SEPT 2022 Ebook FINAL - 1

INTECH FOCUS | CONTROL SYSTEMS
An InTech ebook covering the

SEPTEMBER 2022 fundamentals of automation
Control Systems
Launching a
Nationwide Equipment
Network
Exploring Local,
Remote, and
Distributed I/O
Calculating Gas
Compressibility
Protecting Hazardous
Locations from
Explosion
Automation Overhaul
In This Issue
5 Case Study: Launching a Nationwide Equipment Network

By Benson Hougland, Opto 22
ALTA Refrigeration achieves faster, easier product development and servicing with edge
controllers and MQTT.
15 Exploring Local, Remote, and Distributed I/O

By Paul Harris, Moore Industries-Europe
Input/output (I/O) devices have advanced rapidly in recent years; the differentiators are blurring
the lines that separated them.
19 Protecting Hazardous Locations from Explosion

By Jack Smith, Automation.com
Hazardous areas are frequently misunderstood; the topic can be ambiguous. How do we
protect hazardous areas?
27 Automation Overhaul Benefits Smaller Utilities

By Del Williams, for NovaTech Automation
A utility in Texas installed a monitoring and control system rivaling those at much larger
utilities to improve service.
33 Gas Compressibility Factor and Control Valve Sizing

By Jon F. Monsen, Ph.D., PE, for Valin Corporation
A valve-sizing veteran provides perspective on calculating a gas’s compressibility for control
valve sizing.
About InTech FOCUS

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Setting the Standard for Automation™ rbassett@automation.com
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2 INTECH FOCUS SEPTEMBER 2022 WWW.ISA.ORG

Introduction
At a growing rate, automation and control professionals are finding new ways to use edge-
oriented control architectures to enhance complex control systems. Increasingly, industrial
controllers provide new options for industrial control systems that combine the best features
of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and industrial PCs (IPCs). Advances in web-based
supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems continue to transform the process
of installing, configuring, and managing automation and control systems to enhance
manufacturing performance.
InTech magazine is the official publication of ISA—The International Society of Automation. It

is published six times per year. InTech FOCUS is its counterpart, brought to you in conjunction
with Automation.com. This series of electronic magazines focuses on the fundamentals
of essential automation components such as instrumentation, final control elements,
networks, drives, and more. Six times a year, look for InTech FOCUS to learn how to choose
instrumentation and control solutions, as well as apply them, calibrate them, and optimize
their contribution to efficient operations.
Find other ebooks in the series at https://www.automation.com/en-us/resources-list-pages/

InTech-focus-ebooks.
View and subscribe to InTech magazine at https://isa.org/intech.
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| CASE STUDY |
Case Study:
Launching a Nationwide
Equipment Network
By Benson Hougland, Opto 22
ALTA Refrigeration achieves faster, easier product development

and servicing with edge controllers and MQTT.
A
LTA Refrigeration knows the secret to providing superior service and staying competitive
in a changing market. Within a 10-year period, it transformed from a custom engineer-
ing services company into a scalable industrial equipment manufacturer using an edge-
oriented control architecture to efficiently manage a growing installed base.
Originally started in 1975 as Industrial Refrigeration Services, ALTA has been designing and
installing refrigeration systems across the United States for more than 45 years. For a long time,
they were large, custom-designed systems that used a central machine room to deliver refrigerant
to various facility areas through long, overhead piping runs.
“Our customers’ biggest concern is their power bill,” says Peter Santoro, controls engineer at
ALTA. The company’s systems stood out for the level of control they offered, including multiple
operating modes that allowed the equipment to be tuned for optimal efficiency. However, it re-
quired significant time to design and program each unique system, and competitors were able to
steal some of the market share with cheaper, simpler offerings.
“Competitors could use 20 to 30 cheaper units with control limited to a dumb thermostat to
compete against one of ALTA’s large systems,” says Santoro. ALTA knew it couldn’t compete by
reducing its product quality, so the company looked for a way to standardize its offering without
sacrificing features.

| CASE STUDY |
Creating an expert
In 2013, ALTA introduced its EXPERT series of modular refrigeration control units. Each unit used
a standard, more reliable design, and could be mounted on the roof above the area it served,
simplifying installation (figure 1).
According to Santoro, ALTA poured its previous years of experience with system design into
creating the EXPERT product line. “A single EXPERT has almost as much I/O [input/output] as an
entire centralized system, and because the units are much smaller, the wiring and conduit runs
are incredibly short, allowing us to cram in a ton of sensors,” says Santoro. “The units are also
incredibly efficient. We analyze both the external ambient conditions and refrigerated space, and
do real-time thermodynamic calculations. This lets us do variable capacity refrigeration, and only
run exactly the amount of refrigeration as needed.”
All motors are on variable speed drives (VFDs), says Santoro. “We also design many of the sen-
sors we use on the system, allowing us to get precise valve positioning and to monitor refrigerant
levels throughout the system. We make good use of Hall-effect sensors in various configurations
to monitor refrigerant levels and motor positions. There is also a dedicated energy monitor on
each unit so we can monitor voltages and power usage,” he adds.
Since all EXPERT systems are essentially the same, Santoro and his colleague Todd Hedenstrom
could put a higher degree of focused engineering into creating a robust and complete solution
that works with many different applications.
Figure 1. Each EXPERT follows a standard,

reliable design that can be mounted on
the roof above the area it serves.

| CASE STUDY |
A good problem to have

The product rollout worked. EXPERT sales quickly grew to become the bulk of ALTA’s business.
ALTA has sold nearly 600 units and is typically sold out into the next year.
But growth brings its own challenges. While a handful of EXPERTS can replace one of the
older, custom systems, ALTA now averages eight units per site, and service contracts drive ALTA’s
revenue. With only a small control engineering team, servicing the growing installed base became
time consuming.
“Since we are installing sites at a much faster rate, scalability was our main concern,” says
Santoro. “We service the vast majority of our sites, so we need visibility into everything. Our sys-
tems have a long lifetime, and service is super important to our customer relationships. We sell
probably 70 of these a year, and it gets hard to manage all that.”
On top of this, there were some aspects of the previous designs related to system maintenance
that got in the way. The control system required many steps to properly update control strategies
in the field, including exchanging files between the control engine and the web server used for
remote connectivity. It was a sometimes fragile process that made it difficult to train technicians.
Previously, ALTA had also left the details of remote connectivity to each customer. This in-
creased the team’s workload, since they usually checked in on each site every day and had to use
a different method to connect to each one (VPN, Citrix, LogMeIn, TeamViewer, etc.). If they were
going to keep up with the pace of growth, Santoro and Hedenstrom needed a way to remove
these bottlenecks in service delivery.
A more robust solution

