...Tomorrow has not been canceled! ABB Automation & Power World 2009

 

By Bill Lydon - Contributing Editor

 

 

Mark Taft, Group Vice President, Process Automation, Global control System Business commented in his opening remarks that while we all need to be aware of the economy today, “...it is important for us to remember that tomorrow has not been canceled.”

 

Mark’s point was the conference was designed to provide a great deal of useful and actionable information that will help attendees survive and thrive in the current economy, and be prepared to take advantage of the future. Mark further noted that having a combined event encompassing automation and power is timely. The US government, as part of the stimulus package, is sponsoring upgrades to the power grid, water/waste water facilities, and tax incentives make it attractive for people to add more automation. Energy is a raw material so there is more interest than ever in integrating power and automation. The technology has evolved and the standards are in place to make it cost effective to integrate power and automation to improve efficiency.

 

ABB Snapshot Power Products - $11.9 billion, 34,000 employees Power Systems - $6.9 billion, 16,000 employees Automation Products - $10.3 billion, 36,000 employees Process Automation - $7.8 billion, 27,000 employees Robotics - $1.6 billion, 5,000 employees

The ABB Automation & Power World 2009 event attracted a record number of participants for any ABB event, totaling more than 3,300 attendees. The three-day event included a user conference, over 500 technical workshops and 72,000 square feet of exhibit space for ABB and partner products.

 

 

The Customer Advisory Board for the event was recognized for the hard work in keeping the event focused on user needs. This year's Customer Advisory Board members are:

 

 

Joe Hogan, who joined ABB September 1, 2008, provided his views on the industry and economy in his keynote presentation and a town hall question and answer session.   I think his approach to business is reflected in this comment from the presentation, “If we can leverage the opportunities of size with the personal feeling of a small company, I think we can be unbelievably successful together.”

 

Joe observed that in this recession all the economies around the world cycled down at the same time unlike other times in history. The world is linked together so we have to deal with it in a global sense, and there a number of economies around the world that will be growing on the next up cycle. Joe suggested that after we get through this negative financial situation, “I think we should be collectively very excited in the sense of infrastructure spending, automaton, and power, and what that means collectivity for us, our businesses, and what we can do for the world.”   “We continue to plan optimistically, invest optimistically, knowing the world has so much opportunity moving forward.”    Joe also highlighted wind power, railway, and water as areas ABB plans to “aggressively pursue for growth.”

 

Joe is optimistic but acknowledged the timing of economic recovery is the big unpredictable factor.

 

Joe comes from 23 years at General Electric where he led GE Medical Systems and then GE Healthcare from November 2000, during which time he grew the business by $11 billion. Prior to this, he served as President and CEO of GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc.   Previously, he held a number of key positions in sales, marketing and product development at GE Plastics.

 

2008 was the strongest year ever for ABB with double-digit organic revenue growth in every division and opening backlog of $24 billion to start 2009.

Orders softening, revenue still rising on strong backlog and the company is executing a $1.3-billion cost take-out.

 

Electricity consumption is forecasted to double by 2030, growing twice as fast as overall energy consumption.

 

The 2008 World Energy Outlook from the International Energy Agency (www.worldenergyoutlook.org) projects $11 trillion of investments in power infrastructure between 2004-2030.  Fiscal stimulus measures for electric power infrastructure include approximately $200 billion aimed at improving transmission and distribution.

 

Wind energy growth is expected to continue at over 20%, with the U.S. being the world’s largest windpower market.

 

ABB’s no-battery-required WISA wireless sensor protocol is being opened up for other vendors to use in products. Festo is the first company to incorporate WISA into products. WISA co-COM is based on IEEE 802.15.1 (physical layer) and WISA-POWER, the unique wireless power supply solution. The system uses an electromagnetic field created from an alternating current running through primary power loops. The wireless switch is equipped with small secondary coils that pick up energy from the magnetic field and transform it to electric power. This provides the wireless switch with a constant, uninterrupted supply of power. The power is transmitted through the air by cables that need to be installed within range of the sensors. This product is an alternative to applications requiring slip-rings and cable chains. The Wireless Power Supply, WISA-POWER, is described as a “very weak” electromagnetic field. Technical information

 

Industrial^IT cpmPlus Energy Manager software has been introduced to manage and optimize energy usage by producing accurate energy demand plans and taking advantage of them in energy supply planning and optimization.  Energy Manager also includes reporting and analysis tools that evaluate the energy use patterns of processes and pinpoint areas for improvement.

 

The newest version of Loop Performance Manager provides improvements to the user interface for faster navigation and performance enhancements that simplify the scheduling of automatic runs. It also improves audit logging and storage of this information for documentation and reference purposes.   Loop Performance Manager (LPM) is an easy to use software package that monitors the performance of control loops, and determines the best loop operating parameters. Loop Performance Manager combines three tools in one package: Loop Auditing, which detects underperforming control loops; Loop Tuning, to improve the tuning of the loops; and Plantwide Disturbance Analysis, which looks for oscillation patterns in the plant and then finds the root cause of oscillations. (Examples include a loop that has improper tuning, a loop with actuator problems.)  Loop Performance Manager works with any PID type, from ABB or other vendors, works with on-line or off-line data, and can use either open or closed loop data. LPM can be configured to provide continuous 24/7 auditing of systems, to ensure that loops continue to provide a high level of performance over time.

