'Green' energy demands help drive control and automation

Paul Boughton

Emerson’s latest products and technology range from Ovation SCADA software for wind energy management, to new Fisher C1 Series ‘energy responsible’ controllers and transmitters for oil and gas operations.

“World energy demand is expected to reach the equivalent of more than 10 trillion tons of crude oil by 2010, and nearly 16trillion equivalent tons by 2030,” commented Peter Zornio, the company’s chief strategic officer. “Renewable, hydroelectric and nuclear sources will account for more than 10 per cent of this total, with coal representing nearly one-fourth. Clearly, process automation will be one of the enablers of realising this growth in the most efficient and energy responsible way possible. Innovative technologies and solutions are important to meeting the global demands, and to enable new sources of energy to become economically feasible,” he added.The SCADA software for wind energy management is part of the company’s portfolio of SCADA solutions for renewable energy which includes hydropower and solar power, among others. The World Wind Energy Association expects total installed capacity for wind energy to grow from roughly 74000MW in 2006 to 160000MW in 2010 – an increase of more than 116 pe rcent. The new software helps to efficiently manage the growing assets of individual wind farms or entire fleets.

 

FisherC1 Series controllers improve control reliability and safety while saving up to US$1400 (E920) of gas annually and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing natural gas lost to the atmosphere (Fig.1). Payback time is typically 3–8 months.

Most importantly, says Emerson, the C1 has a new, patented proportional band adjustment assembly to replace the three-way valve.

This innovative feature provides even more reliable control and increased safety. Materials are available for applications handling sour process fluids. These constructions comply with the metallurgical requirements of NACEMR0175-2002.

The C1 compares sensed process pressure to an operator adjusted set point, and sends a pneumatic signal to the adjacent control element that maintains the set point value. Available models include proportional only, proportional-plus-reset, differential gap, and transmitter.

Meanwhile, the Rosemount Analytical AccuMax technology helps boiler and furnace operators achieve higher efficiencies and lower nitrogen oxide and greenhouse gas emissions by more accurate flue gas oxygen measurement. The patented sapphire-tube enclosed sensors have triple the life of conventional thermocouples in difficult gasification process conditions, and dual pressure seals prevent release of toxic emissions from the reactor that can result in case of sensor breakage.

Emerson’s alternative fuels projects range from wind and hydropower to first generation biofuels including bio-ethanol, second generation biofuels including bio-diesel, to synfuels including coal, petcoke, and heavy oil gasification.

The company has been selected for digital automation for clean energy solutions by Rentech, the company that developed and patented the Rentech process that transforms under-utilised domestic energy resources into valuable and clean alternative fuels and chemicals. These energy resources include coal, petroleum coke, biomass and municipal solid waste. The greenhouse gas footprint of fuels from the Rentech process is significantly below that of petroleum-derived fuels.

For its part, Yokogawa has announced the release of new input and output (IO) modules for turbomachinery control applications. These new modules are being released as part of the CENTUMVP integrated production control system.

Installed on a CENTUMVP field control station, the new IO modules provide powerful features for the
high-speed control and protection of turbomachinery. They have a highly reliable dual redundant configuration and an intermixed signal interface for handling both analogue and digital data.

The IO modules come in two types, providing a comprehensive control solution for the power generation industry. The servo module is designed to control turbine speed by interfacing with specific sensors and actuators to manipulate steam and fuel control valves. The high speed protection module is designed to protect the turbine from overspeed and other critical conditions by shutting steam and fuel valves.

With these new IO modules, Yokogawa says that CENTUMVP provides an excellent platform for the comprehensive and coordinated control of power plant turbines, boilers, and balance of plant facilities. Through such enhanced features, CENTUMVP is able to realise a wide range of control solutions for the power generation industry, says the company.

Meanwhile, Invensys Process Systems has announced that it now offers 24/7 global network security monitoring and management through a partnership with Integralis, a leading global provider of managed security services. This novel collaboration between a major process control vendor and a major IT services provider demonstrates the growing importance of combining process engineering and IT expertise in warding off cyber threats to refineries, public utilities, pharmaceutical plants and other process industries.

“The process industries have a growing need to protect their production assets from cyber threats, but doing so requires a blend of production management and IT Security skills that few companies can afford to maintain on site,” said Bob Mick, vice president of emerging technologies at the ARC Advisory group.

The Invensys portfolio of cyber security services includes customised assessments, architecture design, implementation and management. Examples of customised services include site and vulnerability assessments, policy requirement drafting, security architecture and policy development, modernisation of existing technology and continuous management, review, testing and optimisation.

Integralis extends the Invensys portfolio by providing managed security services through a global network of fully redundant security operations centres (SOCs). Integralis provides managed security services around best of breed perimeter security, content security, threat and vulnerability management and secure authentication devices. After Invensys consultants design and implement a programme, the customer can leverage Integralis’ network of global centres, staffed 24/7 by security experts.