Instrument transmitter simplifies plant maintenance and asset management

Honeywell's ST 3000 includes on-board diagnostics that require no configuration for Foundation Fieldbus and HART users.

Peter Welander

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Honeywell (NYSE: HON) has announced that the newest version of its most widely-used smart pressure transmitters has added a software upgrade that should help users implement improved maintenance and asset management programs. The company says the ST 3000 transmitter lin e now features enhanced and advanced on-board diagnostics that simplify maintenance by automatically telling plant personnel how the devices are functioning.

The new software upgrade includes diagnostics, which Honeywell claims require no configuration, for both Foundation Fieldbus and HART 5 and 6 users. The standard HART 6 diagnostics include time-tracking functions, such as install date, calibration date, time-in-service and stress monitoring, along with additional functions, including point value, meter body temperature, and general reading functions. These allow new capabilities for plant personnel:

• Diagnose problems from remote locations;
• Be more aware of potential issues with individual transmitters;
• View a device's history even after it has been removed from the process; and
• Conduct root-cause analysis.

All diagnostics automatically run when the transmitter is powered and the information can be fed directly into the plant's distributed control system (DCS) and asset management solutions. The data can be reviewed via a hand-held device as well. Moreover, the information remains in the transmitter for use in troubleshooting activities back in the shop, which means maintenance and reliability engineers no longer need to look for strip chart and historian data to begin failure review processes.

The ST 3000 series includes absolute-pressure, differential-pressure, gage-pressure, flange-mount, high-temperature gage, and in-line gage pressure transmitters.

"With the need to save costs in manufacturing, industrial plants are rapidly shifting from reactive to proactive maintenance to ensure they see problems arising before processes are affected," says Anand Krishna, director of marketing for Honeywell Field Solutions. "Unplanned repairs can cost up to five times more than a scheduled repair outage. The ST 3000 software upgrade gives plants additional tools that can help them stay ahead of maintenance problems and improve overall asset management."

Read a tutorial on using HART data for device diagnostics .

-Edited by Peter Welander, process industries editor, PWelander@cfemedia.com
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