Emerson expands field communicator to maintain 132 more devices

Austin, TX—Emerson Process Management reports that its 375 Field Communicator has been expanded to support 82 added FOUNDATION fieldbus devices and 50 more HART instruments for maintenance purposes.

By Control Engineering Staff December 28, 2004

Austin, TX— Emerson Process Management reports that its 375 Field Communicator has been expanded to support 82 added FOUNDATION fieldbus devices and 50 more HART instruments for maintenance purposes. Introduced one year ago, 375 is already compatible with more than 800 HART and fieldbus instruments from numerous manufacturers.

375 replaces the 275 HART Communicator as the standard field device communicator used by instrument technicians. Emerson says its communicator is used in applications worldwide to increase maintenance productivity and effectiveness by supplementing networked stations that access advanced online diagnostics.

Instrument technicians typically rely on handheld tools to configure and maintain smart instruments and valves, check calibration, obtain diagnostic information, and troubleshoot suspected problems in the field. Emerson adds that its 375 is an intrinsically safe, ATEX-compliant, portable communicator, and that technicians appreciate its backlit screen, which is easy to see in dark areas. The firm adds that navigation through test procedures using 375’s large touchscreen is easier than with the older 275.

Early acceptance of 375 comes from its capacity to provide advanced maintenance support for HART and FOUNDATION fieldbus devices, regardless of manufacturer, according to Craig Llewellyn, president of Emerson’s Asset Optimization division. “Emerson has championed open communication of process control elements for years,” he says. “Openness is what the PlantWeb digital plant architecture is all about, giving process companies the freedom to choose the best components for their production systems. By supporting all of our customer’s choice of field devices, 375 Field Communicator is another reflection of Emerson’s openness.”

375 is integrated with Emerson’s AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager, which is an online asset management application that accesses diagnostic information generated by smart field devices. Instrument data collected in the field using the 375 can be uploaded to AMS’ permanent database.

When new field devices become available, their device descriptions, which are used to establish communications with these devices, can be downloaded from the Internet to 375. Using its easy upgrade feature, 375 can be immediately ready for use when any new HART or FOUNDATION device becomes available. Any time a new instrument is installed in a plant, its device description is easily obtained via the Internet, so the communicator no longer has to be sent to a service center to be upgraded.

Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news editorjmontague@reedbusiness.com