Technology provides open communication architecture for new miniature sampling sensors
VIENNA, Austria, February 23, 2005 – The Fieldbus Foundation, conducting its 2005 General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, today announced that its open, non-proprietary technology, FOUNDATION™ fieldbus, has been adopted as the communications standard for the New Sampling Sensor Initiative (NeSSI). FOUNDATION fieldbus for Intrinsically Safe (IS) operation has been incorporated into the NeSSI Generation II Draft Specification.After more than two years of investigation and experimentation, members of The Center for Process Analytical Chemistry (CPAC) and the NeSSI committee reached consensus that FOUNDATION fieldbus is the right network communication architecture to achieve the goals of the NeSSI project, including the need for intrinsically safe operation.
Widespread acceptance of FOUNDATION fieldbus within the process industries and a broad vendor base also contributed to the choice.The goal of the NeSSI project is to simplify and standardize sample system design.Based on semiconductor (SEMI) standards and the ISA SP76 work, the NeSSI standard promotes the concept of field-mounted analytical systems; integration of sample systems with physical/chemical sensors (“plug and play”); development of small, smart, integrated sampling, sensor, and analyzer transmitters; and the validation of representative sample and analysis.
In addition, NeSSI will lay the groundwork for new process analytical systems employing open connectivity architecture, industry-standard protocols, and web-enabled technology.According to CPAC Director Mel Koch, the incorporation of FOUNDATION fieldbus builds on the successful efforts in the development of fluidic components and flow substrate hardware that make up the NeSSI platform.
Koch said, “This initiative will help the automation industry adapt the emerging class of “lab on a chip” sensors to a miniature/modular “smart” manifold, which could fundamentally change the way industry does process development and optimization, as well as process analysis.”Koch also stated, “Standard sample conditioning and data logging will improve the ability to use multi-variant data analysis technology.”The CPAC and NeSSI group, in collaboration with the Fieldbus Foundation, will work together to insure the successful application of the technology to sample system components, miniature sensors, actuators, and analytical instruments under development for the NeSSI platform.According to Fieldbus Foundation President and CEO Richard Timoney, the inclusion of FOUNDATION fieldbus in the NeSSI standard is an important step in the industry’s adoption of open automation system standards.
“We welcome our association with CPAC, which will advance sampling sensor technology through the implementation of a fieldbus communication architecture,” said Timoney. “NeSSI is a leading-edge initiative that will make it possible for device manufacturers to modularize and miniaturize the next generation of smart process analyzer sample system components.”
About NeSSI
NeSSI is a non-affiliated international ad hoc group composed of over 250 members, including end-users such as Dow and ExxonMobil, as well as controls manufacturers and many others seeking to modularize and miniaturize process analyzer sample system components. NeSSI operates under the sponsorship and umbrella of CPAC (Center for Process Analytical Chemistry) at the University of Washington in Seattle. NeSSI's origins can be traced to various CPAC Focus Group sessions and a Tutorial presented at the November 1999 CPAC Sponsor Meeting. The membership focus of NeSSI has been on manufacturers who are willing to supply parts and components for this initiative, as well as end-users who are willing to do "in house" testing.
View the web site at www.cpac.washington.edu/NeSSI .
About CPAC
The Center for Process Analytical Chemistry (CPAC) was established in 1984 at the University of Washington as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC). CPAC is now a self-sustaining organization, with a successful consortium of sponsors recruited from all sectors of industry, as well as several government agencies.
The CPAC program can be summarized by three main components: (1) the investigation of new measurement approaches based on the miniaturization of traditional instrumentation and the development of new sensors and non-traditional instruments based on fundamentally different sensing mechanisms not associated with traditional analytical chemistry techniques; (2) the investigation of issues related to the integration of process measurement with process modeling and control including: process analyzer and process model robustness, improved analyzer data treatments, and cross-cultural education between measurement and control communities; and (3) the improvement of mechanisms for interaction, collaboration, and communication of Center activities, research programs, and information related to process analytical technology (PAT) among sponsors, other universities, government agencies, and the general measurement and control community.
The CPAC web site is www.cpac.washington.edu .
About the Fieldbus Foundation™
The Fieldbus Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation consisting of over 350 leading process and manufacturing automation companies worldwide whose major purpose is to provide an open and neutral environment for the development of a single, international, interoperable fieldbus. In this environment, end users, manufacturers, universities and research organizations are working together to develop the technology, provide development tools, support and training, coordinate field trials and demonstrations, and enable product interoperability. Visit their web site at www.fieldbus.org .
