Fisher-rosemount Systems, Inc

Kent Allan Burr

Gary Keith Law

Mark J Nixon

Neil J Peterson

Larry Oscar Jundt

Julian Kevin Naidoo

Daniel R Strinden

Sergio Diaz

Deborah R Colclazier

Cristopher Ian S Uy

Godfrey Roland Sherriff

Michael George Ott

Andrew Philip Dove

Tom Aneweer

Doyle Eugene Broom

Arlyn Earl Miller

Paul Noble-Campbell

Vincent Lam

Marty James Lewis

Kenneth D Krivoshein

Andre Arthur Dicaire

Ron Eddie

Vasiliki Tzovla

Bernie Larson

Kevin Sloan

Rusty Shepard

Trevor Duncan Schleiss

Robert Burke Havekost

Daniel Dean Christensen

David R Denison

Mark William Foohey

William George Irwin

Brandon Hieb

Deji Chen

Steven Kent Brown

Prashant Joshi

Dan Dean Christensen

Tiong P Ong

David Mark Smith

Russell Read

Ken D Krivoshein

Klaus Erni

Garrett R Lewis

Robert Stock

Thomas W Snead

Ronald Dean Eddie

Laura Avery

A set of discrete input/output (I/O) channels for one or more field devices may be grouped, organized, and connected to a field module device, which may connect to an electronic marshalling apparatus in a marshalling cabinet via an I/O channel. The field module acts as an intermediary, decoding messages received via the I/O channel to identify commands for discrete output (DO) channels that are then forwarded appropriately. The field module may also receive variable values carried by signals on discrete input (DI) channels and encode the values to a message that may be transmitted to the marshalling apparatus and controller, thus making the variable values on the DI channels available to the controller. The field module may store a profile including information that facilitates various smart commissioning techniques, including autosensing of tags, automatic tag binding, and automatic configuration of a control element corresponding to the field module.

Smart functionality for discrete field devices and signals

Disclosed herein are techniques for automatically distributing device identification amongst components of a process control loop in a process plant while the loop is communicatively disconnected from the plant's back-end environment or control room. A field device's identification is stored in a memory of a component of the loop (which may be the field device or a proxy) and is used for commissioning the field device. While the loop remains disconnected, the field device's identification is distributed to the memory of another component of the loop and used for commissioning a portion of the loop including the field device and the another component. Additional distribution to other components for commissioning other loop portions is possible. Distribution may be triggered by the completion of certain commissioning activities, the establishment of communicative connections between components, and/or other conditions. Other parameters and/or information descriptive of the field device may be similarly distributed.

Automatic distribution of device parameters for commissioning portions of a disconnected process control loop

An I/O-abstracted configuration is defined for a field device that has not yet been assigned or allocated to communicate via a particular I/O device or I/O network within a plant, and this configuration is stored in a device placeholder object in a back-end environment of the plant. Thereafter other objects, modules, applications, user interfaces, etc., that are to execute in the back-end environment of the plant to communicate with the field device during on-line operation of the plant may be designed, built, configured, and tested using the device placeholder object without any actual communications with the field device and without assigning the device placeholder object to a particular I/O channel or I/O network. A commissioning system which may create and store one or more device placeholder objects in a database within the back-end environment of the plant includes an execution engine that executes one or more other back-end environment objects to be commissioned and tested, and a communication interface that determines, from the device placeholder object if a field device is in an I/O-unallocated device state. If so, the communication interface uses the configuration data stored in the device placeholder object to verify that the form, format, and configuration of the object being tested is correct to properly communicate with the field device. Moreover, a simulation engine can generate simulated device signals to enable further testing of the object.

Configuration in process plant using I/O-abstracted field device configurations

Techniques for controlling the operation of a process plant or several process plants within a process control system using a centralized or distributed controller farm allow for increased flexibility in the process control system. Any of the controllers in the controller farm may be utilized to execute modules corresponding to any of the field devices in one or several process plants. Control modules or other operations may be allocated amongst the controllers distributing the load so that one controller is not performing several operations while others are inactive. Additionally, the controller farm may be located in a temperature controlled room or area in an offsite location from the process plants. In some scenarios, load balancing techniques are performed to distribute the load for the modules equally or at least similarly amongst the controllers.

High performance control server system

A system tag identifying a device of a process control loop is determined/derived from a unique identifier of the device while the loop is communicatively disconnected from a process plant's back-end environment or control room. The system tag may be stored at the device itself or at a proxy that is disposed in the field of the process plant (e.g., at another component of the loop). One or more commissioning activities that include the device are performed in the field using the device's system tag, and at least some of the field commissioning activities may be automatically triggered based on the derivation of system tag. Upon the loop being communicatively connected to the back-end environment of the plant, the device's system tag known to the loop in the field is synchronized with the device's system tag known to the back-end of the process plant.

