Metering pump

The new, feature enhanced version of ProSeries-M™ M-2 Peristaltic Metering Pump now shipping.

Blue-White's M-2 is designed for use in small to mid-size municipal water and wastewater treatment systems. The pump includes many of the features and options seen in far more expensive pump models, which are primarily designed for large municipalities.

M-2 permits standardization to a single pump model, because it can be used with a wide variety of aggressive and viscous chemicals.

This new pump is also a great choice for pumping chemicals that can vapor lock a pump, such as Sodium Hypochlorite and Hydrogen Peroxide.

The Firmware is field upgradable. So the plant can always stay up-to-date with the latest software, an M-2 exclusive.

The M-2 Pump has Feed Rates from: .007 to 15 GPH / .03 to 57 LPH;

• Pressures to 125 PSI / 8.6 Bar; a 200:1 Turndown Ratio;
  
• 4-20mA input and output (dual input ready);
  
• Industrial Ethernet, Profibus, ProfiNet, Modbus, Modbus TCP (optional);
  
• NSF Listed Std. 61; NEMA 4X, IP 66, for wash down;
  
• A Five Year Warranty;
  
• and an excellent price point.

• Blue White are consitent advertisers on the Signpost Home Page!

One process controller for everything

Siemens Industry Automation Division is adding an especially powerful, versatile, and rugged CPU for the process industry to its Simatic controller family. Simatic PCS 7 CPU410-5H is currently the fastest and most powerful controller on the market and covers all applications, application scopes, and performance range with a single hardware and firmware platform. The CPU is supplied with the maximum configuration. According to the new dimensioning model, the user defines the performance required of the system using the expansion card to match the quantity framework and the size and type of application.

Simatic PCS 7 CPU 410-5H gives users of the Simatic PCS 7 process control system a high-performance controller with a computing capacity suitable for the high demands of the process industry. The controller is designed for around-the-clock industrial use and also withstands tough temperature, vibration, shock, and EMC requirements. The additional coating of the PCBs and electronic components complying with ISA-S71.04 Severity Level G3 enhances reliability in the presence of condensation and possible sources of corrosion.

The CPU is supplied as a standard high-end version in terms of memory, CPU power, and communication interfaces. It also has a failsafe design by default and is equipped with all functions for safety-related applications. Users define the required application-specific performance themselves with the system expansion card (SE card). With the SE card, the performance can be adapted at any time without replacing the CPU, for example if it becomes necessary to load more process objects. This also simplifies spare part management and reduces the associated costs.

Operational efficiency In Italian biomass power plant

Smart Wireless transmitters provide increased visibility into the process, support predictive maintenance and provide tank overspill protection

Emerson Process Management’s Smart Wireless technology is enabling Enomondo S.r.l. to improve visibility into the process at its biomass power plant in Faenza (I).

Enomondo – a partnership between Caviro Distillerie and Herambiente – is using wireless measurement devices to monitor a complex fuel pre-treatment operation, an incineration process, and a new boiler at the plant. Wireless technology enabled additional measurement devices to be installed quickly and easily, helping to optimise control of the process and contributing to an estimated 5% increase in overall operational efficiency. The availability of diagnostic data also improved predictive maintenance procedures.

The 13.7 MW power generation plant is located at the Caviro Distillerie wine and denatured alcohol plant. It uses 140,000 metric tonnes per year of by-products from the alcohol production process to produce power for 29,000 neighbouring households. This use of alternative fuels helps to reduce Italy’s power generation CO2 emissions by 35,500 tonnes a year.

To increase the efficiency and capacity of the plant, Enomondo installed a new boiler, which created the need for new instrumentation for monitoring temperature and pressure. In addition, the existing fuel pre-treatment process, which ensures nitrogen oxide emissions are less than half the levels set by Italy’s Integrated Environmental Authorisation, involves numerous variables that are not easily controlled and would benefit from additional measurement points.

To meet these needs Enomondo chose Emerson’s Smart Wireless technology, which offered simpler installation and lower overall costs than traditional wired solutions. Twenty-two Smart Wireless transmitters, including Rosemount® 3051S pressure and 648 temperature transmitters, transmit measurement data via a wireless gateway into the existing Emerson DeltaV™ digital automation system, giving operators greater visibility into the process so that they can make adjustments to increase efficiency.

As a result, Enomondo has been able to increase operational efficiency and improve output. Installation, maintenance and operating costs have also been reduced. Installation was very easy and required no external engineering capability. Because the wireless instruments required no cabling or cable ducts, infrastructure costs were around 30% lower than a wired alternative. Layout and wiring costs were halved, and installation and instrumentation control costs reduced by 40%.

