Industry expertise

“We need knowledge and enthusiasm”

smanetsch — Thu, 02 May 2024 06:40:33 +0000

“We need knowledge and enthusiasm” smanetsch Thu, 02.05.2024 - 08:40

Customers+Markets

“We need knowledge and enthusiasm”

Artificial intelligence will fundamentally change how people work and how companies do business – in a good way. Christian Klein, CEO of SAP, is convinced of that. In a joint interview with Endress+Hauser Supervisory Board president Matthias Altendorf, he talks about the transformation required to exploit its potential.

Questions: André Boße

Photography: Matthias Schmiedel

Mr Klein, when did you last use artificial intelligence in your everyday life?

Klein: Yesterday, actually. My son came home from school and showed me a new drawing app. Kids draw something with the app and the AI technology is supposed to guess what it is.

And in your business activities?

Klein: I regularly use our own AI applications for things like travel invoice compliance checks and vendor selection. Our AI hub has various large language models like GPT4 embedded, so when preparing a speech I will check in there to see whether it can provide a boost or two.

How will AI systems change the way your customers work with SAP products?

Klein: The changes will take hold everywhere. One example is how users communicate with SAP systems. Here there are millions of transactions occurring every second, which still tend to be entered manually. That will change. Communication will shift to natural language, accompanied by a much higher degree of automation.

Mr Altendorf, what do AI applications mean for the process industry?

Altendorf: The process industry is in the midst of a digital transformation. By now, everyone knows the huge potential in data. The problem is the huge volume. In a large chemical plant with thousands of actuators and sensors supplying vast quantities of data every second, no human can keep track of it all. This is where AI technology helps by categorizing, prioritizing and then processing the data so that companies can make betterinformed decisions. The point here is that a data-driven industry would not be possible without AI technology.

Where does AI technology offer further potential?

Klein: The many CEOs and CFOs I talk with all tell me that they have a balancing act to perform. Customers want to see businesses becoming more sustainable. On the other hand, those businesses are expected to grow and increase their bottom lines. The question is how sustainability and growth fit together. Take supply chains. These generate a lot of data as well. Manually analyzing all the options is an impossible task. Here we use AI technology to help us make smart decisions, for example by intelligently linking logistics chains. Or consider business planning. There is now AI technology that can optimize warehousing based on all kinds of weather, business, consumer and economic data. In short, AI technology is a driver of growth for businesses. It all rests on data. Our corporate customers have already agreed to the use of data for over 20,000 SAP systems. We are jointly developing a data model that continues to grow.

Altendorf: Our production involves a lot of welding. Until recently, we had people visually inspecting components to ensure they are in the correct position for laser welding. This is an important step because incorrect alignment could ultimately cause harm to people and the environment. Now there is AI technology performing the task. It works faster and more reliably than humans. We save time in production, use less energy and increase quality, which in turn improves efficiency and sustainability.

When it comes to using AI technology, how do collaboration and connectivity fit in?

Klein: It’s really simple: without those, nothing works. All collaborative effort is cloud based these days. That is where data is shared, and where companies can operate as part of a network. Ten years ago, businesses were still purchasing SAP software in order to digitalize. Today, the second step is about opening up the business and collaborating with others. Staying with the subject of supply chains, AI technology can make full use of its strengths when networked beyond enterprise boundaries.

Is the industry ready to think beyond individual company boundaries?

Altendorf: From my perspective, this is crucial to moving a company forward. In tomorrow’s world, no business will be able to survive on its own. The successful ones will be those that collaborate and through doing so join a technological ecosystem. A good example here is the Open Industry 4.0 alliance launched by SAP, which Endress+Hauser joined as a founding member. This same mindset also needs establishing inside businesses. There used to be veritable silos. But internally too, collaborative styles of working are the only way to go. What the development of the steam engine once meant for muscle power, generative AI now means for brain power. We will see huge boosts in productivity and interconnectedness.

“AI technology is really strong when networked beyond enterprise boundaries.”

Christian Klein

CEO SAP

ACHIEVING GROWTH THROUGH AI AND THE CLOUD

Christian Klein (1980) is CEO and member of the board at SAP. As a young man he dreamed of a career as a professional soccer player. Things turned out differently. He began his career with SAP as a student in 1999 and was active in various positions. In October 2019 he took over as co-CEO along with Jennifer Morgan and was then named sole CEO in April 2020. Christian Klein lives with his family in his hometown of Mühlhausen, Germany, 10 minutes from SAP headquarters in Walldorf. SAP was co-founded in 1972 by Hasso Plattner and Dietmar Hopp along with three other former IBM employees. The company is the longstanding world leader in enterprise software. More than 106,000 employees in nearly 160 countries help business customers grow sustainably and profitably. A key aspect of this is the integration of AI systems into the SAP cloud with more than 280 million users worldwide.

Some developers are warning that AI technology could be too much for humans to handle. So do we need regulation before it’s too late?

Klein: I was in the US several weeks ago and had precisely this debate with representatives of the US government. I realized that the general mindset is different over there. When a new technology is developed, you first look for use cases, then you monitor them, with issues of ethics and regulation raised afterward. In Germany, and likewise at EU level, regulation tends to be considered before there is even a use case for the technology. I believe the American approach is better.

Altendorf: Of course, there must be laws and ethical standards applying to the use of AI. But a core problem in Europe is indeed a lack of entrepreneurial mindset, attempting to control through prohibition rather than incentives, such that enthusiasm gets driven into the ground. But this enthusiasm is exactly what we need. We should be viewing technical developments like AI as an opportunity, not as a risk. What develops otherwise is a widespread fear of the unknown.

Let’s glance into the crystal ball. How will AI technology have changed the business models of Endress+Hauser and SAP in a decade’s time?

Altendorf: Our offerings will expand. For our customers to really utilize the data we generate, they will need additional context – in other words, a deep understanding of this data. Here is the business model of the future: data plus context. Of course, we will continue to produce measurement technology, although it may be that a customer no longer owns the actual product and only wants the data from it.

Klein: In 10 years software developers will need to write much less code than today; that task will be shifted onto generative AI technology. The time gained can be used to think about the application or the quality of the algorithm. AI will also help us make better budget decisions. Today, if we asked 100 CFOs how the business will develop, we would receive 100 forecasts. A decade from now, AI will do a better job of this because it can factor in and join together much more data.

If your children ask whether there will still be jobs for them in the age of AI, what do you say?

Altendorf: I was born in 1967 and still remember the time when the first office computers arrived. It was claimed that hundreds of thousands of jobs would disappear. But what happened? More jobs were created and productivity increased many times over. This is how it will be again in the AI era. One thing is clear: work will change. People will be able to utilize their potential for more intelligent, creative and communicative activities.

Klein: I have no concerns about the jobs of the future either. Growth occurs wherever new business models develop – and the employees benefit. Of course, jobs will be more data-intensive. Schools and universities will need to consider this. It comes down to teaching a networking mindset and bringing IT and business together. As you pointed out so succinctly, Mr Altendorf, what we need is not only knowledge, but enthusiasm. Having both will put us on the threshold of an era where we can use our creativity to manage generative AI in our favor.

