May 16, 2013 - Emerson Process Management says its Rosemount 3051 wireless pressure transmitter offering delivers a suite of solutions for pressure, level and flow, providing the process industry with “a new option” for monitoring additional assets, reducing energy costs and increasing process efficiency. Delivering maintenance-free performance with 5-year stability and a 10-year power module life, it is an effective and reliable way to wirelessly monitor assets and reduce downtime, boasts Emerson. With the Rosemount 3051 wireless pressure transmitter, users can monitor many assets throughout an operation with a 40-60% cost savings over wired installations, adds the company.

April 30, 2013 - Emerson Process Management has released what it calls cost-saving new diagnostic capabilities in its FieldQ rack & pinion fully integrated valve actuator and controls. They simplify daily work practices, says Emerson, with the release of FieldQ Foundation fieldbus v.3, with device diagnostic alarm management in a flexible modular package. The enhanced diagnostic alarm tools enable users to categorize and prioritize device alarms based on the criticality of the device and severity of the problem detected by the diagnostics. Alarm settings can be configured to alert appropriate plant personnel so they can take action without being distracted by irrelevant alarms. “Our device diagnostics can be tailored for maintenance and matched to predictive routines,” said Sue Ooi, vice-president, valve automation rack & pinion products, Emerson Process Management. The FieldQ product modularity further extends efficiency by offering plug-n-play modules for many requirements, including explosion-proof and intrinsically safe capabilities, as well as bus communication options.

April 21, 2013 - BillerudKorsnas—a manufacturer of primary fiber-based packaging material—says it has improved its pulp digester process efficiency and reduced maintenance costs at its paper mill in Gavle, Sweden, by installing a Rosemount 8800 Vortex flowmeter from Emerson Process Management.

All turbo machinery is subject to degradation that, over time, will affect the system’s efficiency and operational performance. Precise monitoring of turbo machinery performance with continuous torque-monitoring systems can be used to identify gradual efficiency loss, allowing a more focused maintenance scope to be developed to return the system to its optimum operation and efficiency.

Torque monitoring based on heat balance, energy balance, and other methods utilize numerous parameters such as pressure, temperature, flow rate, gas composition, etc., which require precise instrumentation to properly measure with low uncertainty. However, phase displacement technology can be used to accurately measure torque directly at the coupling to within one per cent of full-scale torque, a combination of all electrical and mechanical sources of error. This accuracy provides the lowest amount of uncertainty when computing efficiency, compared to alternative methods.

A system of this type was recently installed on a cracked-gas compressor train at Qenos Olefins in Australia to determine the causes of a power limitation. The Kop-Flex Powerlign system utilizes phase displacement technology for long-term reliability, eliminating need for re-calibration. Two rings with pickup teeth are installed on a torsionally soft spacer, and are intermeshed at a central location. Two monopole sensors 180 degrees apart are mounted on the coupling guard. As the coupling rotates, the ferromagnetic teeth create an AC voltage waveform in the sensor coil, which is digitally processed using known calibration parameters. Because of the intermeshed pickup teeth, the system is referred to as a single channel phase displacement system, producing two independent torque measurements. The Powerlign system will output torque, power, speed and temperature, which can be easily integrated with any DCS system.

At the Olefins plant the operating cycle of the steam-driven, cracked-gas compressor train is seven to eight years. During this cycle the plant reaches production limitations because this compressor train encounters a power limit. To determine the cause of the power limit as “turbine fouling” or “compressor fouling” or a combination of both was not confidently possible with the instrumentation installed. The cause had long been the subject of an engineering debate between the Machinery group, Process Engineering group and Operations department. One option to add more power by upgrading the turbine power rating from 7.5 MW to 9 MW was investigated. This required a capital investment of $2 million. The plant elected to defer this investment and instead installed a torque meter at the major eight-year shutdown.

The installation involved replacing the existing coupling spacer and flexible halves with a “drop-in” torque meter and integral flexible elements. The torque meter assembly was dynamically balanced to API standards so it was not necessary for the user to return any coupling components for the retrofit. The coupling guard was modified so that the two variable-reluctance sensors could be installed, completing the mechanical installation.

On restarting the plant and having completed a number of compressor efficiency improvements, the torque meter clearly showed the 7.5 MW turbine did not require an uprate and that the major power losses were coming from the compressor. The torque meter also allowed online tuning of the seal gas system of the compressor to establish the lowest power draw from the recycles that the seal system introduces. An additional 200 KW of power was reduced from the turbine load with the manual adjustments made on the seal gas system.

The torque meter is now being used to monitor turbine steam fouling issues and process related compressor fouling so that the corrective online washing can be activated as soon as issues arise.

The historical data collected from the torque meter will also provide a baseline of mechanical loading through the drive drain of the cracked-gas compressor over time. This data will be used to determine if increases in the maximum continuous operating speed rating of the compressor and the turbine can be accomplished at minimal costs. This would achieve increases in the operating envelope of the compressor.