ALTA’s centralized control system design was built
around an industrial PC (IPC) running custom C++
code on top of a distributed I/O system from Opto
22. “We’ve been Opto people for something like 37
years,” Hedenstrom adds. So, when he and Santoro
designed the original EXPERT, they simplified the
system by replacing the IPC with an Opto 22 PAC.
This approach was an improvement in some

ways, since all the components of the system could
be managed through the PAC. But it didn’t go as far
as they needed. It still required a multi-step update
Figure 2. ALTA upgraded the EXPERT control
process and didn’t give them as much data access as
system to Opto 22’s groov EPIC to gain access
they wanted. Consequently, they began exploring to more flexible control and communication
Opto 22’s newer groov EPIC system (figure 2). options.

| CASE STUDY |
EPICs, or edge programmable industrial controllers, provide a new option for industrial control
systems that combines the best features of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and IPCs. PLCs
offer a rugged, purpose-built design with many typically expandable options for I/O and device
communication. IPCs offer general-purpose processing power, storage, and networking options to
support more demanding applications and broader functionality, such as cybersecurity, database
management, and high-level programming languages. EPICs support all of these functions on a sin-
gle backplane but typically without the complexity of maintaining a full Windows OS environment.
Santoro and Hedenstrom wanted to use the power and flexibility of an EPIC to develop a
custom solution that reduced the effort required to deploy bug fixes and product updates. They
also wanted a single solution for remote monitoring and thought that groov EPIC’s array of com-
munication options would make that easier.
Building a better fridge

Santoro and Hedenstrom dove seriously into using groov EPIC’s operating system shell to port
their PAC control application to C++, passing over other control engine options to leverage the
language they were most familiar with. “We tried CODESYS on the EPIC,” says Santoro, “but the
freedom and flexibility of going with C++ was too good to pass on.”
The groov EPIC uses a custom Debian Linux distribution that has been stripped down to the essen-
tial components, reducing its memory footprint and potential cyber-attack vectors. Additionally, it has
been cryptographically signed with Opto 22’s private key to prevent installation of any unapproved
software. However, Opto 22 also exposes access to the EPIC’s Linux command-line using the secure
shell protocol (SSH) and a free Shell Access license (GROOV-LIC-SHELL).
“All development is done remotely through the SSH connection in [Microsoft] Visual Studio,”
Santoro explains. You can find the guide Todd Hedenstrom posted in the Opto 22 user forums ex-
plaining how he set up this connection, which allowed him to develop programs in VS and compile
them directly on his EPIC. Once Hedenstrom figured out this basic process, he and Santoro were able
to consolidate most of the control program into their C++ application along with many new features.
The program controls the installed I/O modules—voltage and current sensing inputs and dis-
crete ac outputs—using Opto 22’s C++ OptoMMP SDK, or software development kit. The appli-
cation also includes its own Modbus server that creates and manages connections to VFDs, the
local energy monitoring unit, and other remote devices.
“We [also] have our own REST API [application programming interface] and web server run-
ning on the C++ application,” Santoro adds, “allowing us to create our own web page inter-
faces in HTML and JavaScript. It’s a lot easier to build HTML stuff in familiar tools than with an
HMI [human-machine interface] package. You can do anything.” That includes things like using
Google’s Chart API to display energy metrics in the HMI.

| CASE STUDY |
Each EXPERT’s web interface is served up from its EPIC controller (figure 3). It includes prebuilt
templates for different unit configurations and verifies system settings to help technicians identify
configuration values that are out of range or not recommended. It also generates alarms as needed.
Alternatively, customers can access unit data through the EXPERT’s Modbus server or REST API.
For managing groups of EXPERTs, ALTA uses a separate HMI server to read data from each
unit and present a unified view of the entire system. “All of our sites are required to have a local
interface for operators to see a global view of their refrigeration units, instead of having to man-
age network connections to hundreds of individual units,” Santoro explains.
To create this site-level HMI, each EXPERT stores transient data in the shared memory “scratch-
pad” area of its groov EPIC. ALTA’s HMI server runs on Microsoft Windows and uses Opto 22’s
.NET OptoMMP SDK to retrieve this data from all units in one-second increments. Data is stored
in cyclical files that maintain a one-week buffer, and the HMI server uses this data to generate
trends, charts, and email notifications.
ALTA can also access this data remotely for troubleshooting recent events. By default, groov
EPIC does not route traffic between its Ethernet ports, so ALTA can use the controller to create a
Figure 3. Each EXPERT provides a local unit interface through an embedded web server that runs
on the unit’s EPIC.

| CASE STUDY |
security zone for each EXPERT. One port on each EPIC connects to a private network exclusively
for the controller and its remote devices. The other port is connected to a common network be-
tween all the units at a given site, as well as the local HMI server.
This server is connected to the Internet and uses MQTT to send and receive data, acting as a
middleman for each individual EXPERT to the MQTT broker that resides in ALTA’s headquarters.
When ALTA’s remote HMI requires new data, it sends a request to the local server over MQTT. The
data is queried and sent back. External connections to local HMI servers are restricted so that the
only traffic allowed through is from outbound MQTT TLS connections.
Recently, ALTA also made it possible for its customers to access this remote server. The server
has its own database that records temperatures and energy usage for each EXPERT in 10-minute
intervals. Customers can log into a private web portal to generate reports directly from this data.
Since groov EPIC provides an embedded MQTT client and network firewall, ALTA “also tried
doing unit-level MQTT [communications] to the broker,” Santoro clarifies. “But with some of our
units running on customer networks, it was impossible to guarantee they would allow a direct
Internet connection to the [EPICs]. That’s why we shifted focus to only have our local site server
be the device connected to the broker.”
The coolest service around

How are Santoro, Hedenstrom, and
the ALTA team doing now? In San-
toro’s opinion, “Our service and war-
ranty programs are unprecedented.”
ALTA has built a nationwide HMI

that aggregates data from its net-
work of EXPERT units and highlights
any issues the team needs to act on
(figure 4, figure 5). Instead of spend-
ing hours every day to check on each
site, they can monitor their entire in-
stalled base in minutes. They know
when there is a problem, and they
can input and track necessary work
orders, track technicians’ locations,
and monitor energy usage per unit.
When an alarm occurs, the system
Figure 4. ALTA’s nationwide network connects each
creates an interactive timeline of EXPERT to its central server through a local HMI and
events before and after. MQTT gateway.

