Control Amplified: The process automation podcast

Marcos Peluso served as director of development for fieldbus at Emerson. Peluso worked on many projects over the years, but his work on developing Foundation Fieldbus is the capstone to a stellar career.

Joe Weiss is managing partner of Applied Control Solutions Inc., and an ISA99 ICS cybersecurity pioneer and blogger.

You're probably aware of the important role that supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software plays in managing automation systems used by water or power utilities, national broadcasters or scientists. You’re also likely aware of the role custom coding plays when configuring these applications for users. However, you may be less aware of the ongoing price of each line of code that, if not carefully managed, can reduce performance, reliability, and longevity of critical SCADA systems. Control talked with Chris Little, media relations director for Trihedral Engineering Limited, to find out how systems integrators and in-house developers can create advanced SCADA solutions that aren’t limited by rapidly aging code.

Automation is becoming increasingly open and vendor-agnostic. Likewise, field devices that must be digitalized and interoperable for reporting, maintenance, analytics and decision-making are becoming more remote and automated. Recently, Schneider Electric’s Marcel Rameil, global offer manager for Control Software for Foxboro DCS, and Thad Frost, business leader for Foxboro DCS, talked with Control about today’s best practices for all aspects of plant automation, and how autonomous plant operations can be achieved.

In this episode of Control Amplified, group publisher Keith Larson speaks to Gerry Abbey, manager of analysts, relations and insights at Rockwell Automation, about Rockwell's ninth annual State of Smart Manufacturing report.

Tom Reiter has more than 35 years of application and engineering expertise in the electronics and automation industry. He has been with Schneider Electric and Pro-face for more than 10 years as a sales and product application engineer focusing on digital factory and HMI solutions. His knowledge of programming, device connectivity, and customer solution development has been crafted throughout his experiences in the field and customer interactions. With a lifetime of experience, he can look at any situation and provide a unique, thoughtful, well-rounded solution. His inspiration comes from the excitement of seeing automation in practice and thrives on the challenge of exceeding customer needs.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a hydrocarbon gas consisting primarily of propane, butane, or a mixture of both. Because it produces lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional solid fuels, there's increasing demand for LPG across the world. In fact, some governments have implemented policies and initiatives to promote the use of LPG to reduce air pollution and improve public health. This increased demand puts the onus on storage terminals to use their capacity as efficiently as possible, by optimizing inventory management and safety. This can be achieved by integrating non-contacting radar level gauges into tank gauging systems. Control’s editor-in-chief, Len Vermillion, spoke with Tomas Hasselgren, manager of global business development at Emerson, about the challenges of LPG tank gauging, and the benefits that can be achieved by using non-contacting radar level gauges rather than traditional level measurement technology.

Upgrading the operations of a plant most likely involves automation. Software-centric open automation streamlines operations while increasing collaboration and productivity in industrial environments. So, what’s the true value of open automation to industry? To get the answer, Control’s editor-in-chief, Len Vermillion, talked to Domenico Napoli, future offers leader for process automation at Schneider Electric, during a recent episode of the Control Amplified podcast.

Coriolis meters have many benefits and advantages for process industry applications. Coriolis technology continues to gain popularity with operators because it offers a more direct approach to flow measurement than traditional flowmeters. Control’s editor-in-chief, Len Vermillion, asked Thomas Sautier, director of sensor product management at Emerson, about the innovative capabilities of Coriolis flowmeters, including the Micro Motion G-Series Coriolis flow and density meters, on a recent edition of the Control Amplified podcast. Specifically, they discussed how the technology can benefit industrial applications.

Len Vermillion is joined by Dustin Johnson, CTO of Seeq, to dive into generative artificial intelligence and address how organizations can communicate their GenAI strategies effectively internally.

