17-06-2013

Honeywell introduces the future of plant control rooms

Honeywell today introduced several new technologies that will transform control rooms of the future, including an advanced dashboard to help industrial plants better manage control-system cyber security. The Cyber Security Dashboard is among several advancements being demonstrated for customers this week at the 2013 Honeywell Users Group (HUG) Americas Symposium in Phoenix.

Other new control-room technologies highlighted at the event include the Experion® Collaboration Station with expanded capability, the recently announced Premium Platform for Experion Virtualization Solutions, and the newest version of Honeywell’s OneWireless™ Network. Additionally, the company previewed a futuristic console for its Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) Orion platform that reduces operator fatigue with an improved, ergonomic design featuring a larger display and new alarm lighting. Honeywell expects to launch the Experion Orion Console – which was designed based on input from operators – with the platform’s next release in 2014 to provide better mobility for operators while improving situational awareness.

“In many ways, the control room of the future won’t be limited to the control room at all, and that concept is perfectly illustrated through technologies like OneWireless, because it extends the control room to the field,” said Jason Urso, chief technology officer, Honeywell Process Solutions. “At the same time, because we expect increasing connectivity, we’ll see a greater need for cyber security management systems like the Cyber Security Dashboard, and collaboration solutions like Experion Collaboration Station. These solutions complement each other to improve overall plant safety, reliability, efficiency, and sustainability.”

The common link between all of these solutions is the ability to help make control-room personnel more quickly aware of what’s happening in their facilities, including:

* Cyber Security Dashboard – In industrial environments that are increasingly comprised of open systems, the Cyber Security Dashboard helps simplify the task of keeping automation systems up-to-date with cyber security requirements. The dashboard consolidates all data onto a single view for better visibility, and it allows users to easily drill down and access more-detailed content such as graphics, trends, documents and applications. Its advanced analytics allow the creation of customized alerts that advise personnel to take actions such as updating anti-virus protection, managing patches, and other ongoing cyber and network security-related tasks. Honeywell is previewing the Cyber Security Dashboard with customers in Phoenix and expects to roll out the tool globally in early 2014.

* Experion Collaboration Station – Experion Collaboration Station enables faster responses to both routine and emergency situations by displaying a common view of how distributed assets at multiple locations are functioning. This allows plants to rapidly establish communication among centralized operations, field operations and operational specialists in separate locations. This tool is especially well-suited for production sites with distributed assets such as offshore oil and gas operations, pipelines, and large refineries with centralized control rooms.

* OneWireless Network R220 – OneWireless Network is a universal wireless network that can simultaneously accommodate thousands of field devices to form everything from a simple field instrument network, to a completely integrated plant-wide, multi-application network. The new OneWireless Network Software R220 introduces a new interface for the Honeywell Enraf SmartRadar Flexline, which enables the device to communicate with the Honeywell Enraf Entis Pro tank gauging system, as well as the Experion Process Knowledge System platform.  This allows storage terminal operators to cost-effectively improve their operations with reliable inventory data available in the control room. Operators can also generate recurring yearly productivity gains of 10 percent or more through loss-control and storage-capacity optimization, and improve workforce efficiency with smart mobile applications. Other enhancements include a redundancy feature that allows facilities to reliably use wireless for applications that require measures to prevent single points from causing a system-wide failure. .
 
* Premium Platform for Experion Virtualization Solutions – Leveraging blade server technology, Honeywell’s new solution is customized to the specific control applications needed by the customer, making it a turnkey virtualization solution. Premium Platform reduces setup time by up to 90 percent, generates up to 40 percent more energy savings and has 22 percent greater density than alternative virtualized server platforms. In addition, the platform has a longer lifecycle, reduced facility footprint and remote management capabilities in a package that is pre-configured, saving time to deploy.