The Automation System is the Key

Related Vendors

DÜPERTHAL Sicherheitstechnik GmbH & Co. KG

TURCK GmbH

EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH

Bürkert GmbH & Co. KG

“The solution from Bürkert allowed us to fulfil the requirements for both functional safety and Zone 1 operation,” says Carsten Meyer, who is responsible for process control engineering at Bayer Technology Services, who believes the solution to be an ideal fit with the F3 Factory concept of compact technology. “We tested and evaluated different alternatives during the project,” Meyer explains. “A comparable compact solution for the control technology in Zone 1 that can also integrate fail-safe signals is hard to find on the market.”

Automation System Eliminates Shutdowns for Maintenance or Testing

The intrinsically safe valve technology used allows maintenance work and testing to be carried out during normal operation and without interrupting the process. The ability to hot-swap components even means that the individual valves and electronic modules of the Airline Ex valve island can be exchanged under normal operating conditions — a feature that is essential to increase plant availability and minimize production downtime, the company states.

Integration of the valve technology into the main PCS 7 process control system is also facilitated by the hardware interfaces to the I/O system and corresponding software. Thanks to the combination of valve island and I/O system, it is possible to integrate pneumatic signals into a modern process control system all the way up to Zone 1. In addition, the extensive diagnostic functions of the valve island can be used to respond more quickly to errors in the field.

Bürkert’s design for the control cabinets supports the high levels of availability, quality and safety required by Bayer Technology Services. For example, stainless steel tubes are used instead of plastic hoses for compressed air supply in all Bürkert control cabinets design for use in Ex areas. In the company’s in-house Atex-certified control cabinet construction facilities in Menden/Germany the cabinets are configured, mounted and then certified in cooperation with both the sales department and the customer, allowing Bürkert to extend its expertise in fluid control systems to complete control cabinets.

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* The author is National Key Account Manager for chemical and explosion-proof technology at Bürkert, Ingelfingen/Germany

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