The new ADAM-3600 is an intelligent RTU designed to work in the hardest environments with minimal physical contact from engineers once installed. The ADAM-3600 utilizes Advantech’s TagLink Technology, a modular wireless expansion system and wide operating temperatures.

TagLink is a new embedded technology which allows engineers to assign real meaning to the data they manage and makes them easy to maintain. It frees users from the hard work of processing the raw data and provides a unified interface for different protocol servers, which enables engineers to use C programming, Softlogic, WebAccess, SCADA software and RESTful/HTML to communicate directly with 3rd party devices. It also supports data interlock to prevent conflicting access from different applications. These features ensure that the data from ADAM-3600 can be accessed from the IoT cloud.

The ADAM-3600 with two Ethernet ports and three serial (one RS-485/232 and two RS-485) ports has been designed with modularity and space saving in mind. It doesn’t require much extra space to add additional I/O, wireless, GPRS devices within small cabinets. This modular approach enables engineers to quickly and easily change the functionality of the ADAM-3600 with the need to buy expensive whole units or be concerned about space issues. Coming soon are analog digital input and output modules, relay modulesand thermocouplemodules for added functionality.

As is expected from a product designed to work in remote locations the ADAM-3600 has several features to help it withstand the rigors of the weather. Having been designed with industrial grade components, the ADAM-3600 has a wide operating temperature of between -40oC to 70oC and meets the requirements of C1D2.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that it will release an enhanced version of the STARDOM™ network-based control system on June 3. The new STARDOM version features enhancements that reduce communication costs and ensure highly reliable monitoring and control. These enhancements meet a variety of needs in upstream oil and gas development and production, which Yokogawa is targeting based on its Transformation 2017 mid-term business plan.

STARDOM network-based control systems consist of FCN/FCJ autonomous controllers and either a VDS or FAST/TOOLS SCADA server. FCN/FCJ controllers are ideal for the monitoring of oil and gas field installations, pipelines, and other widely distributed facilities that rely on satellites and other types of communications platforms for the transmission of data. In addition to eliminating communications delays and achieving high quality communications, the companies that operate such facilities are seeking to reduce communications costs by limiting the volume of data that needs to be transmitted.

Product Features:

• Unsolicited response support
• Expanded support of standards for gas well applications
• Strengthened security measures

Product Webpage

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that Yokogawa and Shell have jointly developed Platform for Advanced Control and Estimation, a software suite that speeds up and simplifies the process of designing, deploying, and maintaining advanced process control applications.

This software suite brings together the advanced process control technology that Shell has acquired by operating its plants and the real-time control technology that Yokogawa has developed as a control system supplier. This product will help companies to improve their productivity. Yokogawa will launch sales of this software suite on June 5, 2015.

Features of This Software Suite:

Advanced process control systems improve product yield and reduce energy consumption by not only maintaining process values such as temperature, flow rate, and pressure within a set range but also keeping them as close as possible to their optimal set points. Thus, such systems are increasingly being used in facilities such as refineries, petrochemical plants, chemical plants, and natural gas liquefaction trains. This new software solution simplifies engineering and improves both operability and maintainability.

• This software suite brings the following functionality available within the same platform:
• Multivariable model predictive control (a function for modelling the dynamic characteristics of plant responses and controlling multiple variables based on model predictions)
• Soft sensing (a function for estimating quality in real time based on temperature, flow rate, pressure, and other process values)
• The ability to perform various types of calculations and customise settings.

The major features of this software suite are as follows:

1. Development of rapidly deployable applications

2. Excellent operability and maintainability

3. Integrated platform for improved engineering efficiency

Product Webpage

Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management and automation, today released its Tricon® CX compact system for safety and critical control applications in the oil and gas, power, refining, chemicals, pharmaceutical and biotech industries, where safe operations are critical and reliable operation is paramount. A certified ISA Secure system, the high-integrity and highly available Tricon CX ensures operational integrity, protecting against inherent risk and hazards, as well as external threats such as cyber-attack.

“Safety and security have always been a top concern for our industrial clients, but now new threats, such as cyber-attack, have challenged the traditional approaches they have taken to protect and secure their people, property, communities and the environment,” said Mike Chmilewski, vice president, process systems offer management, Schneider Electric process automation business. “Therefore, our clients demand the highest levels of safety and security to keep them safe and ensure the systems they rely on are immune to external threats. Our high-performance, future-proof Tricon CX safety system does just that. With more performance and capability, it can help clients maximize productivity, reliability and security while minimizing risks and the likelihood of business interruption. It’s another example of why Schneider Electric is uniquely positioned to power the big ideas our clients need to solve their most critical issues.”

The latest addition to Schneider Electric’s Triconex® line of safety-instrumented systems, the Tricon CX is smaller, faster, lighter and more powerful than previous safety solutions. Its advanced functionality enables online upgrades without operational interruption. Additionally, the compact design allows for a number of new features including:

• Reduced form factor by 50 percent
• 67 percent reduction in weight
• Lower power consumption
• Advanced monitoring and control capabilities, including:
• Supervised DI/DO with advanced line-performance diagnostics
• Fast analogue inputs with integrated HART
• 1ms SOE digital input
• Choice of direct termination or external termination panel
• 300 percent increase in controller tag capacity
• 5 times increase in peer-to-peer performance
• ISA Secure EDSA level 1
• New automated test and verification of safety logic

“The Tricon CX safety system will enhance Schneider Electric’s current safety portfolio, and ARC believes its increased capabilities will enable new and existing customers to expand existing systems, replace obsolete systems or implement new systems,” said Larry O'Brien, vice president, process automation, ARC Advisory Group. “Its ability to handle upgrades without interrupting the operation should give users confidence in their ability to continue to draw additional value from their investments down the road.”

Through its Triconex brand, Schneider Electric offers industry-leading safety and critical control solutions for managing risks in hazardous environments. Triconex solutions enable safer operations by maximizing compliance to mandated safety regulations and minimizing both unscheduled downtime and the likelihood of business interruptions. The systems improve operational efficiency, helping clients achieve gains in production availability, asset uptime and ROI. Based on industry-leading Triple Modular Redundancy technology, Triconex solutions are also easy to operate and maintain, and they provide a higher total value of ownership over competitive offers.

In addition to leading technology and solution sets, Schneider Electric’s process safety offer includes more than 650 safety engineers who provide a suite of services that help clients better manage their operations. These services include:

• Safety Instrumented Functions Management services
• Process safety consulting services
• Functional safety learning services