Workbench software’s value of giving machine builders simplified engineering, easy configuration, faster installation and reduced start-up time,” said Chee Wah Lee, product manager, Rockwell Automation. “This family of graphic terminals is ideally suited for meeting control and visualization requirements in a wide range of simple, standalone applications, such as pump stations, packaging machines, labelers and stretch-wrap machines.”

The PanelView 800 graphic terminals are specifically designed for use with the Allen‑Bradley Micro800 and MicroLogix control systems. The terminals’ high-resolution screens with LED backlights can display up to 65,536 colors, providing a sharp display for a wide range of applications. Built-in Ethernet and serial communications ports (RS232, RS422 and RS485) support easier controller connectivity, while USB and microSD ports make file transfers easier. The terminals are also certified for Class 1, Division 2 hazardous locations.

The Connected Components Workbench software Release 8.0, which includes support for the PanelView 800 graphic terminals, gives machine builders a common environment to program the Micro800 controllers, as well as to configure the Allen-Bradley PowerFlex drives and Allen-Bradley Guardmaster safety relays.

The standard edition is free, and Release 8.0 includes support for the Guardmaster 440C-CR30 safety relay Ethernet plug-in for communications to Micro800 and Allen-Bradley CompactLogix controllers; the Micro800 high-speed counter plug-in feedback axis to ease motion programming; and Micro800 DeviceNet scanner plug-in diagnostics to ease troubleshooting DeviceNet-connected devices.

Users can also purchase the developer edition, which includes an archive manager to track the project with a timestamp and description, making device management easier. The developer edition also offers an enhanced Micro800 programming experience, with intellectual property protection, user-defined data types, a spy list to monitor variables easier, and the ability to make program logic changes while in run mode.

M-Bus (Meter-Bus) is a widely used communication standard for measuring devices. It is predominantly used in buildings, for example in electricity meters, gas meters, water meters or other types of consumption meters.

By getting data from these measuring devices onto a PLC or SCADA system, users can get a total overview of their energy consumption, including building parameters which previously had to be checked separately.

How the gateway works: The Anybus M-Bus to Modbus TCP gateway decodes M-Bus telegrams and maps meter values to Modbus registers. Mapping and configuration is done in a web-based configuration tool allowing the user to set up the gateway without any programming. It is possible to connect up to 20 M-Bus slaves and enable them to communicate on a Modbus-TCP network.

Connectivity to more networks with Anybus X-gateways:

The solution can be extended by pairing the M-Bus gateway with an Anybus X-gateway Modbus-TCP, making it is possible to connect M-Bus devices to most industrial networks. Versions are available for CANopen, CC-Link, ControlNet, DeviceNet, EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, Modbus RTU, PROFIBUS and PROFINET.

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