Process and plant engineers know the dangers of undetected hazardous gases, especially in the oil/gas and chemical industries where hydrocarbon-based fluids are both the product and a daily safety challenge.  There have been many great strides in the safety industry in adopting the latest digital technologies and advances in materials and construction techniques.  

About the Article:  MSA's recently published case study, Turn to Open-Path Laser Detectors for Hydrogen Fluoride Gas Safety, focuses on a refinery that had concerns about potential hydrogen fluoride (HF) gas releases.  

Problem: When sharing one Process Variable (PV) with multiple systems, the connection needs to be thought out carefully. Creating a series connection for the 4-20mA signal is not a best practice for sharing the PV, see Figure 1. The main problem in creating a series connection is when either the DCS or the PLC input is disconnected, intentionally or by accident, both the DCS and the PLC will lose the PV signal.

The ECT-DIN series dual 4-20mA output can be provided with a modified input to accept a 0-2Vdc signal. Moore Industries offers a build option from the factory (the ECT which acts as a Splitter).  The model number for an ECT with this configuration is ECT/0-2V/2X4-20MA/24DC [DIN]. Typical installation of an ECT is a DIN mount so the housing we offer is a DIN-style housing which mounts on 32mm G-type (EN50035) and 35mm Top Hat (EN50022) rails.

Reliable measurements are critical for any control scheme, new or old. But as industries strive to improve control of processes, the quality of measurement-loops is often overlooked! No matter how good your DCS, PLC, SCADA, or cloud-based data collection is, if you do not have accurate reliable process data, it does not matter.

Process safety is a major concern and when not managed effectively, potential scenarios can have tragic consequences to personnel, the environment, and company assets. Compliance with regulations and standards require owners to maintain, test and evaluate their safety systems. With proper planning of safety requirements, implementing a safety solution can improve your risk reduction and help quantify the benefits of a safety instrumented system.

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Originally Posted by: Ananth Antony

The object of control system migration is not to replicate your existing system and just keep things the way they are, but to bring in new technologies, functions, and features that will make it possible for you to operate your plant more efficiently and profitably. It’s an opportunity to benefit from the latest process control system technology available on the market today.