| CASE STUDY |
Figure 5. ALTA’s central HMI aggregates data from across its installed base of EXPERT systems.
“Often, we know what the problem is before the customer calls. We just need to drive there
and fix it,” says Santoro. “With the amount of data we get from our units, we are capable of
diagnosing the vast majority of problems remotely. This allows many of our end users to not
even staff onsite maintenance. And [there’s] no interfacing with third-party systems anymore.
It’s all integral.”
“When we used to do centralized

systems, a lot of IoT [Internet of Things]
stuff was near impossible with how the
“With the correct key, a customer could grab the
old systems were structured, he adds. information from ALTA’s nationwide system without
“Because all the central systems could
needing to interface with their local hardware.”
be drastically different, it was difficult to
even consider a ‘dashboard’ to display
them. Having a central web server or da-
tabase was not even considered until we made the full transition to our EXPERT product line (fig-
ure 6). This solution was mostly developed to make our lives easier to support the systems. Having
customers on here is just a big bonus now that everything is externally visible.”

| CASE STUDY |
Figure 6. ALTA’s central HMI continuously monitors its entire installed base, providing intuitive
representation of system health across the country.
Servicing the systems themselves has also become much simpler now that Santoro and He-
denstrom can manage the entire platform—I/O configuration, control strategy, communications,
and networking—through a single device (figure 7). “One of the best features we introduced was
the ability to update the programs through our web interface. Now, a batch program packages
up all the program files into a .gz (compressed) file. Technicians can upload the file and restart
the system. We send the tarball [combination of multiple files], they click update, and the system
takes care of the rest. Much easier,” Santoro says.
Figure 7. ALTA’s nationwide network

serves up performance data on every
unit and allows the team to track and
manage necessary work orders.

| CASE STUDY |
“We have a lot of experience with C++ here, so applying that to the EPIC controllers using
Shell Access has allowed us to rapidly develop these custom solutions with a very small team. The
lead engineer loves to make changes, so we’ve gone through hundreds of revisions.”
ALTA also uses the groov EPIC’s touchscreen as a maintenance interface inside the control
cabinet. The native groov Manage application allows them to view and modify I/O and network
settings directly on the controller without using a separate computer interface. Using the EPIC’s
native HMI server, groov View, ALTA also provides technicians with local control options and basic
information about the Linux program’s status.
But can it get even cooler?

With EPICs as a foundation for their control platform, Santoro and Hedenstrom continue to
dream up even more service offerings. They are working on the ability to remotely update both
the local servers and each individual EXPERT unit from their central web server. The server will
soon have its own REST API as well. With the correct key, a customer could grab the information
from ALTA’s nationwide system without needing to interface with their local hardware at all. Ad-
ditionally, ALTA is considering using the larger storage capacity of the groov EPIC PR2 processor
(GRV-EPIC-PR2) to store the EXPERT’s process history buffer directly on the EPIC, rather than its
local Windows servers.
Other new features are on their way as well, potentially including real-time operational adjust-
ments based on local power rates. And with a large network of performance data to draw on, the
team has also been evaluating integration with a cloud IoT platform for long-term data storage
and predictive control.
Santoro sums it up by saying, “It’s nice to have the EPIC as the IPC with I/O. It’s just simpler.
We can do a lot with a little.” As of writing this case study, ALTA has deployed 200 EPICs in the
field. EXPERT sales are booked solid through the coming year.
All images courtesy of Opto 22.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Benson Hougland is vice president of marketing and product strategy at Opto
22. With 30 years of experience in information technology and industrial automa-
tion, Hougland drives product strategy for Opto 22 automation and control sys-
tems that connect and secure the real world of OT with the systems and networks
of IT and cloud. Hougland speaks at trade shows and conferences, including IBM
Think, ARC Forum, and ISA. His 2014 TEDx Talk introduces non-technical people
to the IoT.

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Exploring Local, Remote,

and Distributed I/O
Input/output (I/O)
devices have
advanced rapidly
in recent years; the
differentiators are
blurring the lines
that separated
them.
Figure 1. Local I/O is typically collocated within the same cabinet.
By Paul Harris
P
rocess and factory automation controllers connect to sensors, instruments, valves, and
other equipment through input/output (I/O) cards or racks that are either collocated within
the same cabinet (local) at the controller/CPU or installed farther away (remote). Defining
the difference between local and remote I/O is straightforward, but the defining differences be-
tween remote I/O and distributed I/O can have their nuances and are further confounded by each
vendor’s definitions or marketing collateral, just as many automation vendors prefer a name like
process automation controller (PAC) over programmable logic controller (PLC).
The most used I/O type is local I/O (figure 1). It is most often from the same vendor as the
controller/CPU, since it is ordinarily directly connected to the controller/CPU by integrated racks
or cages that hold 4-, 8-, 16-, or 32-point I/O cards. Some local I/O expansion racks, or bricks,
as they are often referred to, can be separate from the main CPU and connected over a digital
bus or highway via twisted pair wires or Ethernet cables, albeit installed within the same physi-
cal cabinet. Since local I/O is typically intended to be installed within the same enclosure as the
controller/CPU, environmental operational characteristics and hazardous area approvals are not
as robust as remotely installed I/O.

Remote I/O characteristics

Next comes the challenge of outlining the dif-
ferent characteristics between remote I/O and
distributed I/O, especially since many vendors
refer to them interchangeably. If we use his-
tory and release to market timelines as a ba-
sis, remote I/O was first and thus less flexible,
capable and smart as compared to later re-
leased distributed I/O. Initially, remote I/O was
nothing more than local I/O reconfigured and
housed to be remotely installed from its cor-
responding controller/CPU (figure 2).
Communication was no longer along a

Figure 2. Remote I/O was local I/O reconfigured
backplane but now designed to convert its and housed to be remotely installed from its
connected analog I/O signals to a digital for- corresponding controller/CPU.
mat that was transmitted back to the host
controller over proprietary buses or highways. Remote I/O is limited in scope and does not contain
a complex or advanced CPU or processor to handle math, complex control, and peer-to-peer com-
munication with other remote I/O modules, or allow the connection of additional I/O modules.
While operational characteristics and hazardous approvals exceed that of most Local I/O products,
it is still somewhat more limited than its advanced cousin, distributed I/O.
Distributed I/O characteristics

