Control System World

The new UNO-1110 DIN-rail controller, with the latest Texas Instruments (TI) 600MHz RISC processor, has been designed to give customers enhanced flexibility by providing four programmable LED warning lights in addition to the pre-configured power, COM, SD, four digital input and four digital output LEDs. The four programmable lights allow users to quickly and easily determine the various states of connected equipment.

Space is at a premium in many locations, so in order to save space, and cost, the UNO-1110 features isolated digital IO ports so that customers no longer require extra signal convertors to go from the serial ports.

The isolated RS-232/422/485 ports prevent damage from electricity spikes and stop customers having to add additional equipment that not only takes up extra space but also costs more money.

The UNO-1110 features a TI Cortex A8 AM3505 600 MHz RISC processor, 256 MB DDR2 RAM, VGA connector with a resolution of up to 1024 x 768, one RS-485, four RS-232/422/485 ports, two SD card slots, two LAN ports, four USB 2.0 ports, an operating temperature of -10~70oC and is IP40 certified.

The official rollout of the US Cybersecurity Framework, recognized this past Wednesday in an announcement delivered by President Barack Obama, represents the completion of a successful partnership effort among The White House, the Automation Federation and its founding organization, the International Society of Automation (ISA). Now, the second phase of the partnership—working together to implement the framework—begins.

The US Cybersecurity Framework, the result of a year-long initiative to develop a voluntary how-to guide for American industry and operators of critical infrastructure to strengthen their cyber defenses. is a key deliverable from the Executive Order on "Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity" that President Obama announced in his 2013 State of the Union address.

During the past year, representatives of the Automation Federation and ISA have been assisting the US government—at the White House's request—to help develop and refine a draft of the US Cybersecurity Framework. Both organizations were sought out as essential government advisors given their expertise in developing and advocating for industrial automation and control system (IACS) security standards. The ANSI/ISA99, Industrial Automation and Control Systems Security standards (known internationally as ISA99/IEC 62443), are recognized globally for their comprehensive, all-inclusive approach to IACS security.

ISA's IACS security standards are among the framework's recommendations because they're designed to prevent and mitigate potentially devastating cyber damage to industrial plant systems and networks—commonly used in transportation grids, power plants, water treatment facilities, and other vital industrial settings. Without these defenses in place, industrial cyberattack can result in plant shutdown, operational and equipment impairment, severe economic and environmental damage, and public endangerment.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that it has received an order from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. to supply the control system for an LNG carrier that is being built for the Ichthys LNG project* in Australia.

The ship will be the world’s largest Moss-type LNG carrier and will be used for transporting LNG from an onshore LNG processing plant that is being constructed as part of the Ichthys LNG project. The ship is scheduled to enter service by the end of 2016, in time for the completion of the plant. The ship is also the first Moss-type LNG carrier equipped with a dual fuel diesel engine (DFDE), which burns both fuel oil and gas.

Yokogawa will deliver the CENTUM® VP integrated production control system for monitoring and controlling the LNG carrier’s LNG tanks and loading/unloading facilities as well as the supply of gas to the DFDE and the supply of power to other driving units. Yokogawa will also be responsible for the engineering and commissioning of the control system.

Yokogawa believes that the following factors were key considerations in the decision to give it this order:

The company has already delivered control systems for other DFDE ships.

The company has a global service network, ensuring that vessels can undergo maintenance at any LNG port.

Yokogawa won the control systems order for other Ichthys LNG project facilities in 2012. These include the onshore LNG processing plant, offshore production/process facilities, and the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. With this contract, the CENTUM VP system will cover all project facilities, from production to LNG transport.

Globally, the construction of many LNG carriers is planned for the transport of LNG from North America, Russia, Africa, and other regions. Backed by this order, Yokogawa will expand its control business for marine resource development facilities, including LNG carriers, FPSO vessels, floating LNG (FLNG) vessels, and floating storage and re-gasification units (FSRU).

* This project is being carried out by a joint venture between INPEX (operator), Total, and several other companies. Gas from the Ichthys field, which is located offshore of northwestern Australia, will undergo preliminary processing at sea to remove water and impurities, and extract condensate. The gas will then be transported by undersea pipeline to onshore processing facilities in Darwin. The project is expected to produce 8.4 million tons of LNG and 1.6 million tons of LPG per year, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.

A complimentary seminar on crude oil data management solutions for refinery planning, scheduling, and blending.

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With the Logo! 8 series of logic modules for smaller automation solutions in industry and building systems, the Siemens Industry Automation Division is launching a completely new generation of devices. Logo! 8 replaces the two current series 6 and 7 and is characterized by simplified handling, reduced space requirements with more digital and analog outputs, as well as an improved price-performance ratio. All new Logo! 8 basic units now offer Ethernet communication, additional functions for remote operation and remote access, as well as simpler configuring of the communication functions. The Logo! 8 series in revised design comprises eight new basic units that are equipped with Ethernet interface and Web server and, with four subunits, again feature the same compact design as before.

Four of the new Logo! 8 basic units for different voltage types have a display with six lines of 16 characters each, and three adjustable background colors. Thanks to the display's distinct signal colors, clear operator information and fewer abbreviations, message texts and status information are more visible and easier to read than before.

