13-11-2012

Honeywell new smartline pressure transmitters lower plant lifecycle costs

Honeywell today launched its new range of SmartLine™ industrial pressure transmitters, which will enhance communication abilities, improve operational efficiency and reduce lifecycle costs for process manufacturers.

In industrial process plants, field devices that measure pressure, flow and level are used throughout the manufacturing process to support safe and efficient production. Large industrial complexes, such as those for refining crude oil, can have thousands of these devices to support their manufacturing processes.

Honeywell SmartLine pressure transmitters make it easier to support field devices and promote plant reliability with their unique efficiency-enhancing features, such as a graphic display capable of showing process data in graphical formats and communicating messages from the control room.  SmartLine transmitters also feature modular components to simplify field repairs and reduce inventory required to make those repairs. 

“SmartLine is designed to provide the lowest total cost of ownership at every point in the project lifecycle to help customers’ operations be more efficient, their process more accurate and their plant more reliable,” said Don Maness, VP Field Products, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Honeywell introduced the first industrial smart transmitter in 1983 and have since supplied millions of smart transmitters around the world. To build on this legacy, our latest generation was designed with input from our customers and distributors.”

The new display supports graphical process data in easy-to-read trend lines and bar graphs while also providing a unique platform for operator messages, comprehensive diagnostic warnings, and loop status for maintenance. These capabilities are part of the transmitter’s Smart Connection Suite, and allow control room operators to send messages to the display to make it easier and faster for field operators to identify the correct transmitter and determine required maintenance tasks. And, when integrated with Honeywell’s Experion® Process Knowledge System (PKS), the transmitter can also display its maintenance mode – telling field operators if the control loop is in a safe state to perform maintenance. Even installation is made easier with this new display. Three-buttons at the top of the transmitter are used with the graphic display to completely configure the transmitter with no external handheld devices required.

The modular design streamlines maintenance by allowing replacement of individual transmitter components instead of the entire unit, even in hazardous locations. This design reduces plant lifecycle costs by providing purchasing flexibility, lowering inventory costs and reducing maintenance and repair work.

“SmartLine offers a number of unique benefits to customers,” Maness said. “It exceeds industry norms for accuracy, response time, turndown and stability.  It provides the lowest lifecycle cost by leveraging a modular design for configuration, installation, upgrades and maintenance. It communicates to all automation systems through open communication protocol modules and is even more tightly integrated with Experion PKS and legacy DCS customers. Lastly, we designed it for the instrument technician to make it simple to configure with an easy-to-read display and without the need to use a field calibrator or to open the housing itself.”

Other safety and efficiency features include enhanced security alerts and wiring polarity insensitivity. Tamper reporting alerts the control room and records any change in the transmitters’ configuration or write protection setting to allow operations to investigate any unauthorized access. Unlike most other transmitters, SmartLine transmitters cannot be damaged by reversed wiring polarity and will function correctly if connected as such. This protection significantly helps during a plant startup, when time can be wasted locating and repairing incorrectly wired devices.