Endress+Hauser successfully conducted another set of load tests of a realistic PROFINET over Ethernet-APL setup.
The load tests were tailored to meet customer-specific requirements, demonstrating that components from various manufacturers can seamlessly work together to build a robust and reliable system based on PROFINET over Ethernet-APL. Requirements were defined from the end-user perspective by the global chemical company BASF. On the supplier side, devices from Endress+Hauser, Pepperl+Fuchs, R. Stahl, Phoenix Contact, and Samson were integrated into an Emerson control system and their interoperability was confirmed.
Two years after the first set of successful tests with other automation systems, Emerson DeltaV was in scope of the mass load test with nearly 240 Endress+Hauser measuring devices, including flow, pressure, temperature, and level sensors, as well as positioners from Samson. They were tested in a ring topology consisting of Ethernet-APL field switches from Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact, and R. Stahl. Emerson provided the control system DeltaV DCS including PROFINET System Redundancy (S2) support as well as the AMS Device Manager System.
The test scenarios on a network with the maximum number of devices successfully verified performance and reliability with the Pepperl+Fuchs switches. Key performance metrics — such as total net load and redundancy switchover times — met and even surpassed the required standards.
The field switches from Phoenix Contact were subsequently subjected to similar tests and were able to demonstrate their performance. The pre-series switches from R. Stahl were tested as well and based on the valuable results, the optimized devices will be now available for the market launch.
“Thank you to Endress+Hauser for the opportunity to conduct the scalability tests with our PROFINET-APL partners. With the help of their digital field devices, we are able to optimize diverse topics centering around engineering, commissioning and lifecycle in BASF plants and save CAPEX and OPEX costs,” said Gerd Niedermayer, senior expert of emerging automation technologies at BASF.
“With the success of the recent scalability test, the cooperating companies have again proven that the multi-vendor infrastructure is open, future-proof, and ready for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),” emphasized Harald Müller, technical lead of Ethernet-APL and director of technology at Endress+Hauser Temperature+System Products.