A wide range of add-on components (also new) supplement the basic units of the Logo! 8 series. These include a six-line text display with 20 characters to each line and four function keys, a module as Ethernet 4-port switch, as well as seven digital modules, three analog modules, and diverse power modules for power supply. The new module for communication via SMS and GPS is used for position detection, alarms and remote control via mobile phone, or time synchronization.

Logo! 8 connections are compatible with previous versions and programs can also be transferred. The new devices are configured using the new Logo! software Soft Comfort V8. The software helps to create and implement programs quickly and simply; for example, the communication functions of up to 16 network nodes are defined simply by dragging and dropping.

With the integral Web server, Logo! 8 is easy to use via WLAN and the Internet for monitoring and controlling. The Web server is designed for all commercially available Web browsers on PCs, smartphones and tablet PCs – from Chrome, FireFox, and Internet Explorer to Opera – regardless of the operating system. Web pages with a view of the logic module and external text display can be shown immediately. Users do not require any knowledge of HTML programming.

These logic modules, launched by Siemens in the mid-1990s as a new class of devices, close the gap between contactors, auxiliary relays, time switches, and programmable logic controllers. The Logo! logic modules can be used universally in industry and building systems. The numerous different applications range from simple machines to building automation. This includes mill presses, conveyor belts, sorting systems, infeed systems, automatic handling systems, car wash installations, access controls, light/door/gate controls, aquaria and terraria, expansions to heating controls, saunas, whirlpools and swimming pools, feeding systems in fish farming and livestock raising, all the way to booster stations and pump stations.

Technology company The Linde Group has recently signed an engineering and procurement contract for two hydrogen plants in Nizhnekamsk, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation. The contract was awarded by PSC TAIF-NK, a leader in the oil refining industry in Tatarstan. The contract is worth around EUR 120 million.

'We are delighted to have the opportunity to cooperate with PSC TAIF-NK and bring in our in-depth expertise in hydrogen technology,' said Professor Dr Aldo Belloni, Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. 'We are confident that this agreement will lead to further key contracts for our gases and engineering business in this important Eastern European growth market.'

Linde will be responsible for basic and detail engineering, procurement and supply of equipment and materials. The two new hydrogen plants, each with a capacity of around 110,000 normal cubic metres per hour (Nm3/h), will supply high purity hydrogen to the heavy residue conversion complex at the Nizhnekamsk refinery site. The new hydrogen plants are planned to be delivered by the end of 2015.

PSC TAIF-NK operates the largest refinery in Tatarstan, including a gasoline plant and gas condensate processing plant.

The Siemens Industry Automation Division is expanding its new Simatic S7-1500 generation of controllers with the most powerful failsafe CPU so far - the Simatic S7-1518F. The new failsafe CPU is suitable for high-end standard and safety-related applications in machine and plant automation. The Simatic S7-1516F CPU also supplements the range of failsafe CPUs. In the Step 7 Safety Advanced V13 engineering tool, users create their programs by using the same engineering and operating concept for both standard and safety-related tasks. Data consistency functions automatically synchronize standard and safety-related program sections.

Simatic S7-1518F for high-end applications features a 10 MB (megabyte) user memory and has four communication interfaces: a Profinet interface with a 2-port switch for communication with the field level, two Profinet interfaces and one Profibus interface. The high performance and large memory allow connection of up to 128 drive axes and their isochronous operation in the range of 250 microseconds. The CPU 1518F has a bit performance of 1 nanosecond.

The new S7-151xF failsafe controllers are certified to EN 61508 (2010) for functional safety and are suitable for use in safety-relevant applications up to SIL 3 according to IEC 62061 and PL e according to ISO 13849. For IT security an additional password protection has been set up for F-configuration and F-program.

Migration tools are available for the conversion of existing failsafe automation based on Simatic S7300F/400F to the latest controller technology with Simatic S7-151xF: from the Distributed Safety V5.4 engineering tool, for example, to the TIA Portal with Step 7 Safety Advanced V13.

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Rockwell Automation, Inc. is proud to endorse the Cybersecurity Framework issued today by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This voluntary framework, a joint effort of the White House and NIST, reflects input from Rockwell Automation and a diverse group of industry stakeholders who share a common objective to increase the resiliency of and reduce cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure and manufacturing.

“Rockwell Automation is honored to have actively contributed to the development of the Cybersecurity Framework that will help address cyber risks to critical infrastructure and manufacturing processes alike,” said Keith Nosbusch, chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation. “This guideline provides a flexible structure that can help organizations improve information security protection programs to manage risks to industrial control and information systems using the Connected Enterprise."

“As the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information we look forward to working with our customers across industry sectors to help them apply the Framework’s best practices as a complement to new and existing automation and information systems, and to strengthen physical and cyber safeguards that protect their assets, information and overall operations,” said Nosbusch.

Over the past year, Rockwell Automation participated in NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework development process and workshop series. The company collaborated with other private-sector participants and industry groups, NIST, Department of Commerce, Department of Homeland Security and White House representatives to enhance the Framework’s attention to industrial control system security. Company executives also presented at NIST’s workshops and panels.