Emerson has launched the DeltaV PK Controller, making the advanced automation of its DeltaV distributed control system (DCS) available to fast-growth industries traditionally less reliant on large-scale automation. The next-gen controller provides scalable automation control to all process industries, particularly parts of the life sciences, oil and gas, petrochemical, and discrete manufacturing industries that have relied on complex, non-integrated programmable logic controllers (PLCs) with limited operational capabilities. The fit-for-purpose DeltaV PK Controller allows manufacturers to scale down for skid units or scale up to be natively merged into the DeltaV DCS in a larger plant.
Today, these industries tend to use PLCs for smaller applications, which can create disconnected ‘islands of automation’, which limits plant production improvements. The DeltaV PK is the first controller to bridge small and large control applications. Organisations can leverage it for effective, easy-to-implement standalone automation control akin to a PLC but with the features of a full-scale DCS, including advanced batch production, recipe management, execution, and historisation. Users can also choose to merge it into their DeltaV DCS. This capability eliminates operational complexity and dramatically improves the performance, safety, and efficiency of an entire project and operational lifecycle.
“The new controller delivers a business-effective solution for organisations of all sizes to improve automation control and integration,” said Jessica Jordan, Emerson product manager. “The controller is capable of powerful standalone control for advanced automation on skids today while still being able to integrate into a full-scale DCS for total plant production control.”
This latest addition to Emerson’s Project Certainty initiative targets radical transformation in capital project execution. The new controller will simplify capital projects by enabling OEM skid-builders to design and produce skids in the same way they do today, while eliminating the costs, time, and risks associated with integrating a PLC into the control system.
The DeltaV PK was designed from the start with connectivity, particularly into the IIoT, in mind. The scalablability leverages an assortment of communication protocols, including the first Emerson controller with a built-in OPC UA server. It is also the first Emerson controller with six Ethernet ports and can operate using any Emerson DeltaV I/O type, including DeltaV Electronic Marshalling, traditional marshalled I/O, wireless I/O, and integrated safety
instrumented systems. In addition, it has built-in protocols to communicate with Ethernet devices such as drives and motors. Together, these features make connectivity easier at every stage and help plants achieve operational benefits of cloud-based tools and analytics through the IIoT. The controller also features built-in redundancy and communication, as well as power supplies, allowing organisations to improve uptime without adding to complexity, overall footprint or cost.
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