Using the existing DeltaV system and AMS Suite predictive maintenance software to receive, store and analyse device data, Enomondo has been able to use the wireless system to meet its predictive maintenance requirements. The additional continuous data made available by the wireless network enables personnel to identify performance degradation trends that signify potential problems, then use this information for better maintenance scheduling that helps optimise operator efficiency.

"The modularity of Emerson’s Smart Wireless technology, the ease and reduced cost of implementation compared to wired devices, and its reliability once installed have encouraged us to expand its use into other applications," said Alessandro Catani, Enomondo Plant and Energy Manager. "For example, temperatures in some of the air-conditioning systems at the plant were prone to overheating. By installing Rosemount wireless temperature transmitters on a temporary basis, it was possible to obtain the data we needed to identify potential problems and correct them."

Twenty-six Rosemount inventory tank gauges with Smart Wireless THUM™ Adapters have also been installed at the Caviro Distillerie production facility to continuously monitor levels and increase safety by preventing overspills within the alcohol storage tank farm.

Expanded online range for configuring control cabinets

Siemens now offers even more freely accessible product data records on the Internet for designing control cabinets with CAE/CAD applications. Around 10,000 EPLAN Electric P8 macros in .edz format are thus now available via the CAx Download Manager. The Siemens Online Support Portal also offers data records for 3,500 products in the ecl@ss Advance standard for components from the Sirius Innovations portfolio.

In addition, Siemens has redesigned its Industry Mall configurators for controllers (TIA Selection Tool), motor starters (3SK1/3RK1 configurator), power supplies (Sitop Selection Tool), and 3WL air circuit breakers from the Sentron portfolio. It has also simplified use of the configurators and expanded their functionality. As a result, the new Simatic S7-1500 controllers and the ET 200SP and ET 200MP I/O systems can be easily configured in the TIA Selection Tool to obtain the plant configuration with associated ordering list. The tool automatically takes account of the configuration rules, and offers several export functions to other systems, such as the Siemens Industry Mall and the CAx Download Manager.

The Siemens Industry Mall, the CAx Download Manager, and the Siemens Online Support Portal are component parts of the Planning Efficiency initiative. The basic idea of Planning Efficiency is to use online functions to support design engineers and control cabinet builders in all aspects of configuring control cabinets throughout the entire value added process. This is achieved on the one hand by means of simple and clear selection and ordering of components on the Internet. Users can compare different products in detail at the click of a mouse, and configure them quickly for their own requirements. Customers can then click to transfer the product selection made to the shopping cart of the Industry Mall, order it there, and track the status of the order.

On the other hand, Siemens offers free access to a host of data for computer-aided design and engineering on its Web sites. As well as EPLAN Electric P8 macros in .edz format, a host of 2D dimension drawings, 3D models, and master data on approximately 90 percent of all products required by users for control cabinet building are available free of charge in the CAx Download Manager. In total, the offer encompasses data and information on more than 60,000 products in up to 12 variants and ten languages. Additionally, customers can create and download project-specific and standardized documentation using the My-Documentation function. A representative customer survey has shown that, all-in-all, Planning Efficiency can deliver time savings of up to 80 percent compared to control cabinet configuration using components from different vendors.

End-to-end test!

National Instruments has announced Measurement Studio 2013, the only .NET software suite that provides all the tools needed to build a professional, end-to-end test or measurement system in Microsoft Visual Studio. Measurement Studio 2013, which integrates into Visual Studio 2012, 2010 and 2008, is the only software on the market that addresses the specific needs of the test, measurement and automation industries.

Connect to any hardware!

Measurement Studio 2013 simplifies hardware communication code with instrument control libraries and built-in configuration assistants for the latest DAQ devices. With over 500 advanced analysis, math and signal processing functions, Measurement Studio 2013 provides every function needed to accurately process raw data and yield meaningful results.

“Instead of wasting time creating their own UI controls or purchasing financial UI software and modifying it to work with engineering data, engineers and scientists can use Measurement Studio to quickly and easily create .NET test and measurement applications,” said Ray Almgren, Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Platform Adoption at National Instruments. “.NET programmers who use this software have a huge competitive advantage because they’ll save significant amounts of time and money when building and operating their systems.”

Marine water quality

Xylem Analytics  and Aanderaa Data Instruments have launched a new marine water quality monitor which has been designed to enable wider deployment of water quality sensors on ferries and other marine vessels. The ‘SOOGuard’ will be launched at Ocean Business 2013 in April and Xylem’s David Goldsmith says: “In order to encourage the operators of ferries to allow the installation of monitoring equipment on their vessels, it is vitally important that the instrumentation is easy to maintain and reliable.

