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How DCS Migration Improves Operator

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APRIL 2023 | VOL 70, ISSUE 2

FEATURES
OPERATIONS

14 How DCS Migration

Improves Operator
Experience
By Scott Hayes and Fekri Abdullah
Operators can see, hear, and feel the
effects of modern distributed control
systems.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

21 Modern Tools Create

Modern Systems
By Aaron Crews INDUSTRY 4.0
AI- and cloud-based engineering tools
accelerate control system moderniza-
44 Advanced Analytics
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 OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF AUTOMATION

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APRIL 2023 | VOL 70, ISSUE 2 CHIEF EDITOR: Renee Bassett, [email protected]
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By Renee Bassett
GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Jamie McLendon
Keeping Up on Industry 4.0? Follow the Influencers
DIGITAL DESIGNER: Colleen Casper
11 IIoT Insights
By Jim Cahill ISA MEMBER LEADERS
Wireless Devices Drive Energy Optimization ISA PRESIDENT: Marty Bince
ISA PAST PRESIDENT: Carlos Mandolesi
55 Association News ISA PRESIDENT-ELECT & SECRETARY: Prabhu Soundarrajan
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 TALK TO ME | PERSPECTIVES FROM THE EDITOR

Keeping Up on Industry 4.0?

Follow the Influencers
By Renee Bassett, InTech Chief Editor

The term “Industry 4.0” is both a guiding light (SMIIoT) division—itself a rich source of best
and an enigma. No universally accepted or practices and insightful discussions. SMIIoT
agreed upon definition exists, and it has taken division members created the August 2022
on different meanings since it was introduced issue of InTech, which focused exclusively on
in Germany in 2011. It is the name given to Industry 4.0 concepts and technologies.
the Fourth Industrial Revolution—this current #1 on the list is Jeff Winter. He’s an
time in which fundamental shifts are occur- Industry 4.0 and digital transformation
ring in the ways industrial companies operate enthusiast who spearheaded the creation
and automation professionals contribute. of the August 2022 issue. In it he wrote the
Industry 4.0 encompasses new, rapidly feature “The Birth of Industry 4.0 and Smart
evolving technologies such as data analytics, Manufacturing.”
artificial intelligence, the industrial Internet
Author and thought leader Mike Nager
of Things (IIoT), digital twins and more. And it
is #21. He demystifies the world of smart
offers a wide range of opportunities, benefits,
manufacturing for educators and public
and challenges for those in the midst of
officials with workshops, books, and lectures.
digital transformations and control system
He wrote Smart Manufacturing Terms You Need
modernizations—the theme of this April issue. to Know!, a book for industry professionals, as
Where does one go to get guidance and well as All About Smart Manufacturing, which
advice on making the most of Industry 4.0 is a picture book for children.
concepts and technologies? This InTech digital Ryan Treece, #37, serves as Tech
magazine is a fine resource but may not be Committee Chair – Edge & Cloud with ISA.
enough. Automation.com’s AUTOMATION He is a business development manager in IIoT
2023 ebooks and newsletters contain addi- at Telit and an InTech author.
tional insights. A new list of the Top Industry
“Digital transformation can be thought
4.0 Influencers on social media (primarily
of as the journey and strategy to get to the
LinkedIn and Twitter) contains 50 intelligent
vision of Industry 4.0,” says Winter. Every
and prolific experts to follow.
journey of transformation and moderniza-
Three of those influencers are members tion needs maps and guides. Through all the
of ISA’s own Smart Manufacturing and IIoT resources of ISA, may you find yours.

INTECH APRIL 2023 9 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

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 IIOT INSIGHTS | WHERE THE INTERNET MEETS INDUSTRY

Wireless Devices Drive Energy Optimization

By Jim Cahill

Companies across the globe are putting a operating procedures often specify that these
strategic focus on environmental, social, and measurements be read monthly, quarterly,
governance (ESG) goals to drive improve- or even yearly, with the readings reported
ments in sustainability. On the environmental and manually entered into the system. These
side, manufacturers and producers empha- instruments often track water, electricity, and
size energy consumption and emissions fuel consumption.
reductions.

While energy efficiency has long been a

From data to actionable information
What has changed is the availability and
key performance indicator (KPI) for these
breadth of wireless devices to easily add mea-
businesses, energy optimization has been
surements and operational analytics to distill
limited by the available measurements and
this wealth of additional data into actionable
human resources to focus on such strategies.
information for the plant staff.
One reason for the measurement limita-
tions is that most plants were instrumented Digital transformation is about using this
just enough to provide basic control and actionable information to do things differently
safety functions, but not enough to maximize and better. For example, by using acoustic
energy efficiency. And even if the available measurement technology to “listen” for leaks
instruments produced sufficient data, organi- in steam traps, problems can be identified
zational bandwidth means day-to-day opera- sooner and fixed to reduce wasted energy.
tions and maintenance tasks take priority. This change is a transformation from quarterly,
Time-consuming activities, such as operator semi-annual, or annual manual inspections.
rounds, must be performed manually without
Another source of wasted energy is
continuous measurements and monitoring.
mechanical problems with rotating equip-
Many current energy management systems ment, such as pumps, compressors, and
rely on manually collected data. Standard fans. Equipping this machinery with wireless

One reason for the measurement limitations is

that most plants were instrumented just enough
to provide basic control and safety functions,
but not enough to maximize energy efficiency.

INTECH APRIL 2023 11 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 IIOT INSIGHTS | WHERE THE INTERNET MEETS INDUSTRY

vibration, temperature, and lube system consumption. A fouled heat exchanger may
sensors, and feeding these measurements need more steam to heat the product or more
into built-for-purpose operational analytics chilled water or cooling water to be pumped
can provide the operations and maintenance to cool the product. Instrumenting the heat
staff with predictive early warning before exchangers with wireless, non-intrusive
mechanical problems develop and excessive temperature sensors on both hot and cold
energy is consumed. side inlets and outlets, and adding DP mea-
surements combined with feeding this data
Combustion is a significant source of energy
to analytics software can help determine
consumption in many manufacturing pro-
the optimum time for cleaning to minimize
cesses, especially where multiple fuel sources
energy loss and scheduled downtime.
are used. Traditionally, fuel/air curves have
been used in control strategies. Additional
Looking ahead
measurements to get real-time BTU or kilo-
These are just a few examples where mea-
joule energy content in the fuel enable more
surements can be easily added with wireless
advanced control strategies to efficiently set
communications technology feeding built-for-
the air and fuel mixture to maximize combus-
purpose operational analytics software. This
tion efficiency and minimize emissions.
provides actionable information that plant
Filters are used in many areas of produc- staff can use to reduce energy consumption
tion processes. Adding wireless differential and improve operational performance.
pressure (DP) sensors across the filter can
It’s essential to start with the business ob-
help with spotting early fouling that can
jectives when developing the path forward to
reduce efficiency and increase the energy
more sustainable operations. Assess current
consumption of the process.
performance, identify performance improve-
Another example is a heat exchanger, ment opportunities, and prioritize projects
which can benefit from wireless monitoring. to gain early successes and momentum to do
A fouled heat exchanger can cause what is more. The performance benefits come from
being produced not to be heated sufficiently, lower energy consumption and emissions,
requiring a burner to be fired to make up and greater staff productivity from eliminat-
the extra heat, thus increasing fuel gas ing manual tasks.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jim Cahill is a 30+ year veteran in the automation industry. He has an electrical en-
gineering degree from the University of Texas with experience in offshore oil & gas
production. He now leads Emerson’s social marketing practice to promote Emerson
automation technologies and expertise. Follow him through LinkedIn.com/in/JimCahill
or Emerson Automation Experts.

INTECH APRIL 2023 12 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

OPERATIONS

How DCS
Migration
Improves
Operator
Experience
Operators can see, hear, and feel the effects of
modern distributed control systems.

By Scott Hayes and Fekri Abdullah Migrating from a legacy control system to a new mod-
ern distributed control system (DCS) is a big job. For
most of the people involved—operators, plant engineers,
instrument techs, and other personnel—it may be a once
in a lifetime project.

INTECH APRIL 2023 14 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

OPERATIONS

A migration provides many benefits that requiring intervention? When do they have
will help improve the lives of those involved to intervene? Are they driving the bus, or is
in several areas of the plant floor. The mainte- it driving them?
nance technicians won’t be chasing rare spare
parts on the gray market. The plant manager
High-performance graphics
Consider improving the sight—the graphics.
will have remote access capabilities to moni-
By now, most people have heard of the ANSI/
tor the plant operations from the office (or
ISA-101.01-2015, Human Machine Interfaces
beach condo) on the new system.
for Process Automation Systems standard and
With a project of this magnitude, the big-
high-performance human-machine interface
gest impact is on the folks that use the DCS
(HP-HMI) best practices, which equate good
to run the plant—the operators. They need
modern graphics to grayscale. This is a big
to understand the benefits specific to their
part of improving what operators can eas-
area. Operators are often resistant to change
ily see and respond to. Changing the color
and might be detractors from the outset, so
palette to a gray background with sparse use
convincing them might be challenging. If they
of color draws attention to abnormal situa-
still don’t see the benefits after the migration
tions and is part of the solution (Figure 1).
is complete, the company has, unfortunately,
HP-HMI is more than just color changes,
failed in its business objectives. Success
however. It’s about planning. It’s an evalua-
depends largely on upfront planning and
tion of what needs to go on the Level 2 (L2)
getting buy-in from the operators and other
overview screens that an operator uses to run
key stakeholders.
the plant.
Consider how a DCS migration can
When migrating legacy DCS graphics, repli-
improve the operator’s experience running
cating the screens that operators use is usually
the plant in three primary ways. To illustrate,
inefficient and doesn’t improve their situation.
think of the improvement process in terms of
Even though the operator has been used to
sight, sound, and feel.
the system’s look and feel, it doesn’t mean
z Sight is associated with the graphics—what
the user experience can’t be improved. This is
operators see on the screen and how they
where the new HP-HMI best practices come
get to the information they need.
into play: L1, L2, L3, and L4 screens should
z Sound is associated with the alarms—im-
expose the right data and controls to reduce
proving operator alarms and their situa-
the operator’s cognitive load and deliver the
tional awareness, as well as what operators
information needed, when it is needed.
react to during abnormal conditions and
Here are descriptions of what type of
the action they are required to take.
z Feel
information is shown at each level:
is associated with process control—
the way the DCS controls the system. How z L1: Always up, wall-mounted trends or
much of the control is automatic versus displays that are always visible. L1 gives

