Abstract
ARC Advisory Group lately attended the forty fifth annual Honeywell Course of Options Customers’ Group (HUG) Americas convention in Orlando, Florida. Convention attendance and power alike had been sturdy, with over 1,200 attendees, almost as many as (pre-COVID) 2019. This yr’s theme was “On the Fringe of Transition,” which appears to focus on the churn we’re witnessing out there. As is common, Honeywell used the occasion to introduce a number of new options. These options included each {hardware} and software program, however software program dominated the occasion once more.
A couple of key takeaways embody:
- Honeywell has created a extremely simplified migration path for all their management system customers by leveraging virtualization in any respect ranges of its controls providing and creating probably the most trendy and versatile management programs accessible.
- By leveraging the synergies between UOP and HPS, Honeywell is poised to supply dynamic and versatile electrical storage options for renewable energy mills and industrial customers.
- Honeywell has leveraged analytics to cull operational information from the system occasions log to information operators throughout irregular conditions, permitting customers to institutionalize information hidden throughout the system.
Prepared at Fringe of Transition
“We’re on the sting of transition,” started Ujjwal Kumar, president of Honeywell Course of Options, who welcomed the shopper attendees to the convention. “After all, we’re additionally within the midst of transition. When the world was locking down, many corporations had been searching for transformational change. It feels just like the tempo of change has been completely altered.”
“Whereas corporations’ journeys could also be completely different, the vacation spot appears to be like comparable,” mentioned Mr. Kumar, citing ongoing progress in effectivity, autonomy, and variety fronts. Honeywell’s effectivity and sustainability contributions derive from options for course of automation and optimization, emissions management and discount, hydrogen manufacturing, and battery applied sciences.
“We’re additionally enabling autonomous operations safely, reliably and effectively with restricted human enter,” he mentioned. “And we allow companies to rent a higher vary of voices and skills.”
Know-how for the Transition
There have been a number of know-how bulletins at HUG, as is regular. Many replicate a continuing evolution of the management programs, plus a few surprises. There’s a lot to unpack. What can also be regular is UOP involvement at this occasion and this time with a number of bulletins of its personal.
“Industrial Autonomous”
A lot of the Honeywell providing is being branded as “Industrial Autonomous.” It’s the concept options from discipline to enterprise could be utilized to leverage autonomy in any respect ranges because it is smart. The main focus is to create a company that may present the very best day of manufacturing day by day and make each individual an professional. There are 4 elements within the Industrial Autonomous imaginative and prescient.
- Management & Optimize: Automate processes with a purpose of sustained operation at peak efficiency.
- Clever Belongings: Predictive asset efficiency and reliability to cut back unplanned losses is a prime precedence.
- Knowledgeable Folks: Allow each employee to carry out at an elite stage courtesy of improvements like clever wearables that allow hands-free communication management facilities. The purpose is to reinforce the intelligence of everybody in each course of.
- Distant Operation: Monitor, management, and repair remotely. Allow customers to work extra effectively with suppliers and use frequent sources to resolve challenges at completely different enterprise places.
There have been three choices highlighted as supporting this imaginative and prescient. One is the Honeywell Forge Plant-Huge Optimizer that may acknowledge particular person fashions inside every course of space and discover intersection factors between these fashions to drive optimizations, whether or not at one asset, throughout a plant, or as an enterprise-wide resolution.
The second is Honeywell Forge Asset Efficiency Administration for Industrial, which operates on-premise or within the cloud to combine belongings in real-time, enabling the visualization of asset-performance KPIs. This enables customers to higher perceive accessible belongings and asset efficiency. Jason Urso, CTO, Honeywell Course of Options, emphasised how this knowledge-management device fosters the addition of current operational finest practices into the system to tell synthetic intelligence and machine-learning parts that additional refine monitoring capabilities.
The third providing is the Honeywell Versatilis device for gear well being that is an Web of Issues transmitter that simply, remotely, and wirelessly displays vibration, acoustic signatures and floor temperatures of belongings with out the necessity to ship technicians out on wasteful inspection rounds. The providing consists of the Honeywell Versatilis Instrument Configuration & Calibration device, which modernizes present calibration practices using Bluetooth communication with an iPad, somewhat than a devoted handheld machine.