Distributed I/O harnesses all the capabilities of remote I/O and more. It is likely, but impossible
to determine, that distributed I/O derived its name from “distributed control.” As the name
suggests, distributed I/O is a more complex piece of equipment that can be distributed through-
out a process plant or automation facility without the concern of continuous communication
with its host controller/CPU. This
is because most distributed I/O
“Initially, remote I/O was nothing more than products contain an advanced
local I/O reconfigured and housed to be remotely CPU and often real-time opera-
tion system that allows localized
installed from its corresponding controller/CPU.” control and monitoring, along
with several other capabilities.
Since distributed I/O (figure 3) is designed to exist on its own, it can be a preferred choice of
remote I/O due to its ability to be redundant or fault tolerant should it lose communication with
a primary controller/CPU. In addition, distributed I/O and its advanced capabilities can share
signals between other peer distributed I/O systems from the same vendor or alternative vendors

using industry open or standardized protocols such

as MODBUS RTU. Designed to be used for remote
installations, distributed I/O typically allows for in-
stallation in more harsh operating environments and
often has a minimum of Class I, Div. 2/Zone 2 ap-
provals and sometimes carry Zone 0/1 approvals.
With its diverse capabilities, distributed I/O can be

well suited to not only be a local controller and I/O
device, but it can also have additional built-in capabili-
ties to support peer-to-peer communications, gateway
functions such as HART to MODBUS RTU or MODBUS/
TCP conversion, embedded webservers for ease of
viewing real time process data with an off the shelf Figure 3. Distributed I/O can share
web browser, data logging, and even Industrial Inter- signals between other peer distributed
I/O systems from the same vendor or
net of Things (IIoT) or Industry 4.0 capabilities employ-
alternative vendors using industry
ing message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) pro- open or standardized protocols.
tocol for seamless connections to cloud services like
Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure.
Looking ahead
Recent advances in secure spread spectrum, long range, and mesh wireless telemetry have further
enabled I/O products to provide solutions once thought impossible. WirelessHART, ISA 100, and many
proprietary short- and long-range unlicensed solutions are now optionally embedded directly within
the I/O product itself, spawning an entirely new category of remote or distributed type of I/O solutions.
Regardless of type, I/O products have advanced incredibly fast during the last decade. So much
so that several of the abovementioned differentiators have blurred the once defined lines that
separated them. For the user, it is imperative that each vendor’s solution and technology offering
be thoroughly examined to ensure functional, operational, and design compliance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Harris is the sales and operations manager of Moore Industries Europe Inc.
Before being named SAOM in 2019, Harris held various roles within the company,
rising from junior test engineer through to the position of export sales manager.
Joining Moore Industries in 1983, he quickly became a progressor who could span
a breadth of process control instrumentation technologies and is now account-
able for implementing the company’s policies while directing local strategies to
enhance the overall growth of the EMEA regions.

| EC11-13USA |
Entry-level control High-end control
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in between
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basic CPU modules offer the high computing and graphics performance of the Intel Atom® multi-core generation
with the added benefit of lower heat dissipation in enclosures. The basic configuration includes an integrated I/O
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Protecting Hazardous
Locations from
Explosion
Understand the types
of hazardous areas and
variety of explosion
protection methods to
best protect industrial
operations.
By Jack Smith, Automation.com and InTech
A
n explosion is an exothermic, or heat-releasing, reaction of a substance at a high reac-
tion rate. It requires the presence of an explosive mixture/atmosphere and an ignition
source, plus an extraneous cause that triggers the explosion (figure 1). The potential for
an explosion is present where electrical equipment and potentially explosive mixtures coexist.
Protection and/or mitigation must be incorporated to prevent explosions. Approved methods
that provide protection from ignition in potentially explosive areas must be designed into elec-
trical equipment and processes.
Explosion protection methods include exclusion, containment, and ener-

gy-limiting technologies. A common form of the latter is known as intrin-
sic safety. We’ll look at these methods for protecting various types of
hazardous areas in process plants with the help of Jesse Hill, process
industry manager at Beckhoff Automation LLC.
Figure 1. An explosion cannot occur if one of these three

components is missing. Courtesy: Beckhoff Automation

The need for explosion protection

Piper Alpha was an offshore production
facility operated by Occidental Petro-
leum Limited that exploded and sank in
July 1988 and killed 165 people. Work-
ers were performing maintenance on a
pressure relief valve, and they didn’t fin-
ish before the end of the shift. They put
a temporary seal in place, and that com-
munication didn’t get to the next shift.
There was a gas leak, which hit an emis-
sion source and caused the explosion. The
economic impact was almost $2 billion. Figure 2. Aftermath of the 2005 explosion at the BP
refinery in Texas City, Texas. Courtesy: U.S. Chemical and
In 2005, BP’s Texas City Refinery was
Hazard Safety Investigation Board
the second-largest oil refinery in the state
and the third largest in the United States. On March 23, an explosion occurred when a vapor
cloud of natural gas and petroleum ignited and violently exploded at the isomerization process
unit and killed 15 workers, injured 180 others, and severely damaged the refinery (figure 2). Fac-
tors contributing to the explosion included serious issues with items of safety-critical equipment
that had not been resolved prior to the startup: an inoperative pressure-control valve, a defective
high-level alarm in the raffinate splitter tower, and a defective sight glass used to indicate fluid
levels at the base of the splitter tower. Also, the vital splitter tower-level transmitter had not been
calibrated.
These and other examples highlight the importance of explosion protection planning. Every
plan involves assessing the risk to be found in a given area, and that requires an understanding
of the definitions for hazardous classes, zones, and groups.
Understanding class, zones, and groups

The following categories define hazardous (also known as “classified”) areas:
● Class: The type of hazard present. For example, in the United States, Class I denotes gases and
vapors; Class II denotes dust.
● Division or Zone: The likelihood that the potential for a fire or explosion exists. Division 1 and
Zone 0 or 1 are more dangerous than Division 2 and Zone 2.
● Group: The specific “type” of medium present creating the hazard.