INTECH APRIL 2023 15 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

OPERATIONS

Figure 1. High-
performance HMIs
following ISA-101 use
grayscale graphics
and sparse color to
draw attention to
abnormal situations.
Source: ISA/Maverick
Technologies webinar,
“High Performance HMI
Done Right”

everyone a quick status of the unit or criti- number of graphics to migrate by as much as
cal process data and how it is operating. 40%. The cost of the session is quickly offset
z L2: The money makers. These are the by the smaller number of graphics to migrate.
screens an operator uses to monitor the The second benefit is in the operation of
process and take routine action to make the plant after the migration. With better ac-
product. cess to information, the operators do a better
z L3: Details. L3 provides more informa- job running the facility. The improved situ-
tion on a particular process unit, which ational awareness allows them to recognize
is required to diagnose, troubleshoot, or ways to improve the operation and head off
perform non-routine operations. potentially costly problems before they start.
z L4: Pop ups. These are controls and face-
plates that operators interact with until Alarms
they go away. Even with effective HP-HMI graphics, opera-
Before moving from a legacy DCS system, tors can’t see all things all the time. That’s
best practice is to do an HP-HMI storyboard what alarms are for, so improving the sound
workshop. Get the engineers and operators of the control system alarms is also impor-
together with an experienced facilitator to tant. ANSI/ISA-18.2-2016, Management of
lay out the story of how the plant should be Alarm Systems for the Process Industries,
operated—not how it’s operated today, but provides guidance from a standards perspec-
how it should be run. The storyboard should tive. A modern DCS has the capability to
include what information the operator needs configure at least six or seven alarms on
to see at a glance and what can be hidden every input—highs, lows, bad signal, etc.
until needed. The options are endless, but the operator’s

The benefits of a storyboard workshop are bandwidth to filter and respond to these
alarms is not.
twofold: The first is associated with the cost
of the migration and the return on investment The control system should only alarm the
(ROI). A storyboard session can reduce the operator when an action is required. This takes

INTECH APRIL 2023 16 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

OPERATIONS

discipline and work. The remedy for this situ- Another improvement to the feel of a
ation is well known. Alarm rationalization is control system can be the difference between
needed to evaluate and document all the alarms operating an almost self-driving car and a
and decide what is necessary and what can be backhoe. In a modern car with cruise control,
eliminated, consolidated, or made smart. lane detection, and safety features, we can
guide the vehicle where we want it to go, but
One method for smart alarming is alarm
we don’t have to control every action all the
shelving or disabling based on other plant
time. A backhoe, for example, requires the
conditions. For example, a low-flow alarm
operator to directly manipulate every move
may be redundant if the pump providing that
with a separate joystick or knob. This method
flow is not running. Alarm shelving is the
works, but it takes a lot of skill and manual
capability to hide or remove multiple alarms
control. Many legacy plants run that way.
based on a process condition. For example,
if a compressor is taken out of service, the
operator does not need to respond to any
of its alarms. Shelving those alarms until the Even with effective HP-HMI
compressor is placed back in service can ease
graphics, operators can’t see
the load on the operator.
all things all the time; that’s
The payback for an alarm system that only
rings when needed is twofold: First, it gives
what alarms are for.
operators the ability to recognize abnormal
situations quickly and act to mitigate them.
One of the most promising methods that
After all, this is the purpose of an alarm
is increasingly becoming accepted is state-
system. Second, without nuisance alarms oc-
based control (SBC). In SBC, each unit or
curring constantly, operators have time to do
piece of equipment has a set of operating
their most important job—running the plant.
states (Figure 2).
It gives them the time and focus to improve
yield and reduce errors. For example, a distillation column may
have idle, filling, heating, running, and total
Process control reflux as its set of states. Rather than manipu-
One of the most common improvements in late valves and proportional-integral-deriva-
a control system migration is loop tuning tive (PID) controls directly, operators can step
and mitigation. Since every loop must be the column through the states, or the control
reprogrammed, it is an excellent time to system can automatically move the column
improve their tuning and control conditions. to a new state based on previously defined
Undiagnosed problems or problems that have conditions. This allows the operator to spend
been ignored for years can be evaluated more time setting the course, rather than
and corrected. driving the bus. Less time spent on easily

INTECH APRIL 2023 17 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

OPERATIONS

Figure 2. Advantages of state-based control. Source: Rockwell Automation

automated tasks gives the operator more Final thoughts

time to run the plant. A control system migration is a big endeavor
and requires buy-in from key stakeholders
States also can be used to enable or disable
across the enterprise. The re-creation of
smart alarms when conditions make that alarm
graphics and control strategies on a new
meaningless. If the column hasn’t filled with system is a challenging task, but it is also a
liquid yet, the low-level alarm is meaningless. great opportunity to improve the operator

Another method of increasing the control experience and overall production processes.
Careful planning and some upfront work can
of the plant involves a step change in the
improve the operator’s control of a plant in
control strategy. The expert implementation of
three key ways: sight—improving the graphic
advanced regulatory control techniques such
layout for the operator, sound—improving the
as feed forward, ratio control, and inferred
alarm system, and feel—improving the opera-
properties can have an impact on a plant’s tor’s control of the process.
ability to operate closer to constraints and
All these improvements eliminate distrac-
thereby increase throughput. Again, a DCS
tions and allow the operator to focus on the
migration brings the right expertise together real job—to keep production processes and
and touches every control strategy in the the plant up and running. The ROI that these
controller. There is no better time to at least improvements provide can pay out big and help
consider the execution of these strategies. companies maintain their competitive edge.

INTECH APRIL 2023 18 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

OPERATIONS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Hayes is the DCSNext portfolio manager at Rockwell Automation. Hayes is
a licensed control system engineer with more than 20 years of experience leading
automation projects and programs, as well as hands-on configuring and networking
of DCS, PLC, HMI, process historian, and visualization solutions.

Fekri Abdullah ([email protected]) is a senior engineer at

Maverick Technologies, a Rockwell Automation Company. Abdullah has a bachelor’s
degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan Dearborn. He has
been working with MAVERICK in the automation field for more than 14 years, sup-
porting numerous projects in different processes and platforms.

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Modern Tools Create

Modern Systems
By Aaron Crews

AI- and cloud-based engineering tools accelerate

control system modernization efforts.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learn- operations. But applying these technologies
ing (ML) technologies are having a moment requires a modern infrastructure, and reach-
right now, and many manufacturers are ing this goal is fraught with complexities. This
eager to transform their infrastructure to begs the question: “Can we apply AI and ML
apply these types of technologies to improve to ease the modernization process itself?”

INTECH APRIL 2023 21 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The answer is yes. End users can apply critical to running the plant properly. Without
AI and ML technology to projects to reduce a deep bench of expert personnel, reengi-
cost, mitigate risks, and accelerate schedules. neering all that automation to function under
The result is expedited delivery of modern a new control system appears to be a daunt-
tools to manufacturing operations, enabling ing task. It creates the fear that a new system
new insights and transformative business might not operate as efficiently or effectively
practices. as the old system because something was not
converted correctly.
Operational challenges The typical response has been to wait.
Today’s process manufacturers face a more Process manufacturers want to implement
complex environment than ever before. new, modern technologies, but they also
Operating in a global marketplace, they are need to avoid harming or disrupting the way
being forced to compete within an ever- the plant operates. Project teams often do
expanding arena. Staying effective means not have the resources—people, tools, bud-
operating reliably, safely, and efficiently by gets, and insights—to redo their automation
employing technologies that create more from scratch, but they also do not want to
flexible manufacturing environments to deal invest in an upgrade that does the same thing
with changing customer needs, supply chain they were already doing. Ultimately, they feel
disruptions, and personnel shortages. stuck. But that paradigm is changing.
Unfortunately, many of those same manu-
facturers are still using control technologies Benefits of modern control
that are 20, 30, or even 40 years old. Not only Today’s digital technologies offer benefits
are these legacy systems typically complex that operations teams hoping to stay com-
and difficult to operate, but they often require petitive cannot ignore, and digital moderniza-
specialized expertise and parts to keep them tion technologies are making them easier to

running, leading to extended outages and ex- implement than ever before (Figure 1).

pensive repairs. Also, these problems will only

get worse in the future as automation suppliers
discontinue support for legacy systems, and as
the few remaining personnel with specialized
experience in these systems retire.

The most obvious solution to aging

technology in the plant is control system
modernization, but modernization projects
can seem overwhelming. Plants that have
been operating for decades often have many Figure 1: Digital modernization tools offer many
instances of custom automation that are advantages over traditional tools.

INTECH APRIL 2023 22 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Highly efficient and competitive modern or firing of burners. Alarm applications are
process control plants look very different designed to integrate with modern control
from plants of just 10 years ago. Helpful systems to improve visibility and simplify cus-
process technologies that were unavail- tomization of alarm content based on process
able or very expensive many years ago are state. These technologies can also be coupled
considered best practices today. Some are with advanced process control, which enables
critical to meeting regulations, while others plants to build best-practice control strate-
keep a plant operating at peak efficiency. One gies into automation to ensure that they are
example is pervasive sensing technologies. repeated the same way every time.

The cost of sensors has fallen dramatically

in recent years, just as experienced person-
Project design and engineering
nel—those who can look at an asset and
challenges
Plants operating legacy control systems are
quickly identify problems—are leaving the
typically unable to take advantage of these
workforce in droves. As a result, plants are
and other modern technologies—unless money
adding sensors to many more assets to
is spent to construct complex, fragile custom
increase performance and safety visibility,
engineering to connect the systems. Such
helping operators do their jobs better through
solutions typically increase the cost of support
automated decision support. Today’s sensors
and the need for expert personnel, who are
provide easy-to-understand data, comprehen-
already difficult to find. The better solution is
sible by even the least experienced operators.
to modernize the plant, implementing a new
The best automation suppliers have made it
control system built from the ground up to
intuitive to integrate that data into the control
support today’s essential automation features.
system, helping foster better awareness and
But traditional methods face many hurdles.
control.

The way to reduce the risk associated with

modernization projects is to shift away from
traditional project engineering and instead embrace
digital technologies.

