Customer application July 11, 2019
Promoting Digitalization in the Process Industry with Open Interfaces

A demonstration and test system for Industry 4.0 in the Höchst Industrial Park offers companies optimal opportunities to try out new approaches, which works, because the process data is made freely available here, according to the “NAMUR Open Architecture” concept, via a second channel for monitoring and optimization tasks.

Data is essential for innovations in the process industry. When it is available, all of the advantages offered by digitalization can be utilized, new approaches can be tried, and processes can be optimized and made more efficient. Up until now, companies have lacked this possibility, because process information is difficult to access from the manufacturer-specific systems in which it is immured. An Industry 4.0 demonstration and test system in the Höchst Industrial Park solves this problem. Here, data is exported through an open interface into the system world, so that it can be freely used for monitoring and optimization tasks.

Your benefits with WAGO:

We need to be connected with the outside world; we can’t remain an island.

Ronny Becker, test engineer at Bilfinger Maintenance

WAGO PFC200 XTR Controller with Key Functions

“The future of the process industry is clearly an open solution. We need the connectivity to the outside world; we need to leave the island in order to tap into new possibilities and potentials,” says Ronny Becker, testing engineer at Bilfinger Maintenance, which built the system under contract to Interessengemeinschaft Regelwerke Technik (IGR). The system consists of two containers, with pumps, valves and sensors, and is linked to two different cloud systems, with which the process data can be managed, structured and analyzed. By this means, IGR members can test current equipment technology, cybersecurity measures, uniform standards for transmitting device data and data processing and analysis within a cloud.

“Cavitation, pump tension or gas bubbles in pipelines – in the meantime, most device manufacturers have made appearances in the IGR demonstration system, have provided their devices and actively collaborate in projects,” says Elisabeth Wächter-Schäper, Manager of the Competence Center for Electrical, Measurement and Control Technology at IGR. The WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM 750 has a key function in the system. Twelve HART sensors linked to the system measure important process variables, like throughput, temperature and pressure. The WAGO PFC200 XTR Controller from the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM collects the HART data from the wired HART sensors and transmits them both to Emerson’s Delta-V process control system and also to the cloud via a Hilscher Switch

We are truly impressed because the WAGO controller provides the necessary second channel in a very consistent and sensible way.

Ronny Becker, test engineer at Bilfinger Maintenance

Perfect Interplay of WAGO, HART and Hilscher

The WAGO controller transmits the measured values from the HART sensors via OPC UA to the Hilscher gateway, which it interposed as an interface for all collected data. From there, the information is sent using MQTT to the Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platforms and stored in databases. The WAGO controller sends the data to the process control system in parallel via PROFIBUS DP. In addition, the digital and analog outputs of the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM 750 can be selectively controlled via PROFIBUS DP or OPC UA.

WAGO uses CMD commands to integrate the HART sensors. In the process, the WAGO controller gathers the signals using the CMD3 and CMD13 commands. Each sensor can be “tagged” using the CMD18 command. Data input and configuration are carried out using the internal HTML5 web visualization. In addition to the measured process value, four additional variables, including unit and description, are transmitted with the CMD data. For example, a Coreolis mass flow meter, as a multivariable measuring device, may also provide additional information, like density and temperature, in addition to mass flows. These values can be easily read from the device using HART communication.

One Controller, Many Functions, Important Added Value

An additional advantage of the WAGO system lies in the configuration of the HART sensors through “HART Tool Routing” with an FDT tool. In order to establish access to the sensor via the FDT tool, WAGO provides the corresponding device and communication DTM. Communication between the FDT tool and the WAGO PFC200 XTR Controller takes place via Modbus TCP. However, the sensor does not need to be disconnected, nor is an intermediary adapter required. With “HART Tool Routing“, the user can access the sensors directly from the FDT tool via the controller’s IP.

With the PFC200 XTR from WAGO, one controller provides HART, PROFIBUS DP, Modbus® and OPC UA communication, in addition to a Webserver, which enables web visualization in HTML5 for administration and programming. According to Becker, “We are truly impressed because the WAGO controller provides the necessary second channel in a very consistent and sensible way. We use this functionality and also have the four HART variables for additional information. This is an important added value that the WAGO controller supplies.

Conclusion

If the process industry wants to use the advantages of digitalization, then it has to be able to use process information more easily than previously. An open automation according to the NOA concept offers one solution. The test system in Höchst proves that the idea can be implemented at reasonable cost. By using the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM 750, sensor data can be read via OPC UA separately from the process channel for process control. This is how proven technology brings real added value to companies.

Secure Networking with Cloud Connectivity

It's all about data: In the past, the technical data from the field made it through to the control levels at best. That’s changed now. Thanks to modern information technology, the most important information from production is no longer restricted to the classical automation pyramid, but is now available at any time and place. However, the technical conditions must be right for this. The WAGO PFC Controllers are equipped with cloud connectivity and transfer data to the WAGO Cloud – or to any other MQTT broker.

Process 4.0 – Into the Digital Future

Systems in the processing industry are often operated for decades, which means constant rebuilding, expansion and modernization. Aspirations to make processes more efficient are as old as the processing industry itself. The digital transformation of the economy creates new possibilities for more advantageous configurations in processing through numerous innovative approaches and technologies. A consensus has been reached that machines must communicate with each other in order to function with maximum efficiency. The Internet of Things is the new reality – even if it continues to be interpreted and implemented in different ways. Data is provided, collected, evaluated and used at different levels. Yet how do companies in the processing industry actually profit from big data?