The need to modernize industrial plants and the search for the application of digital communication protocols have encouraged many industries to change their control systems with little time of use, between 5 and 10 years, for systems capable of communicating with the new generation of industrial instrumentation. Digital industrial communication protocols bring the benefits of field intelligence diagnostics to the plant, are more efficient, and also reduce implementation time and costs.
To meet market demand, Fluxo and Emerson present the Rosemount Foundation Fieldbus 3420 interface, which allows the control and monitoring of Foundation Fieldbus systems in virtually any plant. Through an Ethernet port, the 3420 makes diagnostic information from the fabric and field instruments available on the Rosemount Asset Management System (AMS). The control of the mesh, or meshes, in Foundation Fieldbus, (after all, there are 4 H1 segments that allow the connection of up to 16 instruments each) can occur through a MODBUS (RS-485) serial port, which is common in most of the PLC and DCS on the market. This feature allows monitoring and control of the meshes, through the existing supervisory system, or even through the Ethernet interface itself, on the computer where the asset manager is installed, when there is no PLC or DCS.
The rugged IP-65/Nema4X housing, equivalent to the IPW-65, allows the 3420 interface to be installed in the harsh environments of an industrial plant, such as outdoor atmospheres, or even on the top side of an oil rig
maritime.
Another advantage is the reduction in wiring in the new installation, since, with just one pair of wires, up to 16 instruments can be connected, be they transmitters, intelligent positioners, digital I/O modules, among others.
A good example of the expansion that the 3420 interface provides is in conjunction with the Rosemount 848T temperature transmitter, which has eight inputs that can receive PT-100, PT-1000, RTD or 4-20 mA. Coupled with 848T transmitters, a single 3420 can monitor up to 416 temperature points.
The diagnosis provided by the Foundation Fieldbus digital protocol goes beyond the simple information of a broken cable or transmitter sensor or the failure of a processor in the electronics. The signal sent by the instrument is indicated as good, bad or uncertain, a characteristic new to the reality of diagnostics in industrial instrumentation.