“A data-driven industry would not be possible without AI technology."

Matthias Altendorf

President of the Supervisory Board of the Endress+Hauser Group

Champions of change Digitalization Industry expertise

An acquired taste

mjitaru — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 13:16:31 +0000

An acquired taste mjitaru Mon, 15.04.2024 - 15:16

Technology+Innovation

An acquired taste

ChatGPT opened the floodgates: artificial intelligence has gone mainstream. AI holds huge potential, not least for the process industry. Yet how much of this is hype, and how much could become a reality?

Text: Armin Scheuermann

Illustration: Timo Meyer

Artificial intelligence tastes fruity, with notes of toffee, vanilla, pear and apple, and a slight hint of toasted oak casks. Such are the flavorsome hallmarks of ‘AI:01 Intelligens’, the first whisky to have AI supplement the master blender’s expertise. In 2019 Swedish distillery Mackmyra pioneered the use of AI to blend whisky from different casks so that the bottled product would appeal to the broadest possible customer tastes. AI:01 may be seen as a harbinger of what AI can accomplish for the future process industry: shorter product development times, greater production efficiency and lowered costs.

The whisky may have been somewhat of a marketing gimmick, yet it serves to highlight the possibilities of AI: rapidly evaluating myriad courses of action and process routes is essential to the fastest possible sustainability transformation of process industries like petrochemicals, life sciences and food & beverage. AI’s rising importance also ties in to the general transformation of the economy: in a future circular economy, products at the end of their life cycle will revert to being raw materials. The result will be complex systems and dependencies that classic automation approaches cannot handle. The energy transition taking place in parallel will require energy providers, industry, transportation and building management to be interconnected in order for them all to optimize harmoniously.

So do we need a completely new approach to controlling business and production processes? Is the process industry facing major AI disruption? And besides, what is artificial intelligence anyway – and how does it differ from machine learning or deep learning?

FROM FEARED ADVERSARY TO HELPFUL TOOL

There are likely as many ideas about what is meant by artificial intelligence as there are experts in the field. But there is broad consensus on the following definition: AI aims to simulate human intelligence using machines. Its effectiveness at things like data aggregation, reasoning, self-correction and creativity comes down in part to machine learning – algorithms that use historical data to predict future data. While machine learning is frequently based on human-selected parameters, deep learning models are able to automatically extract relevant parameters from the data. This makes deep learning particularly applicable to image and speech recognition, as well as natural speech processing.

Artificial intelligence has been on everyone’s lips since the public release of AI chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022. That sent a fear of missing the AI boat coursing through C-suites and boardrooms. On the political side there is the fear of artificial intelligence without checks and balances. “I believe there will be nothing more transformative to the futures of our children and grandchildren than technological advances like AI,” British prime minister Rishi Sunak said ahead of his appearance at the first international AI Safety Summit. But does that also apply to the conservative process industry, which prioritizes process reliability over innovation?

Suppliers of process automation technology are seeing mounting digitalization fatigue. That mostly comes from a lack of clearly formulated goals, unfulfilled value propositions and underestimation of the time and effort it takes to establish digital infrastructure in plants. A force for change here is NAMUR, the user association of automation technology in process industries. Its mission is to promote the benefits of digitalization, including AI. “We can’t just talk about technology and individual use cases; we must position those use cases within an overall picture,” said NAMUR vice president Michael Pelz at the annual general meeting in Neuss, Germany.

WHAT CAN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DO?

Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by computer systems. Specific applications for AI include expert systems, natural speech processing, speech recognition and machine vision.
AI’s cognitive abilities include:

Learning: recording data and generating rules on how to convert that data into usable information. The rules, otherwise known as algorithms, give computers step-by-step instructions on how to complete a given task.
Reasoning: selecting the correct algorithm to achieve a desired result.
Self-correction: continuous fine-tuning of the algorithms to keep them delivering the most accurate results possible.
Creativity: generating new images, texts, music and ideas using neural networks, rule-based systems, statistical methods and other AI techniques.

“Present-day AI is unable to control plants, and future AI probably won’t be able to either.”

Kai Dadhe,

vice president of digital process technologies at Evonik

76%

of management executives
are convinced that generative
AI can optimize production schedules and detect inefficiencies in production processes, according to a survey conducted by management consultancy KPMG.

What role might artificial intelligence play here? Not a disruptive one, that much is clear. “Present-day AI is unable to control plants, and future AI probably won’t be able to either,” says Dr Kai Dadhe, vice president of digital process technologies at Evonik. This is his summary of insights from KEEN, a three-year research project where German industrial companies and scientific institutions investigated the technical and economic potential of AI in the process industry across entire product life cycles. However, the project also showed that AI methods definitely offer added value: they are particularly effective as decision-making support for plant operators and in boosting the efficiency of engineering tasks.

“The two worlds of information technology and operations technology are merging. The vision is data-centered and software-based automation, which is where artificial intelligence can supply important information by generating new insights from an otherwise unmanageable volume of data,” says Dirk Neirinck, corporate director for business development at Endress+Hauser. Yet he thinks it unlikely that the AI revolution will come from above. That’s a view that Hans-Jürgen Huber, managing director of Endress+Hauser Digital Solutions Germany, also shares: “Much more likely is that AI will make its way into the process industry gradually, through individual applications, over time becoming another tool in the digitalization and process automation toolbox.”

Take a practical example from plant engineering: document analysis as a stage in preparing machine-readable plant topologies and smart pipeline and instrumentation plans – the basis of a real plant’s digital twin. AI can also assist in the creation of process models that in turn make process simulations more efficient. AI deployed in actual plant operations can optimize production planning, identify anomalies in production processes and derive quality parameters from sensor data. These enable further insights and findings from the process and can be used for novel approaches in process control.

Support for decision makers

By evaluating historical and current operating data, AI could also help consolidate and preserve knowledge about causal relationships in plant operations that was hitherto kept in the heads of production planners and plant operators. More broadly, decision-making support in complex systems could develop into a key discipline within artificial intelligence – not only in plant operations, but in other areas of corporate activity too. Documents such as standards, contracts and tender documents are highly amenable to analysis by language models like GPT, meaning that those models could also be put to work in sales or in engineering to home in on answers to specific questions. Consultancy firm McKinsey estimates that engineers who delegate information research to AI could increase their productivity by 10 to 20 percent.

“The revolution will not come from above. AI will make its way into the process industry gradually, through individual applications.”

Hans-Jürgen Huber,

managing director of Endress+Hauser Digital Solutions Germany

However, the development of AI applications for process automation is still in its infancy and faces many hurdles. That is because AI requires data – and in the process industry especially, this data is often unavailable, or not in the requisite quality, or is plain inaccessible. Chemical companies, for example, are already generating more data than ever before and yet that data is frequently inconsistent and lacks context – for instance about relationships within material cycles. That was another finding of the KEEN project when it considered AI’s capability to control plants: only in process states with massive data underpinning them did AI deliver reasonably useful results. Should exceptional process conditions arise, it lacks understanding of process engineering interrelationships. Hence another reason why AI applications in the process industry today are usually one-offs that neither scale readily, nor transfer from one use case to the next.

