NeSSI at Work
IFPAC2001 Sampling Session Summary
and Ad-hoc Meeting Notes
Dear NeSSI Supporters,
Just a short note to update you on recent NeSSI activities/plans and to provide a sneak preview of a proposed NeSSI follow-up meeting at Pittcon2001.
1. NeSSI CD
In our last communication we have indicated that we plan to issue a CD with all of the NeSSI documentation up to Dec 2000. It turned out that the presentations at IFPAC2001 were so informative about the progress that has been made in regards to NeSSI and in general about the use of surface mount technology, that it made a lot of sense to delay the CD so that we can also include all of these presentations (see below). We plan to complete the CD content by the end of February; actual release date will depend on the time it takes to produce the CD's but we will try and expedite it. We hope that the wait will be worthwhile. For those of you for whom we do not have a "hardcopy" address, you will receive a request to provide this information in the near future.
2. IFPAC2001 "Integrated Sampling Systems" Session
An "Integrated Sampling Systems" session was organized for Monday PM at the IFPAC2001 conference. The following papers were presented:
· Citius, Altius, Fortius: A New Sampling /Sensor Initiative (NeSSI)
Rob Dubois (Dow), Peter van Vuuren (ExxonMobil Chemical)
· Miniature Modular Sample Systems - Feasible and Practical
Richard Ales, Douglas Nordstrom, David Simko (Swagelok)
· Recent Developments for the Advanced Modular Sample System
Richard Hughes (Autoflow Products)
· Surface Mount Technology for Sample Conditioning Systems
Frank Ruiz, Steve Doe (Parker Hannifin)
· At-Line: A Practical Application of Smart Modular Sampling Components
Kelly Bell (ABB Automation)
· Modular Sample Handling Systems and Field Mounted Analyzers
John Gajewski (Rosemount Analytical)
· Developments in Stream Switch Valve Technology
Frank Ruiz, Steve Doe (Parker Hannifin)
In general, the papers demonstrated and several conferees commented about the significant progress that has been made since the last IFPAC meeting where a conceptual design and the expected benefits of a smart modular sampling system (based on the surface mount technology developed for the Semi-conductor industry) were presented in a plenary paper by Jeff Gunnell of ExxonMobil Chemical. Several end-users indicated that they plan to initiate some in-house programs to begin to evaluate and demonstrate the viability of this technology in real-world applications. We full well expect that at next year's IFPAC2002 meeting we will have papers by end-users about the results of these evaluations.
Additional Papers of Interest:
· Analyzer Pressure Regulation and Vent Recovery System
Frank Ruiz, Ruiz & Associates
2. IFPAC2001 Ad-hoc Meeting (NeSSI and Connectivity)
An ad-hoc meeting was organized at IFPAC2001 to address some follow-up issues related to the NeSSI session and to discuss some next steps as a result of a plenary paper on "Connectivity for Process Analytical Systems: Confusion or Opportunity". It was indeed a pleasant surprise that these two topics drew a standing room only audience. Attachment 1 covers the meeting notes which hopefully will highlight some of the expectations, concerns and issues raised regarding NeSSI acceptance; also some comments about connectivity which may develop into a NeSSI like initiative also sponsored by CPAC.
As a result of this ad-hoc meeting, we have organized a NeSSI follow-up session at Pittcon at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel (across from the Morial Convention Center) on Wednesday, March 7 starting at 1:30 PM in the Bacchus room. You are cordially invited to attend. We will send out a RSVP note shortly.
At this time our thinking is to have 3 one-hour sessions preceded by a short session preview and followed by a short overall wrap-up session. The main topics and timing for the three sessions are:
Session Preview: 1:30 - 1:45
Area Classification Issue: Providing Power to the Modular Sampling System 1:45 - 2:45
Connectivity Issue: How to Connect and Communicate with Multiple Sensors 3:00 - 4:00
Heating: Safe Options to heat the Sampling System "Palette" 4:15 - 5:15
Wrap-up: 5:15 - 5:30
In each session, we hope to have some experts and/or vendors address the particular issue(s) associated with the session, followed by some brainstorming/general comments and a mini wrap-up in terms of possible next steps. Please let us know if you would like to present an idea or proposal that would provide NeSSI with some additional options to address the particular issues alluded to above.
Hope you find this note informative and please let us know if you have any comments/ideas as to how to move NeSSI further ahead in order to make it the method of choice for our future sampling system designs. Looking forward to hearing from you and possibly seeing you in New Orleans.