Many plants are also using advanced The first hurdle to modernization is man-
industrial software to manage alarms, both aging the project design and engineering.
to automatically reduce alarm floods and to Upwards of 50 percent of any modernization
improve safety when executing abnormal project is engineering work, and that work
process steps, such as startup and shutdown, traditionally requires many experienced

INTECH APRIL 2023 23 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

personnel and many hours of time-consuming time double-checking the process and fixing
design, checks, and rechecks. errors as they come up, or they can leave the
debugging until the end of the process when
When engineers develop and use tools
it is on the critical path and fix them then.
for modernization projects, those tools are
In either case, the time spent double- and
typically project-based and not reused. Every
triple-checking, and then fixing mistakes is
project is a little different from the one that
zero value-add.
preceded it, and it is designed around the
knowledge of the engineer who programmed Also, in many cases, this process is
the tools—a person who may no longer be performed via email, with days or weeks of
available. That means each project is typically waiting between each step. When mistakes
self-contained; it is planned, designed, and are discovered, those mistakes not only add
documented from the ground up. to the time needed to fix the problems, but
also add more waiting time as engineers
The engineering company involved typical-
transfer data back and forth.
ly uses a tool to pull the data from the legacy
control system into a database. Each engineer The engineering stage is complex, and

has a tool they like, and each tool has its own traditional modernization strategies are

pros and cons, and associated bugs. challenging. So, with limited budgets and
personnel, many project teams opt for “re-
After the legacy data is moved, engineers
placement in kind”—the most low-risk option
go through the database and manually assign
for modernization. But this often leaves the
every function block and piece of code to operations team with an automation system
a template, and they then develop custom lacking the performance improvements avail-
queries around those templates. Again, the able with modern technology and can limit
process is manual. After the templating step, the team’s ability to take advantage of those
engineers create new tables and design technologies in the future.
append queries to translate the legacy code
to the code for the new control system, then Digital technologies for project
use the text files generated from that process engineering
to develop a format specification file that is The way to reduce the risk associated with
used to create new code. modernization projects is to shift away from
In this traditional manner, each stage of traditional project engineering and instead

the engineering process is manual. Not only is embrace modern solutions based in digital

this manual work time-consuming, but there technologies. Today’s automation providers

are numerous opportunities for mistakes are creating tools to digitalize the project

everywhere along the path. This leaves engineering stage of modernization.

project teams with two choices, neither of Digital tools dramatically reduce the time
them ideal. They can either spend a lot of spent engineering while simultaneously

INTECH APRIL 2023 24 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

eliminating much of the potential for errors conversion tool that has been used on one or
and enabling best practices to drive improved two projects, today’s end user project teams
plant performance. Now, instead of simple can work with their automation provider to
conversion tools to update controls, teams train centralized machine learning tools with
are looking to comprehensive smart tools to data from hundreds or thousands of projects.
identify functions and automatically replace
The AI digs through the legacy code and
them with modern implementations in a new
identifies functions that are part of the
system.
tool’s past project experience. If the AI sees
The top automation providers in the world something repeated that matches work
execute multiple modernization projects every performed on previous projects, it extracts
day. Their engineering teams then process that code and structures it to transfer over to
the data from each of those hundreds of the new control system. Not only is the code
annual modernization projects in a central, automatically converted, but it uses a best-
cloud-native toolset. Using AI to automati- practice structure for the new control system
cally leverage the organization’s past project that is automatically documented to create
experience, engineers structure the data and a powerful automation foundation. Because
separate it into its core functions while identi- the process is automated, the project team
fying complex control strategies and areas for does not need to worry about errors in the
improvement. That means, instead of using a code (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Modern technologies like Emerson's ReVamp and IO.CONNECT leverage artificial intelligence
and machine learning to simplify, streamline, and enhance modernization projects.

INTECH APRIL 2023 25 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

In some cases, the AI will find code or other

Better mapping with metrics
content that isn’t recognized. In these instances,
New digital modernization tools also help
the tool not only automatically generates logic
project teams better plan the execution of
drawings, but also uses an ML algorithm to
their projects, well before engineering begins.
identify clusters of repeated control strategies
Digital modernization project tools scan
as candidates to add to the library. When the
legacy control system code and generate a
tool has enough instances of that code, engi-
comprehensive project report. The report
neers can review and promote those strategies
helps project teams see how much of their
to the library. As a result, the tool continues
existing code conversion has the potential
to get smarter with each project, continually
to be automated, how much must be built by
adding new designs and best practices.
hand, and how much will require reengineer-
This process ensures that every modern-
ing (Figure 3).
ization is the best modernization because
the tools are continually improved over These metrics not only help the team
an ever-growing number of projects. And, budget and slice the project into reasonable
because those tools are cloud-native, they phases but also help remove late-stage sur-
are constantly updated, ensuring that teams prises and change orders. Traditionally, teams
are always engineering their projects with the made a lot of assumptions about each project
highest possible accuracy and efficiency. in the design phase, but when they were

Figure 3: Digital
modernization tools
provide metrics before
the project begins to help
teams better plan and
avoid late-stage changes.

INTECH APRIL 2023 26 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

wrong, the automation engineering partner The new automation is not just a conversion
would need to issue change orders. This led of what the plant had before. Instead, the
to some teams carrying too much contin- team receives a functional reimplementation
gency in the budget, and others not carrying of control logic in the new control system that
enough. With the metrics available in digital also contains all the hooks needed to add on
toolsets, however, teams have a much better such advanced functionality as state-based
idea of what needs to be done from the very control, advanced control, dynamic alarming,
beginning of project execution, dramatically and optimization for abnormal operations—
reducing costly changes, and the need to switching grades or startup and shutdown, for
carry budget overages to plan for them. example. Teams no longer have to extensively
reengineer to implement available new tech-
nologies when upgrading a control system.

Instead of simple conversion As more teams use advanced moderniza-

tools to update controls, smart tion tools to drive better projects, they
will also leverage the ability to store all the
tools identify functions and
content from digital tools in a single cloud
automatically replace them location. Project engineering teams at
with modern implementations engineering companies and integrators will
be able to collaborate with the automation
in a new system.
vendor to take advantage of this experience,
gain access to these tools, and access a
Faster and foundational central location to manage project libraries.
Digital modernization toolsets are also All information, such as engineering
faster than the traditional conversion designs, documentation, and support,
tools of the past. Instead of emailing files will be accessible via the cloud through a
back and forth, teams simply upload data continuously updated digital platform. This
into native cloud tools to take advantage complete repository will provide informa-
of the increased processing power in the tion that both engineering teams and their
cloud. Results typically come in minutes customers can use across the lifecycle of
rather than days. This fast turnaround helps the modernized facility.
teams ensure that they can get their basic
automation foundation—built on engineer- Easier, more accurate
ing strategies that have been validated by modernization
world experts and used many times—com- Today’s advanced cloud-based moderniza-
pleted early on in a modernization project.
tion tools drive increased value compared to
Even more important, that foundation is traditional conversion tools. Not only do they
built with more complex automation in mind. dramatically speed the process of engineering

INTECH APRIL 2023 27 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

a modernization project, but they do it with countless hours of work and sets teams up to
more visibility across the entire project while implement more complex automation strate-
simultaneously eliminating errors. Teams gies much earlier in the project, helping to
spend less time testing project engineering ensure that they more easily accomplish the

steps and are not crunched for time at the goals that put them on the path to modern-

end of the project the way they typically were ization in the first place.

in the past. Automating these tasks removes All figures courtesy of Emerson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aaron Crews is the global director of modernization at Emerson. He has extensive
experience planning and executing control system modernization projects through-
out the hydrocarbon value chain, and his current focus is on enabling approaches
and technologies that deliver the value of modern automation at reduced cost and
risk. Crews received a BS in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and
an MBA from The University of Texas.

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CONNECTIVITY

PREPARE TO
MODERNIZE YOUR PLANT
Change is coming to process
automation. Newer standards
for connectivity favor the
early adopters. By Ted Masters and
Paul Sereiko

Change comes slowly in the process automa- Thus, instruments, valves, remote input/out-
tion industry in general, particularly in pro- put (I/O), and other field devices often remain
cess plants and facilities. Consumer product in place with little change for many years.
lifecycles are measured in durations as short For example, upgrading an instrument with a
as just a few months, and factory automation process penetration might require cutting and
upgrades typically occur every few years to welding, in addition to new wiring infrastruc-
match their output to consumer demand, but ture, making it a costly proposition.
a process plant often operates for decades.
This phenomenon in part explains why
Once a plant has begun operating, 4-20 mA instruments, often supporting the
upgrades occur rarely, and typically only to HART communication protocol, still dominate
meet a new requirement such as regulatory the installed base. But it doesn’t explain
compliance or increased capacity. In general, why even today, 4-20 mA HART instrument
the closer a piece of hardware is to the devices still represent the greatest market
process, the more costly it is to upgrade. share for new instrument shipments.

INTECH APRIL 2023 30 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

CONNECTIVITY

A leading reason may be that until a (SDOs) like FieldComm Group are active
technology enters the market that meets the in many of these areas. FieldComm Group,
needs for both real-time control—for example for example, co-owns the Ethernet-APL,
by providing operational simplicity—and the Field Device Integration (FDI), and Process
asset management and maintenance teams’ Automation Device Information Model (PA-
desire for data, 4-20 mA plus HART is often DIM) standards with other SDOs.
the best option. But end users would do well
The “advanced physical layer” of Ethernet-
to select vendors and automation system
APL promises to bring high-speed, IP-enabled
components with the future in mind. This
communications to the instrument and
requires understanding the progress being
infrastructure network layers. Remote I/O
made toward adoption of multiple industry
will be replaced or augmented with Ethernet
standards and frameworks for system devel-
switches in many cases, and 4-20 mA field
opment, connectivity, and communications.
devices will be upgraded to their Ethernet-
These and other changes also necessitate a
APL counterparts. Ethernet-APL field devices
closer bond between operational technology
will be connected through Ethernet switches
(OT) and information technology (IT).
to controllers, human-machine interfaces
In response to this need, government, user, (HMIs), servers, and other hosts as part of the
and standards development organizations greater automation system. (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Ethernet-APL field devices will connect to Ethernet switches, which in turn will connect to
controllers and servers.

