MILWAUKEE, April 29, 2004 — Rockwell Automation has announced results of a comprehensive test showing that its AllenBradley PanelView products can last up to 10 years in corrosive gas environments before needing replacement. Manufacturers in the petrochemical, oil and gas, and pharmaceutical industries who work in corrosive gas environments are accustomed to the premature replacement of electronic devices. These results set a new benchmark for corrosion resistance of automation control technology in a variety of rugged environments. ”We’re extremely pleased that the test results bear out what we’ve known for a while – that PanelView users can have the peace of mind of knowing their products will last and continue to perform well beyond their plant requirements,” said Clark Kromenaker, product manager, Rockwell Automation. “It also gives plant engineers a benchmark for planning site upgrades and expansions, making long-term planning easier.”Rockwell Automation submitted the PanelView products to an independent testing facility which subjected the PanelView Standard products to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) B845-93 Corrosive Gas Test. The effort was to determine how long the products would last in the presence of corrosive gases such as hydrogen sulfide, sulfuric acid, chlorine and other common gases at specified concentrations. Of the two PanelView products submitted for analysis, the PanelView 1000 terminals could last up to 10 years and PanelView 550 can perform without suffering the effects of these gases for nearly seven years.“We would still recommend that, for the longest equipment life, an enclosure suitable for the environment be used,” said Kromenaker. “However, these new tests do demonstrate that PanelView terminals have a high level of design and construction quality that allows them to operate long-term in such environments.”In a corrosive gas environment, many compounds common to electronic equipment erode more quickly, due to exposure to gases used in the process. For example, tire manufacturers use sulfur and sulfuric compounds in production, and when these gases make contact with the air, they create a sulfuric acid that gradually eats away at copper and silver components — the very parts used to make a display on an operator interface clear and easy to read. The PanelView operator terminals offer rugged electronic interface solutions in a variety of sizes and configurations from a stand-alone single system to multilayered, enterprise-wide solutions. Each system is capable of providing process information over a variety of communication protocols via DeviceNet, ControlNet, Data Highway Plus, Remote I/O, DF1 (RS-232), DH-485, Modbus and other established networks. Details of the test are available on request.Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) is a world-leading provider of industrial automation power, control and information solutions that help customers meet their manufacturing productivity objectives. The company brings together leading brands in industrial automation for Complete Automation solutions, including Allen-Bradley controls and engineered services and Rockwell Software factory management software, Dodge mechanical power transmission products, and Reliance Electric motors and drives. The company also is a leading provider of contact management technologies and applications that help companies more efficiently manage interaction with their own customers. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., USA, the company employs about 22,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries. For more information on the PanelView operator interface, please contact the Rockwell Automation Response Center, 10701 Hampshire Avenue South, Bloomington, Minn., 55438, 800.223.5354, Ext. 1717.
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