Valve & controls business purchased.

Emerson has completed the purchase of the Valves & Controls business from Pentair plc for $3.15 billion (€2.89 billion).

David Farr

“This acquisition enables us to continue to grow our global footprint in automation and expand our leadership position in key served markets such as chemical, power, refining, mining and oil and gas,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David N. Farr. “By adding these highly respected products and aftermarket services to our portfolio, Emerson is better positioned to serve the needs of our global customers.”

Headquartered in Schaffhausen (CH), the Valves & Controls business is a leading provider of valve solutions and services with nearly 7,500 employees around the world. The business will be integrated into Emerson’s Automation Solutions platform.

Mike Train, Automation Solutions executive president, said, “Pentair’s Valves & Controls business fits extremely well with Emerson’s existing portfolio of Fisher control valves and regulators and Bettis actuators. The addition of market leading product brands such as Anderson Greenwood, Vanessa and Keystone creates the most comprehensive global valve business. Emerson’s final control portfolio now includes control valves, pressure relief, butterfly, gate, globe, ball and check valves, and an extensive global network of more than 200 service centres. The combination of these two leading businesses will allow us to better support and help customers select the right product and maintain it for the life of the asset.”

@EmersonProcess #PAuto @Pentair

Conference takes shape

The technical program for the 2013 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium (WWAC Symposium) is taking shape, and the final program is to be be announced soon. Scheduled for 6-8 August 2013, the WWAC Symposium presents a unique opportunity for professionals who work with SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), automation and instrumentation in the water and wastewater sectors to come together, share ideas and gain valuable continuing education.

"The high quality of abstracts submitted this year are going to make for an impressive program," says Graham Nasby of Eramosa Engineering, the 2013 general symposium chair. "Our program committee is hard at work selecting the more than 30 speakers for the symposium’s technical program. This is in addition to our three invited speakers on cybersecurity, project management and human factors design. We will also be making our keynote speaker announcement very soon."

The WWAC Symposium is scheduled for Orlando, (FL USA). Attendance surged at the 2012 symposium and the momentum is expected to expand involvement again this year. This large increase in participation is a testament to the symposium’s renewed focus on today’s challenges in automation, instrumentation and SCADA for public infrastructure.

The symposium will also feature guest speakers from other municipal water/wastewater oriented associations, such as the (US) Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association (FSAWWA). By forming strong partnerships with other associations, the symposium has been able to reach a broader audience of water and wastewater professionals across the industry. For members of these associations, the symposium also provides targeted professional development and training opportunities, which have been otherwise inaccessible.

“The ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium is a great venue to offer SCADA-specific continuing education opportunities. This is another example of the FSAWWA providing benefits to our membership and more specifically to those members who are involved with this aspect of our public water infrastructure," says Jason Parrillo, Chair of the Florida Section of the AWWA. "By partnering with ISA we can now offer specialized training that would otherwise not be available to our membership. For this reason we are very pleased to have been invited to partner with the ISA’s Water/Wastewater Division to promote this annual symposium."

In addition to planning the 2013 ISA WWAC Symposium, the symposium’s volunteer committee has already begun making plans for next year’s event. The committee is pleased to announce that the dates of the 2014 ISA WWAC symposium will be 5-7 August 2014, and it will also take place in Orlando. Current assistant symposium chair for 2013, Kevin Patel, will again be taking on the role of general symposium chair for 2014.

“I have had the privilege of working with the symposium committee for the past several years, and it has set a great path for the symposium to continue to be successful in the future," says Patel of Signature Automation, "I look forward to continuing the tradition of providing a high-quality, cost-effective technical symposium that directly addresses the needs of SCADA, automation and instrumentation professionals in our sector.”

Registration for the 2013 ISA WWAC Symposium is now available on the symposium website.

Member recertification announced

Tesco Controls, (CA US)  has recently recertified as a Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Certified member.

In other membership news from the association, the following companies became new associate members:

• Engineering Unlimited, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.
• Global Production Solutions, Shawnee, Okla.
• Golder Associates, Lakewood, Colo.
• O'Brien & Gere, Syracuse, N.Y.
• Soluciones Automaticas Ltda, Bogota, Colombia
• Strategic Automation Services LLC, Houston, Texas
• Triad Power & Controls, Browns Summit, N.C.
(all in the USA)

Motors & Controls Corp,  (WA USA) is a new partner member.

To become a CSIA Certified member, a member company must pass an intensive audit process with stringent performance standards categories in nine categories: general management, financial management, project management, quality management, technical management, human resources management and marketing, business development and sales management.

Certified members are re-audited every three years and recertified if they meet current performance standards. The certification criteria is spelled out in CSIA’s Best Practices and Benchmarks, the accepted roadmap for system integrators committed to delivering the level of quality, performance and long-term support their customers expect.

Cloud computing

ISA-France, the French section of the International Society of Automation, are holding a technical day on cloud computing: "Cloud Computing: Buzzword or change of paradigm".

This event is been organised in co-operation with SEE (Société de l'Electricité, de l'Electronique et des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication). The day will be held in Paris on 13th October 2010. Program and registration form can be downloaded from ISA France website.

On this occasion, ISA-France has released 2 versions, one in French and the other in English, of their newsletter ISA Flash on the possible evolution of control systems incorporating an increasing reliance on "cloud computing". These maybe downloaded here: ISA Flash (En français) or ISA Flash (in English)

Power station has Triple-Redundant Mark™ VIe DCS on nuclear turbine generator

NextEra Energy Seabrook Station is just 50 miles north of Boston (MA US) on the New Hampshire coast. The total plant output is 31,200 megawatt-hours per day.

Benefits of the Mark™ VIe TMR digital control:
• Reduced maintenance, costs, and downtime
• Increased mean time between failures (MTBF)
• Modern maintenance tools and diagnostics for troubleshooting in real-time

GE Energy has been a partner with the Seabrook Station since 1987. Most recently, the plant upgraded its turbine control system to the Mark™ VIe Triple Modular Redundant (TMR).This modification makes the turbine generator more reliable and easier to maintain, reducing the number of forced outages and power reductions.

The end result of this upgrade is that it makes existing power generation and delivery systems more reliable, thereby reducing the overall cost to produce power.

GE Energy supplied all control equipment, engineering, drawings, technical direction, start-up, and commissioning for the new turbine control system. The scope also included a simulation trainer for the equipment supplied, on-site training, and spare parts.

The new Mark VIe TMR digital control system replaced the old analog system and provides a road map for maintainability into the future. The Mark VIe TMR eliminates single points of failure with mechanical devices in the Front and Mid Standards by modifying speed picks, trip interface, and thrust. The upgrade includes trip reduction software, which eliminates the need for online overspeed testing. System redundancies also further eliminate single points of vulnerability and reduce downtime.

Mini motors, power transmission & controls

New catalogue covers three additional DC motor technologies, a new brushless drive and increased resource material for miniature power transmission mechanics and controls

A new and revised full range catalogue from Rotalink includes several new products and additional technical information aimed at making an informed selection for highly cost competitive miniature power transmission systems and controls. The new resource covers performance specifications for three recently added DC motor technologies (rare earth, heavy case and brushless) as well as several new gearbox lines along with a completely new section on DC motor control - including new absolute encoders and a brushless version of Rotalink's flagship motion controller, Red Drive.

The new catalogue reflects just how busy the company has been over the past two years - developing and improving a complete range that allows its customers the benefit of volume sourced and low-cost DC, AC and stepper motor technologies from global partners which are integrated with in-house designed and manufactured miniature gearboxes, motor feedback components and motion control technologies.

Rotalink's strength and expertise lies in adapting advanced materials technologies into its own innovative designs for miniature gearbox and associated components to realise leading-edge and cost effective solutions for miniature power transmission systems up to 28 Nm torque and to 150 W shaft power. With its own manufactured range of planetary and ovoid style gearboxes that include a flexible choice standard or enhanced polymer gears with sintered or ball bearings, it is possible to exactly match a customer's specification without cost compromise. Furthermore, the choice of advanced materials and their unique ovoid gearboxes with spur/planetary output stages can yield extremely high torque in space restricted envelopes and are a perfect solution where miniaturisation in design or maximising power to size is of prime importance.

By adapting these same gearbox designs with their space saving incremental or absolute encoder feedback devices, and by adding speed or positional motion control, Rotalink provide a complete single-source service for miniature linear or rotary power transmission systems at costs which are much less than its competitors.

The new catalogue includes complete specification information for three recently introduced DC motor technologies; high power brushed DC motors with neodymium rare earth magnets, heavy case low inertia brushed DC motors, and low cost brushless DC motors complete with hall effect sensors for commutation.

