Yokogawa Electric Corporation (headquarters: 2-9-32 Nakacho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan; president: Isao Uchida; capital: 32.306 billion yen) announced that their next generation recorder, Data Acquisition Station DAQSTATION, which was released in August 1999 has become the first industrial recorder to pass the latest FOUNDATION Fieldbus ITK version 4.0 tests of the Interoperability Test System, and as a result it has been verified for conformance and interoperability to the Fieldbus Foundation's specifications. DAQSTATIONs complying with these specifications will be released in February 2001.
In April this year, with the passing of Fieldbus Foundation's interoperability tests for its Electronic Pressure Transmitter DPharp EJA, Temperature Transmitter YTA, Vortex Flowmeter YEWFLOW*E, Magnetic Flowmeter ADMAG AE, and Valve Positioner YVP, Yokogawa Electric Corporation became the world's first industrial measuring instrument manufacturer to have all of its main field instrument products verified for conformance to Fieldbus Foundation specifications. In addition to these field instruments, the obtaining of compliance for the DAQSTATION enables Yokogawa to provide complete cover for plant instrument facilities with a lineup of equipment ranging from control systems to field instruments and recorders.
Advantages of Recorders Conforming to Fieldbus Specifications
DAQSTATIONs conforming to Fieldbus specifications boast the following merits.
- Can utilize existing analog wiring for fieldbus
Fieldbus system configuration is simplified by the ability of a DAQSTATION to receive an analog signal from a sensor such as a themocouple and then transmit it via a field bus.
- Allows for configuration of small scale monitoring system
In cases where only a small number of monitoring points are required, using the DAQSTATION as monitoring and recording equipment allows for the configuration of an inexpensive small-scale monitoring system. Furthermore, this recorder can be used for remote monitoring as it comes standard with an Ethernet port. It does not require large-scale systems such as DCS.
- Can display field data
Field data cannot normally be monitored in the field with a system configured with a fieldbus compliant sensor and control equipment. However, using this recorder allows for data to be checked and displayed. The incorporation of capabilities that far exceed those of ordinary display devices, such as a function to display trend data, facilitates flexible use.
Main Markets
Petroleum, petrochemical, chemical, electric power, gas, paper and pulp, steel, and sewerage and waterworks plants.
Applications
A data acquisition station that can display and record production site measurement data as well as allow for the management of data via a network.
Outline of DAQSTATION
The DAQSTATION is a paperless recorder for the network age, which incorporates the following functions in addition to the basic data acquisition and recording functions of conventional industrial recorders.
- Comes standard equipped with TCP/IP and FTP server/client functions and Ethernet compatibility for connecting directly to a network.
- Allows for switching between variousdisplay modes including trend graphs, bar graphs, overviews and alarm history.
- Memory capacity can be increased to a maximum of 160 MB by means of external storage medium.
The concept behind the design of this recorder enables it to meet the needs for increased networking of production systems. The lineup includes the DX100 with a maximum of 12 input channels and the DX200 with a maximum of 30 input channels.
FOUNDATION Fieldbus
For many years, field instruments at plants were using standard analog control signals of 4-20 mA. However, only single one-way control signals could be transmitted between a control system and field instrument. The international FOUNDATION Fielbus standard was established because of a realization that in order to achieve more sophisticated plant control, by bringing about the unified systemization of various forms of data on networks, it was necessary to develop an open environment with communication functions that enable simultaneous bi-directional communication of multivariables. FOUNDATION Fielbus has drawn much attention as the next generation of field networks by adopting digital communication to dramatically increase the amount of data that can be transmitted, greatly reduce wiring costs, create a multi vendor environment and implement control downsizing
History of FOUNDATION Fieldbus
FOUNDATION Fieldbus goes back to 1984, when the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) proposed standardization of digital communication for field instruments. The actual standardization was implemented by the IEC and the International Society for Measurement and Control (ISA) SP50 committees from 1990. Manufacturers were divided into two groups-the Interoperable Systems Project (ISP) and World Factory Instrument Protocol (World FIP)-with regards to the development of detailed specifications, and both groups worked side by side on the project. However, in 1994, they unified into the Fieldbus Foundation and it was confirmed that the IEC and ISA SP50 committees had taken charge of standardization while the Fieldbus Foundation was playing an active role in developing and establishing it as international standard specifications. The specifications were determined in 1996 and manufacturers have been developing fieldbus-compatible products and performing field trials ever since. The implementation of the ITK 4.0 this April was a big leap forward in realizing an open standard.
Yokogawa has participated in the standardization as an active member in the ISP committee from an early stage. Also, Yokogawa played an active role in the establishment of the Fieldbus Foundation and continues to offer its support today.
