Chemical Engineering August 2022 - 34

tion of digital twins for
equipment monitoring
and optimization.
FIGURE 4. The BASF APL evaluation laboratory is shown here
gration and diagnostic messaging.
It supports vendor-independent device
exchange because parameters
are automatically downloaded after
exchange without any other system
adaptations.
Profinet features like S2 System
Redundancy and the Media Redundancy
Protocol (MRP) ensure
a very high plant availability. This is
because the system can cope with
both cable failures and controller
failures without interruption.
All process variables of a device
are available via Profinet in digital
form and without conversion losses.
Parameterization, troubleshooting,
asset management. These use
cases are possible remotely via the
network and in parallel to the process
control system because information
is available at a much higher
speed and performance using Ethernet-APL.
This means that maintenance
personnel can troubleshoot
field devices remotely and efficiently
by accessing the cause and remedy
information for the device. They can
also troubleshoot the Ethernet network
itself by accessing the frames
and packages information without
the use of oscilloscopes.
Cloud / IIoT / data-driven applications.
An edge device on the facility
Ethernet provides an interface to
the cloud. This means that field data
can be accessed directly by higherlevel
applications without passing
through via a process control system.
This setup fulfills concepts like
NAMUR Open Architecture (NOA)
[3, 4] and related use cases. Edge
devices make high volumes of data
available in real-time. The technology
opens the door for the implementa34
Functional
safety and
cybersecurity
Safety infrastructure is
normally built separately
to process control infrastructure.
This physical
separation increases
diversity and independence,
which improves
safety system availability.
Safety applications are traditionally
equipped with 4-20-mA technology.
However, the bandwidth and
reliability of Ethernet-APL is creating
an opportunity to unify the infrastructure
for safety and process control
applications, while still meeting the
most stringent safety standards. The
next logical step is to enable the use
of Ethernet-APL in safety applications.
There is no limitation to the
use of Ethernet-APL for safety applications.
The relevant adaptations
are mainly on the level of Ethernet
protocols.
In the context of Profinet as an
industrial Ethernet protocol over
Ethernet-APL, PROFIsafe is already
available as an additional layer that
acts according to the black channel
principle. PROFIsafe is a well-established
technology that has been
used in factory automation for many
years. This means Ethernet-APL,
in combination with Profinet and
its black channel layer PROFIsafe,
will be the solutions to bring digital
communication even into functional
safety applications.
Connecting field devices to the
Ethernet network introduces security
concerns. There are three areas
where security must be taken into
account:
* At the device
* At the point of integration to the
Ethernet network
* During development
IEC 62443 is the standard governing
cybersecurity of industrial
automation and control systems.
Manufacturers must certify their
development lifecycle against this
standard [5]. As a further safeguard,
organizations belonging to bodies
like computer emergency response
teams (CERT) and VDE (Association
for Electronic, Electrical and Information
Technologies) vulnerability
management show that they have
systems in place to manage issues
that may arise.
At the device level, security is affected
at different touchpoints. Firmware
update files must be certified
as authentic before loading on a device.
Authentication and authorization
prevent unauthorized access to
field devices. Security is a major area
of focus for the industry and continues
to receive significant investment
for future developments.
Features and benefits
Implementing Ethernet-APL is cost
effective at each lifecycle stage of
a plant. During engineering, APL
components might be more expensive,
but the complete network
infrastructure, the absence of EXcalculations
and the fully extendable
architecture speed up the engineering
process and reduce costs. Installation
is error-free and the commissioning
stage benefits from fast
and remote access for parameterization.
This means shorter commissioning
times and earlier startup
of production. During operation and
maintenance, the availability of data
enables improved optimization and
predictive maintenance.
Ethernet-APL overcomes the limitations
of current field level technologies.
Ethernet-APL with 10 Mbit/s
is 300 times faster than fieldbus
technology and even 8,000 times
faster than the HART protocol. This
speed offers significant benefits during
commissioning, operation, and
maintenance. A parameter report,
for example, can be created within
seconds - even remotely, instead
of within several minutes - locally at
the device.
Speed is not the only advantage
of
Ethernet-APL. The number of
devices per loop is significantly increased.
Using a trunk-and-spur topology,
up to 50 field devices can be
connected to an Ethernet-APL segment.
This is a substantial improvement
on the 16-device limit for an
equivalent Foundation Fieldbus segCHEMICAL
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