“Traditional FerryBoxes are expensive bespoke systems, but by combining considerable design experience with the latest sensor and datalogging technology, the SOOGuard offers improved performance at a substantially lower cost.”

Background
Ferries, container ships and other vessels continuously traverse ocean and coastal environments in repeated journeys that offer an excellent opportunity to generate high quality information on surface water quality. This data is extremely valuable for the management and protection of the oceans; for informing global meteorology and climate change research; for calibrating satellite imagery, and for the management of fisheries.

In recent years, marine scientists have installed continuous monitoring systems on ‘ships of opportunity’ to routinely collect spatial and temporal oceanographic data. These instruments are known as ‘FerryBoxes’ and monitor the quality of water that is pumped from a subsurface inlet – often the engine cooling water supply.

The FerryBox concept is now recognised worldwide for its potential to provide much needed data, cost-effectively. FerryBoxes have now been installed in many countries including Australia, Chile, Japan and the USA. In Europe projects such as EMECO (European Marine Ecosystem Observatory) and COSYNA (Coastal Observation System for Northern and Arctic Seas) are utilising the technology to deliver data to a wide user community.

The SOOGuard FerryBox – what’s new
In the past, FerryBoxes have been custom-built and as a result, some of the older systems are complex and difficult to service or maintain. A key objective for the SOOGuard design team was therefore to develop a FerryBox that would meet the needs of most vessels whilst requiring the minimum of operational support.

The system’s four sensors (conductivity, temperature, optical dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll a) are fitted onto the door of a flow-through cell - a design that allows simple and rapid cleaning. The sensors are very stable and require calibration checks less than once a year in most environments. Further flow-though cells can be fitted to allow for the measurement of additional parameters.

The British National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOC) has worked with FerryBoxes since 1999 and their staff helped design the SOOGuard. The NOC’s David Hydes says: “Our experience has shown that these systems need to be simple to operate and must avoid issues such as air bubbles, biofouling and sedimentation. The compact robust design of the Aanderaa Smart Sensors suits a system that is easily maintained by a ship’s crew and can be easily fitted to almost any ship or boat. The deployment of sensors in a small flow-through chamber means that installation is simpler and fouling is reduced.”

A SOOGuard system has been fitted to the NOC’s 20 metre coastal research catamaran, the RV Callista, and Gary Fisher, who manages Southampton University’s vessels, says “The system has been very straight forward to operate; we have a computer on-board displaying real-time results and these are also stored in the system’s datalogger. We have not experienced any significant sedimentation, so we are very pleased with the design.”

The system is complemented by a hull temperature sensor to support the chamber measurements, and a flow sensor provides confirmation that the system has a continuous feed of water.

While readings are stored locally in the system’s datalogger, communication via GSM, GPRS and Iridium satellite is also possible. Additionally, users can access transmitted data via a web-based interface.

Summarising, David Goldsmith says: “Only a few ships are fitted with FerryBoxes at the moment, and these are run by specialist groups. We believe that the SOOGuard will enable that number to grow substantially and provide data reliably to a much wider community of marine and aquatic scientists because of its low cost, small size, easy installation and low requirement for routine support.”

• Visitors to Ocean Business 2013 (9-11 April) will be able to see a SOOGuard on the Xylem Analytics stand (H2-4) where live data from the system installed on RV Callista will be streamed.

Stainless steel filter regulators

ASCO Numatics has a a new range of Series 342 Stainless Steel Filter Regulators to complement the existing range of air service equipment. Suitable for inlet pressures up to 10 bar, the 1/4” and 1/2” NPT filter regulators have a fully stainless steel construction and comply with the requirements of ASTM A351/NACE MR 01.75.

The moulded reinforced diaphragms offer a large flow and the fine pitch/dual springs ensure accurate and steady regulation, regardless of input or output pressures. With a 316L stainless steel filtering element (25μm & 5μm), the regulators are suitable for compressed air and gases.

A finned diverter guarantees effective moisture removal. The regulator bowl has a manual bleed to drain condensate. An automatic drain is available as an option.

The smooth design facilitates easy mounting and there is a separate connection for the optional pressure gauge. In addition to an impressive flow rate ranging from 2380 to 4430 l/min, the filter regulator is suitable for ambient temperatures from -40°C up to +80°C (-50°C for arctic conditions is available on request).

The series 342 stainless steel filter regulator can be installed across many industries, including chemical, petrochemical, offshore and oil & gas, refinery, power generation, pulp & paper and process plants.