INTECH APRIL 2023 31 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

CONNECTIVITY

For large process plants, hosts often

Step 1: Plan and prepare
include an asset management system and a
Hardware considerations. Most of the
distributed control system (DCS). The DCS
installed field device base is 4-20 mA, often
landscape is also facing significant change, as with HART, and current shipments are still
the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF) largely 4-20 mA, albeit with even more
aims to re-invent the controller and DCS HART-enabled devices. But it should be clear
business with an open architecture solution, that if a facility wants to be able to take full
removing end user reliance on proprietary advantage of open systems and digitalization
vendor technology. at any reasonable scale, it needs to start lay-
Widespread adoption of these initiatives ing the foundation now for what will eventu-
will create a much higher degree of interoper- ally become a modernized plant.
ability, allowing end users to pick the best-of- From a physical perspective, plant per-
breed products for their applications. It will sonnel should initially identify high-value
also force vendors to innovate on product assets and processes that might be targeted
features and benefits demanded by end us- for future digitalization, using one of two
ers, instead of focusing on the development methods:
of proprietary technologies.
z HART-IP gateways. 4-20 mA HART
SDOs, and many end users, in the process field devices often terminate at a host
automation industry are optimistic that the system that does not support the HART
previously described initiatives will result standard. To address this issue, several
in improved plant operations in the future. vendors offer gateway products that can
Vendor support varies, with some strongly capture data from multiple HART instru-
supporting all initiatives and others target- ments, buffer the information, and then
ing their support based on the perceived publish it over high-speed wired Ethernet
strengths of their product portfolios. End using the HART-IP protocol for use by
users should eventually see more open host systems.
systems, and this transition can be hastened z WirelessHART. Virtually any 4-20 mA
if they have a plan in place to adopt these HART instrument can be converted to
new technologies. support WirelessHART with the addition

Identify high-value assets and processes that might

benefit from digitalization and lay the foundation
for physical modernization by using either HART-IP
gateways or WirelessHART.

INTECH APRIL 2023 32 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

CONNECTIVITY

of an adapter, available from many ven- term. If updated wiring infrastructure is part
dors. The upgraded instrument can then of the plan, users should consider selecting
be connected to a WirelessHART network, cables and routings that will work with future
and eventually to a host system via an installations of Ethernet-APL devices and
Ethernet connection from a WirelessHART switches.
gateway. The existing 4-20 mA con- Software considerations. On the software
nection can be maintained for real-time side, adoption of host systems supporting
control, with the wireless system freeing modern communication technologies should
up formerly stranded data, such as sec- be considered, as these will be required
ondary process variables and diagnostics, for implementing plant modernization and
for use by host systems (Figure 2). digitalization strategies. FDI technology,
It’s also worthwhile to assess which units which is endorsed by end user organizations
might be undergoing a turnaround in the near like NAMUR, has been available for several

Figure 2: WirelessHART adapters can be used to free stranded data from 4-20mA HART instruments, and
to connect non-HART 4-20mA instruments to WirelessHART networks.

INTECH APRIL 2023 33 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

CONNECTIVITY

Figure 3: FDI supports communication with many different clients, including asset management systems,
with compatibility assured by testing provided by the FieldComm Group.

years, and most major host system suppliers have demanded in an integration solution,
support it (Figure 3). including:

One of the key benefits of FDI is simpler z Device health: Advanced device health
device integration with host systems, but the diagnostics must be supported per the
FDI host architecture also enables additional NAMUR NE 107 recommendation.
integration, including host-to-cloud connec- z IIoT readiness: Support for PA-DIM
tivity, for example using OPC UA technology z Offline configuration: Standardized sup-
and the PA-DIM information model. port for bulk configuration of instruments
FDI implementation requires both host and systems prior to installation
system and field device support. First, host z Modern user interfaces: FDI device pack-
system software must be FDI-enabled, so ages from some vendors may come with a
end users should seek out FDI-registered vastly improved user interface plug-in (UIP),
host software, available from ABB, Emerson, supporting .NET or HTML5 technology.
Honeywell, Siemens, and other vendors. z FDI device package security: The FDI device
Second, instruments must support the FDI package ensures security because vendors
device package, which is similar to a ZIP file. and test organizations, like the FieldComm
When imported into an FDI host, the package Group, must “sign” the package using a
expands to include a driver file for the device, recognized certificate authority during the
as well as additional files like documents and conformance and registration process.
user interface plugins. Once these building blocks are in place,
FDI device package technology now the next step can be taken—piloting new
supports many features that end users technologies.

INTECH APRIL 2023 34 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

CONNECTIVITY

the installed base supports HART technology

Step 2: Pilot new technologies
today, the transition of workforce and work-
Ethernet-APL networks will fundamentally
flows to HART-IP will be significantly less inva-
alter the design of future process automation
sive than adopting a new automation protocol.
systems. But first, they will begin to displace
Having a flexible networking infrastructure will
existing field networks that use cabling com-
also allow the use of other protocols, perhaps
mon to FOUNDATION Fieldbus and Profibus-
PROFINET for motor controllers, EtherNet/IP
PA, or they will be used in unit turnarounds
for analytical instruments, and eventually the
where instrumentation and infrastructure are
OPC UA native devices currently being speci-
being replaced.
fied in the OPC UA FX project.
One of the key features of Ethernet-APL is
While a complete portfolio of Ethernet-
the separation of the physical layer from the
APL-enabled instruments of the type used
automation protocol, heretofore linked. This
in process plants is still a few years away,
separation allows for installation of a plant-
Ethernet-APL products are now starting to
wide Ethernet infrastructure that can then be
become available in the market. For example,
used with much greater flexibility.
Pepperl+Fuchs offers a FieldComm Group-
registered Ethernet-APL field switch. Several
Ethernet-APL networks instruments supporting PROFINET, which can
be used with an Ethernet-APL network, will
will fundamentally alter the
become available in mid-2023.
design of future process
Therefore, it makes sense to start piloting
automation systems. But Ethernet-APL soon, for several reasons:
first, they will begin to 1. An Ethernet-APL network will provide much
displace existing field more data to the plant and the enterprise.
Understanding how much data, where that
networks.
data is needed, and what to do with it should
be an objective of any pilot installation.
Since most core process instrumentation is 2. Ethernet-APL is just an Ethernet physical
used to measure pressure, temperature, level, layer. Like any Ethernet network, it needs
and flow—and since most of these instruments to be monitored and controlled for security
currently use 4-20 mA plus HART communica- access, and potentially traffic management.
tions—it often makes sense to pilot versions of But unlike traditional Ethernet networks,
these instruments with native HART-IP sup- Ethernet-APL switches and instruments
port. This protocol extends the HART feature will often be deployed in hazardous areas.
set with security and direct real-time control, Understanding how work processes will
and it can be architected on any Ethernet change with Ethernet-APL installations can
media. But most important, since almost all of be assessed and finalized during a pilot.

INTECH APRIL 2023 35 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

CONNECTIVITY

3. Ethernet-APL instruments might oper- captured and processed by the M+O applica-
ate differently than current 4-20 mA or tions, such as an asset management system.
fieldbus devices. Specifically, high-speed In this domain, technologies built on OPC UA
communications will enable more efficient information modeling techniques can help
access to the instrument, along with “cleanse” the data by eliminating protocol
greater ability to directly manage and dependencies and adding semantic identifiers.
configure it. Again, understanding how The PA-DIM information model is an OPC UA
workflows might change as Ethernet-APL information model that is supported in FDI
devices are deployed is an important device packages, and it is thus a good choice
consideration for a pilot. for these types of applications. Piloting a PA-
While piloting a high-speed Ethernet-APL
DIM-based web application targeted at imple-
infrastructure, end users should also consider
menting some of the use cases of the NAMUR
piloting associated applications for monitor-
Open Architecture now can pay dividends later.
ing and optimization (M+O), as recommended
by NAMUR NE175. These applications are Change is coming to the process automa-

deployed outside the core process control tion industry, and end users should start lay-
domain and have extremely limited ability ing the groundwork now so they can be ready
to impact the process. Therefore, things like to quickly adopt new technologies as they
firewalls, data diodes, and other security become more widely available. This will allow
measures will be needed. them to reap benefits in short order, gaining
an edge on their less prepared competitors.
Once that infrastructure is in place, data
from that fast Ethernet-APL network can be All figures courtesy of FieldComm Group

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ted Masters is the president and CEO of the FieldComm Group. He has held leader-
ship roles in a wide variety of technology companies supporting the process industry
for more than 30 years. Masters has experience in managing the growth and deliv-
ery of products, software, and service solutions to industrial markets. His career has
been centered on the conversion of operational data into actionable intelligence and
helping users make better decisions to capture the value by integration into business
systems and processes. Masters has a BSEE degree from the University of Kentucky.
Paul Sereiko is the director of marketing and product strategy of the FieldComm Group.
He is responsible for guiding worldwide marketing efforts to increase the adoption
of FieldComm Group digital automation technologies and solutions in plant environ-
ments across the world. Sereiko has a BS in computer engineering from the Univer-
sity of Illinois and an MBA in marketing and finance from Northwestern University’s
Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

INTECH APRIL 2023 36 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 GLOBAL
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INDUSTRIAL IoT

Field-Level
Comms Improve
IIoT
Implementations

Start incrementally at the edge by combining

proven fieldbuses and controllers.
By Bill Dehner

Basic hardwired connectivity of sensors and drivers have been shifting user preferences
instruments has been a typical automation toward wireless digital solutions:
system design for manufacturing sites and z Smarter instruments
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) z Widespread use of fieldbuses and industrial
for a very long time. Hardwiring is straight-
protocols
forward, reliable, responsive, and well under- z An increased need to access edge-located
stood—even if it is a bit cumbersome.
data.
This “keep it simple” hardwired approach When integrated well, these three concepts
is still appropriate in many cases, but three provide signaling equal to or better than

INTECH APRIL 2023 38 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

INDUSTRIAL IoT

traditional methods but with many value- products, than to jump too soon into the
added benefits, such as simplified installation, highest-level elements or try to execute a
enhanced diagnostics, and extended access massive capital initiative.
to field data. The collective functionality
This article points out ways that compa-
of these elements is often termed as the
nies new to IIoT, often with smaller product
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). While
lines or limited automation experience, can
these three drivers ease IIoT implementations,
successfully start on the road to obtaining
some projects fall victim to incompatibilities
IIoT capabilities by building on a foundation of
or other issues, increasing design effort, or in
modern industrial field-level communications.
the worst case, leading to unusable results.