Determining device system tags for commissioning portions of a disconnected process control loop

During commissioning activities of a process plant, a device placeholder object that stores an I/O-abstracted configuration of a particular field device within the plant is created and stored in a device in the back-end environment of the plant and a further configuration file is stored in or for the particular field device in the field equipment environment of the plant. The device placeholder object, which will eventually be associated with the particular field device, and the field device configuration file are used to perform separate commissioning activities in each of these plant environments before the field devices are configured to communicate with a process controller via a particular I/O network within the plant. Thereafter, a binding application performs a discovery process to detect the I/O communication path through which each field device is connected to the back-end environment. The discovery process traverses through the I/O network as built, and autosenses the devices within the I/O network until this process discovers a device placeholder object or a configuration file for a particular field device. The binding application then determines if the information within these two device configuration files match, and if so, binds the field device to the back-end by storing the detected communication path for the particular device in a configuration database, such as in the device placeholder object for the particular field device. If the configuration information in the device placeholder object does not match the configuration file for a discovered field device, the binding application may perform a reconciliation procedure to determine the correct configuration information for the particular field device.

Binding of devices in a process plant using I/O-abstracted field device configurations

An I/O-abstracted configuration is defined for a field device that has not yet been assigned or allocated to communicate via a particular I/O device, and the field device (and optionally portions of the process control loop of which the field device is a part) is commissioned based on contents of its I/O-abstracted configuration. The field device's I/O-abstracted configuration is stored in an instance of a device placeholder object, which may be common to multiple types of devices and multiple types of I/O. A property of the device placeholder object may be exposed based on the value entered for another property, and the device placeholder object may store abstracted values as well as explicit or discrete values that are descriptive of the field device and its behavior. Upon I/O-assignment or allocation, values held in the device's I/O-abstracted configuration may be transferred to or otherwise synchronized with the device's as-built configuration.

I/O-abstracted field device configurations

Techniques for automatically testing an entire process control loop, such as after components and portions of the loop have been commissioned separately, or after run-time operation begins, enable the process control loop to be tested without an operator in a back-end environment of a process plant coordinating with an operator in a field environment of the process plant to supply inputs and/or generate various conditions at the loop. Instead, a single operator performs a single operation to initiate an automatic loop test, or in some implementations, no user input is needed to initiate and/or perform the automatic loop test. Automatic loop testing includes automatically causing a field device to operate in a plurality of test states and determining whether resultant loop behaviors are expected behaviors. Multiple loops may be tested concurrently or distinct in time. An automatic loop test result is generated and may be presented via a user interface.

Automatic loop testing for a process control loop

An example apparatus includes a terminal block couplable to an electronics cabinet or mounting rail. The terminal block defines a first receptacle to receive a first circuit and a second receptacle to receive a second circuit. The terminal block includes an integral relay. The integral relay includes a first contact and a second contact. The first and second contacts are externally accessible relative to the terminal block. The integral relay further includes a first switch and a second switch. The first and second switches are electrically coupled between the first and second contacts. The first and second switches are respectively movable between corresponding open and closed positions. The first and second switches are independently testable to verify the respective operability of the first switch and the second switch.

Terminal blocks including integral safety relays having independently testable contacts

Example apparatus and methods to remove power from a field device are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a first switch to control power to the field device, and a second switch comprising a first gate and a second gate. The second gate is electrically coupled in parallel to the first gate, and the second switch is electrically coupled in series to the first switch. The example apparatus also includes a first diagnostics controller to control the first and second gates, a first processor to control the first switch, a third switch to control power to the field device, and a fourth switch comprising a third gate and a fourth gate. The fourth gate is electrically coupled in parallel to the third gate, and the fourth switch is electrically coupled in series to the third switch. The example apparatus also includes a second processor to control the third switch, and a second diagnostics controller to control the third and fourth gates.

Safety instrumented process control apparatus and methods

A disclosed example apparatus includes a termination panel, a shared bus on the termination panel, and a plurality of bases on the termination panel along the shared bus. Each of the bases is to removably receive modules that are to communicate with field devices. Each of the bases includes first and second physical interfaces. The first physical interface is to be communicatively coupled to different types of the field devices and to exchange communications with one or more of the field devices via a plurality of different communication protocols. The second physical interface is to communicatively couple the removably receivable modules to the shared bus to communicate with a controller via the shared bus.

Apparatus and methods to communicatively couple field devices to controllers in a process control system system

A disclosed example apparatus includes a first interface to be communicatively coupled to one of a first field device or a second field device. The first interface communicates using a first fieldbus communication protocol when coupled to the first field device and communicates using a second fieldbus communication protocol when coupled to the second field device. The example apparatus includes a communication processor to encode first information received from the one of the first field device or the second field device for communication via a bus using a third communication protocol. The example apparatus includes a second interface communicatively coupled to the communication processor and the bus to communicate the first information to a controller in the process control system. The bus is to use the third communication protocol to communicate second information received from the other one of the first field device or the second field device.

Apparatus and methods to communicatively couple field devices to controllers in a process control system

A disclosed example system includes a termination panel, and a shared bus on the termination panel. The shared bus is to removably receive a plurality of bases that removably receive modules to communicate with field devices, and communicatively couple the modules to an input/output card to exchange communications between the modules and a controller that is in communication with the input/output card via a second bus.

Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture are disclosed that provide flexible input/output device communications in a process control system. In one example, a process control system controls a plurality of field devices. The process control system includes a control device and a communications protocol component. The communications protocol component has at least one communications channel that is selectively configurable to use at least a first or second communications protocol and to communicate with at least one of the field devices.

Flexible input/output devices for use in process control systems

Growing community of inventors

Round Rock, TX, United States of America

Kent Allan Burr