The Fieldbus Foundation (www.fieldbus.org) announced plans to conduct a series of live field demonstrations showcasing its Foundation for Remote Operations Management (ROM) technology. The first live demo of Foundation for ROM is scheduled for April 30, 2013, at the Petrobras research and development facility (Cenpes) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Petrobras company executives and automation industry media will attend the event.
The first development of its kind integrating remote input/output (I/O), ISA 100.11a, WirelessHART, wired HART, and H1 fieldbus protocols into a single standard data management environment, Foundation for ROM extends the capabilities of Foundation fieldbus to countless wired and wireless devices installed in some of the world's harshest and most remote locations. This open, non-proprietary solution provides a unified digital infrastructure for asset management in applications ranging from tank farms and terminals to pipelines, offshore platforms, and even original equipment manufacturer (OEM) skids. Whether operating on a wired or wireless High Speed Ethernet (HSE) backhaul network, end users can pull device data into the Foundation fieldbus infrastructure, which provides a single source of data management, diagnostics, alarms and alerts, data quality control, control-in-the-field capability, and object-oriented block structure.
Petrobras is interested in specifying Foundation for ROM technology for the ambitious projects it is undertaking in the upstream and downstream hydrocarbon industry. The company has a record-setting $224 billion capital spending plan through 2015, with most of the investments targeted at the upstream sector on the highly publicized Pre-Salt area of the Santos Basin.
The Petrobras Centro de Pesquisas Leopoldo Américo Miguez de Mello, also known as Cenpes, is the largest oil and gas research center in the Southern Hemisphere. At the facility, a series of tests will be conducted with a Foundation for ROM system installed on a distillation process pilot plant to evaluate the use of fieldbus-based ROM devices with wireless protocols for remote applications.
Miguel Borges, who is employed at the Cenpes facility, believes Foundation for ROM can be an enabling technology for remote applications on Petrobras' offshore platforms. "The Fieldbus Foundation's ROM solution is attractive to us, since we want to gain access to diagnostic information from devices installed at our remote sites," Borges said. "Petrobras is committed to investing in this type of technology, and is seeking the most effective solutions available in the marketplace."
Reliance Industries (India) has also agreed to host Foundation for ROM field demonstrations and additional end user demonstrations in Japan, the Middle East and Europe are being planned.
According to Fieldbus Foundation Director of Technology Development Dave Glanzer, the Petrobras field demonstration will offer a look at the full functionality of Foundation for ROM, including wireless device integration, remote I/O integration, and wireless backhaul capabilities.
"This demonstration is the first step to show the capabilities of Foundation for ROM before it is specified for commercial projects," said Glanzer. "The ROM solution enables end users to diagnose, either locally or remotely, the condition of their automation assets and then optimize predictive and preventive maintenance strategies."
He added, "While industrial organizations deal with shrinking operations and maintenance personnel and assets being deployed in remote locations, remote operations management is quickly becoming a critical application. Experience has shown that a comprehensive remote operations management solution enables manufacturers to respond faster to market conditions, increase efficiency, reduce downtime, and achieve higher production availability."
Fieldbus Foundation supplier members sponsoring the Foundation for ROM demonstrations include: APA Technologies, AUMA, Azbil, Beka Associates Ltd., Belden, Biffi, Buerkert Werke, Emerson Process Management, Endress+Hauser, Festo Brazil, Fuji Electric, Honeywell, Invensys Operations Management, Leoni-Kerpen, Magnetrol, MTL, Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact, R. STAHL, Rotork, Smar, StoneL, Turck, Westlock, and Yokogawa Electric Corporation.
