Tag: Electrical

With the SCT5564 ring-type current transformer, Beckhoff offers a universal current-sensitive measurement system for AC and DC differential currents in conformance with the EN/IEC 62020-1 standard. Its use in machine monitoring ensures, among other things, increased system availability and minimized maintenance costs through the early detection of insulation faults.
 
The SCT5564 differential current transformer (type B/B+) can be used as a residual current monitor (RCM) and can measure DC and AC residual currents with up to 100 kHz frequency in the 0 to 2 A range. With its numerous setting options, this RCM offers a flexible platform for differential current measurement and is suitable for a wide range of systems engineering applications. This offers advantages both in the planning phase of an industrial plant and during expansions to include new loads that operate with DC voltages or high switching frequencies and can potentially increase the leakage current in the overall system.
 
Furthermore, early detection of insulation faults using the SCT5564 helps engineers implement predictive maintenance, thus increasing system availability. In addition, unwanted tripping of the residual current circuit breaker due to diminishing machine insulation is avoided, and the expense of (repeated) insulation tests in accordance with DGUV v3/VDE 0100 is replaced by efficient, permanent residual current measurement.
 
The SCT5564 differential current transformer has an analog 4…20 mA output that represents the real-time RMS value (TRMS) of the measured differential current. In addition, a potential-free relay output (NO/NC) with freely selectable residual current can be used for warning purposes or even system shutdown if the TRMS residual current measured value exceeds the preset value. A test button and an external test button input support periodic testing of the RCM in accordance with applicable product standards.
 

Crucial advantages and added value with PC-based control

Fault currents can also occur during normal operation, e.g. due to the magnetizing of an electric motor during startup. In such cases, the seamless integration of the current transformer into PC-based control technology from Beckhoff creates special application advantages. In the example mentioned, the information available in the control system regarding the startup of a motor can reliably exclude false tripping.
 
This important capability is particularly relevant for machines with multiple motors or actuators since an increasing residual current and thus a probable insulation fault can be assigned directly to the corresponding component without having to measure the differential current of each individual drive. The same applies, for example, to the monitoring of heating elements in plastic machines, where an early replacement can prevent insulation loss due to aging in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Here, just one central measurement device and its corresponding control data make this possible.

(SCT5564 ring-type current transformers)

(Courtesy of ISA/Beckhoff Automation)

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), global equipment suppliers, and other stakeholders announced the establishment of the Electric Energy OT Security Profile working group hosted by the ISA99 standards committee. The Electric Energy OT Security Profile will be a cybersecurity work product using the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards. The final product will be a formal ISA/IEC 62443 application guide, recognized globally as the consensus work product for securing various control systems used in electric energy generation, transmission, and distribution operations.

The ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards is designated as a horizontal standard, applicable to many industry sectors and applications. Industry groups use the ISA/IEC 62443 standard series as the basis for securing industrial control systems. DOE’s Securing Energy Infrastructure Executive Task Force (SEI ETF) evaluated available industry standards and recommended the electric energy operational technology (OT) applications be formalized as ISA/IEC 62443-5 security profile applications—gaining international energy sector consensus on applying ISA/IEC 62443 to electric energy OT applications.

The working group is seeking participation from industry groups, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE), and other industry stakeholders, to ensure consideration of and alignment with other cybersecurity work product development efforts. The initiative will use the DOE SEI ETF’s Reference Architecture and Profiles for Electric Energy OT as a foundation.

“The Securing Energy Infrastructure Executive Task Force developed an OT-specific reference architecture for electricity systems to provide a common language for control system environments that can be used to design and assess security applications,” said Puesh Kumar, director, DOE Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER). “The ISA working group represents an opportunity to validate these profiles and put them into practice for the energy industry. CESER is excited to see energy sector stakeholders carrying forward the task force’s reference architecture work.”

Eric Cosman, co-chair of the ISA99 Standards Committee, noted that “Global standards and supporting specifications provide efficiencies for end users, product suppliers, and system integrators that design, deliver, and support products and systems all around the world. One specification and one globally recognized certification provides needed transparency and reduces the regulatory burden on manufacturers.”

EnQuest Wins ISA100 Wireless Excellence Award

The ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute presented its ISA100 Wireless Excellence in Automation Award for 2021 to EnQuest, an oil and gas production and development company with operations in the U.K. North Sea and in Malaysia. Managing director Andre Ristaino presented the award at the ARC Forum conference in Orlando in June.

ISA100 Wireless, also known as international standard IEC 62734, is an open, universal IPv6 wireless network protocol that establishes the Industrial Internet of Things. IPv6 addressability makes ISA100 Wireless the only industrial network protocol compatible with the Internet of Things. The ISA100 Wireless Excellence award is presented each year to an end-user company that has demonstrated outstanding leadership and innovation in the use of ISA100 Wireless technology.

The 2021 award was presented to EnQuest for its Sullom Voe Terminal in Scotland and its novel application of ISA100 Wireless technology for new approaches to gas detection and achieving a safe and secure gas detection system upgrade on a vast scale. Cybersecurity and reliability were key considerations in the gas detection system upgrade.

EnQuest’s Sullom Voe Terminal is located at the northern end of the largest of the Shetland Islands and is one of the largest oil terminals in Europe. It handles production from many oil fields in the east and west Shetland Basin in the North Sea. Fourteen different companies have ownership interests in the terminal, which receives production through the Brent and Ninian 36-in pipeline systems.

Previous award recipients include Fuji Oil Company (2020), ILBOC (2019), BACPO (2018), ALCOA (2017), Phillips 66 (2016), Petronas (2015), Nippon Steel (2014), and RasGas (2013). 

Find out more through the ISA100 Wireless Interest Group on LinkedIn.

Updated Schedule for ISA Fall Hybrid Events

New virtual events with in-person components provide convenient attendance and live networking opportunities. The live components of the events are supported by ISA sections and/or regional partners. The locations shown indicate the time zones during which the virtual events will take place. Find out more and register.

ISA Automation & Leadership Conference: In Texas and Online in November

A new event that combines ISA’s annual leadership conference with two days of technical presentations will welcome attendees both online and in-person in Galveston, Texas, in November. The three-day event, 7–9 November, will be held at the Galveston Island Convention Center. It combines workshops and association meetings with presentations on important industry topics like digital transformation, cybersecurity, the Industrial Internet of Things, smart manufacturing, and process automation.

(Courtesy of International Society of Automation: InTech News)

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