Accessing data everywhere

The four main process automation analog
Through both positive measurements are flow, level, pressure, and
and sometimes negative temperature. Yet there are many others,
including location, weight, and analytical val-
experiences, developers are
ues. In addition, there are important discrete
finding that an IIoT scheme signals, such as running, failed, in position,
is only as good as the field- and more. Instruments and/or sensors are the
field devices for detecting these conditions
level communications
and transmitting diagnostics and related
technology it is built on. information to a control, asset management,
or other host system.

IIoT means different things to different us- Each of these signals can be connected
ers. Some just need to remotely view data. Or using hardwired methods; however, all but
a machine OEM may want IIoT access to sup- the most basic field devices are likely to now
port their customers for troubleshooting. The be available with some level of digitalization
most sophisticated users may need to historize and intelligence. These smart field devices
and analyze extensive datasets to support can report much more data and status infor-
optimization efforts, sometimes across fleets mation, or receive instruction commands and
of equipment spanning many sites. configurations, if they are connected using
a more advanced digital method commonly
Through both positive and sometimes
called a fieldbus.
negative experiences, developers are finding
that an IIoT scheme is only as good as the A fieldbus is generally considered for
field-level communications technology it is operational technology (OT) spaces on-ma-
built on. They are learning that it is better to chine or throughout the plant floor, often in
build up IIoT capabilities incrementally from physically demanding locations. Connecting
the edge, using proven methodologies and data to higher level control room or cloud

INTECH APRIL 2023 39 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

INDUSTRIAL IoT

information technology (IT) resources usually z Ethernet media with industrial commu-
requires an entirely different set of protocols nications protocols, such as PROFINET,
developed for the unique transport and EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, HART-IP, and
security needs of those systems. many others.
This is not a comprehensive list of field-
Once a smart field device is connected
buses, and there are also industrial wireless
using a fieldbus, it can deliver the primary
networking technologies, but it quickly
measurement, along with extended informa-
becomes clear that there is no single fieldbus
tion, such as device status, diagnostics,
to rule them all. Simple discrete devices are
alerts, and configuration parameters. This
not made to work directly with comparatively
additional information empowers users to
complex process fieldbuses, and advanced
implement more effective and sophisticated
process instruments would also not work with
control schemes. Other data notifies users
fieldbuses tailored more to discrete devices.
when there are issues and makes it easier
for technicians to commission, troubleshoot, On top of that, various field device vendors
and otherwise support devices in operation. select the fieldbus they will support. Often,
Higher level historizing and analytical applica- end users obtain complete equipment, such
tions can be used to great effect with this as process skids or machines, from multiple
field device data. vendors, each of which has selected their
own preferred makes and models of field
Getting on the bus instruments. While end users would always
A fieldbus interacts with target field devices prefer to standardize, this is not always pos-
via copper for cable, a wireless network, sible, so the only way to proceed in this envi-
or other media and the protocol, or lan- ronment is to establish flexible and adaptable
guage. Field devices usually support only methods of connecting field devices to higher
certain fieldbuses, and often just one type. level systems.
Fieldbuses must also be suitable for the
installation environment and supported by Covering the bases
the host system(s). In an effort to start small at the edge, many
designers are choosing familiar programmable
Available fieldbuses have taken many
forms over the years:

z Serial communications like RS-232 using

Additional information
standard Modbus RTU or other protocols empowers users to
z Digital communications on top of traditional
implement more effective
hardwiring, such as HART over 4-20 mA
z Proprietary or open fieldbuses, such as
and sophisticated control
Foundation Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, AS- schemes.
Interface, IO-Link, and many others

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INDUSTRIAL IoT

Figure 1. The IO-Link fieldbus architecture is particularly useful for connecting a wide variety of field
devices to PLC controllers and cloud computing—even simultaneously. This diagram shows a PLC and an
MQTT connection to the cloud, both communicating with IO Link master modules that are connected to
many types of sensors and actuators.

logic controllers (PLCs), many of which in- Installation is standardized on new or existing
clude native support for the most popular OT 3-conductor unshielded cables operating
fieldbuses, as well as higher level IT-friendly at 24 Vdc to provide signals and power via
protocols. Although no individual fieldbus master modules. IO-Link technology is right-

reigns supreme, a lot of users are finding sized to address a common range of industrial

great success with IO-Link as a cost-effective needs. Even though it has fewer features than
some other fieldbuses, it is fit-for-purpose
and smart standard suitable for various types
for many applications as a reliable way to
of field devices found on industrial equipment
transmit up to 32 bytes of data, typically a
(Figure 1).
combination of process values, diagnostics,
IO-Link is specified by IEC 61131-9, and it and configuration. Crucial data is delivered on
provides point-to-point bidirectional commu- a defined cyclic schedule, while other data is
nications over distances of up to 20 meters. delivered asynchronously as needed.

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INDUSTRIAL IoT

Figure 2. Modern PLCs

natively work with
the most popular OT
fieldbuses and multiple IT-
friendly protocols to make
IIoT solutions practical for
applications of all sizes.

One notable capability is that an IO-Link directly to other supervisory systems, and
network can communicate simultaneously progressively implement any number of PLCs
with both a supervisory PLC over EtherNet/ and IO-Link fieldbuses to scale up a complete
IP, and with other site- or cloud-based IIoT solution (Figure 2).
systems using MQTT. A PLC can be used as
a data concentrator, or IO-Link can com- Pulling it all together
municate directly with higher level systems. Field-level data sourced from intelligent
This provides designers with the flexibility to sensors and other devices can provide a
implement capable local control, provide data massive amount of valuable information, but

INTECH APRIL 2023 42 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 INDUSTRIAL IoT

only if there are practical IIoT connectivity connectivity is just one issue, as designers
methods. OEMs and end users are leaning must also consider ongoing support and
into IIoT technologies so they can monitor security concerns.
and analyze data to support asset manage-
For these and other reasons, many devel-
ment, maintenance, and optimization efforts.
opers are finding it most effective to build
These endeavors are essential to better assist
up IIoT capabilities progressively, starting
a dwindling operations workforce.
at the data source. Using modern digital
While these goals are well known, a
fieldbuses like IO-Link, in conjunction with
wide variety of changing technologies and
OT- and IT-capable PLCs, designers have the
a scarcity of experienced design personnel
tools to begin implementing and scaling up
can make it challenging to have confidence
IIoT projects, and then build on successes to
when moving forward with IIoT projects.
create a complete system.
This is especially true for smaller OEMs, and
for less experienced developers. Acceptable All figures courtesy of AutomationDirect

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill Dehner has spent the majority of his 17-year engineering career designing and
installing industrial control systems for the oil and gas, power, and package handling
industries. He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with an associate
degree in avionics from the USAF and is currently working for AutomationDirect as a
technical marketing engineer.

International Society of Automation

Setting the Standard for Automation™

Controlling Automation processes

Béla Lipták

the Future can affect the future

of global warming
ure Controlling Non-Industrial Processes to
to Prevent Climate and Other Disasters Prevent Climate and Other Disasters
major problem that requires our immediate attention. What sets
Controlling Non-Industrial Processes to Prevent Climate and Other Disasters
Controlling the Future

rom an automation and control perspective.

Future
h Earth is warmed by the Sun and cooled by outer space. For a Controller
ut burning fossil fuels upset the radiative equilibrium and
here. The thermal imbalance continues as some 10 billion tons

t. Therefore, I have focused on determining the characteristics

edbacks, etc.) as well as estimating how much the temperature
e to bring it under control. Desired
In his powerful book, Controlling the Future, author Béla Lipták,
addresses the problem of global warming from an automation
Conditions
amplifying, non-linear, and interacting subprocesses that must
tools, I found that: Present Manipulated
Conditions Variables
controlled, the global temperature will stabilize after rising 3°C
will evolve on the planet and human civilization will be gone.

n that of the atmosphere. It is a rule that the larger the capacity

me constants (effects). Atmospheric subprocesses have already
fects will follow.
and control process perspective. Reviewing the effects of
ubprocesses that can become tipping points. For example, (a)

global warming and its timeline, the author discusses how such
heat absorption as water replaces snow, (b) melting permafrost
ean warming causes degassing or acidification that kills coral
y the greenhouse effect.

to stop GW; cooling is required.

the positive role

t. I also provide
at are already
austible energy
processes can be used to prevent disasters. This easy-to-read
book is a must for anyone in automation or environmental
n and reversible
gy continuously

studies who is interested in global

40-0220

Béla Lipták

warming and its effect on our future! Learn More

INTECH APRIL 2023 43 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

INDUSTRY 4.0

Advanced
Analytics Drive
Sustainability
Initiatives
Leverage models and algorithms
to reduce costs, waste, and
carbon emissions.
By Morgan Bowling

In the era of Industry 4.0 and manufacturing (SMEs) analyze this information to identify
digital transformation, data is at the core opportunities for operational optimization
of every successful sustainability initiative. and help teams progress toward corporate
While most process manufacturers have sustainability initiatives.
been collecting time-series process data
While sustainability is recognized as an
for decades, these projects cannot progress
area of importance for almost all organiza-
without historical context, a frequently lack-
tions, many are at a standstill because they
ing component.
lack the mechanisms to condition data for
Most manufacturers are using data man- insightful analysis. They face obstacles ac-
agement platforms to store and secure this cessing and connecting to their many dispa-
information, but preparing these process rate data sources, as well as cleansing and
data streams for analysis often does not contextualizing the data. This prevents these
occur. This step must be completed with both companies from creating and operationalizing
historical data and current/future data aggre- insights to increase operational efficiency and
gation. Only then can subject matter experts reduce emissions.

