New national regulations, introduced to clean up pollution and to reduce the visual impact of industrial plants on the landscape, required a coal fired power plant in the USA to upgrade to enable conformance. The following needed to be added:
* Catalytic reduction system to lower nitrous oxide emissions.
* Dry scrubber for capturing sulphur dioxide.
* A baghouse (enclosed coal delivery bunker) to accept deliveries of coal and eliminate particulate emissions when coal is tipped out of the wagons.
Adding oxygen and carbon monoxide measurements into the control system would reduce pollution and the improved combustion efficiency would reduce fuel consumption and lower operating costs. New gas analysers were therefore required to integrate with the Allen Bradley PLC used to control the boiler. Acromag, a supplier of signal conditioners and isolators, was approached to supply a device to read the signals from the analysers and connect them to the PLC.
Acromag supplied two modules (961EN-6006 for analog signals, 983EN-6012 for digital signals) with an Ethernet IP protocol interface for direct connection with the PLC. Using these remote I/O modules, the site engineers were easily able to integrate the gas analyser readings and alarms into the control system. As part of the process, Acromag remote I/O modules were also used to connect the new weather station readings for data-logging and control purposes.
EtherCAT interoperability removes industrial networking barriers
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Selecting the right communication technology is one of the most important decisions engineers make, and interoperability helps with that decision. Key development tools and standards ensure interoperability among many EtherCAT devices and manufacturers.
Read more...Condition monitoring to go Turck Banner Southern Africa
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Anyone who wants to efficiently monitor the climate in control cabinets will find a comprehensive range of control cabinet monitors for the DIN rail in Turck Banner’s cabinet condition monitoring family.
Read more...Innovative separation of recyclable materials Beckhoff Automation
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
A plant built by Belgian specialist machine builder, Absolem Engineering features an innovative process for separating recyclable materials. Using PC-based control from Beckhoff, a major problem has been elegantly solved - the generation of different signal sequences for the exact synchronisation of different camera systems.
Read more...Enhancing AI-powered object detection and recognition capabilities Vepac Electronics
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Innodisk has announced its cooperation with Advantech, a global leader in AIoT and edge computing. This collaboration leverages Innodisk’s customisable MIPI camera modules and Advantech’s Intel x86-based AFE-R360 solution to enhance AI-powered object detection and recognition capabilities, expanding visual applications for autonomous mobile robots in smart factories and warehouses.
Read more...Rugged, agile and scalable boards Vepac Electronics
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Embedded computing pioneer, AAEON has launched the PICO-ASL4 and GENE-ASL6, both featuring the new Intel Atom x7000RE Processor Series for the edge.
Read more...Rugged gateway board with open-source flexibility Vepac Electronics
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The SRG-CM4 from Vepac brings all the open-source flexibility of the Raspberry Pi OS and ecosystem to AAEON’s signature rugged, durable gateway design to create a truly industry-ready modular system.
Read more...New safety I/O modules for functional safety in highly automated operations
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Belden has expanded the Lumberg Automation LioN family with its new LioN-Safety I/O Modules. Designed to support functional safety efforts in industrial operations, the modules streamline the transmission of data over existing networks.
Read more...IO-Link master for the automation and IT world ifm - South Africa
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The decentralised IO-Link master modules from ifm serve as a gateway between intelligent IO-Link sensors and the fieldbus. Important information on the intelligent sensors can also be simultaneously sent.
Read more...Condition monitoring with IO-Link rotary encoders Pepperl+Fuchs
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Whether in the materials handling industry, in packaging machines or in wind turbines, sensors with an IO-Link interface are increasingly being used to pave the way to Industry 4.0. Pepperl+Fuchs was one of the first manufacturers to launch an absolute rotary encoder with IO-Link interface, that was available in numerous variants and with a wide range of setting parameters.
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