Figure 3. Area classifications in North America compared to ATEX. Courtesy: Beckhoff Automation
Codes and standards in North America are NFPA 70: National Electrical Code (NEC) and CSA
C22.1-2021: Canadian Electrical Code. In North America, there is an additional hazardous area,
which is divided into Division 1 and Division 2. Throughout the rest of the world (e.g., ATEX),
Division 1 is divided into two zones, with Zone 0 being more dangerous than Zone 1 (figure 3).
Explosion protection methods

Engineers designing electrical equip-
ment and processes for use in haz-
ardous areas have an abundance of
explosion protection methods at their
disposal. These methods are exclu-
sion, containment, and energy-limit-
ing technologies (figure 4). Examples
of exclusion methods are oil immer-
sion, purge, and pressurization. Con-
tainment includes explosion-proof or
flame-proof enclosures. Energy-limit-
ing technologies include non-incen- Figure 4. The three types of explosion protection
dive and intrinsic safety. Each method technologies each have different methods for
has advantages and disadvantages. preventing explosions. Courtesy: Beckhoff Automation

Exclusion
Exclusion involves removing the fuel source from the ignition source. Examples of exclusion meth-
ods are encapsulation/oil immersion, purge, and pressurization. Encapsulation is an explosion
protection concept whereby electrical equipment that could potentially cause an ignition is en-
capsulated within a compound or resin to prevent contact with an explosive atmosphere.
Oil filled is a type of explosion protection applied to an electrical apparatus so that all internal
parts that are capable of igniting a flammable atmosphere are completely immersed in oil so they
cannot come into contact with those atmospheres. Sand/powder/quartz filled is a method of ex-
plosion protection in which electrical equipment capable of ignition is in a sealed enclosure filled
with quartz or glass powder particles. “However, the most prevalent exclusion method in North
America is purge/pressurization,” says Hill.
Before an enclosure with equipment not rated for that area is energized, it must be purged.
A purge involves subjecting the enclosure to five times its volume of inert gas like nitrogen or air
to purge any hazardous gases out of it, then maintaining a slight positive pressure so hazardous
gases cannot get in. Applications where dust is present can’t be purged, but protection comes
from performing a meticulous cleaning, then applying positive pressure.
The three types of purge systems are X, Y, and Z, according to Hill. A Type X purge system re-
duces the classification within the protected enclosures from Division 1 to non-hazardous. General-
purpose equipment can be operated within the protected enclosure. A disadvantage of X purge is
that if the positive pressure air supply is lost, there must be an automatic shutdown in place.
A Type Y purging system reduces the classification within the protected enclosure from Divi-
sion 1 to Division 2. All equipment used within the enclosure must be Division-2-rated. A Type
Z purge system reduces the classification within the protected enclosure from Division 2 to non-
hazardous. General-purpose equipment can be operated within the protected enclosure. With Y
and Z purges, if purging air pressure is lost, an audible alarm must be activated, but an automatic
shutdown is not required.
The purge and pressurization method has advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages Disadvantages
● The only practical solution for some ap- ● Clean air or a protective gas can be expensive
plications and requires regular maintenance
● Can protect large volumes, panels and ● May take up a lot of real estate or be too large
even entire control rooms for some applications
● Systems and expertise are readily available ● Loss of pressurization could shut down production
● General purpose equipment can be used ● Safety concerns for personnel if nitrogen is used
in an area where they normally could not ● Class 1 Div. 2 equipment still required for Y purge
(X and Y purge)

Containment
Containment allows the fuel source to reach the ignition source, but it contains any explosion,
thereby preventing a catastrophic event. Explosion proof or flameproof technologies are the only
methods of protection that don’t prevent explosions. They actually allow it. There are many ap-
plications for explosion proof containment, and materials are readily available. Many distributors
seem to be always nearby with conduit, rigid conduit, and explosion proof enclosures.
According to Hill, gases are allowed inside explosion proof enclosures. A necessary defined
gap is present in the flange (figure 5). If and when gases penetrate the enclosure and there is
an arc or spark, there will be an explosion as hot gases and pressure try to escape the enclosure.
“The gases will try to escape via the conduit run because it’s the biggest opening,” says Hill.
Explosion proof seals are poured at the conduit (and other) openings, which prevent the hot gases
and pressure from escaping through that path. For these reasons, explosion proof installations
must be properly designed, installed, and maintained.
Although the meticulously designed gap has normal clearance during equipment operation,
they are made to expand when there is an explosion. There are specific torque ratings for the
enclosure bolts. If not closed correctly, the gap may become slightly wider, which will cause a
problem.
The explosion proof method has advantages and disadvantages.
● Only method available for some applications ● Must be meticulously maintained
● Expertise must be readily available ● Internal electronics not easily available
● Can protect almost any type of device ● Cannot work on “hot”
● Readily available in many sizes and types ● Does not prevent explosions
Figure 5. An explosion-proof enclosure

must have designed-in gaps. Courtesy:
Beckhoff Automation

Energy-limiting technologies
The “intrinsic safety” technique of energy-limiting explosion protection is universally accepted
and applied worldwide as the preferred method of protection in potentially explosive atmo-
spheres. The objectives of intrinsic safety are to limit current, limit voltage, and limit stored elec-
trical energy.
Intrinsic safety is the safest form of explosion protection, the least expensive to implement,
and the easiest method to deploy. It is the only method of explosion protection approved for Zone
0, the most hazardous area recognized by ATEX, IECEx, and NEC (Article 505). Zone 0 is consid-
ered to be “continuously” hazardous.
“Intrinsic safety is required to withstand two electrical faults and remain safe. It also is inher-
ently safer for personnel, as its energy limiting principle typically only allows up to 30 volts or 100
mA to the hazardous area,” says Hill.
The two types of intrinsic safety devices are Zener barriers and galvanically isolated barriers.
Zener barriers are relatively inexpensive passive devices. They don’t modify signals. They only limit
the energy so no signal conditioning is required. The Zener diodes load the energy and shunt
any overvoltage to ground, which means it is important to have an approved, intrinsically safe
ground. Galvanically isolated barriers are active devices that also can perform signal conditioning.
They are application specific and require no intrinsically safe ground.
Figure 6 shows a basic circuit design of a Zener diode barrier. The circuit includes an energy
source, fuse, resistor, or Zener diode that shunts any overvoltage to the intrinsically safe ground.
Figure 6. A basic circuit design of a Zener diode barrier. Courtesy: Beckhoff Automation

Hill says an intrinsically safe ground must be separate from other grounding, and it must be a
minimum of 12 AWG. It must be labeled as intrinsically safe, and it cannot exceed 1 Ohm. ANSI/
ISA recommended practice also recommends that there be redundant intrinsically safe grounds,
which can simplify testing but also cuts the resistance in half. The resistance must be less than 1
Ohm.
Hill says a big advantage of intrinsic safety over explosion proof is that safe area wiring prac-
tices can be used. No rigid conduit and no cord seals are required. “When it comes to intrinsic
safety, I.S. stands for intrinsic safety. But when it comes to wiring, it stands for identification and
separation,” he says.
Intrinsically safe wiring must be identified. Light blue is the universal color for intrinsic safety.
If that is not practical, wiring must be labeled as intrinsically safe every 25 feet. In addition to
identification, the wiring must be kept separate from non-intrinsically safe wiring. They must be
separated by 50 millimeters or 2 inches.
The intrinsic safety method has advantages and disadvantages.
● Safest method of explosion protection ● Not viable for some high-powered applica-
● Least expensive to install and maintain tions
● Only method that you can work on “hot’’ ● Requires approved field devices in many
cases
● Takes up less space than other methods
● Only method approved for Zone 0
Final thoughts
While explosion protection methods include exclusion and containment, energy-limiting technol-
ogies, especially intrinsic safety, are the most widely used. Intrinsic safety offers the safest, most
cost effective, and easiest way to deploy solutions that safeguard process operations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jack Smith (jsmith@automation.com) is a contributing editor for Automation.com
and ISA’s InTech magazine. He spent more than 20 years working in industry—
from electrical power generation to instrumentation and control, to automation,
and from electronic communications to computers—and has been a trade journal-
ist for 22 years.

