Specialty chemicals company adopts Hart protocol

The Evonik Degussa Specialty Chemicals in Shanghai is using Hart Communication in real-time applications to improve operations and maintenance.

Following research on the use of Hart in all phases of the plant life cycle, engineers at Evonik decided to utilise Hart throughout the methacrylates production complex, including design, construction, device configuration, loop check, operations, maintenance and troubleshooting.

The complex has more than 2,000 HART-enabled instruments and valves installed from multiple global manufacturers.

'Integrating Hart data into the DCS and asset management systems provides full-time access to valuable device and process information that is often overlooked,' said Ron Helson, Hart Communication Foundation executive director.

'Brainstorming sessions based on technical reports regarding the use of HART in asset management systems led to establishing a more efficient loop-check methodology in compliance with international standards,' said Luc Sterck, project manager instrumentation, Evonik Engineering-Automation and Process Management.

'As a direct result of this implementation, we have cut loop-check time and costs by 25 per cent.

'Daily troubleshooting of instruments is now mainly performed from the safety and convenience of the control room,' he added.

According to Sterck, the real-time use of Hart Communication has allowed: easy configuration of field instruments from the control room; easy calibration management of instruments; online diagnostics and status monitoring of devices; automated documentation of calibration and configuration data into the asset management database; fewer people for maintenance; and easy checking/adjusting of device parameters for better control loop tuning.

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