Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:11:17 -0500 WSS Content Manager en http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/025.html?CMP=ILC-rss Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:59 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/025.html http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/024.html?CMP=ILC-rss Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:58 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/024.html
All companies seek ways to make their businesses grow for the long-term. Ask any manufacturer today what he/she needs in an increasingly challenging economy. It's likely to include cutting costs, improving yield, increasing functionality and becoming more competitive in the global marketplace.

Manufacturing convergence helps companies meet these business drivers — globalization, innovation, productivity and sustainability — by more closely aligning manufacturing technologies and production system operations with the rest of the enterprise. This convergence is enabled throughout the manufacturing environment with the technologies of convergence — control, power, information and communication.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/023.html?CMP=ILC-rss Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:57 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/023.html
To properly service these instruments, precision analog source/measure capability and digital communication are both required. Historically, this operation has required two separate tools, a calibrator and a communicator. Today, these capabilities are available in a single HART Documenting Process Calibrator that can help technicians quickly and effectively service a HART instrument workload.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/022.html?CMP=ILC-rss Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:00:56 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/022.html
At first glance, it may seem that a logical way to achieve these goals would be to limit valve trim exit velocity head to a maximum of 480 kilopascals (kPa), and this indeed is how some have addressed the issue. In practical application, however, it is an oversimplified approach that, in many cases, will not produce the desired results. First, it typically requires the use of expensive multi-stage or multi-turn trim designs, which can cost up to 30% more than a simpler solution. More importantly, it also can create a false sense of safety.

This article will explain why the focus should instead be on keeping the valve outlet mach number low. Practical examples will be used to illustrate that:

• Even if the trim exit velocity head is kept below 480 kPa, valve noise can be unacceptably high if the valve outlet mach number is high.
• Even if the trim exit velocity number is above 480 kPa, valve noise can be kept to acceptable levels — without using costly trim designs — if the valve outlet mach number is kept low.

]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/037.html?CMP=ILC-rss Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:00:55 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/037.html
A key requirement for ensuring that capital assets deliver value is an enterprise asset management (EAM) system that automates maintenance planning and scheduling, tracks supplies of inventory, enables on-line procurement, and integrates with financial and other information systems.

While implementing an EAM solution can be a relatively straight-forward initiative, identifying the right solution, determining which organizational processes need adjustment, and ensuring that maintenance best practices are deployed are essential to ensuring that your EAM solution delivers promised benefits.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/041.html?CMP=ILC-rss Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:00:54 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/041.html
This white paper provides an overview of Ethernet technology and implementation guidelines to implement in the both control and information networking environment. It discusses the requirements and consideration in implementing a switched Ethernet architecture in industrial networking environments. ]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/021.html?CMP=ILC-rss Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:00:53 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/021.html
But the greatest disruptive event of the next 20 years may come not from a single invention, but from the world around us — that is, climate change.

How your business responds to the climate challenge can either differentiate you from the competition and launch new and successful products, or make you the focus of consumer backlash and eroding margins.

This paper will explore the environment as a disruptive force in business, examine the consequences of inaction, and propose the benefits of a proactive environmental policy. It will describe increasing levels of investment that a small company, an enterprise or an industry can make to address the challenge and develop a business case. The paper ends with a concrete roadmap to lead you from today's "business as usual" to a long-term sustainable approach to growing a green corporation.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/020.html?CMP=ILC-rss Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:00:52 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/020.html
This paper will discuss why these programs are needed and the benefits they deliver to individuals and companies alike. It will also review the characteristics and differences of the various certification programs on the market today, things to watch out for, and some important questions to ask when selecting a certification program.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/019.html?CMP=ILC-rss Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:51 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/019.html
Active Energy Efficiency is defined as effecting permanent change through measurement, monitoring and control of energy usage. Passive energy efficiency is regarded as the installation of countermeasures against thermal losses, the use of low consumption equipment and so forth.

