Cooperative Way to New Solutions: DART and WirelessHART Meet Positive Response

Dr. Kegel, Managing Director of the Process Automation Unit of Pepperl+Fuchs, was very persuasive when he stated: "DART is an innovative concept that will define explosion protection in a completely new way." Dynamic Arc Recognition and Termination was nominated for the Hermes Award (the Technology 'Oscar'), and represents a milestone for the process industry. It allows up 50 watts of active power, thereby providing intrinsic safety without the present power limitations.

DART is an open technology. Pepperl+Fuchs is ready for an open dialog with users and hardware vendors and wants to drive the development of new applications via close cooperation with everyone involved.

That's why Dr. Kegel communicated a clear invitation at the HANNOVER FAIR: "We are convinced that DART has the potential to define explosion protection in a completely new way. But we won't be able to accomplish this alone. That's why we are interested to offer this technology through specific license models to other companies within the process industry."

The advantages of DART become evident in all situations where it eliminates the need for comprehensive installations to obtain increased safety. This includes all applications where it is possible to locate sensor and analysis unit separately, making DART an integral part of future solutions, such as in the field of flow control or process analysis.

One of the first applications will be the fieldbus itself. For this application, DART will be designed for a cable length of up to 1,000 meters and will provide the power needed for today's applications. With DART, even the High-Power Trunk will become intrinsically safe. This version of DART was developed especially with investment protection in view, since it allows the continued use of all devices, which conform to the widely accepted Entity explosion protection concept.

During a technology presentation at the HANNOVER FAIR, Pepperl+Fuchs experts discussed existing and new applications with vendors, end users and certification agencies.

The German Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt PTB plans to offer a workshop in the fall of this year. Vendors and users interested in the realization of new application ranges are invited to attend. Further details are available on their website. 

The workshop will cover new application ranges and the improvement of existing applications with DART. Discussion will focus on applications where the positive aspects of intrinsic safety – such as the option to separate a connection anytime – would result in special advantages for everyday operation within the Ex zone.

Users with interesting applications are also invited to contact Pepperl+Fuchs directly.

WirelessHART is an extension of the HART protocol for wireless communication.The standard was especially tailored to the requirements of the process industry,  with respect to transmission range and reliability. This provides superior advantages for a completely new range of applications.

For this reason, WirelessHART was the second major subject at this year's HANNOVER FAIR. A special technology presentation at the Pepperl+Fuchs stand showed first generation products. The WirelessHART concept was demonstrated by means of feasible applications in order to provide an initial impression of the opportunities of wireless data transmission via the 2.4 GHz band. The presentation also demonstrated how easy it is to integrate WirelessHART into existing structures, and how this new standard is able to open new perspectives.

The premier target application is upgrading control systems of existing plants with the functionality for modern asset management. The goal is to continually visualize the plant condition in order to provide more system transparency and offer information for well-founded decisions to achieve targeted process control and maintenance.

Besides this target application, customer comments also generated ideas for other applications, such as better clean room communications or the integration of underground pumping stations into the control system.

Naturally, our customers are aware of the fact that wireless communications are not suitable for every application. While this technology is a new field in process automation, a large number of visitors to the Pepperl+Fuchs stand at the HANNOVER FAIR were open to the option to use WirelessHART in order to realize new opportunities in signal transmission.

This became evident during numerous discussions with customers. Many of them specifically came to the Pepperl+Fuchs stand in order to get credible information and to gain a realistic impression of the opportunities WirelessHART has to offer.

Pepperl+Fuchs is determined to be a leading technology partner of the process industry when it comes to WirelessHART applications.

As an outcome of the HANNOVER FAIR, there are customer agreements to run inital beta tests of WirelessHART applications. First generation products with this technology will be available within a few months. This short time-to-market is possible because Pepperl+Fuchs benefits from the confidence of our customers who have come to know and appreciate the company as a reliable partner for many years.