Pepperl+Fuchs Blog

Many of today’s process automation applications depend on fieldbus technology because of its efficiency in digital bilateral communication. Fieldbus devices can communicate standard process values to the plant operator and the DCS; however, they also have the ability to provide additional information such as operating hours, process temperature, and status bytes for condition monitoring. This wide range of measurements allows plant operators to perform preventative maintenance, recognize field device faults, and predict outages to reduce downtime and increase availability.

Efficient intralogistics requires automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to move with speed and precision through warehouses or factory floors, avoiding obstacles and navigation errors. Navigation technology is essential to ensuring an AGV and the product it is carrying make it to their destination in one piece. One of the most popular types of AGV guidance technology is tape. The two types of AGV navigation tape are nonmagnetic tape, which can be comprised of Data Matrix codes or just solid color, and magnetic tape. 

Specialized protective equipment has to be used in environments that contain gases, vapors, combustible dusts, and fibers to prevent these materials from catching fire or exploding. Purge and pressurization systems help control these explosion hazards by segregating the electrical equipment inside of an enclosure from the surrounding potentially explosive atmosphere. An economical alternative to heavy and expensive explosion-proof enclosures, purge and pressurization systems pressurize enclosures with clean, dry compressed air or inert gas so hazardous gas or dust cannot get in.

There are many great reasons to attend this year's Offshore Technology Conference (OTC). One is to experience the technology from Pepperl+Fuchs. From May 6 to 9 at OTC in Houston, Texas, Pepperl+Fuchs will be exhibiting its process automation solutions for the oil and gas industry. These leading sensing technologies, explosion protection products, and intrinsically safe mobile devices will be featured at booth 4261 in Hall A of the NRG Center. Conference attendees will have a chance to learn more about the following technologies:

The FDA requires drug manufacturers to follow strict cleaning guidelines. According to the FDA, any equipment a manufacturer uses during drug production must be “cleaned, maintained, and, as appropriate for the nature of the drug, sanitized and/or sterilized at appropriate intervals to prevent malfunctions or contamination …” This is why drug manufacturers clean their batch process tanks at regular intervals.

High-tech drug manufacturers are utilizing Industry 4.0 technology to enhance their automated processes. Portable mixing tanks used in drug processing, preparation, material buffering, and storage are sometimes fitted with multiple industrial sensors to ensure the highest standards in drug production are always met. The data generated during these processes can be transmitted wirelessly to the process control system with the help of Pepperl+Fuchs’ Bullet WirelessHART adapters.

The LGM series measuring light grid is an array of thru-beam photoelectric sensors housed in a single emitter and receiver pair designed to continuously communicate with a PLC through any IO-Link master. They are available in a variety of heights ranging from 100 mm up to 3200 mm, with the number of beams varying based on the height. The light grid can be remotely configured for easy setup and parameterization via PLC with the help of IO-Link technology; complex single beam calculations are not required to set up these sensors.

Adaptability, versatility, and efficiency are three essential components of a forward-thinking business concept. In the world of industrial automation, these help keep pace with rapidly changing technologies by driving creation of the innovative, cost-effective, versatile tools users need to complete the job. Sensors are critical to this process because they provide accurate measurement—no matter how precise it must be.

Photoelectric sensors use visible red light or infrared light detected by a receiver to determine the distance away an object is and the interruption in light emitted. Excellent for use in automation, photoelectric sensors provide fast, non-contact detection for multiple applications.

Many industries need to use multiple metals during manufacturing and processing. However, complications can arise when different types of metals are used with standard inductive proximity sensors. If a metal is less ferrous (less magnetic), for example, a larger proximity sensor may have to be used or the sensor may have to be moved closer to the object being detected. Production must stop to exchange and/or move the proximity sensor, using up valuable time. Reduction factor 1 (R1) inductive sensors eliminate this problem and increase productivity. Here are a few of the ways they can be applied: