Thum adaptor expands Hart capabilities

Emerson Process Management extends the predictive intelligence capabilities of PlantWeb digital architecture with the release of its Smart Wireless Thum adapter.

The Thum adaptor can be installed on existing Hart field instruments to free up diagnostics and process information that had previously been inaccessible in wired legacy system installations.

Most Hart instruments have rich diagnostics and process data, yet this information goes unused because older legacy systems are not equipped to receive Hart communications.

While it is often too expensive and complicated to access this data through traditional wired means, upgrading devices with the Thum adaptor is a way to 'see' the diagnostic and process information.

The Thum adapter is a WirelessHart device that can retrofit on almost any two- or four-wire Hart device, without special power requirements, to enable wireless transmission of measurement and diagnostic information.

Devices with the Thum adaptor operate as components of the Emerson Smart Wireless self-organising field networks, delivering field intelligence to enable improvements in quality, safety, availability, operations and maintenance costs.

The Smart Wireless Thum adaptor extends predictive intelligence into new areas throughout the plant.

It allows access to advanced diagnostics through AMS Suite to tap into the power of in-situ meter verification for magnetic flowmeters and Coriolis meters.

The Thum adapter with AMS Suite allows customers to troubleshoot Hart devices from their desk so they can optimise maintenance schedules, minimise downtime and reduce the time spent in hazardous areas.

Online access to device diagnostics allows users to continually monitor devices and to know immediately if there is a problem before it causes any major damage.

The high cost of loop wiring due to remote locations or physical obstructions often prohibits the feasibility of installing devices for new measurement points.

With the Thum adaptor, users can transform any Hart instrument into a wireless device to enable expanded visibility in applications such as tank gauging, radar level, ultrasonic level, flow, valves, liquid and gas analytical, pressure and temperature.

Multivariable devices contain a wealth of information, but accessing all that information with legacy host systems can be difficult.

The Thum adaptor wirelessly transmits all device variables through any host system with a Smart Wireless Gateway, providing users with valuable information about their assets.

At the Chevron Phillips chemical plant in Sweeny, Texas, the Smart Wireless Thum adaptor is enabling extra capabilities for Micro Motion Coriolis flowmeters that are used in fiscal accounting of product transfer between Chevron Phillips and an adjacent petroleum refinery.

'The required proving for fiscal transfer flowmeters is time consuming and a big expense for the plant,' said Stephen Fair, instrument measurement planner at Chevron Phillips.

'To ease this issue, we plan to confirm our ability to extend the time intervals between meter provings by trending data from the Micro Motion meter verification tool against data from proving reports.

'Adding to the extended interval savings, use of the Smart Wireless Thum adaptor on the remote flowmeters is allowing us to launch meter verification from the plant control room rather than making trips to the field.

'The adaptors will also act as repeaters for other devices being added to the wireless network,' he added.

The Thum adaptor can be purchased on its own or as part of the Smart Wireless Field Starter Kit that comes pre-configured to immediately form a secure self-organising network.

The Starter Kit includes a Smart Wireless Gateway, a 25-tag license for AMS Device Manager, five to 100 wireless devices and Emerson-supplied Smartstart installation services.

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