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Automation Overhaul
Benefits Smaller Utilities
By Del Williams
A utility in Texas installed a monitoring and control system

rivaling those at much larger utilities to improve service.
T
raditionally, small municipal electrical utilities like the one in Seguin, Texas, have believed
that implementing a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system was out of
reach due to the perceived high initial costs, high licensing fees, and complexity.
However, advances in web-based SCADA systems have transformed the process of installing,
configuring, and managing these systems to control substation performance. Modern web-based
systems streamline installation and maintenance and provide engineers with a modern user inter-
face they can easily configure—a factor that now allows even smaller cities to operate like large
investor-owned utilities with hundreds of substations.

SCADA integration plan

Consider the scenario in Seguin, Texas. The utility embarked on an ambitious plan to integrate a
new SCADA system with Outage Management System software, citywide Wi-Fi, advanced me-
tering infrastructure (AMI) technology, GIS mapping, and energy efficiency software to improve
customer reliability and education. The system was designed to enable utility engineering teams
to manage a dispersed network and more efficiently support the cooperative’s mission for reli-
able, cost-effective service.
The Seguin had no trouble justifying the SCADA investment, even though there are only three
substations. The system provides the same degree of monitoring and control system as imple-
mented by larger utilities. Seguin has a population of 25,090. Approximately 8,200 residential
customers, as well as several large industrial facilities, rely on power from the electrical system.
The utility operates three substations with 14 circuits, which requires 19 employees to manage
110 miles of overhead and 26 miles of underground electric lines.
To complete this ambitious SCADA implementation, the city turned to M&S Engineering, a
full-service electrical, civil, and subsurface utility engineering and surveying firm, to develop all
the specifications outlined in the initial bid.
“The system uses open-source web technologies and preconfigured template

pages, which simplifies the building of interactive SCADA and local HMI screens.”
Solutions for Seguin

For the physical infrastructure and sensors, M&S Engineering specified an AMI system from Aclara
that includes nine collectors that gather smart meter readings. AMI systems enable electric utili-
ties to collect and harness the power of smart meters, edge devices, and data to meet challenges
such as substation monitoring, load monitoring, load control/demand response, fault detection/
outage management, distributed generation, conservation voltage reduction, and customer en-
gagement. The data is then transmitted over a newly installed, citywide Strix Wi-Fi system to a
central network, which allows multiple users and departments to access the information.
To enhance communication and decision-making, assets such as electric poles and meters are
now mapped and coordinated through ESRI, a geographic information system (GIS) mapping
company. The GPS coordinates facilitate more efficient dispatching of utility trucks and service
crews when needed. For the SCADA system, M&S Engineering selected the OrionLX system, a
communication and automation processor, from the Power Division of NovaTech Automation
(Lenexa, Kan.), a substation automation company that has served the power transmission and
distribution market for more than 30 years.

The communication and automation processor can connect to nearly any substation device
in its native protocol, perform advanced math and logic, and securely present the source or cal-
culated data to any number of clients in their own protocol. The system can be integrated with
practically any equipment, usually microprocessor-based relays, meters, and other intelligent elec-
tronic devices, as well. It is then connected to the SCADA system.
The system uses open-source web technologies and preconfigured template pages, which
simplifies the building of interactive SCADA and local human-machine interface (HMI) screens
to view data from connected intelligent electronic devices and remote terminal units (RTUs) us-
ing standard web browsers. Engineers can open multiple browsers to have graphical interfaces
for the different substations and key remote monitoring features on different tabs, which eases
network monitoring. Multiple users can be logged in simultaneously.
For the most economical setup, Seguin opted to install a communication and automation
processor in each of its three substations that connect wirelessly to a browsing PC with mul-
tiple monitors, each representing a substation. Another configuration option for smaller utilities
is a centralized model, in which a communication
and automation processor is installed in the central
office (taking the place of the browsing PC) that
accesses each substation communication and au-
tomation processor, then serves up the information
to connected networks.
The communication and automation proces-

sor RTU (figure 1) has improved in the integration
of functions previously accomplished by separate
physical devices. For example, separate alarm an-
nunciators and PCs do not have to be connected
to the RTU—only a monitor, keyboard, and mouse
need to be connected. The communication and
automation processor tile annunciator is a pre-
engineered product that can be set up in minutes
to provide alarm status. When combined with se-
quence of events recording, relay event retrieval,
intelligent electronic device faceplates, one-line
diagrams, control screens, and trending, the com-
munication and automation processor can serve as
a complete substation HMI or an economical small
SCADA system. Figure 1. Typical communication and
automation processor RTU panel with direct
One-line diagrams in the HMI show the status video monitor, input/output (I/O), panel
of the entire substation at a glance. This enables metering, and intelligent electronic devices.

Figure 2. Intelligent electronic

device “Zoom screen” showing
real-time animation of feeder
relay status. In this example,
more than 80 real-time values
from the relay are available on
this page.
dispatch teams to quickly tell which feeders are open and if there are voltage issues. Feeder
breaker zoom screens allow more detailed information to be viewed at the office, including
ground trip blocked, non-reclosing, max amperage, power factor, and fault currents (figure
2). History of events can be accumulated, such as breaker trips, breaker lockouts, reclosers
blocked or enabled, low voltage events, high voltage events, and maximum amperage for
each circuit.
M&S Engineering also was asked to integrate the SCADA system with Milsoft’s Outage Man-
agement System (OMS). OMS’s are efficient at identifying outage locations and providing real-
time alerts. The systems also record the history of outages and alert customers about the status
of outages and repairs.
As part of the project, M&S also specified an upgrade of all electromechanical relays to mi-
croprocessor relays from Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL). NovaTech developed settings
that allowed the SEL relays to be accessed by the communication and automation processor,
including real-time data and fault information.
“Relays keep detailed records of the electrical conditions at the time of a fault, and that in-
formation can be accessed remotely to provide technicians with critical information on where to
go and what might need to be corrected,” says Ray Wright, Senior Vice President of Marketing
for NovaTech. “You don’t want to have a technician going out and searching the line for miles
to find the problem and then have to go back to the shop to get the needed equipment. Ideally,
you want to say, ‘Drive to this GPS location, bring a spare fuse, and fix the [known] problem.’ ”
Minimizing dispatches
After the SCADA system, microprocessor-based relays, and other components were installed, the
city could respond to issues more quickly, resulting in shorter outage times for customers. Previ-
ously, personnel would have to drive out to a substation when there was an issue with a feeder
or transformer. Now, most issues are diagnosed remotely.