Digital LCN – ELCN
As regular, the know-how replace session hosted by Mr. Urso, began with a skit. This time it was used to introduce the corporate’s capability to improve programs remotely (whereas flying in a airplane, on this case.) Many Honeywell customers wish to emulate their legacy networks, purposes, and interface modules in software program. Now, all of the legacy units could be emulated in LCN software program, eliminating digital obsolescence, and giving programs “infinite life.” “In brief, we’re not likely migrating anymore. We’re merely upgrading, whereas preserving mental property (IP),” Mr. Urso defined.
Mr. Urso defined this upgrade-style migration consists of three essential steps:
- Putting in an Experion Station TPS (ES-T) with an intuitive, high-performance operator atmosphere.
- Including EHPM, EHPMx or C300PM to retain 100% of I/O, management, and connectivity.
- Changing the ELCN from {hardware} to software program, preserving all controls and graphics, and eliminating LCN cables and {hardware}.
This course of replaces all of the LCN {hardware} sorts; AMs, NIMs, HMs, HGs, EPLCGs, and so on.
New Controllers
Honeywell has added two new controllers to the PM-family: EHPMx and C300PM. The EHPMx is quicker, accommodates a firewall, and could be upgraded to a C300PM, with which it shares its electronics. The C300PM permits customers emigrate their present xHPM management right into a controller that may additionally host C300 CEE management schemes. In different phrases, customers can preserve current management mental property and combine it with the fashionable management languages accessible in a C300. Moreover, this C300PM can take part within the Management and I/O HIVEs.
Extra HIVE (Extremely Built-in Digital Atmosphere)
The HIVE idea was launched in 2019 and is segmented into three areas: I/O HIVE, Management HIVE, and IT HIVE. The I/O offers a pool of sensor inputs and outputs that may be utilized by any controller locally. Management HIVE could be envisaged as management server farm internet hosting a gaggle of main and backup controller entities which have entry to the I/O HIVE. These controller entities can even embody IEC61131 PLC-type controllers, due to this fact changing PLCs and having fun with the identical failover advantages. Additionally accessible to the Management HIVE is OPC-UA server and shopper performance. One other attention-grabbing improvement is that the Management HIVE could be hosted both in C300 {hardware} or on an accredited server platform.
Knowledgeable Operator – Experion HALO
HALO stands for Extremely Augmented Lookahead Operations and was introduced as an “clever advisor.” HALO is a body round a course of show that integrates operator procedures, a scheduler, and an advisor. The advisor leverages information from the programs occasion log to current the board operator with recommendations on how you can deal with a scenario based mostly on evaluation of comparable conditions up to now. Alongside the underside of the show, affectionately named the “runway,” is a look-ahead characteristic that depicts approaching occasions and notes on the runway (or timeline) into the long run. The operator selects objects to search out out particulars about upcoming duties and might add their very own. The presentation of knowledge can even stroll the operator by means of numerous operations, current the operator with key efficiency indicators of their efficiency and that of the general course of.
UOP Sustainability Choices
There have been three essential UOP applied sciences launched at HUG: low-carbon fuels, hydrogen, and batteries. Andrea Bozzano, Senior Director of R&D Honeywell UOP, joined the know-how keynote to debate what sustainable means for the bigger Honeywell group, and the a number of pathways to greenhouse gasoline emissions discount the corporate is creating, together with the gasoline transition, carbon seize know-how, and the real-time monitoring of emissions—together with fugitive emissions.
Relating to new fuels, Honeywell has already been tackling the power transition to renewable sources, with its Ecofining applied sciences for the manufacturing of renewable diesel gasoline. “The molecules that outline these fuels are an identical to the kinds of molecules which might be outlined and managed from their petroleum counterparts,” Mr. Bozzano mentioned. Firms can mix these merchandise into fuels and considerably decrease the carbon footprint of their petroleum equivalents.
By 2050, greater than 60 p.c of the jet gasoline produced in Europe is anticipated to come back from renewable sources. For greater than a decade, Honeywell has supplied know-how options for producing renewable diesel, in addition to sustainable aviation gasoline (SAF). One of many main new feedstocks that Honeywell is contemplating is biomass conversion, by means of a partnership with Alder Fuels to develop this renewable gasoline. Honeywell expects to commercialize the know-how throughout the subsequent few years. Honeywell additionally introduced that United Airways has signed a takeoff settlement for as much as 1.5 billion gallons of the brand new gasoline over the following 20 years.
