New Podcast: Seamless Legacy Control System Migration
In our latest episode of our podcast Innovating the Industrial World, Cross CEO John King talks to Process Solutions director of engineering Robbie Peoples about what goes into ensuring a legacy control system migration is seamless. From upfront planning and documentation to final acceptance testing, Robbie and John talk about the “secret sauce” to making sure a migration is as fast, efficient and effective as possible. Watch the podcast to make sure when you upgrade your older control system, it’s as seamless as a Formula One pitstop!
Understanding Traceability and Calibration Uncertainties in ISO 9001
Section 7.1.5.2a of ISO 9001:2015 focuses specifically on the importance of performing calibrations and verifications of measuring instruments against standards that are traceable to national or international standards. While these are certainly important, it’s also important to understand two critical concepts and how they relate to this requirement: traceability and uncertainties. Both of these principles are vital to ensure the accuracy and reliability of calibrations or measurements, making them fundamental to quality management systems like ISO 9001.
What's New at Cross
Technical Guide: Creating a Network of Virtual Machines for Cost-effective Control System Development and Testing
Modern industrial control systems are more complex and interconnected than they’ve ever been. They’re also expected to be robust, reliable, easy to maintain, predictable, secure, fast, intuitive, and to require less and less operator interaction to function properly.
Field installations of these complex control systems will often involve a network of computers, perhaps including separate physical computers, a stand-alone virtual machine (VM), multiple VMs hosted on one physical computer, remote operator stations of various types, and more.
When system integrators such as Cross are developing a new control system or modifying an existing one, we often need to reproduce the customer’s system to properly perform our development, testing, and validation. For many systems, replicating the physical architecture would be cost-prohibitive. Senior System Integration Engineer William Hughes created this technical guide to showcase one solution, creating a network of multiple VMs that more-or-less replicates that architecture.
The Cross Process Solution team is highly experienced in new and legacy control system migrations. Get in touch today to talk about your particular application.
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Technical Article: Combatting Noise in Analog Inputs Using Filters or Moving Averages
When monitoring and controlling signals, we frequently have AIs (analog inputs) with noise and/or oscillations. “Noise” in this context is a meaningless or irrelevant fast variance in a signal. These can be caused by the measurement technique, the nature of the process, electrical interference, badly tuned PID loops, or other factors.
When fed to logic such as PID loops or pacing references, these noisy inputs can cause undesirable oscillations on outputs to motor speeds, valve positions and other AOs (analog outputs) while generating operator confusion.
In this technical article, Senior Systems Integration Engineer Chris Hardy discusses in depth two techniques for smoothing signals: using filters and using moving averages.
Application Note: Low Cost Truck Scale Alternative for Chemical Manufacturer
A chemical company was filling tankers using flow meters and then having them drive onto a truck scale to ensure they were properly filled. While this process worked, there were some issues. If the tanker was found to be under-filled or over-filled, it would need to be pulled back under the overhead loadout and reattached. This created double work for the operators. The simplest solution is placing a truck scale under the overhead loadout.
However, construction costs can add up quickly, particularly if the facility has multiple loadout stations. The precision measurement group at Cross was able to design a solution utilizing the Fairbanks Matrix Weighing System that was both relatively low-cost and legal for trade.
Cross Provides Tangible Value for You
Reduce Risk
When it comes to ordering a specific pressure relief vent, vacuum relief vent, or a combo PVRV, you often face months-long lead times. This isn’t ideal if you need to get back up and running quickly. Cross’s Process Solutions Group is proud to be the only certified assembler of GROTH pressure and vacuum relief vents outside of GROTH themselves. This can mean significantly shortened lead times, maintenance, and downtime.
Currently, we can provide pressure relief vents, vacuum relief vents, and combination pressure/vacuum relief vents (PVRVs) in 16 different configurations, including stainless steel, carbon, and aluminum. Looking forward, we are excited to expand our offerings to 72 configurations, including blanket gas regulators and flame arresters.
Improve Efficiency
Cross partner Brooks Instrument recently announced their QMC Quantim® coriolis meters are now available for use in hazardous areas, having just received UL Class 1 Div 2 and Atex Zone 2 ratings. This means you can still measure very low flow gas and liquids to a high degree of accuracy in areas with potentially explosive atmospheres, as opposed to moving the measurement to a non-classified area of the plant.
The third-generation Quantim® QMC Coriolis flow meters are engineered to improve process quality, production yield and throughput. They can also reduce scale-up time from lab to pilot plant to production. The QMCs use an IoT-equipped digital architecture that, combined with their sensor design, enables faster response time with little to no overshoot when adjusting gas or fluid flow, improved zero stability and expanded I/O options.
Improve Efficiency
The need for data, particularly when weighing in production, is critical and growing. We need information, we want it to be accurate and we want it fast. Data collection from your scale in real time can help improve your product quality and process efficiency.
If you have an older scale indicator that is sending weight data to any other devices, it is likely doing so using RS232. Newer devices utilize Ethernet TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) to transmit data. Whether you need to send the data to your ERP or quality system, record the data in an Excel spreadsheet, or even connect the indicator to a printer, Ethernet TCP provides the needed connection. Scale manufacturers also offer data collection software for individual scales or networking a hub for multiple scales.