INTECH APRIL 2023 44 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

INDUSTRY 4.0

Fortunately, modern advanced analytics After spending a significant amount of

solutions are empowering process manu- time compiling data in a spreadsheet, SMEs
facturers to find, share, and act on insights must analyze it to identify opportunities
derived from their seemingly endless data for environmental improvement. However,
streams, helping operations and engineering organizations cannot improve what they can-
teams drive sustainable practices. not measure. Spreadsheets lack a seamless
method for visualizing and validating process
data, making spreadsheet-based analysis
Challenges with antiquated
cumbersome and error-prone, in addition
data tools
to time-consuming. This prevents the deep
As both the accessibility and volume of data
analysis required to increase efficiency in
increase, the limitations of legacy software
process environments.
options are becoming clearer: They simply
cannot be counted on to find and operation- Without the right solutions, most sustain-
alize data-based insights. ability metrics are either not calculated,
inadequately moni-
tored, or recorded
While sustainability is recognized as an area too late, preventing
operations teams
of importance for almost all organizations,
from taking timely
many are at a standstill because they lack and informed action.
the mechanisms to condition data for This causes the
organization to act
insightful analysis.
in a reactive manner
because issues are
only brought to light
The first challenge is accessing data. in reports that are often only prepared on a
Process manufacturers have a variety of exist- quarterly or annual basis. This prevents teams
ing data sources across multiple databases from proactively making operational changes
hosted on-premises or in the cloud, such as to minimize or avoid emissions events.
process historians and asset management
systems. Traditionally, teams have used Software solutions support
standard spreadsheet-based tools to collect, sustainability
cleanse, and align time series data from these With the right self-service advanced analytics
sources to the best of their abilities. However, solution, SMEs can gain insight into historical
these efforts are labor- and time-intensive and near-real-time process data, including
for the process experts, engineers, and data access to environmental parameters. Using
scientists typically tasked with the work. these types of tools, teams can immediately

INTECH APRIL 2023 45 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

INDUSTRY 4.0

alleviate the challenges of live data con- Data visualization capabilities also make
nectivity, because the software automatically it easier to communicate environmental
aggregates data from many types of disparate performance metrics efficiently. For example,
sources into a single platform. Automated teams can shift from reactive to proactive
data cleansing and contextualization enable approaches by continuously monitoring
engineers to significantly reduce the time parameters to detect and mitigate emission
spent preparing data for analysis and instead
limit breaches. This helps facilitate rapid reac-
focus on process improvements like optimiz-
tions to events while providing root cause
ing environmental performance.
assistance to SMEs.
Without data access and preparation bar-
In addition, by using advanced analytics
riers to worry about, SMEs can use purpose-
solutions to build models and predict process
built, point-and-click tools for descriptive,
behavior, the impacts of operational changes
diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analyt-
on an organization’s environmental perfor-
ics to improve environmental performance
based on reliable insights. Advanced analytics mance become apparent. For example, energy

solutions incorporate visualization into the models based on steam generation and

analysis workflow, empowering SMEs to see consumption in the plant can be referenced
the impact of their analyses in near real time, to change operations and reduce steam use,
pinpoint missteps, identify successes, and by extension reducing overall plant energy
iterate and innovate more quickly than before. consumption (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Using advanced analytics, companies can model the impacts of operational modifications on
such process variables as energy consumption to determine optimal conditions.

INTECH APRIL 2023 46 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

INDUSTRY 4.0

The real-time collaboration capabilities as financial loss or CO2 emissions equivalent.

facilitated by advanced analytics solutions help This allows companies to establish common
make sustainability a shared goal throughout benchmarks for comparing alternative operat-
an entire organization because insights and ing strategies. These wasteful periods often
methods can be quickly communicated. This occur in the form of vented steam or exces-
reduces information silos and alleviates calcu- sive electricity usage.
lation errors present when performing analysis
A major U.S. refiner executed a study using
using spreadsheets. Leveraging streamlined
an advanced analytics solution to justify
communication, knowledge capture, and
idling one of its boilers in a dual-boiler opera-
reporting, these solutions enable organizations
to maximize SMEs’ effectiveness regardless of tion during the warmer months of the year.

the time zone or work location. The company’s data scientists configured the
solution to identify time periods when the
Justifying an idle boiler dual boiler system was operating at mini-
To reduce carbon emissions and minimize mum firing rates while venting steam. After
environmental impact, process manufactur- examining these wasteful periods, the team
ers must be able to identify time periods of easily determined potential annualized steam
wasteful operation and quantify the waste savings (Figure 2).

Figure 2. SMEs at a major refiner analyzed historical data to determine the best mode of operation for
their boilers. To justify idling one boiler in a dual-boiler operation, they quantified the probability of a
boiler trip, then weighed the risk—defined as failure probability multiplied by financial consequence—
against the steam and energy savings of running a single boiler.

INTECH APRIL 2023 47 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

INDUSTRY 4.0

As a result of the analysis, the SMEs By deploying advanced analytics, engineers

determined that idling one of the boilers gained real-time awareness of site utility
during prolonged periods of warm weather stream carbon intensity. Within the solution,
would save the refiner significant vented SMEs converted process sensor data into car-
steam costs. Operationalizing this insight bon mass equivalencies to enable comparison

has reduced expenditures by an average of of current versus target carbon intensity for

$500,000 each year, and it also lessened the a given production quantity. Breaking up
the carbon footprint into individual utilities
company’s carbon footprint by decreasing the
energy required to run the boiler system.
Without the right solutions,
Reducing carbon emissions most sustainability metrics
A global chemical manufacturer pledged to are either not calculated,
cut its carbon intensity in half by 2030. The
inadequately monitored, or
first step toward this ambitious goal was un-
derstanding the current state of operations,
recorded too late.
an analytics activity that was previously so
cumbersome that the company only executed enabled operations teams to understand the
it once a year. However, carbon intensity most significant contributors when operating
calculations provide critical insights about in excess of the target, as well as the leverage

overall carbon footprint and emissions that to combat them.

were necessary to efficiently progress toward These overall carbon intensity estimates
the company’s sustainability goals. empowered the chemical manufacturer to

Webinar: Accelerate Sustainability Outcomes

Top organizations are leveraging their existing data infrastructure to gain new visibility
into their operations and reach their sustainability goals. optimize energy efficiency and
minimize emissions. Morgan Bowling, industry principal at Seeq, and Anthony Teodorczuk,
technical support and operations manager at SBM Offshore, discuss key sustainability
initiatives and dive into use cases of best practices around emissions monitoring and
reporting. In the webinar, the two discuss:

z Key sustainability challenges focused on the availability and access to data

z How organizations can accelerate their path to sustainable operations
z Actionable steps to drive progress towards net zero emissions by optimizing energy
efficiency, minimizing environmental impact, and streamlining regulatory reporting.

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INDUSTRY 4.0

make data-driven decisions to target carbon and modern analytics solutions, runtime
reduction on an ongoing basis, making visibility is plausible and common, empowering
measurable progress toward its 2030 goal. organizations to confidently control inputs that
Building a culture of carbon reduction drive desired results.
driven by analytics also helped the company Many manufacturing companies are lever-
emerge as a chemical industry leader in aging process data in their quest for opera-
sustainability. tional excellence, and more are beginning to
use it in sustainability initiatives as well. This
Economic returns and trend will continue, because company bottom
competitive differentiation lines can no longer solely depend on high
There is no doubt that sustainability initia- throughput and maximum profitability—envi-
tives will continue to drive incremental and ronmental impact and recognition must also
transformational change. The adoption of be considered.
runtime measurement and validation facili-
Regardless of the industry, sustainability-
tates movement toward increasingly proac- focused projects need not require significant
tive production systems, which help establish capital investment. Instead, organizations can
dynamic mitigation and preemptive detection make positive environmental adjustments
of emission events. by analyzing their data to create insights
The actions of individual companies have and make better use of existing assets. By
consequences beyond the fence of a plant, or applying self-service advanced analytics to
boundaries of the enterprise. Sustainability operational data, organizations can continue

initiatives impact everyone and also create op- to pursue ambitious carbon neutrality goals

portunities for differentiation and competitive that will foster sustainable practices for

advantage, especially in industrial and manu- generations to come.

facturing markets. With digital technologies All images courtesy of Seeq

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Morgan Bowling is an industry principal at Seeq. She has a process engineering
background with a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Toledo. Bowl-
ing has nearly a decade of experience working at both independent and integrated
major oil and gas companies to solve high-value business problems leveraging time
series data. In her current role, she enjoys monitoring the rapidly changing trends
surrounding digital transformation in the process industries and translating them into product require-
ments for Seeq.

INTECH APRIL 2023 49 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

SMART MANUFACTURING

How Add t ve
Manufacturing
Leads to Quieter
Control Valves
By Grady Emswiler and Mike Hoyme

3D printing techniques enable quieter, higher

performing designs for final control elements.

Control valve noise is a problem in many plant equipment, nearby piping connections, and
environments. The sound is created by very valve components.
high pressure drops across a valve, which
Low noise trim designs have been histori-
generates high vapor velocities as the fluid
cally used to address this issue, but these
moves through the narrowed passages in the
types of solutions are usually costly and
valve body. Aerodynamic noise has a strong
dependence on the gas velocity, so high flow greatly reduce flow capacity. However,

and high pressure drop applications tend to additive manufacturing techniques (3-D alloy

reach deafening sound levels very quickly. printing) have introduced a whole range of
This type of noise can damage hearing, and new possibilities in noise reduction solutions.
over time, it can destroy tubing, sensitive This article describes new designs that have

INTECH APRIL 2023 50 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

SMART MANUFACTURING

been recently introduced or are slated to distance, so it tends to create larger prob-
become available in the next few months. lems for plant personnel.

Common causes of control valve-generated

A noisy problem noise include mechanical vibration of internal
Plants are full of loud noise sources, includ- components, aerodynamic noise from turbu-
ing large equipment, process vents, and lent gas flow, and hydrodynamic noise from
reciprocating pumps. Many of these sounds cavitation. The sound external to the pipe
are point sources (Figure 1, top) and the poses a threat to hearing at levels above 85
sound levels fall off as the square of the dis- dBA, and levels above 110 dBA can damage
tance. Control valves are another common valve components and adjacent piping connec-
source of sound in industrial environments, tions, and should thus be avoided (Figure 2).
but in this case the sound actually emanates
There are usually two ways to address this
from both the valve and the pipe, creating
problem—either restricting the sound path so
a linear source when the downstream pipe
the sound cannot escape to the environment
is long enough (Figure 1, bottom). While
or eliminating the generation of the sound at
a point source loses sound intensity with
the source. Sound path solutions commonly
the square of the distance, a linear source
employ thick pipes, heavy insulation, and/or
drops intensity directly proportional to the
acoustic blankets to block the noise. These
work well and are inexpensive, but these
solutions have limitations.

Figure 1. Noise point sources (top) lose sound

energy quickly, falling with distance squared.
Control valve noise (bottom) radiates sound from
the pipe itself, as depicted in this piping cross
section, so the sound levels drop much more
slowly with distance.

Figure 2. Control valve noise above 110 dBA

external to the pipe can fatigue bolts and
ultimately crack control valve stems and shafts.
For this reason, sound levels should be kept below
this threshold.