Data consistency is key

In this context, the role of process automation is changing too: its future core task will be creating conditions that produce steady and consistent data streams. Then again, there is no clarity yet about the architecture of a data- centered approach for new AI-based applications: will it be implemented in the cloud, locally in edge devices, or even embedded in the sensor electronics? Whichever scenario prevails, one thing is clear: companies seeking to tap the potential of artificial intelligence will need more than just a handful of AI specialists. As many employees as possible should be getting to grips with the basic principles, benefits and limitations of artificial intelligence. High-profile examples like ChatGPT or AI:01 could whet appetites for new possibilities in process automation.

Armin Scheuermann is a chemical engineer and trade journalist

“It is not enough to talk about technology and individual use cases; we must position those use cases within an overall picture.”

Michael Pelz,

vice president of users’ association NAMUR

Digitalization Champions of change Industry expertise

Shrinking the footprint

smanetsch — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 07:32:06 +0000

Shrinking the footprint smanetsch Wed, 20.12.2023 - 08:32

Technology+Innovation

Shrinking the footprint

Endress+Hauser aims to gradually decarbonize its portfolio over the coming years. But how is that possible when you need steel to produce your measuring instruments?

Text: Christine Böhringer

Photography: Andreas Mader

PORTFOLIO

Talk to manufacturing companies about their climate strategies and you will frequently hear them explain that most of their carbon emissions arise along the supply chain. “Endress+Hauser is no exception,” says Hans Joachim Fröhlich, director of technology and portfolio. “Our environmental footprint is for the most part attributable to the large quantities of steel and aluminum that go into our measuring instruments.” In collaboration with the company’s product centers, his aim is to reduce these emissions with a view to decarbonizing Endress+Hauser’s portfolio by 2050.

The simplest solution exists only in theory. “Were a financially appealing global market for green steel to emerge in the foreseeable future, we could convert our production immediately,” Fröhlich says. But climateneutral manufacturing of that raw material is still at the pilot stage. To complicate matters further, the speed with which capacities can be ramped up depends on the availability of green electricity and hydrogen. “That’s why we are looking for other ways to improve our products’ carbon footprint, using things that we can rapidly create and implement ourselves,” Fröhlich adds.

Some ideas are based on material savings through design. Modifying the sensors themselves is all but impossible because of the need to ensure accuracy and reliability. “However, you could remove the display from measuring devices that can be accessed wirelessly,” Fröhlich says. “Another option is to further miniaturize packaged electronics.” In flow and level measurement, Endress+Hauser has for some time been increasing the use of two-wire technology in measuring instruments: relative to four-wire, it needs less power to operate and fewer electronic components.

Looking at the big picture: Hans Joachim Fröhlich, director of technology and portfolio, is pursuing various ways to improve the carbon footprint of measuring devices.

MOVING TO MODULAR DESIGNS

The circular economy is an additional focus of attention at Endress+Hauser. “Our instruments already have long service lives of 15 to 20 years, and our main goal is to continue extending that,” Fröhlich says. Again, the instruments’ electronics can play a part in these efforts, since they don’t last as long and are more prone to technological obsolescence than sensors and mechanical systems. As one example, the latest generation of the Proline 300/500 transmitter family for flow measurement was designed to have easily replaceable main electronics and communication modules. This approach enables the straightforward addition of future communications standards and new functionalities.

But there are limits to the refurbishment and reuse of measuring devices. “Due to the large number of variants, almost every one of the three million instruments we produce each year is unique,” Fröhlich explains. Other obstacles to refurbishment are the lack of standardized measurement technology in plants, industry-specific standards, individual process requirements and the criticality of many measuring points. Yet there is potential to reduce the product-related carbon footprint during instrument operation: “Most new field devices from Endress+Hauser now include Heartbeat Technology with diagnostic, verification and monitoring functions. This makes it possible to optimize calibration cycles and precisely schedule service calls,” he says.

Fröhlich sees one thing as certain: decarbonization of the portfolio will shape innovation at Endress+Hauser. That will take close cooperation with customers, whose current priority is to tackle the major emissions drivers at their plants, such as energy supply, machinery, pumps and pipework. “At a large chemical site, measuring technology accounts for only half a percent of the carbon footprint,” he says.

Endress+Hauser aims to gradually decarbonize its portfolio over the coming years. But how is that possible when you need steel to produce your measuring instruments? 6 minutes Shrinking the footprint

Sustainability Industry expertise Energy transition

Sustainability = opportunity

llang — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 15:49:15 +0000

Sustainability = opportunity llang Tue, 17.10.2023 - 17:49

Customers+Markets

Sustainability = opportunity

Carbon neutrality looms large in the future of the process industry. Although there are considerable challenges in store, those who overcome them will be rewarded with qualitative growth.

Text: Kirsten Wörnle

Illustration: Selman Hoşgör

These are trying years for the industry, as companies are challenged by geopolitical tensions and disrupted supply chains, rising energy prices and resource scarcity, inflation and skills shortages. Yet even in this shifting environment, one topic keeps pushing its way to the top of the agenda: climate change. Business leaders worldwide consider it among the most pressing problems of our time, according to Deloitte, a financial consultancy. If the 1.5-degree Paris target is to be achieved and our planet is to remain viable as a place to live, economic activity needs to be steered onto sustainable paths and processes, while products and industry sectors must be decarbonized. The process industry has a key role to play here, considering that it spans the entire production chain from resource procurement to the finished product. That’s why, all around the world, ways are being sought to create an economy independent of fossil fuels.

“In the coming years, we will experience a complete change in the economy.”

Gauri Singh

deputy director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency

Pressure to act from many sides

“The question that every company must ask today is: Does the world gain or lose from my business?” says Oliver Hahn from Bosch Climate Solutions, which advises top executives. Anyone who does their sums these days without factoring in the environmental and social impact, along with corporate governance, risks disappearing from the market in ten years’ time, he says. Sustainability is the factor that now needs to join the triad of ‘price – performance – availability’, even if for no other reason than it is what legislators now stipulate along with comprehensive reporting obligations. But investors also pay increasing heed to sustainability aspects, and their capital flows to companies that position themselves well in this respect. Additionally, companies in OECD countries especially are noticing that ever more employees are seeking work they find meaningful, and that consumers are demanding ethically produced goods.

Meanwhile, the pressure to transform has never been greater. “Not changing is not an option,” says Michael Sinz, who in his role as director of strategic business at Endress+Hauser is advancing the Group’s global business with key customers. However, embarking on the long road to decarbonization means solving a mammoth task with many unknowns step by step: replacing fossil fuels with renewables, along with green hydrogen both as an energy reservoir and as a raw material for the chemical and steel industries, shutting down unsustainable value chains and building new green ones. To transition intelligently into the future, all of this requires investments, innovation, staying power and solutions that can be implemented quickly.

“We need efficiency improvements more than ever.”