It is vital, but insufficient, to make use of energy saving equipment and devices such as low energy lighting. Without proper control, these measures often merely militate against energy losses rather than make a real reduction in energy consumed and in the way it is used.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/018.html?CMP=ILC-rss Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00:50 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/018.html
Trends in energy show utility companies raising rates and introducing more tiered rate structures that penalize high-energy consumers. And with all the talk about carbon footprints and cap and trade, energy becomes an important place to look for both savings and revenues.

This white paper takes a look at electrical power in the United States today, investigates the nature of the Smart Grid, and suggests ways that small and medium-sized companies can — without waiting for future technological development — gather energy data and control electrical energy costs today.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/017.html?CMP=ILC-rss Wed, 26 May 2010 00:00:49 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/017.html
There has been much discussion and debate around the convergence between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). In an effort to provide better visibility and information flow between revenue generating OT assets and enterprise applications, these systems have often been interconnected, in many cases without properly securing the control systems from cyber attack first. If the IT and OT networks are interconnected, yet not properly secured, a breach to one network can easily transverse to the other, leaving the entire computing infrastructure at risk.

This paper is intended to educate IT professionals on the unique requirements of operational technology and what is required to properly secure these networks from cyber attack, so that organizations can assure security, reliability and safety of information and revenue generating assets.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/016.html?CMP=ILC-rss Mon, 24 May 2010 00:00:48 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/016.html http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/015.html?CMP=ILC-rss Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00:47 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/015.html
Without simulation, it is impossible to verify a control design until late in the development process when hardware prototypes become available. This is not an insurmountable problem for simpler designs with predictable system behavior, because there are fewer sources of error in simpler control algorithms — and those errors can often be resolved by tuning the controller on the hardware prototype.

Today's multidomain designs combine mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, control and embedded software components. For these systems, it is no longer practical to delay verification until late in the development process. As system complexity grows, the potential for errors and suboptimal designs increase. These problems are easiest to address when they are identified early in the development process. When design problems are discovered late, they are often expensive to correct and require time-consuming hardware fixes. In some cases the hardware simply cannot be changed late in the development process, resulting in a product that fails to meet its original specifications.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/014.html?CMP=ILC-rss Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:46 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/014.html
When power inflows and outflows don't match, voltage fluctuations occur on the grid. Excess demand lowers voltages, eventually to problematic levels. Power storage can address part of the problem by temporarily boosting power supplied to the grid, but storage is both technically challenging and very expensive. A better approach is to match power flowing into and out of the grid based on real-time information and control systems.

These real-time information and systems necessarily rely on wired and wireless communication networks, and the de facto standard for these networks is Ethernet. Various Ethernet protocols and attendant hardware including switches, routers and connectors form the power grid communication backbone.

This white paper will first show how the electric utility landscape has changed over the past few decades, necessitating the smart grid. It will then be shown how Ethernet-based Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems can be used to monitor and control power flowing into and out of the grid. Finally, it will be shown how Ethernet-based SCADA systems can be used to match power inflows and outflows to keep the grid stable.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/012.html?CMP=ILC-rss Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:00:45 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/012.html http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/027.html?CMP=ILC-rss Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:00:44 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/027.html http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/007.html?CMP=ILC-rss Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:00:43 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/007.html http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/006.html?CMP=ILC-rss Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:00:42 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/006.html http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/011.html?CMP=ILC-rss Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:41 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/011.html
This paper reviews performance measures from simple statistics to complicated model-based performance criteria. By understanding the underlying concepts of the various techniques, readers will gain an understanding of the proper use of performance criteria. Basic algorithms for computing performance measures are presented using example data sets. An evaluation of techniques with tips and suggestions provides readers with guidance for interpreting the results.]]> http://www.plantservices.com/whitepapers/2010/005.html?CMP=ILC-rss Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:40 -0700 /whitepapers/2010/005.html
Crosstalk from one input signal can easily be reflected onto another input. The design movement to an A/D per channel can help this problem. But that is not sufficient in many cases.

To minimize noise and ground loops, some newer systems offer isolation between the input signal ground reference and the computer ground. This effectively separates the computer ground from the measurement portion of the system. But still, there is no isolation between input sensor channels, which is a common source of error and frustration for user applications. ]]>