By Wil Chin, ARC Advisory Group
Representatives from the FDT Group recently briefed ARC on the organization’s current status and ongoing work to proliferate solutions for field device communications and asset management initiatives. FDT (Field Device Tool) technology is robust and proven, and enjoys great acceptance among process automation suppliers and users. It has been deployed successfully at major projects worldwide. The FDT Group plans to work to increase awareness among end users of its technology and the benefits it offers.
FDT technology essentially standardizes the communication interface between field devices, control systems, and asset management systems. FDT is communication protocol independent, supporting devices that use HART, PROFIBUS, and more recently, Foundation Fieldbus (FF). It allows users to access device data and settings through any protocol or operating system. In the future, it will have the capability of expanding beyond the process and hybrid industries FDT currently serves, to discrete users with the support of other communication protocols. Currently, released FDT interfaces are available for AS-Interface, CompoNet, ControlNet, DeviceNet, Ethernet/IP, IO-Link, Interbus, Modbus SL/TCP, and Profinet I/O with others planned.
Better known in Europe, FDT seeks to increase market awareness of its technology in North America. The Group is engaging users by participating in industry events, and by hosting its own education seminars at several cities in both the U.S. and Canada, including Calgary, Alberta, and Wilmington, Deleware. The FDT Group plans two more seminars this year, in Houston, Texas and Greenville, South Carolina. To improve end user high-level executive awareness, they selected the ARC Forums to showcase FDT technology and will sponsor the Tokyo 08 Forum, Houston 08 Forum, and Orlando 09 Forum.
FDT has also significantly extended its reach, with support for many more field devices. With the addition of newly certified DTMs for Foundation Fieldbus devices, the number of certified DTMs on the FDT Group’s web site has expanded greatly. Previously, FDT was certified for use with HART and PROFIBUS devices. Because a single DTM can support several devices, the hundreds of DTMs listed on the FDT site can support thousands of field devices. According to FDT, five test sites are hard at work certifying additional FF devices. This will help to increase FDT’s presence in the Oil & Gas industry, which has embraced Foundation Fieldbus technology.
One major difference between FDT and EDDL is FDT’s standard interface between field devices (DTMs) and supervisory system (frame application software). Due to the standardization and openness of FDT, DTM’s from any supporting vendor can operate on frame applications from any supplier. The frame application provides a HMI to display device configuration, diagnostics, predictive alerts and more. EDDLs require an application that typically is proprietary, developed by vendors for their products that can be applied to multi-vendors with appropriate testing.
The FDT Group has recently achieved significant success in oil and gas applications. The technology is well suited to large installations, and can support well over 100,000 devices, enabling better asset management initiatives, and helping users to optimize maintenance activities. Following the early membership of Shell and Saudi Aramco, two other major oil and gas end users - Chevron and Petronas, the Malaysian national oil company- have recently joined the FDT Group, indicating major recognition of the value of FDT technology among oil and gas users. Recently, Shell specified FDT and FF technology for a large project in Singapore.
FDT further discussed the results of the WIB lab FDT evaluation report, dated November, 2007, executed by Shell Global Solution (SGS) using the FF protocol. The WIB International Instrument Users' Association, of which SGS is a member, executed the unbiased test on behalf of WIB in their facilities. SGS compared specific FF functionality and evaluated the ability FDT to access and utilize device data for commissioning and maintenance purposes. Five distributed control systems (DCS) with standalone framework applications were tested with five field devices that supported both EDDL and FDT/DTM in all feasible combinations.
In summary, Shell found that both EDDL and FDT/DTM provide significant value. The WIB report concluded and recommended the following:
Conclusions:
- Both EDDL and FDT/DTM as applied to FF devices are not mature yet. For example: limited number of FF device supported, interoperability issues, and FDT/DTM lacked the availability of dtmINSPECTOR during the evaluation
- EDDL provides the data accessibility and functionality necessary for commissioning FF devices
- FDT/DTM in concept provides enhanced data accessibility and extended functionality for commissioning (parameterization) and maintenance of smart FF devices in a very effective manner
Recommendations:
- DCS should support both EDDL and FDT/DTM
- More coverage for FF devices is required. Currently 12 FF DTMs supporting 42 device types are available as of July 2008
- Certification procedures for FDT Frame applications must be implemented
- All DTMs (device/communication/gateway) must be certified using latest version of dtmINSPECTOR
- Improve style guide for DTMs to obtain same look and feel
- Vendors should better exploit the opportunities to implement intelligence in DTMs
A sign of further acceptance for industrial applications, it is expected that FDT technology will be approved as an IEC Committee Draft for vote by IEC members in August. IEC standard status is on schedule for May 2009. The path to approval began three years ago, with the FDT Group and IEC committee members working together to hammer out the details, address any concerns about the technology, and reach consensus on the specifications of the IEC standard.
FDT is picking up steam making significant inroads with end users, particularly in the key Oil & Gas industry. ARC lauds the efforts of the FDT Group to reach out to end users to educate them about the benefits of FDT technology to their operations and maintenance practices. Ensuring successful adoption of FDT will require not only end user training seminars, but a comprehensive marketing campaign that promotes the benefits of FDT technology and the value proposition it offers to both users and process automation suppliers.