Regards,
Rob Dubois
Peter van Vuuren
Mel Koch
Center for Process Analytical Chemistry
160 Chemistry Library Building
University of Washington
Box 351700
Seattle, WA 98195-1700
Office: (206) 685-2326
FAX: (206) 543-6506
WWW: http://www.cpac.washington.edu
Attachment1
IFPAC2001 Ad-hoc NeSSI and Connectivity Meeting
Tuesday Jan 23, 2001 6:30 PM
Ossabaw Room
NeSSI CD to contain:
- info gathered from last year's activities
- papers from IFPAC 2001
- draft version of SP 76
Will distribute to everyone who handed in a business card.
CPAC will co-ordinate getting the CD out.
COMPONENTSNeed bill of materials, list of components, specs / Dave Sorenson
Tescom
Could getting a purchasing agent involved help to expedite development? / Meeco
Is i.s. OK, or Div 1 / Zone 1 needed? What are certification requirements?
- i.s. OK but would need more power for flow controllers than i.s. allows / Kelley Bell
- ABBA
Are we looking for off-the-shelf items?
- yes: some already available, but we need new to be developed / ???
- Dubois
Need definition of form factor
- it's SP 76
Is that big enough? NB Parker have some 2¼" requirements
- can extend over more than one substrate if required
- SP 76 has 1½"; 1⅛" is an option; could add 2¼" option if needed / Fisher/R'mount
- Dubois
Fisher/R'mount
- Swagelok
- Podkulski
Need to formally solicit industry views - right now it's word of mouth / BP Amoco
ELECTRICAL
Meeting at Pittcon
- how to connect into units
- fibre optic / wireless / electrical
- Bluetooth
- heating manifold / Dubois
Could the substrate include the power and signal bus? / Fisher/R'mount
Intertec could be the source for the heating supply – UL, CSA & CENELEC capable
- also Bartek, Stahl, MTL, P+F. Don't forget others could have the knowledge we need / ???
- ???
We will participate in Pittcon meeting / Fisher/R'mount
If to be truly modular, then power and signal bus needs to be in the standard / ???
Need standardisation on signal: analogue or digital
- plan on digital / ABBA
- Dubois
SENSORS
How big is the market?
- need end-users to come forward and make a commitment to purchase / Dubois
- van Vuuren
What analysers now are good candidates for this format?
- pH, moisture, conductivity, oxygen … / van Vuuren
How to fit fibre optic probes into the manifold?
- diffuse reflectance probes should fit easily / - ??
Maybe need longer path lengths for spectrometers
- can extend over more than one substrate if required / Axiom?
- Swagelok
How about a future IFPAC session: sensors meet the substrate? / Dubois
We will participate in Pittcon meeting
- go for a workshop approach? / Ocean Optics
There are two classes of sensor: PTF and the analyser sensor / ???
We need to control PTF: these aren't just passive sensors! / ABBA
Compare to other industries (pneumatics, automobile,…). We need contacts / ???
Do these systems have to run at max speed when plant is at steady state? / Henslee
COMMUNICATIONS / CONNECTIVITY
TCP/IP is a very common approach - chips and software already exist / ???
Admin of comms / DCS gateway / bandwidth issues
- already have TCP/IP tools - adapt VBA enabled client? / Braun&Lubbe
Like the idea of the domains explained in PV2 model - keep the domains separate / BP Amoco
Need agreement on distribution of data in the DCS and O&M domains / ABBA
Decide exactly what to communicate and where / Orbital
What to communicate? File formats, protocols,…
- that's how, not what / BP Amoco
???
Inter-operability vs peaceful coexistence - tough to do inter-operability as first objective / van Vuuren
Vendor needs to have a clear spec of user requirements / Agilent
Need consensus from end users / ???
Need to write a functional spec / ???
Use similar approach to the NeSSI - produce a spec and do a paper exercise to determine what is available, what needs to be developed / Swagelok
Could we put some common money into a pool to pay for some demo software development? / Jim Tolton
Dow Corning
Need a session - at CPAC? / ???
CPAC will help the effort. Maybe have an interactive section on the web-site / Mel Koch, CPAC
E-mail Distribution List Header:
-----Original Message-----
From: van Vuuren, P.(Peter)
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 12:28 PM
To: ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; Beasley, James D; Dubose, Stan; Edwards, Clive; Hromadka, P.M. (Paul); Podkulski, D.E, (Dan); Puzic, Rajko; Mehta, Dinesh C; Sablatura, John L.; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; ''; Cumbus, J.B. (John); Kastrup, Rodney V. (Rod); ''; Marrow, David; Long, R.L.(Bob); Chauvin, M.R. (Mark)
Cc: ''; ''; Rouziek, M. L. (Maher); Floyd, W. F. (Bill); Gunnell, Jeffrey J.; van Vuuren, P.(Peter)
Subject: NeSSI and IFPAC2001 Update