“Now, the monitoring is done from the office. The engineering team remotely logs into the
substation devices to view the data, settings, sequence of events, and make changes if needed.
They usually do not have to visit the substations in person, so the labor involved in monthly checks
is significantly reduced,” says Wright.
“With SCADA, they can monitor and capture events such as low voltage or high voltage at the
bus, which helps when troubleshooting customer complaints and enables remote manual control
of voltage regulators,” adds Wright. SCADA also allows the city to monitor the power factor on
individual circuits and then to switch capacitors in or out, without having to depend on other
companies.
The city of Seguin plans additional system upgrades, including an energy efficiency program
featuring a new VoIP phone system and approximately eight additional Wi-Fi units and accompa-
nying antennas to improve “self-healing” properties. The utility is also investigating automated
switching, which would involve adding control panels and motors to the existing air break switch-
es to facilitate operations through the SCADA system.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Del Williams is a technical writer based in Torrance, Calif. He writes about
health, business, technology, and educational issues, and has an MA in English
from C.S.U. Dominguez Hills.

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Gas Compressibility
Factor and Control
Valve Sizing
By Jon F. Monsen, Ph.D., PE
A valve-sizing veteran provides perspective on calculating

a gas’s compressibility for control valve sizing.
T
he basic gas control valve sizing equation can be found in ISA-75.01.01-2012, “Industrial-
Process Control Valves, Part 2-1: Flow Capacity,” and in “IEC 60534-2-1 (Second Edition).”
These standards show the valve sizing equation to take this form when arranged to be
solved for “C”:
C is defined as being either Cv or ¬Kv (calculated required valve capacity) depending on the value
of N6. This equation requires a value for the upstream gas density where the symbol for density is

ρ (rho). The equation assumes that the user knows an accurate density value. There are accurate
tables for a few gases, the best example being steam, but such accurate information is not readily
available for most industrial gases. The standards—the ISA and IEC standards are, for all practical
purposes, identical—make allowance for this by including two additional equations.
These equations, one based on mass flow units (symbol W) and one on volumetric flow units
at standard conditions (symbol Qs) substitute for the upstream density a calculation of density
based on the ideal gas equation using the molecular weight of the gas, its upstream pressure, and
upstream temperature. To correct for the fact that a gas density calculation using the ideal gas
equation does not always duplicate actual behavior, the standards include the compressibility fac-
tor (symbol Z) to include the degree to which a particular gas does not follow ideal gas behavior.
The equation for mass flow is:
A method for determining the value to use for the compressibility factor is outside the scope
of the standards.
Experience has shown that for most gases used in industrial processes, and at the pressures and
temperatures that they are normally used, for valve sizing purposes, assuming a compressibility
factor of 1.0 is usually (but not always) sufficient. There are equations of state that predict the real
density of gases, with varying
degrees of accuracy. Some of
“To correct for the fact that a gas density calculation
these are included with pip-
using the ideal gas equation does not always ing system analysis applica-
duplicate actual behavior, the standards include the tions. These applications can
be expensive, at least from
compressibility factor (symbol Z).”
my point of view.
Spreadsheet development background

In 1987, when I was developing Hammel-Dahl’s first control valve sizing application, I chose to
use Van der Waals equation of state, though it is not as accurate as more complex equations, to
account for the non-ideal behavior of gases. Advantages of using Van der Waals equation are
that it is fairly simple and can be written in terms of the compressibility factor and the reduced
pressure and reduced temperature of the gas1:
It is significant to note that this is of the same form as the generalized compressibility chart,
namely, Z = ƒ(Pr, Tr). An iterative solution is required.

Figure 1. Calculation for carbon dioxide—process data for this application yields a compressibility
factor of 0.70.
In later years, whenever I needed to size a valve for gas service when I suspected that the com-
pressibility might become a factor, I would look up the compressibility factor using the Nelson-
Obert Generalized Compressibility Charts2. These charts can be found at: http://eon.sdsu.edu/
testhome/Test/solve/basics/tables/tablesRG/zNO.html.
Some time ago, I got tired of reading the charts, which requires some visual interpolation
(and eye strain), and made a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet where I tabulated many reduced
pressure and reduced temperature points from the Nelson-Obert charts and included a two-
dimensional interpolation scheme that yields a compressibility factor for most gases for which
I can find the critical pressure and temperature. The use of this spreadsheet is the topic of
this article.
Figure 1 is a screenshot of the sheet showing a calculation for carbon dioxide. The calcula-
tion in figure 1 shows a compressibility factor of 0.7. In this case, assuming a compressibility
factor of 1.0 when it is really 0.7 would result in a Cv calculation that would be about 20
percent high. When the compressibility factor decreases, so does the calculated required valve
capacity (Cv or Kv).
The worksheet can be downloaded at no charge from: www.Control-Valve-Application-Tools.

com. An alternate site is: www.industrydocs.org/.

Spreadsheet construction procedure

The Gas Compressibility Factor for Control Valve Sizing worksheet can also be constructed using
the following instructions:
Screen 1. User interface.
Screen 2. Unit conversion inputs.

Screen 3. Calculations.
Screen 4. Worksheet Table 1.
Creating the worksheet

Create an Excel worksheet based on Screen 1 through
Screen 5. In these images, color coding of worksheet
entries is as follows:
● Black cell entries are text typed into the cell.
● Red cell entries are formulas that are listed in Table A

and must be typed into that cell.
● Green cell entries are copies of each red cell entry, but
instead of typing in the formula, copy the formula
in the red cell and paste it into the three cells to the
right of the red cell.
Screen 5. Worksheet Table 2.

