- Your Letters
Summary
Long gas pipelines
Your article Improving plant operations with life-cycle dynamic simulation - about gas plant operations [January/February 2016 InTech] is very interesting. Could you comment on some particularities or experiences for long gas pipelines automation? In principle I consider this the same or the most critical, considering the need to operate remote terminal units that are mostly difficult to access. Thanks in advance for your attention.
Yvan Calvo
Author's response
Thank you for the email. Any operation that has the opportunity to be compromised from operator error or faulty control strategies can benefit from the use of a life-cycle dynamic simulator. Pipeline operations are no exception. The biggest issue we have run into with simulating the pipeline/remote terminal unit (RTU)/supervisory-control-and-data-acquisition environment is the lack of virtual RTU offerings by the manufacturers. We have delivered a couple of these solutions, and we have had to include the actual hardware RTUs in the simulator solution, which is less than ideal. Personally, I think the pipeline industry is just waking up to the use of this technology, and there is great value and potential for the future.
Martin Berutti
DCS upgrade
The Cracker plant DCS upgrade� article in the March/April 2016 issue is very informative. Technically each and every job is defined in such a way that any other polymer industry can just copy and paste for proper and successful execution.
Supriya Singh
Fourth edition of InTech Plus released
ISA has released the fourth edition of its free InTech Plus for tablets. This edition focuses on final control elements, and continues to offer a highly colorful and visual presentation of automation information. Viewers use intuitive navigation to access success stories, best-practice overviews, and quick-read call-out boxes and sliders - all of which encourage them to learn more and dig deeper.
There is so much to discover and explore, says Susan Colwell, director of ISA publications. Useful information and tools are on display at your fingertips. Tap on a button to read about a hot topic, view helpful conversion tables, or get a refresher on a specific area of automation fundamentals, such as control valve sizing guidelines. Take a quiz on CCST or CAP certification. A slide of a finger will lead you to the next feature, video, fun fact, or news item.
Tablet users may download the new edition from the Apple iTunes Store or Google Play Store.
Reader Feedback
We want to hear from you! Please send us your comments and questions about this topic to InTechmagazine@isa.org.