Clariant Uses HART Technology to SolveMajor Production ProblemPROJECT OBJECTIVES
SOLUTION
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2004RESULTS
- Initial investment cost was low since installed devices were HART-capable
- By saving just 2 or 3 hours of downtime, initial investment could be recovered
- Plant engineers have determined that this project has reduced downtime by at least 60-70%
- Changing device parameters to adjust for a new product is now faster and easier
- Device problems and errors can now be quickly analyzed
- Accessing data from devices in hazardous area is not longer a problem
- Equipment replacement (when necessary) is now faster
- Predictive maintenance alerts enable problems to be detected within seconds and process disruptions to be avoided
- Real-time access to field devices provides assurance that things are working properly
“The return on investment is very high when you use the HART technology that is already in your plant.” Rather than waiting for a “perfect” solution that may require a significant investment, plant managers should look at the technologies they already have for a viable solution to improve operational performance.
The Clariant antioxidants plant in Gersthofen, Germany, solved a major production problem by utilizing the resources already installed in their plant. Clariant uses HART Communication technology in their daily operations to deliver process measurement values and device configuration information to a PROFIBUS remote I/O system, which converts the data to cyclic PROFIBUS DP Data for real-time data access, preventive maintenance and troubleshooting of critical devices located in a hazardous area.
“The return on investment is very high when you use the HART technology that is already in your plant,” says Ludwig Wenninger, Clariant plant engineer. “Going to the device in the field took a lot of time. Now we can access parameters from a central location in a safe area which has reduced the duration of planned shutdowns by at least 60 to 70 percent.”
The Clariant plant produces additives used in plastics production and is responsible for prototyping new production plants. Because of the numerous chemicals produced, their field devices need to be re-configured frequently to adapt to a new production batch. Many of the devices are located in a hazardous area, which limits accessibility, so a plan was devised to allow access to smart devices from a safe, remote (away from the devices) location.
“To create a centralized system that would allow access to and modification of the HART devices currently installed in the plant, we decided on a Remote Device Management concept,” says Wenninger. “The system is based on PROFIBUS-Ethernet gateways and uses several automation technologies working together to provide a cost-effective solution.”
Since 1995, the Clariant plant has used numerous HART-enabled devices from multiple suppliers. Because HART technology is defined by a standard specification, all devices were able to be included in the application regardless of supplier, device age or measurement type. HART provides the means of remote device configuration to meet two of the projects main requirements.
Some of the devices were installed in hazardous areas and a notebook PC and other configuration tools could not be used in those areas. Since accessibility and management of the different devices would provide faster process adjustments and possibly provide early notification of pending device problems, the plan needed to provide central access to the intelligent HART devices from a safe, remote location to eliminate the need for routine visits to the hazardous areas.
“We wanted to use the possibility of device adjustments and remote configuration which is built into the HART devices,” says Wenninger. “We wanted to centralize access to all devices and to centralize the database and management of our instruments. So, we decided on a structure where the devices and their information were available full-time and would always be connected to the system.”
HART Communication is used to deliver the process measurement values and device configuration information to a PROFIBUS-Remote-I/O system, which converts the data to cyclic PROFIBUS DP Data. The remote I/O from R. Stahl was selected for this application since it is designed as intrinsically safe and can provide access to devices in the hazardous area.
The link to the hazardous area is a RS-485 intrinsically safe option of PROFIBUS, converting to Standard-RS-485 and then to the PROFIBUS Master gateway by Softing and to the Delta V Field Controller supplied by Emerson Process Management.
“The Clariant project is an ideal example of how to use installed HART-smart devices to their maximum potential—in other words, finding better ways to use what you have,” says Ron Helson, HART Communication Foundation Executive Director. “Real-time integration of HART data with plant control, safety and asset management systems unleashes the Power of HART technology and provides significant benefits in all phases of the plant life cycle.”
The data and device information is viewed daily and has provided several expected and unexpected results.
- Initial investment cost was low since installed devices were HART-capable
- By saving just 2 or 3 hours of downtime, initial investment could be recovered
- Plant engineers have determined that this project has reduced downtime by at least 60-70%
- Changing device parameters to adjust for a new product is now faster and easier
- Device problems and errors can now be quickly analyzed
- Accessing data from devices in hazardous area is not longer a problem
- Equipment replacement (when necessary) is now faster
- Predictive maintenance alerts enable problems to be detected within seconds and process disruptions to be avoided
- Real-time access to field devices provides assurance that things are working properly
Combining HART with other automation solutions delivers real-time benefits to the Clariant plant 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Re-configuration of the process to include a new product is now much faster and is accomplished with significantly less time, effort and cost. The ability to diagnose the overall plant operation is considerably enhanced. Downtime due to device re-configuration has been greatly reduced and has already provided complete recovery of initial investment.
HART Communication technology is the “right tool” for management of all field devices delivering data to the control system and device monitoring applications. Justifying the cost for the hardware and software needed for this type of project is easy because the installed HART devices can be used.