The second focus was on hydrogen. One in all Honeywell’s latest improvements in renewable fuels is the mixing of fresh hydrogen with this Ecofining know-how. “We will take a number of the byproducts for Ecofining and use them as feedstock to the steam methane reformer to make clear hydrogen,” Mr. Bozzano mentioned. Mixed with carbon seize know-how, this may scale back the carbon footprint of those fuels as much as 90 p.c, in comparison with petroleum alternate options.
Hydrogen mixing is one other essential pathway to sustainability. Within the refinery house, nearly all of hydrogen is produced by means of a course of known as steam methane reforming or autothermal reforming, utilizing pure gasoline to provide hydrogen. “Inexperienced hydrogen is thrilling as a result of it comes from the electrolysis of water utilizing renewable energy,” Mr. Bozzano mentioned. The know-how exists right this moment, however it’s not but price efficient, he added. Honeywell is working to make vital enhancements within the effectivity and price of electrolysis, utilizing its experience in membranes, catalysis, materials science, and chemistry. Honeywell is anticipating to commercialize the know-how quickly.
The third focus was on Redox stream batteries. Lithium-ion has excessive power density and cost/discharge time, nevertheless, a redox stream battery’s energy is the speed of energy supply. The electrolyte is infinitely scalable and 500 MW could be delivered for so long as crucial by scaling the electrolyte tank measurement. In line with Honeywell, redox batteries are a very good choice for longer-duration purposes. For shorter durations, Honeywell recommends its lithium-ion resolution (see under). Not like Li-ion batteries, the redox electrolyte options wouldn’t have flammability or different points. Honeywell UOP is taking a look at small-scale prototypes proper now. Honeywell has an settlement in place with Duke Vitality to provide a 100-kWh demonstration unit for testing this yr. This was introduced earlier this yr.
As a result of the catalyst is printed on a membrane, the redox stream battery is a supplies play, and matches in with Honeywell UOP’s strengths. “We’re a membrane firm,” emphasised Bryan Glover. “In a stream battery, the electrolytes don’t reside within the cell. The electrolyte passes its proton cost throughout the membrane.”
Including to its sustainable attractiveness, the redox stream battery as a system is quickly recyclable as a result of there aren’t any little cells that have to be cut up aside. Honeywell UOP sees redox batteries as universally relevant for grid-level storage due to the long-term traits of the discharge cycle, doubtlessly paired with wind or photo voltaic era. One other good software is backup energy. In line with the corporate, price curve is comparatively flat. One of the best software can be large-scale stationary energy, primarily grid-connected, that requires greater than 4 to 6 hours of service.
Let’s Discuss Vitality Storage
There have been two points of Honeywell’s Battery Vitality Storage options introduced, the modular battery unit and the supervisory coordination of the unit(s). For the modular battery unit, contemplate a delivery container with lithium-ion battery banks, local weather management, 
and a battery administration system that leverages Experion management and SCADA know-how. Within the positioning, Honeywell targets two purposes the place the meter is the demarcation: behind and earlier than the meter. Consider this as backing up an industrial facility or storing renewable power to be used in the course of the evening or cloudy days, respectively. Later, as beforehand famous, the lithium-ion batteries may very well be changed with the redox stream batteries based mostly on the applying.
The battery resolution is scalable so customers can add modules to attain the quantity of power they should retailer. Because the variety of modules grows, the necessity to handle the modules will increase. Honeywell offers a cloud-based resolution to handle teams {of electrical} storage models as a digital energy plant. This Vitality Administration System can handle various kinds of storage models no matter supplier. Presently, there are two installations operational: one in Jap Europe and one in North America.
Conclusion
There was a plethora of content material for occasion attendees. Honeywell continues to put money into and develop its OT cybersecurity choices with each know-how and folks. It additionally continues to develop its operator effectiveness options. The demo heart had a lot of the portfolio accessible for dialogue.
From ARC’s perspective, the Honeywell choices present an understanding of the market and its prospects’ wants. The drastically simplified migration story is highly effective. The event of the Management HIVE and opening it up by together with OPC UA will permit present customers to maneuver ahead and incorporate newer applied sciences as they see match.
The battery storage options will open new conversations particularly as oil corporations pivot to develop into power corporations and as producers search for options to develop into greener and preserve dependable energy because the grid pivots to help renewable power applied sciences.
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Key phrases: Honeywell Course of Options, DCS, Management, Autonomy, UOP, Redox, Battery, Renewable, Sustainability, Transition, Hydrogen, LCN, EHPM, UCN, HIVE, Forge, Ecofining, ARC Advisory Group.