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SMART MANUFACTURING

The achievable noise reduction is usually levels of noise reduction while maintaining
somewhat limited, and these techniques tend high flow capacity.
to become less effective over time as insula-
tion breaks down and acoustic blankets are Rotary valve low noise trims
removed during maintenance and not rein- Rotary valves tend to be much less expensive
stalled correctly. Regardless of how well they than globe valves, but they are inherently
work, sound path solutions do not address prone to higher noise levels due to their trim
the fundamental problem of sound levels configuration. It is difficult to incorporate any
greater than 110 dBA possibly damaging the kind of noise reduction trim into the valve
equipment. since the full pressure drop is taken across
the ball. For this reason, rotary valves are not
Calming the beast usually employed in high pressure drop/high
The standard solution for control valve noise noise applications.

has been the installation of quiet valve trims Fortunately, additive manufacturing has en-
to reduce the levels of noise generation at abled entirely new trim configurations that can
the source. These designs usually break up reduce sound levels significantly (Figure 3). For
the flow into multiple flow paths, or they take example, in-ball attenuators produced using
smaller pressure drops across multiple stages, additive manufacturing can provide up to 18
to reduce overall flow velocity and depress dB of sound level reduction for next genera-
overall sound levels. This technology also tion rotary trims. These noise reduction levels
works well, but it too has limitations: are achieved while largely maintaining the high
flow capacities common with rotary valves.
z Low noise trims tend to restrict valve flow
This can save significant costs over globe valve
capacity significantly, requiring larger valve
alternatives in a typical application.
bodies to pass the same flow rate.
z Low noise trims are typically much more
expensive than standard valve trims since
intricate machining is required to produce
these designs.
z Low noise trims often have limited applica-
bility for rotary valves.
The landscape of control valve noise
solutions has changed dramatically with the
advent of additive manufacturing because it
is now possible to quickly and economically
create very complex trim configurations. This
Figure 3. Innovative additive manufactured rotary
recent capability has spurred new noise re- valve solutions can reduce sound levels up to 80
duction solutions that can achieve very high percent over traditional manufactured designs.

INTECH APRIL 2023 52 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

SMART MANUFACTURING

pressure drop stages, reducing overall noise

Advanced globe valve trim
generation and shifting much of the sound to
designs
higher, less destructive frequencies. Despite
A wide selection of low noise trims is avail-
the very high sound level reduction, the designs
able in globe valves, each using a progres-
maintain high flow capacity through the valve.
sively more complicated trim configuration
This allows smaller, less costly valve sizes to be
to produce higher levels of noise reduction.
used for a given application.
Usually, the more complex the trim style,
the higher the noise reduction and cost, and The same additive manufacturing technol-
the lower the flow capacity. Very high noise ogy can also be used to create trim designs
reduction levels have historically only been that achieve the very highest levels of sound
achieved at very high cost and by grossly reduction (Figure 5). These trims do sacrifice
restricting flow capacity through the valve. flow capacity, but they can be employed in
If high flow capacities are required, a much very difficult applications where traditional
larger valve body has been necessary when noise reduction solutions are inadequate.
using standard low dB trim designs. These low noise trim designs round out a
suite of existing low dB solutions that can be
A new generation of trim styles is entering
used to address a broad spectrum of noise
the market to address the flow capacity problem
reduction, valve capacity, and installed cost
(Figure 4). These new styles employ very com-
requirements.
plex flow passages and have only recently been
made possible through additive manufacturing.
Modal attenuator
These innovative designs achieve very high
An option already on the market uses an
levels of control valve noise reduction by creat-
entirely different means of reducing control
ing numerous flow passages and more efficient
valve noise. It is a passive device that em-
ploys similar concepts as car mufflers, using

Figure 4. Innovative additive manufactured globe

valve solution that meets or exceeds traditional Figure 5. When extreme noise reduction is
manufactured noise reduction with 20 percent required, solutions are available that can be used
higher flow capacity. to achieve noise reduction levels as high as 40 dB.

INTECH APRIL 2023 53 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

SMART MANUFACTURING

Figure 6. This modal

suppressor employs
a series of varying
sized chambers to
generate destructive
interference over a
range of frequencies,
with virtually no
pressure drop.

destructive sound resonance to offset and 15 dBA while creating no restriction in flow
cancel noise (Figure 6). First conceived in capacity whatsoever. The device can be used
the 1980s as a college research project, the on existing valves or paired with a low noise
technology was shelved for decades until control valve to achieve even higher levels
recently when additive manufacturing made it of noise reduction. Unlike diffusers or silenc-
economically possible to develop a pattern to ers, the modal attenuator works consistently
produce the component as a cast assembly. across a wide range of flow rates.

The modal attenuator consists of a series of

carefully engineered resonant cavities to pro-
Evaluate the options
When faced with a control valve noise prob-
vide sound reduction across a wide spectrum
lem, it is worth taking the time to investigate
of frequencies. The full-bore design allows
the many new options that have recently
unrestricted flow, and internal drain channels
become available or are being introduced.
drain off condensate that could build up in the
Additive manufacturing has greatly broad-
device and reduce performance. Installed just
ened the landscape of what is possible.
downstream of the valve, the modal attenuator
achieves an overall sound reduction of up to All figures courtesy of Emerson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Grady Emswiler is a product marketing manager for Engineered Products at
Emerson. Although new to the company, she has a background in product
marketing in different industries. Emswiler has a Bachelor of Science degree in
marketing from Iowa State University.

Mike Hoyme is a product manager for Fisher Rotary Valves. He is a certified func-
tional safety professional with 10 years of valve engineering and product manage-
ment experience, and he strives to create final elements for safety instrumented
systems (SIS) that both improve safety and process uptime. Hoyme has a Bachelor of
Science degree in mechanical engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines
and Technology.

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 ASSOCIATION NEWS
HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES

ISA Cybersecurity Summit Debuts in Scotland

ISA is hosting its new

OT Cybersecurity
Summit in Aberdeen, OT CYBERSECURITY
SUMMIT
Scotland. Focused on
the rapid growth of operational technology (OT)
cybersecurity challenges and opportunities,
Megan Samford Cheri Caddy
the live event on 31 May and 1 June 2023 will
include global perspectives on supply chain and
Megan Samford, Vice President and
threat intelligence. Related training sessions
Chief Product Security Officer for Energy
will be available on 29 and 30 May at the same
Management at Schneider Electric.
location: the Ardoe House Hotel & Spa.
Additional speakers include subject matter
Much of the oil and gas production from experts from Saudi Aramco; Johns Manville;
the UK Sector of the North Sea is consid- US Department of Homeland Security;
ered critical infrastructure. Because of its UK National Cyber Security Centre; UK
importance to the security and prosperity of Department of Digital Culture, Media, and
the UK, these operations are coming under Sport; ENGIE Electrabel; and Au2mation.
increased regulatory scrutiny. “Aberdeen is an
“The ISA community is comprised of the
ideal location to bring together stakeholders
world’s leading voices on industrial cyberse-
from across the oil and gas industry and its
curity, and we are proud to have developed
supply chains for a productive and informa-
ISA/IEC 62443, the standard behind the
tive conversation about how to identify and
most robust and secure operational technolo-
mitigate cybersecurity vulnerabilities,” said
gies,” said Fallon. “The ISA OT Cybersecurity
Claire Fallon, ISA executive director.
Summit stands apart from other cybersecurity
The OT Cybersecurity Summit is an op- events as a venue where attendees can gain
portunity for operators, service companies, practical knowledge about the standard and
regulators, and equipment providers to meet best practices for its implementation.”
face-to-face. This two-track, two-day event
In addition to developing and maintaining
is organized around two major topics, supply
the ISA/IEC 62443 standards, ISA offers train-
chain and threat intelligence, with additional
ing and credentialing on cybersecurity; certi-
panel discussions on supply chain risk man-
fies products, processes, and systems through
agement and understanding ISA/IEC 62443.
its ISASecure certification; and raises aware-
Keynote speakers for the event include ness about the importance of OT cybersecu-
Cheri Caddy, Deputy Director at the US rity through its membership consortium, the
Office of the National Cyber Director, and ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance (ISAGCA).

INTECH APRIL 2023 55 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 ASSOCIATION NEWS
HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES

ISA Business Academy: Delivering a Mini-MBA

for Automation Professionals
ISA has announced its newest resource for ISA ISA is known for its world-class training
members: a 10-week, fully virtual program with and quality instructors. ISA Business Academy
content based on an MBA curriculum. The ISA instructors include automation business
Business Academy is designed for current and expert Eddie Habibi and automation finance
future leaders of the automation industry to expert Scott Reynolds, PE, CISSP.
master the skills of organizational leadership,
ISA Executive Board Member Eddie Habibi
people management, and business finance.
founded and led PAS, an industrial automa-
The ISA Business Academy program in- tion software company, through 2020. He is
cludes more than 20 hours of video, a private the co-author of two popular best-practices
learning community, and a resources library. books on industrial operator effectiveness:
After joining the ISA Business Academy, The Alarm Management Handbook and The
students receive access for a year to: High-Performance HMI Handbook. Prior to es-

z 6
tablishing PAS, Habibi held various positions
hours of live facilitated expert coaching
z More
at Schlumberger and Honeywell International.
than 350 modules within the self-
He holds an Engineering degree from the
paced online learning
z Connection
University of Houston and an MBA from the
to a cohort of fellow business
University of St. Thomas.
leaders
z Downloadable companion worksheets and ISA Past-Treasurer Scott Reynolds is an ex-
materials perienced IT/OT manager with a demonstrat-
z 20 interactive tools for implementing what ed history of working in both municipal and
is learned manufacturing environments with a focus on
z “Knowledge checks” to build competency industrial cybersecurity. Scott is passionate
z Access to video modules and additional about IT/OT collaboration, workforce devel-
resources opment, strategic planning, and development

WEEK 1 & 2 WEEK 2 & 3 WEEK 5 & 6 WEEK 7 & 8 WEEK 9 & 10
Vision, Goals, & Coaching Teams & Empowering Demystify the Apply the Finances:
Planning Process Serving Customers People & Systems Finances: A 2-Part Grow the Bottom
of Management Case Study Line

ISA Business Academy is a fully virtual program designed for automation professionals who want
to improve their organizational leadership, people management, and business finance skills.

