Wireless: Learn from others to help your industrial wireless application
-- Control Engineering, 8/7/2008
Thinking of applying industrial wireless technologies? Application advice from others can teach a thing or two, so your implementation will go more smoothly. Six industrial or rugged wireless applications follow involving Emerson Process Management, Fisher BioServices, Dust Networks, General Electric, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Numerex, Moxa, Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact, and WirelessHART. Summaries follow. Click into each to read more. Each has a summary box of application attributes or benefits.Fisher BioServices deploys General Electric Wireless Mesh-based monitoring systems to meet stringent U.S. FDA (Food & Drug Administration) regulations: Within a GMP (good manufacturing practice) regulated environment, it is a requirement that the environmental conditions are monitored and recorded and that data is available for FDA inspection. GE Sensing explains how wireless technologies help. See photo.
Hexion solves smoke detection and control room reporting using wireless technologies: “We had to find a better way of detecting when there was a problem at our multiple warehouses, and communicating this to ensure the safety of our employees as well as improve reporting conditions to our control room. After investigating several hard-wired options, we found an easy, flexible and affordable way to meet our requirements, improve smoke detection, and increase plant reliability thanks to Honeywell’s wireless transmitters,” explains Herman Punt, discipline engineer QMI for Hexion.
Wireless network for water and wastewater plant provides data monitoring, easy, timely information access: Water and wastewater treatment plants faces challenges, such as stricter regulation, aging infrastructure, and the need for increased operational efficiency. Traditional methods of operation are no longer sufficient, and utilities must become more aggressive in applying new technologies. Information-enabled systems help ensure better operational decisions and better management of plant assets, explains Moxa. See photo.
Numerex Karr Track drives security using wireless technology: In the U.S., a motor vehicle is stolen every 26 seconds from consumers and dealers, representing billions of dollars in property loss. With a clear opportunity to bring to market theft recovery and tracking capabilities, SouthWest Dealer Services (SWDS), sought a digital, turnkey wireless solution that would protect the dealerships’ inventory and offer a valuable add-on for their customers, explains Mike Marett, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Numerex, a provider of wireless platforms. Many implementation attributes parallel industrial application needs.
When can a process application eliminate the cable and use open source radio technology? Gerrit Lohmann and Robert Schosker, product managers for Pepperl+Fuchs, say that use of wireless technologies will expand as options expand beyond proprietary wireless solutions, allowing easier integration and elimination of cable in certain situations. See graphic and photo.
Chemical company processes critical data via wireless Ethernet: In recent years, the value of data has increased as the cost of implementing wireless networks has decreased. Industrial users, however, have remained reluctant to trust wireless to transfer process or production data in critical applications. Dave Eifert, automation sales engineer, Phoenix Contact, explains how a chemical company that engineers thermoplastic material switched to wireless communications and saved money by eliminating costly trenching, while increasing reliability compared to an earlier hard-wired system.
– Edited by Mark T. Hoske, editor in chief
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