The value of the torque meter has justified the installation of a second system for the Olefins plant’s second steam cracking plant turbine/compressor train in October 2012.

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This is an edited article provided by Emerson Industrial Automation. For more information, visit www.emersonindustrial.com.

Emerson Process Management has announced availability of Essential Asset Monitoring solutions, a family of integrated wireless application solutions for equipment monitoring.
 
The pre-engineered monitoring and analysis solutions embed process and equipment knowledge into a wide range of applications and use existing wired and new wireless instruments to form a network for continuous automated expert monitoring. Integrated solutions are available for pumps, blowers, compressors, heat exchangers, fired heaters, corrosion, and cooling towers.

The new 24/7 online monitoring solutions reduce monitoring costs through pre-engineering savings and wireless efficiency. Whereas wired continuous monitoring is traditionally afforded for only the most expensive and critical assets, the lower costs of Essential Asset Monitoring solutions enable expanded asset oversight.
 
"Equipment failures are a common cause of outages and incidents," commented Tom Snead, president, global projects, Emerson. "Predictive monitoring by Essential Asset Monitoring solutions delivers diagnostics as well as equipment and process health alerts that enable timely corrective actions to keep the facility online, increasing production availability and savings on maintenance and energy costs."
 
Snead continued, "Our research has shown that unit or site-wide Essential Asset Monitoring application solutions can help owner-operators increase production capacity by 1.2%, save 14% of maintenance costs, and 2% of energy costs."

The pre-engineered solutions are scalable. Users simply choose the number and type of applications that monitor threats specific to their facility.  Their resulting solution will include a wireless field network communicating data from monitoring instruments to AMS Suite operator graphics and maintenance screens, and to host systems and data applications.

www.EmersonProcess.com/EAM

Motion Industries’ two new Canadian distribution centres have no bottling lines, but that didn’t stop the company from adopting a conveyor solution widely used in the bottling industry, where the system’s low-friction components have proven to reduce operating costs. Designed by a Montreal-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the new flattop conveyors use System Plast chain and Browning gear drives from Power Transmission Solutions, a division of Emerson Industrial Automation.

The ultra-low-friction conveyor has delivered a range of advantages, including low noise, compactness and low energy use. According to Tom Sawyer, Motion’s distribution centre director, the conveyor is much quieter than a roller conveyor and it has proven reliable, conveying totes without the drift that can occur on a gravity roller conveyor. He says it also demonstrates the plastic chain’s advantages beyond a washdown environment.

Motion Industries Canada opened its two new distribution centres in August 2011, one in Edmonton and another in Montreal, replacing its single centre in Montreal and nearly quadrupling its size to 100,000 square feet. Both facilities have a conventional layout, with shipping and receiving on opposite ends of the building, and shelved inventory in the centre. The shelves branch off at right angles to the shipping conveyor, which runs down the centre of the layout to a 90-degree turn and then to a 180-degree turn leading to five shipping lanes, each for a specific Canadian province.

“Our two [centres] serve our 70 branches in Canada, and we also ship some product directly to customers,” Sawyer explained. “We pick 2,000 to 2,400 lines per day for our branches, and each line may consist of many pieces of a specific product. Our warehouse management software consolidates orders from the branches so our pickers, using RF scanners, can efficiently pick in the same zone for multiple accounts. The product is regrouped in shipment, and a given branch may have several hundred lines going to it every day. We also pick about 200 orders per day for direct shipment to customers.”

Motion’s prior distribution centre used two-level gravity and powered roller conveyor. In the new centre, Motion looked for ways to reduce noise, eliminate maintenance and improve safety.

Motion teamed with a Quebec OEM to design its conveyors. It was decided that the best product for the application was the flattop System Plast conveyor, using XPG chain and Nolu S wear strips. This combination has a coefficient of friction of just 0.16, reducing energy consumption about 25 per cent, compared to standard acetal chain and UHMW-PE wear strips. The XPG chain is also rated for 607 pounds, adequate for the 50-pound maximum tote weight handled at Motion’s facilities.

“This type of belt proved ideal for a compact system layout,” Sawyer explained. “For example, we did a 180-degree turn in a six-foot radius, measured on the outside of the conveyor. This is almost impossible with roller conveyor without transfer tables or pushers. Each of our systems includes a section of about 40 feet of accumulation conveyor with a cleverly designed surface that minimizes load and energy use. We use the accumulation section to spot check our totes for picking accuracy.” Automatic sorting to the shipping lanes is planned for 2012, using scanners and pushers, with manual sortation being used in the short term.

The new conveyor systems use six Browning 575-volt premium efficiency gear motors, with the gearboxes assembled on site at Motion’s DC, which is home to the company’s largest assembly shop in North America. End caps on the motors and bearings protect the rotating shafts. The conveyor requires no compressed air in its accumulation zones and reduces maintenance with the elimination of belt-driven rollers.