Mike Berners-Lee

university professor and carbon footprint expert

Focus on sustainability

At the inaugural Endress+Hauser Global Forum in Basel marking the Group’s 70th anniversary, more than 800 customers and experts explored the question of how to achieve sustainable transformation of the process industry. The consensus was that companies can make valuable contributions to the fight against global warming right now. They can introduce more environmentally friendly processes and technologies, enhance their energy and resource efficiency – and operate more profitably as a result. This is where measurement technology helps with gaining necessary insights from the processes and consequently making decisions with sustainability in mind.

Long-term projects and quick wins

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has already calculated the exact road to net zero: The strongest levers are the use of renewable energy and a substantial improvement in energy efficiency. Each of these by themselves could cover one-fourth of the reduction in greenhouse gases needed by 2050. Almost one-fifth could be reduced by electrifying the end-use sectors, more than one-tenth through clean hydrogen and its derivatives, and a further one-fifth through carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS).

Just how much is being done in this area, particularly in the electricity sector, is evidenced by the record addition of 300 gigawatts of global renewable capacity in 2022. Nonetheless, given the world’s steadily growing hunger for energy, there would have to be new installations of more than three times that amount every year in order to stay on the 1.5-degree target. Development of the hydrogen industry also needs to accelerate, but that is conditional on new locations with large amounts of renewable energy available to permit the cost-effective operation of electrolyzers. Then there is the need to build infrastructure for transportation and storage of the hydrogen and its derivatives – and every one of these elements will need massive and coordinated upscaling.

While the energy transition is a project for generations, quick wins for the climate – with associated cost benefits – are more easily achievable in the area of energy and resource efficiency: these in general are measures that can be implemented in existing plants. “We need efficiency improvements more than ever,” says university professor and sustainability expert Mike Berners-Lee, who researches carbon footprints. Converting to renewable energy will be insufficient on its own, he says.

Industry could save a large amount of energy in process heat, particularly through energy optimization – 15 percent on average. But the overall potential is far greater, as a calculation from Germany shows: In 2021, nearly half of the industrial final energy demand could have been avoided using available energy-efficiency technology. That is the equivalent of the electricity production of eight large nuclear or coal-fired power plants. Almost two-thirds of this efficiency potential was left untapped for the sole reason of not delivering payback within three years. And yet, calculated over a longer period, such measures would surely have proved cost-effective.

“Protecting the environment is not boring and expensive; it’s exciting and profitable.”

Bertrand Piccard

solar flight record holder and eco pioneer

Circular instead of linear value creation

The circular economy offers another approach to cut the costs of the transformation and speed up progress toward net zero. According to the think tank Agora, with funders including the European Climate Foundation, better use of raw materials could save around 70 million tonnes of CO2 in Europe alone by 2030, rising to as many as 239 million tonnes by 2050. Expressed in another way, that is up to one-third of the industrial emissions reduction required in the European Union. Depending on the process, recycling steel, aluminum or polyethylene products reduces the energy requirements by a factor of 5 to 12 compared to current primary production. With an eye to the future, a circular economy for these materials would also significantly decrease overall renewable electricity requirements – by 400 terawatt hours per year, to be precise – equivalent to the output of 60,000 wind turbines.

“In 10 years, we will no longer view waste as waste, but as a raw material.”

Julia Binder

professor of sustainable innovation and business transformation

“In 10 years, we will no longer view waste as waste, but as a raw material,” asserts Julia Binder, professor of sustainable innovation and business transformation at the IMD private business school in Lausanne, Switzerland. That will also bring more stability to supply chains and counteract increasing scarcity of raw materials, she says. Moreover, a circular economy brings customers, suppliers, companies and researchers closer together, because the only way to develop viable solutions is jointly. “Business leaders now favor collaboration and transparency over competition and increasingly consider decarbonization as a win-win solution that does not necessarily entail extra costs,” is the opinion of the World Economic Forum.

More than this, a sustainable business model based around the core elements of energy transition, energy and resource efficiency, and a circular economy promises greater independence from global upheavals and thus long-term competitiveness. “In the coming years, we will experience a complete change in the economy,” says Gauri Singh, deputy director general of IRENA, who is not alone in her conviction. “Energy efficiency combined with renewables makes countries less dependent on imports and decouples economies from volatile international oil prices.”

From hindrance to benefit

Real success for the green revolution also needs the right political and economic policy framework. A globally harmonized minimum price for CO2 has been discussed time and again as an ideal tool to create the necessary incentives for market participants and to coordinate climate policy efforts. A glance at Europe shows the leverage effect a move like this could have: Sectors of the European economy that trade in carbon certificates have reduced their emissions considerably more than other sectors in recent years. That said, state subsidies are also needed to boost key technologies like hydrogen to the point of breakthrough, for example using them to get new processes ready for market or to build basic infrastructure. Lastly, it must be ensured that renewable energy is available cheaply, as quickly as possible, and in the gigantic amounts required, which makes green hydrogen competitive as a consequence.

The world of politics aside, more and more companies are recognizing sustainability as an opportunity. Thus, the vision of eco pioneer Bertrand Piccard would seem to be coming true. In 2016 he circled the Earth in a solar-powered plane – without using fossil fuels. He sees the Paris Agreement as the “starting point for a revolution in clean technology”. After his record-breaking flight, he initiated an alliance to promote 1,000 viable solutions for environmental and climate protection. “Up to now, we thought that economic development would be destroyed if we protected the environment. I wanted to show that it is an economic advantage to protect the environment, to be energy efficient,” says the founder. By now there are already more than 1,500 solutions – “devices, materials, processes and systems that benefit humanity and the planet”. Piccard is convinced: “If we make ecology the focus of economic development, we will be much more successful!”

Powerful advocates

High-profile speakers at the Endress+Hauser Global Forum deliberated on solutions for a sustainable future. Mike Berners-Lee, a carbon footprint expert, spoke about what it will take to ensure the survival of humanity. Gauri Singh from the International Renewable Energy Agency addressed sustainable energy supply. Scientist Julia Binder examined approaches for a circular economy. Solar flight pioneer Bertrand Piccard focused on resource and energy efficiency.

See more in the video interviews at changes.endress.com.

Carbon neutrality looms large in the future of the process industry. Although there are considerable challenges in store, those who overcome them will be rewarded with qualitative growth. 14 minutes Sustainability = opportunity

Sustainability Energy transition Industry expertise Education

Riding the waves to success

llang — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 07:04:35 +0000

Riding the waves to success llang Mon, 28.08.2023 - 09:04

Technology+Innovation

Riding the waves to success

Radar technology is often employed when reliable level measurement in containers is required. Ever since Endress+Hauser introduced this measurement principle in 1993, radar-based instruments have seen steady development. Let’s take a look at a genuine jack-of-all-trades.

Text: Richard Backhaus

Graphics: Teresa Bungert

The requirements for level measurements are as high as they are diverse. Whatever the medium – pastes, bulk solids, liquids and more – precise measurement of fill levels forms the foundation for safe and efficient operation. Radar-based instruments utilize what is known as the time-of-flight measurement principle, where the system continuously emits radar pulses that the medium reflects back into a sensor. The time delay between emitted and reflected pulses is used to calculate the distance between the sensor and the surface of the medium. The distance value, taken together with the dimensions of the container, in turn yields the fill level.