INTECH APRIL 2023 56 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 ASSOCIATION NEWS
HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES

of reasonable and useful corporate standards programs. Cioffi previously ran a subsidiary
for process control networks. His current role of Amoco Oil and held executive positions
is as senior security and networking engineer- at several other companies. He received his
ing manager at Johns Manville in Denver. MBA from The Wharton School and holds a
Master’s from Dartmouth.
ISA created the ISA Business Academy
with the help of John Cioffi, who has spent 30 The first 20-week program begins 31
years coaching hundreds of clients to success August 2023. More information is available at
through his GoalMakers “master manager” https://goalmakers.com/isa.

International Automation Professionals Celebrated in April

#AutomationProDay
For the second year in a row, the International ISA Executive Director Claire Fallon said
Society of Automation (ISA) honored automa- that the automation field is vital to many sec-
tion professionals with a digital celebration tors, and the day celebrates the hard work of
through the entire month of April. professionals who are instrumental in keeping
society safe and secure.
Each year, ISA and its global com-
munity celebrate 28 April as International “I want all automation professionals to know

Automation Professionals Day. The day that they make the world a better place,” she

commemorates ISA’s founding on 28 April said. “Because of them, the world is safer, more
efficient, and more effective. Professionals are
1945, and celebrates the wide range of folks
the people, not the machines, that creatively
engaged in industrial automation and cyber-
look at a problem and tenaciously tackle it from
security that the association serves.
every angle until the best solution is found.”
Because this is a digital celebration,
ISA President Marty Bince said that those
automation professionals around the world
in automation play a vital factor in life’s
participated in International Automation
modern-day conveniences, and he is happy
Professionals Day all month long.. Career-
to highlight their achievements. “This will be
established individuals, entry-level
a time to celebrate all the outstanding oppor-
personnel, and automation students were tunities that automation professionals have
encouraged to engage with ISA on social and the contributions they make,” he said.
media (#IAPD or #AutomationProDay) with “From power production to smart manufac-
images and testimonials that feature them turing, instrumentation, and digitalization,
on the job, studying for their automation-re- automation professionals play a crucial role in
lated major, or giving statements about why ensuring the reliability, safety, efficiency and
they enjoy their line of work and why they competitiveness of our businesses for all the
believe automation is changing the world. things that make life wonderful.”

INTECH APRIL 2023 57 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 ASSOCIATION NEWS
HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES

ISA Security Compliance Institute Welcomes IriusRisk SL

The ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI) compliance tasks during product develop-
announced that IriusRisk SL has joined ment remove barriers to applying the ISA/
ISCI as a Technical Member in support of IEC 62443 standards.”
the ISASecure Cybersecurity Conformance The ISASecure certification program is an
Scheme. industry-led effort by leading stakeholders in
IriusRisk has worked with several organiza- the process industry. It assesses ICS products
tions to help them overcome the complexity and systems to ensure that they are robust
of manual threat modeling with the IriusRisk against network attacks, free from known
Automated Threat Modeling platform, an au- vulnerabilities, and meet the security capabili-
tomation engine that incorporates extensive ties defined in the ISA/IEC 62443 standards.
security standards and integration with major Charles Marrow, Head of Center of
issue trackers. As a result, engineering teams Excellence at IriusRisk, considers ISCI’s
using the platform have access to a self- pursuit of better security standards across a
service tool for designing secure applications. broad range of industries “important work.”

Andre Ristaino, ISA Managing Director of “All organizations operating in the indus-
Consortia and Conformance Programs, said, trial, automotive, transport, and medical
“Companies like IriusRisk are key to en- industries should be doing [threat modeling
abling adoption of the ISA/IEC 62443 stan- and risk assessments] on a regular basis, build-
dards for supplier companies. Commercial ing in security from the very beginning of the
tools that simplify the threat analysis and software development lifecycle,” Marrow said.

ISA Standards and the International Standards System

ISA actively participates in the world’s primary involved in ISA standards development, as
international standards system as sanctioned opposed to IEC/ISO. Participation in ISA
by the United Nations and operated by the standards is based strictly on individuals and
Geneva-based International Electrotechnical is open to automation professionals from
Organization (IEC) and International any country, not just the United States. IEC
Organization for Standardization (ISO). This and ISO programs, in contrast, are based on
relationship with IEC and ISO adds a layer of participation by and through countries acting
complexity to the sometimes confusing world of as single members.
standards. InTech asked ISA Senior Director of
That difference means that ISA cannot
Standards Charley Robinson to explain.
participate directly in the IEC/ISO systems,
Much of the confusion arises from the but rather must channel its input through a
fundamentally different member structures specific country to do so. That country is the

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 ASSOCIATION NEWS
HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES

United States by way of the American National This type of adoption of an IEC standard
Standards Institute (ANSI). ISA is accredited by by an ISA committee can create another
ANSI to develop industry standards following source of confusion for ISA members. A major
approved processes that ensure openness attraction and benefit of ISA membership is
and balance. ISA is one of 250+ standards free viewing of ISA-copyrighted standards.
developing organizations based in the United However, when ISA standards committees
States, such as ASTM, ASME, and UL, that are decide to adopt an existing IEC standard
accredited in this way by ANSI. as an ISA standard, such as the example of
ISA84 and IEC 61511), the controlling copy-
In relation to the IEC and ISO, ANSI serves
right of the adopted standard (ISA-61511 in
as the official “national standards body” of
the example) remains with the IEC. For that
the United States. That is, ANSI acts as the
reason, ISA members do not have free view-
official representative (“National Committee”)
ing access to IEC standards that have been
to the IEC and ISO of those 250+ accredited
adopted by ISA (ISA-61511 in the example).
U.S. standards developers. Similarly, other
This restriction, which applies only to the
IEC and ISO members are the national stan-
small number of ISA standards adopted from
dards bodies of participating countries such
the IEC, is driven by copyright law.
as Brazil (ABNT), the UK (BSI), Japan (JISC),
Canada (SCC), and Germany (DKE). Have more questions about standards?
Visit www.isa.org/standards.
Because of the topic division between the
IEC and ISO, ISA’s primary areas of standards
development are covered by the IEC. Through
ANSI as the “US National Committee to the
ISA Standards That Are Also IEC
Standards
IEC,” several ISA standards series have been
z IEC 62682: Management of Alarm Systems
submitted to the IEC to become the basis
for the Process Industries (ISA-18)
of major IEC standards series with the same
z IEC 61511: Functional Safety—Safety
titles (see box for a list).
Instrumented Systems for the Process
This development of ISA standards into IEC
Industry Sector (ISA-84)
standards is the primary, but not only, means z IEC 61512: Batch Control (ISA-88)
of interaction between ISA and IEC—occasion- z IEC 62264: Enterprise-Control System
ally, ISA standards committees decide, through
Integration (ISA-95)
review and voting, that existing IEC standards z IEC 62443: Security for Industrial
are suitable for adoption (sometimes with
Automation & Control Systems (ISA-99)
modification) as ISA standards. For example, z IEC 62734: Wireless Systems for Industrial
in 2018, the ISA84 committee adopted IEC
Automation (ISA-100)
61511-2016 (which had been developed by z IEC 63303: Human-Machine Interfaces for
IEC committee SC65A with substantial input
Process Automation Systems (ISA-101)
from ISA84 members) as ISA-61511.

INTECH APRIL 2023 59 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 FINAL SAY | VIEWS FROM AUTOMATION LEADERS

Work@Home Is
Environmentally
and Sustainably
Responsible
By Bill Lydon

Employees working primarily at home can

have an important impact on improving the
environment and contributing to increased
sustainability. A fundamental energy con-
servation concept I was taught years ago is
that the best unit of energy is the one you
don’t use. Since work from home obviously
saves energy and lowers carbon emissions,
it follows that sensible work-from-home
policies should be part of company commit-
ments to the environment and to sustain-
ability. However, I have been surprised at
the number of companies promoting their
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
commitments while at the same time requir-
ing employee time in the office.

Many public companies have positioned

themselves as ESG-investable and diligently
report their commitments to a variety of
ESG targets. ESG investing refers to a set of
standards for a company’s behavior used by
socially conscious investors to screen poten-
tial investments.

Environmental criteria, for example,

considers how a company safeguards the
environment or addresses climate change. It how a company manages relationships
also encompasses efficient water and energy with employees, suppliers, customers,
use, carbon accounting, and environmental and the communities in which it operates.
management systems. Social criteria examine Governance deals with a company’s values

INTECH APRIL 2023 60 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 FINAL SAY | VIEWS FROM AUTOMATION LEADERS

and behavior regarding leadership, executive access to quiet space and more natural light.
pay, audits, internal controls, and shareholder Certainly, there is the need for occasional
rights. face-to-face meetings, but these often can be
accomplished using hybrid approaches cou-
The value of virtual meetings pled with only going to an office occasionally.
The COVID pandemic has proven the ef- The idea that people need to be in the office
fectiveness of leveraging technology for “with the bosses watching” to be productive
virtual meetings and online collaboration. is a management issue too deep to discuss in
In my experience overall, virtual meetings this short article.
have enhanced knowledge and creativity
Of course, there are jobs that require
while allowing participants to interact with
people to be on-site. During the pandemic,
a much broader audience, often throughout
the world, in small and large online group however, when the number of people on-site

meetings. These types of interactions in most was limited, numerous reports and articles

cases would not be practical just five years documented how productivity increased us-
ago; now we have a wide range of significant- ing remote/virtual technologies. In industry,
ly effective collaboration and communications for example, subject matter experts located
technologies. anywhere could collaborate with opera-
tions people on-site to solve problems. This
In the United States, passenger cars ac-
approach maximizes the effectiveness and
count for more than 40% of greenhouse gas
productivity of the limited number of subject
emissions, followed by air travel at 10%. In
matter experts. Automation professionals are
addition, nonresidential buildings contribute a
significant amount of greenhouse gas emis- important for making remote/virtual collabo-

sions. The pandemic derailed commuting and ration happen effectively.

gave Americans back 60 million hours that Sensible and balanced work-from-home
had been spent in standstill traffic or a jam- policies are consistent with socially respon-
packed train car, according to new research sible companies to achieve environmental
from the New York Fed. and sustainability goals and commitments.
In my experience, work from home pro- This should be part of company commit-
vides a significantly better work environment, ments to be environmentally and sustainably
particularly for knowledge workers who have responsible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill Lydon is an InTech contributing editor with more than 25 years of industry expe-
rience. He regularly provides news reports, observations, and insights here and on
Automation.com.

INTECH APRIL 2023 61 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH