Ethernet-APL proves its value.

Expanded testing shows broad industry adoption.

Ethernet-APL has moved beyond readiness. Endress+Hauser has successfully conducted another set of load tests of a realistic PROFINET over Ethernet-APL setup. Two years after the last successful multi-vendor tests, the technology has proven its strength again in a realistic simulation.

The load tests were tailored to meet customer-specific requirements, demonstrating that components from various manufacturers can seamlessly work together to build a robust and reliable system based on PROFINET over Ethernet-APL. Requirements were defined from the end-user perspective by the global chemical company BASF. On the supplier side, devices from Endress+Hauser, Pepperl+Fuchs, R. Stahl, Phoenix Contact, and Samson were integrated into an Emerson control system and their interoperability was confirmed.

Ethernet-APL proves consistently high performance.
Two years after the first set of successful tests with other automation systems, Emerson DeltaV was in scope of the mass load test with nearly 240 Endress+Hauser measuring devices, including flow, pressure, temperature and level sensors, as well as positioners from Samson. They were tested in a ring topology consisting of Ethernet-APL field switches from Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact and R. Stahl. Emerson provided the control system DeltaV DCS including PROFINET System Redundancy (S2) support as well as the AMS Device Manager System.

The results spoke for themselves: Ethernet-APL performs reliably under full-scale conditions. The test scenarios on a network with the maximum number of devices successfully verified both, performance and reliability with the Pepperl+Fuchs switches. Key performance metrics - such as total net load and redundancy switchover times - met and even surpassed the required standards.

The field switches from Phoenix Contact were subsequently subjected to similar tests and were able to demonstrate their performance. The pre-series switches from R. Stahl were tested as well and based on the valuable results, the optimised devices will be now available for the market launch.

Gerd Niedermayer, Senior Expert Emerging Automation Technologies at BASF extends his gratitude: “Thank you to Endress+Hauser for the opportunity to conduct the scalability tests with our PROFINET-APL partners. With the help of their digital field devices, we are able to optimize diverse topics centering around engineering, commissioning and lifecycle in BASF plants and save CAPEX and OPEX costs.”

A technology with a bright future ahead.
“With the success of the recent scalability test, the cooperating companies have again proven that the multi-vendor infrastructure is open, future-proof and ready for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)”, emphasizes Harald Müller, technical lead of Ethernet-APL and director technology at Endress+Hauser Temperature+System Products. This gives planners and end users further evidence that Ethernet-APL is an enabler to create more flexible, efficient and cost-effective industrial automation systems, leveraging the full scale of benefits through digitalisation.

Karl Büttner, expert product manager system integration and marketing lead of Ethernet-APL at Endress+Hauser Flow, is proud and excited about the proven success of this technology: “Since 2023 we provide instrumentation for Ethernet-APL projects worldwide. Endress+Hauser is pleased with the successful launch of the technology, which helps our customers to digitalize their process plants.”

Endress+Hauser’s PROFINET support for Netilion is an additional step to support the Ethernet-based communication. It ensures remote access for example to process values and health diagnostics for all native and PROFINET-APL devices, ensuring high plant availability.

Ethernet-APL, already backed by a wide ecosystem, sees even more devices and manufacturers coming on board. The high market demand and worldwide successful implementations in the first medium-sized and large projects prove that Ethernet-based field communication in process automation has a bright future.

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@Endress_Hauser @Endress_IN @Endress_UK @Endress_US #PAuto #Ethernet

New eLearning on Functional Safety (SIL) published

TÜV NORD, Krohne, Samson and Phoenix Contact publish a jointly created eLearning on Functional Safety (SIL). Designed for system planners and operators of industrial process plants, the new eLearning offers ten learning modules for the use of IEC 61508/61511 in safety-related systems. The eLearning is easily accessable. 

The learning contents are product-neutral and commercial-free and are based on the SIL seminar series that has been conducted as a collaboration between the companies since 2009 as part of the Krohne Academy. The partners have decided to publish the content as eLearning due to the high demand for further education on the topic of SIL.

The ten learning modules of the SIL eLearning build upon one another and provide an overview of the basic concepts and methods of functional safety. Following an introduction to the topic of "Safety in the Process Industry" other modules follow on hazard and risk assessment, safety requirements specification, aspects of engineering and design, generic data, requirements for sensor technology and final elements, the verification of SIL, and these are complemented by calculation examples and a module for start-up and modifications. At the end of each module the participant has the opportunity to check the knowledge gained by completing a short questionnaire.

Per successful completion of a module, a certificate is issued to each participant which can be downloaded as well as printed. If the participant has passed all ten modules, the participant gets a global course certificate.

• Krohne producta are marketed in Ireland by DWN Instrumentation.