How exactly the radar pulses are emitted depends on the operating conditions. If the signal flows to the medium along a rod probe, there is a high degree of reliability regardless of conditions at the medium surface. Instruments using free space radar waves provide contactless measurement and are often the first choice for critical applications in industries such as chemical, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and food, since contactless measurement needs less maintenance.

Technology with a long history

Endress+Hauser has employed this radar measurement principle since 1993. Andreas Möller, Head of Product Management for Level Instruments, recalls the early days: “Our first radar-based level instrument was considerably larger than today’s systems and impractical for mounting on small containers. Furthermore, its high energy requirements always necessitated an additional power source.” Today’s instruments are highly compact and mountable on even the smallest of containers. For mobile applications, Endress+Hauser developed battery-operated instruments with wireless data transmission.

Engineers successively adapted the instruments’ functions for a closer fit with increasingly specific requirements. One example is instruments that operate at 26 or 80 GHz as opposed to the first models that used a frequency of 6 GHz. These later instruments are suited to media where the fill level is extremely difficult to measure by other methods, such as liquids with low relative dielectric constants (DC value) or liquids in reactors where material properties such as density change during the reaction process.

“Over the decades, radar-based measurement technology has evolved into a versatile solution. It delivers reliable and precise values, even in extreme conditions such as temperatures from minus 196 to plus 450 degrees Celsius, or pressure up to 160 bar,” says Philipp Walser, Level Portfolio Manager at Endress+Hauser.

Digital evolution

One aspect of the instruments’ evolution is their increasing ease of use for customers. The latest-generation Micropilot is ready to operate in short order using a built-in assistant. “Thanks to a Bluetooth interface and our SmartBlue app, customers have convenient remote access to systems. That means instruments can be configured and monitored from a safe distance, which is especially relevant in hazardous processes,” explains Andreas Möller. Integrating the instruments becomes smoother still thanks to industry-standard communication protocols and technologies such as Ethernet-APL.

Taking a glance into the future, Philipp Walser adds: “With innovations such as the new generation of Micropilot instruments, we have improved radar-based level measurement technology even further. Thanks to the diverse portfolio, and with further innovations in the pipeline, there will be continued high demand for radar technology in process automation.”

Variants

Depending on the requirement, radar instruments can perform contactless measurement or determine the fill level along a rod probe.

Time-of-flight measurement

Radar pulses are generated electro-magnetically and reflected by the surface of the medium. The time delay between emitted and reflected signals is then used to calculate the distance between the sensor and the surface of the medium. This value, taken together with the known dimensions of the container, in turn yields the fill level.

The right frequency

80 GHz models are universally deployable. A small beam angle makes them suitable for narrow containers or containers with internal fittings such as agitators, baffles or heating elements. 6 or 26 GHz instruments are still needed in certain applications, such as those with long standpipes.

For every situation

Radar instruments are well suited for challenging process conditions such as aggressive media or extreme temperatures, but also for simple applications. Moreover, the instruments can provide an additional layer of process safety by detecting unwanted foam or build-up.

Innovation Industry expertise #009fe3 #FFF

A solid bond

smanetsch — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 06:17:17 +0000

A solid bond smanetsch Tue, 25.07.2023 - 08:17

Customers+Markets

A solid bond

Raffinerie Heide and Endress+Hauser have been business partners for more than 20 years. What unites the companies is the resolve to continuously develop themselves and find ever-better solutions for even the most complex processes.

Text: Christine Böhringer

Photography: Heide Raffinerie, Endress+Hauser

PARTNERSHIP

Board a plane in Hamburg and you can be fairly confident that it will take off with kerosene produced by Raffinerie Heide. Based not far away in Hemmingstedt on the North Sea coast, each year the company converts four million tonnes of crude oil into fuels and petrochemical products for customers across northern Germany. Although the refinery site is more than 80 years old, it is one of the most advanced and flexible in Germany today. “We keep investing heavily in plants and processes as we adapt to innovations, plus we continuously improve our processes,” say Klaus Behrens, Head of Engineering at the refinery.

Raffinerie Heide set a course for the future in 2000 by completely modernizing the site and installing a new hydrocracker, which is the heart of the refinery. The hydrocracker converts crude oil into intermediate fuel products, helped by hydrogen and catalysts under pressures of up to 200 bar and temperatures as high as 430 degrees Celsius. Compared to other European refineries, the process used in Hemmingstedt achieves an especially high product yield.

Some of that achievement comes down to Endress+Hauser. “As part of the modernization project we installed several thousand measuring points, in particular for flow, pressure and level,” says Torsten Hoppe, a technical sales representative for Endress+Hauser who manages the Raffinerie Heide account. In 2010 Endress+Hauser played a further part in the hydrocracker by supplying multipoint thermometers. “Endress+Hauser was still new to the temperature measurement business at the time the hydrocracker was installed,” says Sönke Lahann, instrumentation engineer for the hydrocracker. “That’s why we didn’t get them involved until later. Another decisive factor was that Endress+Hauser offers support in our region.”

DUAL-PROTECTED SENSORS

Multipoints use individual thermo elements integrated into cable probes to perform three-dimensional temperature measurements in the hydrocracker’s reactor beds. This permits monitoring and optimal control of the process. But one year after installation, a problem arose: in one of the systems, process gas had seeped into the diagnostic chamber. “We were quickly on site,” recalls Peter Prokesch, Head of Marketing Technology Division at Endress+Hauser.

The two companies put their heads together to find an immediate solution, but they didn’t stop there. “We went on to develop another sensor design together with the refinery and installed the new system during the hydrocracker’s next scheduled downtime,” says Peter Prokesch. Close collaboration in this area continues to this day. Raffinerie Heide recently started using innovative iTherm ProfileSens technology after a field test lasting more than two and a half years. “The technology allows us to combine multiple thermo elements in a single cable probe and also provides them with a second protective layer,” explains Pietro Miceli, Product Manager at Endress+Hauser. Not only is there more space in the reactors for the catalytic converter, most importantly it improves sensor reliability.

Why is the refinery heading down this path with Endress+Hauser? “We joined together because Endress+Hauser was very interested in tackling the issues and finding solutions,” explains Sönke Lahann. “Measurements inside the hydrocracker are especially demanding given the difficult process conditions.” The partners are a well-coordinated team in other areas too. “Endress+Hauser is attentive, and we are always in close communication,” says Steffen Raabe, the instrumentation engineer responsible for tank storage and loading. “If a new or general question arises, we inquire as to whether a solution can be offered or jointly developed.” In addition, the salespeople are intimately familiar with the site and approach the refinery with ideas for further innovations. “We achieve the goals together,” says Steffen Raabe.

The heart of the facility is an ultramodern hydrocracker.

Endress+Hauser and the refinery jointly enhanced the multipoint thermometers in order to improve the process inside the hydrocracker. The system was installed during scheduled downtime.

