DeltaV Blockbuster Onstage at PlantWeb Theater

Not many movie sequels or remakes are better than the original. However, just like the snowballing Harry Potter franchise, DeltaV seems to get better, richer and more sophisticated with practice, use and understanding.

So even though PlantWeb Theater long has been famous for staging excellent shows about how Emerson Process Management's technologies work together, those events were pretty much just rehearsals for this year's premier event. The theater is located at the front of the exhibit hall during Emerson Global Users Exchange this week at the Gaylord Palms resort and convention center in Orlando, Fla.

The biggest headliner at PlantWeb Theater this week is undoubtedly the new DeltaV S-series. This latest and greatest version of DeltaV includes high-integrity, low-fail-rate controllers and cards in a distributed modular architecture with distributed logic solving. They are joined by DeltaV's new Integrated Redundant and Wireless components, as well as its existing DeltaV Safety Integrity System (SIS). This integrated quartet is completed by Emerson's CSi 6500 machinery health monitors.

"One key development on display at PlantWeb Theater is the integration of CSi 6500 machine protection and prediction capabilities with DeltaV's process controls and process safety controls," said Emerson's Doug Morris. "Previously, these devices and systems were all treated separately and had separate displays and other segregated functions. Integrating CSi 6500 into DeltaV enables us to have better visuals, as well as alarms that can travel through regular control systems."

"Our new marshalling strategy lands one set of wires, immediately characterizes their signals as analog or digital I/O points and then delivers them to the controller via a fiber-optic line." Emerson's Doug Morris demonstrates the capabilities of the new DeltaV S-series at the PlantWeb Theater, front-and-center on the exhibition floor.Morris added that these new levels of integration are the result of Emerson's intensified concentration on human-centered design principles. For example, DeltaV S-series features "I/O on Demand" that provides fieldbus, wireless and electronic marshalling functions, but then allows users to decide how and to what degree they want to apply those functions.

"We're also showing new user interfaces, which include a new color-scale graphics approach," said Morris. "These interfaces use color sparingly, so when changes or events occur, they can then draw the user's attention to what's important. They're designed based on EEMUA standards, which help the interfaces better describe problems, show users how to fix them and then show consequences."

Likewise, PlantWeb Theater features human-centered Device Dashboards, which consist of intuitive graphical screens that base their displays on how their users do their jobs. "The old way was that screens showed all the information possible, but now we're prioritizing, removing complexity and helping users focus on their most performed tasks."

Last, but not certainly not least, PlantWeb Theater is showing Emerson's new electronic marshalling strategy for eliminating steps needed to bring signals and wiring from the field and then tie them in to I/O devices and controllers. "This new marshalling strategy lands one set of wires, immediately characterizes their signals as analog or digital I/O points and then delivers them to the controller via a fiberoptics line," explained Morris. "This eliminates a lot of the wiring and connections needed in the past. Our new Characterization Module (CHARM) cards also allow users to better accommodate changes in their projects because now they can add, move or change I/O just by snapping the right CHARM card into place."

No horror stories, only happy endings this week at the PlantWeb Theater.