In recent years, rising inflation has led to increased pressure to control the cost of industrial projects. This is true of municipal utilities trying to responsibly use taxpayer dollars as well as manufacturers struggling to remain competitive. SCADA software manufacturers have always experienced this pressure. Chris Little of Trihedral Engineering Limited, makers of VTScada monitoring and control software, recently appeared on the Control Amplified podcast with Control’s editor in chief, Len Vermillion. On the podcast, available at ControlGlobal.com/podcasts, they discussed why discounting software can never deliver the savings that industry needs. In fact, the key to unlocking those savings lies in how you use the supervisory control and data acquisition software itself.

Radar level measurement technology has gone through many changes over the years. Keith Riley, product marketing manager for level and pressure technologies at Endress+Hauser, recently spoke with Control editor-in-chief Len Vermillion about those changes and specifically 80 GHz radar level measurement technology.

Emerson recently launched the Micro Motion 4700 Coriolis Config I/O transmitter. To explore its capabilities, Control editor-in-chief Len Vermillion spoke with Brett Sibel, product manager at Emerson. Sibel worked as a product engineer and product manager in various industries such as electronics, biomedical design and automation solutions, so he understands the varying needs of plant managers.

Carbon-capture utilization and storage (CCUS) is one the most discussed techniques for curbing carbon emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere. Many oil and gas operators have looked at investing in carbon-capture solutions, particularly recently as calls for viable solutions to climate change grow louder. In a recent episode of the Control Amplified podcast, Brandon Bromberek, VP of oil and gas for Emerson's measurement solutions business, told Control’s editor-in-chief, Len Vermillion, how carbon capture can help usher in the energy transition and the value chain that coincides with its rise.

Generative AI is a topic on the minds of a lot of people these days. The emergence of automation intelligence, especially over the last two years, has disrupted the way industry thinks about future operations. Although scary to many people, generative AI ushers in new and exciting possibilities for manufacturers and process industries. It has the potential to reshape the way they analyze data, optimize operations and make critical decisions. To learn more, Control editor-in-chief Len Vermillion hosts Dustin Johnson, CTO of Seeq, which provides analytics software to process industries.

While innovation happens frequently in process automation, safety is sometimes “out of scope.” There are many reasons, but one primary reason is it can be a scary proposition for many operators to trust artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to do jobs that humans historically handle. And, with barriers such as cybersecurity concerns and a daunting amount of software tools to choose from, the prospect of handing over security and safety in process applications sometimes ends up being pushed to the background. However, even if there’s reluctance to work with software for process safety applications, tomorrow it will be a reality. Chris Stogner, Triconex safety and critical control leader at Schneider Electric, talked with Control’s editor-in-chief, Len Vermillion, for a recent episode of the Control Amplified podcast to discuss the barriers to adoption and how industry can overcome them.

Combining optimization and sustainability is no easy task because it requires reconciling some historical differences between these two goals. To help customers resolve these issues, Endress+Hauser relies on its expertise in energy efficiency in utilities and plant optimization with instrumentation. Mark Thomas, industry marketing group manager at Endress+Hauser USA, spoke with Control’s executive editor, Jim Montague, about these capabilities, and how its customers can implement them to go green and profit at the same time.

Len Vermillion is joined by Tyrone Visser, business development manager, Linux & IIoT, Wago

Traditionally, process plants were deployed with point-to-point wiring, custom, multi-pair homerun cables and large complex marshalling cabinets with hundreds or sometimes thousands of termination points. Deploying remote I/O in large-scale plants can deliver major positive impacts thanks to easier installation, simpler serviceability and reduced cabinet space. Jesse Hill, process industry manager at Beckhoff Automation USA, recently talked with Control’s editor-in-chief, Len Vermillion, about the many benefits of remote I/O, including enhanced physical layer diagnostics, wiring reductions, lower cost, and increased flexibility in plant network topologies.

Connecting operational technology (OT) with information technology (IT) in process applications offers many distinct advantages for processing plants. While technology has made the task easier, there are still challenges to consider. That’s why following several best practices can save plant operators a lot of headaches down the road.