THE RIGHT SPIRIT

For Klaus Behrens, partnerships like the one with Endress+Hauser are crucial in helping to shape a successful future for the refinery. “Since our plants run continuously for years without downtime, the technology’s quality, durability, reliability and availability matter greatly. But there also has to be a good fit at a personal level. We expect our suppliers to provide us with expert advice regarding what is possible in terms of innovations – not only today, but in the future as well,” adds Behrens.

Digitalization and the energy transformation are the major issues currently occupying the minds of management at the refinery. “We want to make greater use of data from the field for further automation. To include more remote areas of the facility, we use field multiplexers and technologies such as Wireless HART to transmit information from the existing installation,” says Steffen Raabe. The location is also participating in Westküste 100, a project directed at establishing a regional hydrogen economy and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The plan is to set up a 30-megawatt electrolyzer powered by renewable energy on the refinery site to produce green hydrogen, which will then feed directly into the hydrocracker and take decarbonization of the heart of the refinery a step further. “Endress+Hauser understands our needs in this area too, and can provide optimal on-site support,” says Steffen Raabe with confidence.

Customer relationship Industry expertise Energy transition

Simulate, then build

smanetsch — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 12:36:08 +0000

Simulate, then build smanetsch Wed, 25.01.2023 - 13:36

People+Culture

Simulate, then build

Nearly every Endress+Hauser instrument is developed with the help of computer simulation. That not only leads to outstanding product characteristics but also takes the innovation process to a new level.

Text: Kirsten Wörnle

Photography: Andreas Zimmermann

DEVELOPMENT

Take a typical application in the water or food industry: flow needs measuring at a specific place in the plant, but there is a bend in the pipe just upstream or downstream of the measuring point. The liquid develops vortices and turbulence, and hence doesn’t flow smoothly through the instrument as the sensor expects. This throws measurement results out of kilter.

For a long time, to deal with such flow disturbances plant operators had to either adhere to the recommended inlet and outlet distances or deploy an instrument with a restricted measuring tube. Since 2020 Endress+Hauser has offered an instrument that supplies precise measurements independent of the inlet conditions. The Promag W, with the 0 × DN full bore option, is the world’s first electromagnetic flowmeter that consistently supplies correct measurement values regardless of the flow profile. The instrument was developed with the help of numerical simulation.

THOUSANDS OF VIRTUAL PROTOTYPES

Numerical simulation is about modeling a measurement using numbers within a computer, and then testing the model under a variety of parameters. “With this method we are pushing into innovative product development territory that once seemed unreachable and which can no longer be done by conventional means,” says Dr Wolfgang Drahm, who heads up a 20-person team of preliminary and fundamental developers at Endress+Hauser Flow. With this approach, the computer model is only representative of the specific problem being addressed – never the whole instrument itself. “Flow simulation requires a different model compared to when you are calculating an instrument’s vibration or magnetic properties,” explains Wolfgang Drahm.

With the model created, you can then simulate countless designs and potential problems. How do different tube diameters affect the flow? What are the impacts of pressure rating, viscosity of the medium or disruptors such as a 90-degree pipe bend immediately upstream of the instrument? “We know how an instrument will behave even before it takes physical shape,” says Dr Vivek Kumar, who champions the topic of simulation within Endress+Hauser as principal expert on the subject. The wealth of parameters in today’s process industry is no longer capturable using simple paper, pencil and equations.

Instead, computers run through thousands of virtual prototypes before the first physical instrument is built. “We can use simulations to advance instrument designs to the point where the instruments are increasingly robust against disturbances,” explains the fluid mechanics specialist. That was the case for the Promag W with no inlet and outlet runs. “That such a device is even possible stretched our imagination,” adds Wolfgang Drahm. Indeed, the optimal solution lay within a very narrow window. “We were able to pinpoint this unique zone aided by the computer, which tested everything in accordance with ideas and specifications from the development team.”

USING SIMULATIONS ININSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT

At Endress+Hauser, simulation techniques are built in all along the development chain. Early-stage development also benefits from simulation-supported fundamental decisions. In this case developers no longer have to bring in technical experts. Endress+Hauser promotes this ‘democratization of digital engineering’ across all locations with training programs, a knowledge community and infrastructure to match.

MAN INSTRUCTS MACHINE

Virtual developments such as these are made possible by growth in computing power, increasingly userfriendly software and surrogate models. The latter augment the numerical simulation with the help of mathematical correlations and machine learning. “Whereas in fluid mechanics we can run hundreds of numerical simulations over the weekend, we can optimize yet thousands more designs automatically using surrogate models.”

“Many of our innovations would not be possible without the close symbiosis between simulation and experiment,” emphasizes Dr Alfred Rieder, who heads up a unit at Endress+Hauser Flow tasked with the fundamental development of Coriolis flowmeters. Simulation provides the development engineers with breathing space to perform their actual tasks. “We can fully dedicate ourselves to the physical issues while the computer calculates the scenarios,” says the expert. And this is exactly where the human factor is needed. “Computer simulation is not difficult. What’s difficult is teaching the computer what a good instrument is.” Only when the human precisely understands and specifies the important factors can the machine do its job properly.

Flow Industry expertise Digitalization

Eindeutige Signale

ldroske — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 14:02:21 +0000

Clear signals ldroske Tue, 20.12.2022 - 11:51

Technology+Innovation

Clear signals

Field devices with Heartbeat Technology have a sense of what’s going on: they intelligently use sensor data in addition to the primary measured value to provide deep insights into the instrument and the process being monitored. The benefits are huge – even predictive maintenance becomes possible.

Text: Christine Böhringer

Photography: Christoph Fein

Graphics: 3st

Smart Sensors

A shutdown of a production plant is always costly – especially if it’s unplanned. According to a study conducted by AI specialist Senseye, large industrial plants lose on average 323 hours of production time annually. Average losses caused by downtime amount to 170 million dollars per plant. So it’s no wonder that three out of four companies have declared predictive maintenance as a strategic goal.

The question is, how can a plant operator know early enough that a process is not running smoothly or that there is an issue with an asset? “This is why Endress+Hauser developed Heartbeat Technology,” explains Daniel Persson, Process & Portfolio Manager for Innovation. It is built into numerous measuring instruments for flow, level, pressure and temperature, as well as for liquid and gas analysis. “With Heartbeat Technology, field instruments monitor themselves and even spot changes in the process. This allows for reliable detection of anomalies and timely implementation of corrective measures,” says Daniel Persson.

Heartbeat Technology is based on signals that field devices capture in addition to the primary measured value. “We use these signals for various functions that are integrated directly into the device and provide plant operators with practical added value,” reports Daniel Persson. All those functions provide detailed insights about the instrument and the process, which help to increase plant availability and reduce operating costs. With the Heartbeat Diagnostics function, for example, instruments continuously check themselves in the background and report their status. In the event of instrument failure or disturbed process conditions, they provide clear information on what is happening right now and what needs to be done next.