Also, recently launched and available for the first time in the new catalogue is a brushless version of the Red Drive programmable motion controller for up to 10A output from a 12 – 24 VDC source with up to 27 configurable analogue and digital I/O points for comprehensive machine control interfacing.

For each of the DC, AC and Stepper motors section in the new catalogue, a detailed selection guide is included with technical assistance information available such as countermeasures for EMI and a discussion on customisation options for DC motor gearbox applications. Engineers and designers involved in miniature power transmission systems will find Rotalink's new catalogue an invaluable resource.

It may be downloaded in pdf format from their website.

Motors, drives, power transmission and controls catalogue

Baldor has released a major new catalogue overviewing the extensive range of industrial motors, drives, power transmission and motion control products it stocks in Europe. The 120-page guide is a valuable resource for automation builders and maintainers alike. It details hundreds of the most commonly required DC and AC motors, drives, gearmotors, Baldor-Dodge gearboxes - supported by a European assembly centre - and Baldor-Dodge bearings. The catalogue also details the company's comprehensive range of servomotors, drives and controllers for precision motion control applications.

The motor selection is very broad, and includes Baldor's renowned energy-efficient motors, available in both IEC frame and NEMA frame variants for companies who build for international markets or maintain equipment manufactured overseas. Also included are details of special-purpose motors for severe-, hazardous and washdown-duty operating environments, as well as inverter-duty and commercial-duty motors.

The catalogue concludes with useful reference material including quick reference sections on IEC and NEMA frame sizes, and imperial/metric conversions.

New version of video surveilance system

Longwatch latest release is available in three platforms that eliminate the need for custom programming to set up a video surveillance system.
The Longwatch Video System Version 5.1 is now available in three distinct platforms that make installation, configuration and application easy. The platforms eliminate the custom programming needed with traditional video systems and create a “fast track” for integration with a process control, HMI/SCADA or automation control system. The result saves money by reducing false alarms, reducing labor costs, reducing support costs, and improving decision-making speed and accuracy.

The platforms include:

Console Recorder Platform: Monitors what operators are watching on HMI displays and records their keystroke actions, so that playback reveals what operators saw on the screen during an “event” and what they did about it. A small software module acts as a “camera” to record exactly what is on the system screen, including mouse movements. The result is video that can be used for root cause analysis, process documentation, operator training and process improvement.

Video Historian Platform: Automatically links and synchronizes historical trend information and stored video from multiple cameras in the field or process. This enables the operator to actually see what happened when various trend conditions occurred. It also includes a patent-pending “process tab” that automatically links SQL database messages from alarm, quality and other MES databases with video from automatically selected cameras. The result ranges from seeing what happened when an alarm was posted in the HMI/SCADA/DCS system, to having a “video traveler” of a manufacturing or batch work order as it works its way through the plant.

Surveillance Platform: Eliminates “blind spots” in video surveillance by providing the most flexible and efficient networking support available. Event messages automatically contain video “snippets” that show what happened before, during and after an event, to help reduce false alarms and to help inform first responders when necessary. Events can be triggered by security alarms, door switches, level or leak sensors, limit switches, or a variety of hardware and software-generated signals. Video can be sent over wired or wireless networks, including instrumentation networks, ranging from 9600 baud serial up to satellite, broadband and fiber.

Each of the platforms is supplied on a CD-ROM, which allows fast installation and integration with cameras of all types, industrial networks, and HMI/SCADA systems, DCSes, process historians, and control systems of all types.

“Longwatch is delivering software specifically made to integrate video with industrial applications, especially for improved operational performance and safety,” said Steve Rubin, president and CEO of Longwatch. “We have customers who are able to reduce their labor costs with Longwatch. Other customers use Longwatch systems to reduce downtime by catching and fixing problems before they become costly. Longwatch paid for itself in minutes by preventing downtime for a wallboard manufacturer. These customers needed no special hardware and no custom software to achieve results. Longwatch was applied ‘out of the box’ to save them start-up and ongoing maintenance costs. We’re doing for industrial video today what our team did 25 years ago for HMIs: making the application simple to use, highly valuable for the user, and general purpose to help many industries.”

See also Steve Rubin's article "We can tune PID controllers, but what about tuning the operator?" published in March 2010.