“We’ve been surprised by the low noise level of this system, which enhances the workplace, and the conveyor has proven highly reliable,” Sawyer added. “The totes are more secure on the chain than on rollers, much less likely to drift. The chain will actually realign totes slightly, and it easily transports them 175 feet to the first turn.”

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This is an edited article provided by Emerson Industrial Automation. For more information, visit www.emersonindustrial.com.

Emerson Process Management has announced expanded asset support in the AMS Suite predictive maintenance software application, providing users a more comprehensive asset management application. Connectivity was established to PROFIBUS PA devices, which expands the list of assets users can integrate into AMS Suite to enable a consistent maintenance approach. In addition, AMS Suite now supports both Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) and FDT/DTM to provide users with a single application to support the full capabilities of all their devices.

The addition of PROFIBUS PA provides a complete PROFIBUS solution with the DeltaV control system, corresponding to capability already available for PROFIBUS DP devices in DeltaV. PROFIBUS DP and PA support on third party hosts is also available via the Softing FG PROFIBUS family of interfaces.

Users are easily able to launch HART and FOUNDATION fieldbus Device Type Managers (DTMs) via the DTM Launcher application, provided as a standard part of AMS Device Manager. Support for DTMs is the first step in providing Field Device Integration (FDI)-compliant products within AMS Suite. FDI is the convergence of field device management options into a unified standard to give users a single common solution for managing information for field devices.

Expanded asset support gives users the ability to choose devices based on the best fit for their application regardless of the manufacturer or communication protocol. "Our users need the right information at the right time and want to be able to access that information in a consistent manner," said Ron Martin, vice president/general manager of Emerson’s Asset Optimization and Lifecycle Care. "We are committed to openness and full support of industry standards to give our users the ultimate freedom in choice, and a consistent way to manage and maintain their assets without compromise."
www.emersonprocess.com

There have been a couple of key personnel changes at Emerson Industrial Automation.

Matt McCloy, most recently the National Industry Manager for Power Transmission Solutions (a business unit of Emerson Industrial Automation), has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing for Canada. He joined Emerson in 2004 and has his degree in Mechanical and Mining Engineering.

Sean Hazelton, National Director of Power Transmission Solutions (a business unit of Emerson Industrial Automation) has been promoted to Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Asco Numatics Canada, located in Brantford, Ont. He is currently completing his MBA at the University of Western Ontario.

Emerson Process Management and Spectro Inc. announced an exclusive alliance to combine technical innovation and expertise to deliver expanded best-in-class oil analysis solutions. By integrating Emerson’s industry-leading oil analysis applications for the industrial process industry with Spectro’s extensive oil analysis product line and expertise, users gain more meaningful and accurate information on the health of their machinery, helping to prevent costly machine repairs.

Under the new agreement, Spectro gains rights to a suite of Emerson-developed and patent protected Intellectual Property ("IP") in the field of oil analysis for predictive machine maintenance. Included in this portfolio of IP are Emerson’s AMS Suite oil analysis software module as well as the CSI 5200 Machinery Health Oil Analyzer, the multi-functional analyzer that is uniquely capable of detecting most lubricant-related problems in gears, pumps, compressors, turbines, engines, hydraulics, and process machinery.

Effective October 1, 2012, Spectro will become the exclusive, world-wide supplier of the CSI 5200 Machinery Health Oil Analyzer product and services offering.

"Emerson and Spectro will work closely as we continue to develop leading technology solutions for the process industry," said Ron Martin, vice president/general manager of Emerson’s Asset Optimization and Lifecycle Care business. "By aligning with Spectro Inc. to deliver advanced oil analysis solutions, we can better provide our customers with predictive diagnostics to make more informed decisions about their assets."

"The relationship with Emerson opens the door for customers to expand their predictive maintenance programs by accessing the expertise available with Spectro’s extensive oil analysis product line, industry knowledge and global distribution network," said Brian Mitchell, president and CEO of Spectro Inc. "This means that Emerson customers can now take advantage of the same long-term technology solutions and growth path currently available to Spectro customers worldwide"
www.spectroinc.com
www.emersonprocess.com

Emerson Process Management has expanded the application of its CSI 9420 Wireless Vibration Transmitter with intrinsic safety ratings to the U.S., Canadian, and European standards. With the Class I, Div 1 and ATEX Zone 0 ratings, the CSI 9420 can now be installed directly in hazardous areas such as chemical, petrochemical, and off-shore facilities as well as other explosion-classified environments.

The CSI 9420 connects quickly, easily, and economically to any machine. The safety ratings, which are in addition to existing hazardous area ratings to the Brazilian and IECEx standards, further extend the benefit of wireless technology to new areas of the plant. The CSI 9420 provides key insights into the condition of pumps, fans and other assets located in hazardous areas without the expense of running cables.
www.emersonprocess.com