With Heartbeat Verification, instrument performance can be verified at the push of a button without interrupting the process. Among other things, it automatically tests whether device components still retain their original reference values and indicates the presence of specific system faults that might impair instrument or process performance. The verification concept is traceable in compliance with ISO 9001 and certified by an external authority. “Self-diagnostics and verification improve process performance, as well as enabling optimization of calibration and test intervals,” says Daniel Persson.

Smart measurement technology uses sensor signals for new diagnostic, testing and monitoring functions.

Plant operators gain deep insights into the device and the process – and can thus increase productivity.

What sensor data reveals

Coriolis flowmeters detect the presence of corrosion by analyzing the vibration behavior of the measuring tube.

Deltabar pressure transmitters use sensor noise to detect blocked impulse lines.

Electromagnetic flowmeters analyze electrical conductivity inside the measuring tube to detect build-up.

Radar-based level instruments can tell by the echo amplitude whether and how much foam has formed in a tank.

Radiometric level instruments calculate their optimum replacement time based on the declining strength of the radioactive source.

Analytical transmitters derive performance indicators that help operators to optimize availability of the measuring point and reduce maintenance work.

Looking for process trends

Even more can be derived from sensor signals, for example whether demanding process conditions are adversely affecting the instrument. “Typical examples include corrosion or abrasion of the sensor components, the appearance of foam in a tank or build-up on the sensor surface. Heartbeat Monitoring functions detect these factors and convert them into easily understandable information about the instrument and the process,” explains Daniel Persson. By observing these parameters over time, plant operators can reliably and promptly identify undesired deviations. Most Heartbeat Technology functionalities are accessible from the instrument. However, the full potential is unlocked when field devices are integrated with the plant infrastructure or even connected to the cloud: processes can be optimized or maintenance activities scheduled for a suitable time.

Digitalization Innovation Industry expertise

Aus der Praxis, für die Praxis

ldroske — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 14:04:57 +0000

Putting experience into practice ldroske Tue, 06.12.2022 - 10:38

Technology+Innovation

Putting experience into practice

Thanks to the ingenuity of Raoul Merklen, flanges can be repaired in next to no time.

Flanges are what connect instruments to the process. Damage to the flange contact surface can weaken the seal. Even minor impairments can mean a flange replacement, which involves removing the electronics, separating the flange, grinding down the welding seam and recalibrating the instrument. All that might take a good six hours. If a special flange needs ordering, then it can take days. Unless you have someone like Raoul Merklen on your team. A mechanic at Endress+Hauser Flow, he can repair a flange in 15 minutes. His secret? Rather than separate the connection from the instrument, he basically performs ‘open heart surgery’. He simply machines away small indentations with a fine grinding tool (or welds over them in cases of heavier damage). Although this destroys the surface cross hatching, rendering the flange temporarily unusable, Raoul Merklen developed a tool that allows him to accurately retrace the fine grooves on the contact surface back to the radius. Thanks to this special tool, which resembles a compass, the flange ends up looking like new. “In Cernay, I was able to rescue six titanium instruments costing 25,000 euros each using this method,” says the technician, who hails from the Alsace region of France. “Without the repair work, the customer would have had to wait eight months.”

Extensive experience

Raoul Merklen has been with Endress+Hauser Flow for 30 years, working as a logistics specialist, fitter, mechanic and welder. His experience is worth its weight in gold. Today he is a machining expert and operates the new machining robot that puts the finishing touches on flowmeters. While the machine itself makes no mistakes, by the time the instrument is manufactured, calibrated, packed and installed at the customer site, it’s been through a lot of hands. One careless moment or a single impact, and the damage is done. Damaged flanges regularly land on his workbench, whether from production or the customer. In emergency situations, he sometimes heads out with his special tool to provide on-site assistance. “If I can save an instrument, then I’ve had a good day,” he says, adding that “No matter where the damage was caused, we stand for superior quality. Every customer is entitled to a flawless instrument.” Thanks to his innovation, which he implemented with the help of Rainer Lorenz and Gebhard Gschwend from tool making, he has already gotten a lot of customers out of tight spots – and deservedly won the 2021 Process Innovation Award.

Thanks to the ingenuity of Raoul Merklen, flanges can be repaired in next to no time. 6 minutes Putting experience into practice

Corporate culture Innovation Industry expertise

Clever kombiniert

ldroske — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 15:32:51 +0000

A clever combination ldroske Tue, 06.12.2022 - 10:18

Customers+Markets

A clever combination

Making better, data-based decisions just got easier thanks to the Netilion IIoT ecosystem from Endress+Hauser. Netilion automates the transformation of data from the field into valuable information. Here are three illustrative examples of customers who already see their everyday business benefitting from the opportunities afforded by Netilion – in terms of improved operation, streamlined maintenance and lower costs.

Text: Silke Bauer, Christine Böhringer, Lisa Schwarz

Photography: Kristoff Meller, Christoph Fein, Manu Agah, Shutterstock, Waterschap Hollandse Delta

Graphics: 3st

19000

measuring points have been digitally captured for the service contract with the 15 Brazilian operations of a global brewery group.

Progress can sometimes be measured in numbers, for example when taking inventory of the installed base of field instruments in process plants. Carlos Behrends, Managing Director of Endress+Hauser Brazil and Corporate Sales Director for South America, reports: “Two of our service technicians toured the country for six months, developing a calibration concept for the Brazilian branches of a large brewery group. To that end they pinpointed the applicable measuring points at 15 locations. They noted down instrument after instrument on site, drew up lengthy tables, structured them according to specific criteria and analyzed the results in painstaking detail. After Endress+Hauser won the service contract, the two engineers repeated their installed base analysis, this time for every one of the breweries’ 19,000 measuring points. By that time the Netilion IIoT ecosystem had been introduced, which helped them greatly. “With our new digital tools we needed only a fraction of the time and gained much deeper insights into the instruments,” points out Carlos Behrends.

GAINING TRANSPARENCY

For the digital installed base analysis, the Endress+Hauser service engineers relied on Netilion Analytics – a digital service embedded in the Netilion IIoT ecosystem – together with the Netilion Scanner app. This uses a smartphone or tablet’s built-in camera to snap an image of the instrument name plate and automatically generate a digital twin from the information printed on it. Netilion Analytics analyzes the transmitted data, links the data for Endress+Hauser instruments to entries in the device database and presents a clear display of results. A dashboard shows key information at a glance. Detail on every instrument is readily retrievable. “We get loads of useful information about the installed base, such as instrument age, availability of spare parts or the extent to which the measurement technology is standardized,” reports Saymon Galaci, Strategic Account Manager for the customer in Brazil. “We can also spot straightaway the criticality of a given measuring point to the process, an important criterion for us when it comes to calibration.”

This newfound transparency aims to improve the maintenance and operation of the customer’s breweries in Brazil. “With Netilion we save time and resources. We can do a better job of planning calibration activities, avoid plant downtime and drive down maintenance costs,” says Saymon Galaci confidently. Regarding the maintenance contract, Endress+Hauser uses the Netilion IIoT ecosystem as a tool for its own service technicians, so they can do the best possible job of fulfilling a customer order. “Our aim is to see the customer renew the contract in five years’ time,” emphasizes Saymon Galaci. He is convinced that sooner or later the group itself will be exploiting the possibilities of digitalization in its brewing operations, just like increasing numbers of plant operators already do today.