 

ABB newest release includes SAP certification against the latest version of SAP’s R/3 ERP system and its NetWeaver service oriented technology platform. It also provides deeper integration with IBM’s Maximo Enterprise Asset Management system (EAM) for expanded asset optimization. In addition, ECS now has enhanced universal template development and deployment to ensure corporate-wide consistency while saving time, effort and money.

 

The SREA-01 enables remote data acquisition and drive access. The SREA-01 can send process data, data logs and event messages independently, without a PLC or a dedicated on-site computer, and has an internal web server for configuration and drive access.

 

The SREA-01 is connected to the panel port of ABB general machinery or ABB standard drives, or alternatively to the Modbus interface of a drive. A maximum of 10 drives can be connected to a single SREA-01 module, although an additional RS-485 converter is needed for each drive if several drives are connected by their panel port interfaces.

 

The SREA-01 comes equipped with an Ethernet port and a serial port for connecting to a standard GSM/GPRS(1) modem for internet connectivity in isolated places. The modem connection can be used for sending e-mail or SMS(2), messages, uploading data files via FTP(3), or accessing the web pages of the module.

 

ABB demonstrated a repackaged version of SMART VISION and Asset Master products into a new suite of products under the name of Asset Vision. The Asset Vision suite contains two software products. The Basic product is a new FDT frame application that allows users to quickly connect and configure HART, PROFIBUS, or FOUNDATION Fieldbus devices with changes locally stored by the instrument. Asset Vision Basic will be provided as freeware. The Professional tier product is the same product as ABB’s existing Asset Master with a new name. Asset Vision Professional will replace Asset Master as ABB Instrumentation’s full featured device management and asset optimization offering. Key features include:

Existing installations of Asset Master will automatically receive Asset Vision Professional as an upgrade, enabling these users to continue to perform online and offline device configuration, parameter setting functions, online monitoring and tuning, diagnostic alert response, asset monitoring, calibration management, and integral work order processing.

 

Three new products in the ABB Aztec 600 range of online analytical analyzers for potable water treatment were announced at Automation & Power World 2009. Built on ABB's new analytical instrument platform, the ABB Aztec 600 Manganese colorimetric monitor offers enhanced accuracy with simple operation and maintenance for potable water treatment applications.

 

The Aztec 600 analyzers use an LED and detector to measure the passage of light through a sample. A single precisely controlled piston pump provides all the sample and reagent fluid handling for measurement, mixing and disposal. Measurements are taken before and after color reagents are added to compensate for background color and turbidity. These measurements are compared against the calibrated values to calculate the sample being measured. The analyzer can measure up to six samples per hour.  A key feature of the Aztec 600 range include automatic two point calibration. This enables operators to verify analyzer performance against standards of a known concentration. Accuracy is further enhanced by various self-cleaning abilities to ensure the optical cell and analyzer tubing used for sample measurements remain free of residual particles between each analysis. A patented mechanical cleaning function uses the piston movement to wipe the optical cell with every measurement, particularly important when measuring raw waters where optical contamination can be a real issue. The analyzers also include various user programmable automatic options for cell rinsing and acid and alkali washing.

 

The analyzers are available in single or multi-stream configurations, enabling operators to use just one device to monitor up to three streams sequentially, all with current loop, Ethernet or fieldbus outputs. The Aztec 600 analyzers are also simple to maintain. The piston and optical sensor use air to mix the sample and reagents, limiting the cost and maintenance associated with mechanical or electrical stirring systems. The inherent product design and auto-calibrating features means that maintenance is just required annually, compared to every 3 months with some other units.

 

ABB introduced its new wireless adapter for connecting to existing HART transmitters that are wired to existing DCSs or PLCs that cannot speak HART and can only read the 4 - 20 ma signal.   This is a neat rugged compact unit with a 5 year battery life under reasonable operation.

 

ABB introduced a amall PLC solution, the AC500-eCo, for small applications that offers access to the AC500 PLC family of modules and software. The AC500-eCo’s CPU has integrated inputs and outputs (optional digital and digital / analog mixed) and can be configured with up to seven S500 I/O modules. Connection to the internal I/O bus is fail-safe via a side-positioned connector. Mounting of all modules is on DIN rail or via screw mounting.   System configuration takes place using the integrated system software (PS501 Control Builder) for all the AC500 CPU performance classes. This allows integrated programming of all CPUs in the AC500 family in accordance with the IEC 61131-3 standard.

 

The AC500-eCo has an integrated serial interface configurable as MODBUS Master/Slave or CS31 Master.  The AC500-eCO accepts plug-in add-ons for a second serial port, real-time clock and SD card.

 

ABB introduced a cleverly designed line of relays that have an embedded processor so they can deliver units programmed for one of 10 million part numbers in 2 days or less. The ProgramaCube® series of factory programmable relay or solid state output modules is a great timing solution for OEM's and custom equipment designers. Universal voltage; select one of 24 standard functions, SPDT relay output to 30A, or solid state output to 20A, and fixed or onboard, or externally adjustable time delays. Custom programs are available in a fraction of the time required to design, acquire raw material, test and complete UL & CSA approvals.