“With Netilion we save time and resources. We can do a better job of planning calibration activities, avoid plant downtime and drive down maintenance costs.”

Saymon Galaci,

Strategic Account Manager at Endress+Hauser Brazil

To develop a calibration concept for the instrumentation of a process plant, the entire installed base must first be captured manually or electronically.

Which are the operationally critical measuring points? A digital service like Netilion Analytics helps to quickly and reliably pinpoint the instruments concerned

In large plants, measuring devices are installed in countless and sometimes hard-to-access locations, such as these brewery fermentation tanks.

Data fusion and analysis

Algorithms for early anomaly detection, verification, forecasts, etc.

Data management and visualization

Monitoring of networks and decentralized infrastructure

Data collection and transmission

Flexible edge connectivity solutions

Data collection and control

Smart field devices and sensors (flow, level, pressure, temperature, analysis, etc.)

Physical world

Infrastructure (pipes, pumps, valves, etc.)

Netilion

Netilion, the cloud-based IIoT ecosystem from Endress+Hauser, links physical infrastructure like pipes, pumps and valves with the digital world. It collects data from various assets such as field devices and sensors and sends the information to the user’s smartphone or computer. This is how the ecosystem provides an overview of the installed base and brings transparency to industrial plants.

“The smart maintenance management feature helps customers to fully concentrate on their core competencies.”

Julia Grether,

IIoT Product Owner at Endress+Hauser

SCALABLE SOLUTIONS

“Netilion makes digitalization something tangible for the process industry. By linking the physical and digital domains, our IIoT ecosystem ingests field-level data and then generates valuable information from it,” says Tobias Zubler, Service Product Manager at Endress+Hauser. The full benefits come to fruition with dynamic utilization of process and instrument data. Where field instruments themselves lack the required connectivity, there are adapters or edge devices for opening up an additional secure communications channel. This is a must for using other cloud-based services. “Netilion offers customers a wealth of possibilities, consistently aligned with their needs,” explains Tobias Zubler, who goes on to emphasize: “Our solutions are scalable, starting with basic data transmission from individual measuring points, to utilization of digital services for greater operational efficiency, to a full package where we remotely monitor instruments while assuming responsibility for their service.”

REMOTE MAINTENANCE

Management at the Waterschap Hollandse Delta regional water authority went for just such an all-encompassing solution. The authority operates 19 wastewater treatment plants in the southern Netherlands, spread over five islands and the port city of Rotterdam. “The water authority service technicians have more than 270 sensors and analyzers to maintain and service. For instrument inspections, that previously meant driving to individual plants, some of them unstaffed,” explains Julia Grether, IIoT Product Owner at Endress+Hauser. The issue is that these routine visits take time. And when problems do arise, the technicians cannot see what has actually happened until they are on site. To rectify a problem, they sometimes have to call for help from other experts.
This is what Waterschap Hollandse Delta wanted to change. “To ensure maximum possible plant availability and reduce costs, the authority looked around for a partner who could provide an intelligent maintenance scheme along with a comprehensive service package for the next 10 years,” reports Julia Grether. Endress+Hauser sold the water authority on an all-round portfolio of measuring technology, coupled with the possibilities offered by the Netilion IIoT ecosystem. “What helps us is the capability for continuous remote monitoring of the instrumentation. Plus, over time, we can leverage the data to become proactive and stop problems before they even occur. Our goal is a significant reduction in the number of on-site service calls,” says Julia Grether.

One of 19 wastewater treatment plants operated by the Waterschap Hollandse Delta water authority.

Sensor data and device information are remotely accessible via digital services.

INCREASED OPERATIONAL RELIABILITY

How, exactly, does this work? First, existing instrumentation was completely swapped out. The newly installed sensors and analyzers from Endress+Hauser all send their signals and data via edge devices to the Netilion cloud. The Netilion Health service in turn gives the Endress+Hauser team a dashboard they can check anytime to see that everything is okay, based on the constant monitoring of the instruments’ diagnostic data. Should an error pop up, technicians use the transmitted diagnostic information to instantly pinpoint the cause and decide how to fix things. “Netilion Analytics also shows the precise location of each instrument in the plant,” adds Julia Grether. Finally, the Netilion Library service helps on site by presenting full documentation for any instrument.

But Netilion does more than facilitate a fast and focused response to malfunctions. It also helps to prevent them from happening at all. “Our analyzers detect supply levels of reagents needed for operation,” explains Julia Grether. Should a supply fall below its predetermined threshold, this automatically triggers a notification. The water authority can then act in time to top up the supply and ensure continued reliable operation. “Netilion also makes it possible to keep an eye on the sensors. If we detect deviations over time, we can replace them before they malfunction,” says Julia Grether. According to the contract, Endress+Hauser assumes full responsibility for maintenance and calibration activities during the first year. Thereafter, appropriately trained authority employees will use Netilion themselves for basic service activities such as sensor cleaning. “The smart maintenance management feature helps customers to fully concentrate on their core competencies,” points out Julia Grether.

“Compatibility between systems is essential for plant operators to extract optimum benefit from field-level data.”

Steffen Ochsenreither,

Business Development Manager at Endress+Hauser

LINKING SYSTEMS

“We have talked about condition monitoring and predictive maintenance in the process industry for ages. Now we are gradually approaching these topics,” says Steffen Ochsenreither, Business Development Manager at Endress+Hauser. However, large brownfield plants often contain not just hundreds but thousands of sensors from various vendors. “Compatibility between systems is essential for plant operators to extract optimum benefit from field-level data,” explains Ochsenreither, who adds: “This is why our Netilion IIoT ecosystem offers connectivity with other cloud solutions.” One example is SAP’s Asset Intelligence Network (AIN), a cloud-based maintenance platform giving shared access to operators, suppliers and service partners. The prerequisites are defined interfaces and a standardized reference architecture that ensures all manufacturers adopt the same structure for providing data and information.

Both pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim and the Crop Science division of chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer use SAP AIN to administer their field instruments’ master data and manage maintenance and calibration activities. This all helps to optimize plant upkeep. “There is an interface for providing instrument-specific data and information from the Netilion cloud to the SAP AIN platform,” explains Steffen Ochsenreither. “Employees have ready access to up-to-date information and documentation on every field instrument, so they can complete tasks faster without needing to access manufacturer-specific solutions and platforms,” says Ochsenreither, clarifying the advantages. He sees this as a first step toward more transparency and even deeper integration. “Connectivity between IT systems like SAP and production processes at the OT level opens up completely new digitalization potential,” adds Ochsenreither with confidence. “This allows optimization of operational processes over a plant’s entire life cycle, as well as linking of value chains beyond enterprise boundaries.”

Large chemical and pharmaceutical plants are fitted with thousands of sensors from various manufacturers.

The Netilion IIoT ecosystem includes interfaces for providing instrument data and information to other platforms such as SAP.

Digitalization Industry expertise