Table A. Formulas to be entered into the Excel sheet.
There are two tables in the worksheet: Table 1 in Screen 4 and Table 2 in Screen 5. Type in the
numerical values as shown. Then name the tables by highlighting the data shown inside the red
box, and from the Excel Formulas tab, select “Define name” and type in the name of the table
(TABEL1 or TABLE2) and click OK.
The Nelson-Obert charts are said to have an accuracy within 1 to 2 percent for Z values greater
than 0.6 and within 4 to 6 percent for Z values of 0.3 to 0.6. The generalized compressibility factor
graphs may be considerably in error for strongly polar gases, with errors as great as 15 to 20 percent.
The quantum gases hydrogen, helium, and neon do not conform to the corresponding states
behavior, and the reduced pressure and temperature for those three gases should be redefined
in the following manner to improve the accuracy of predicting their compressibility factors when
using the generalized graphs:
where temperatures are in Kelvin and pressures are in atmospheres.

The worksheet is valid for reduced pressures between 0.0 and 20 and for reduced tempera-
tures between 1.0 and 15. The Nelson-Obert low pressure chart gives some data for reduced
temperatures less than 1.0, but there is not enough data to lend it to the present method of
tabulating data and interpolating between given data points. I think the reason for this scarcity
of data is that the authors of the chart were not able to find much good agreement between
various gases and their compressibility factors in the area between the reduced temperature (Tr)
= 1.0 isotherm and the saturated vapor line.
Although the worksheet is configured for conventional U.S. units (degrees F and pounds per
square inch absolute), there is a space to the right of the user interface where the user can eas-
ily change the conversion factors for other temperature and pressure units. If you change the
conversion factors, you also can edit the unit designations in column B of the user interface to
agree with your revised conversion factors. Keep in mind that all the calculations are carried out
in absolute pressure and temperature units.
The Nelson-Obert charts are said to have an accuracy

within 1 to 2 percent for Z values greater than 0.6 and
within 4 to 6 percent for Z values of 0.3 to 0.6.
How it all works

A brief explanation of how the worksheet functions follows:
● The worksheet calculates the compressibility factor (Z) based on a table (TABLE1) of tabulat-
ed values of compressibility factors taken from the Nelson-Obert Generalized Compressibility
Charts for a range of reduced pressures and reduced temperatures. To account for pressures
and temperatures between the tabulated reduced pressures and temperatures, the work-
sheet does three sets of linear interpolations.
● At the tabulated value of Tr below, the user’s given value of Tr, the worksheet finds Z at the
user’s given value of Pr by interpolating between the tabulated value of Pr above the user’s
given value of Pr and the tabulated value of Pr below the user’s given value of Pr.
● The worksheet then repeats the above process at the tabulated value of Tr above the user’s
given value of Tr.

● The worksheet then has values of Z at the user’s input value of Pr, at the tabulated values of
Tr below, and above the user’s input value of Tr.
● The final step is to interpolate between these two values of Z to find the value of Z at the
user’s input values of Pr and Tr. You can follow the above process in columns S, T, U, and V,
rows 6 through 21, where each step is briefly described in column W.
● The worksheet determines the correct column to use in Table 1 by using a VLOOKUP func-
tion in Table 2.
● It then determines the correct row to use in Table 1 by using a VLOOKUP function in Column
1 of Table 1.
Using the worksheet

The worksheet has room for up to four sets of process conditions, making it compatible with
many of the valve manufacturer’s control valve sizing programs, which typically are configured to
perform simultaneous calculations for up to four sets of process data.
The user interface is in the upper left corner of the worksheet. You can optionally enter the
name of the gas and the tag number of the valve for which you are doing calculations, for your
reference, if you are going to either save or print out the worksheet.
Enter the critical temperature and critical pressure of the gas, and up to four upstream tem-
peratures and pressures. The fields where the calculated compressibility factor(s) appear will re-
main blank until all required data has been entered. It is possible to use other units than PSIA and
degrees F for either and/or both upstream and critical pressure and temperature. See the area just
to the right of the user interface.
For your reference, below the data and results area, the reduced temperature (Tr) and reduced
pressure (Pr) being used in the calculation are displayed along with a note stating whether Tr and
Pr are within or outside the limits of the worksheet.
If you have entered temperatures or pressures that result in Tr or Pr that are outside the stated
limits, the COMPRESS. FACTOR (Z) field will read #NA and the notes below that will state which
parameter is out of limits.
When the process approaches the critical point (Tr and Pr both equal 1.0), the compressibility
factor changes very rapidly, making it difficult to accurately read the charts or interpolate be-
tween points. This is especially notable at the critical temperature (Tr = 1.0) and reduced pres-
sures (Pr) between about 1.0 and 2.0. Also, if you look at the medium pressure Nelson-Obert
chart, the Tr isotherm of 1.0 is almost vertical as it approaches the critical pressure (Pr = 1.00).

This is because, in this area, the compressibility fac-

References:
tors of various gases do not all appear at the same
1. Van Wylan, G. J., and Sonntag,
point on the Tr = 1.0 isotherm. When the worksheet
R.E. Second corrected printing
returns a compressibility factor (Z) of less than 0.35,
1968. “Fundamentals of Clas-
the compressibility factor will be shown in red to re-
sical Thermodynamics,” New
mind users that their process conditions are close to
York: Wiley, p 358
the critical point.
2. Nelson, L.C. and Obert, E.F.
Link to ISA-75.01.01-2012, Industrial-Process Con-
Chemical Engineering v. 61, No.
trol Valves, Part 2-1: Flow Capacity: https://www.isa.
7, pp 203-208 (1954)
org/products/ansi-isa-75-01-01-2012-60534-2-1-
mod-industrial-pr
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jon F. Monsen, Ph.D., PE, (jmonsen@valin.com) is a control valve technology
consultant for Valin Corporation with more than 40 years of experience. He has
lectured nationally and internationally about control valve application and siz-
ing, and he is the author of the chapter on “Computerized Control Valve Sizing”
in the ISA Practical Guides book on control valves. Monsen is also the author of
the book Control Valve Application Technology: Techniques and Considerations
for Properly Selecting the Right Control Valve. He hosts a website (www.Control-
Valve-Application-Tools.com), where he offers free information and Excel work-
sheets that might be of interest to those who specify or use control valves.

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SEPT 2022 Ebook FINAL - 1

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INTECH FOCUS | CONTROL SYSTEMS

An InTech ebook covering the

5 Case Study: Launching a Nationwide Equipment Network

15 Exploring Local, Remote, and Distributed I/O

19 Protecting Hazardous Locations from Explosion

27 Automation Overhaul Benefits Smaller Utilities

33 Gas Compressibility Factor and Control Valve Sizing

About InTech FOCUS

International Society of Automation Renee Bassett, Chief Editor

Chris Nelson, Account Executive

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InTech magazine is the official publication of ISA—The International Society of Automation. It

Find other ebooks in the series at https://www.automation.com/en-us/resources-list-pages/

View and subscribe to InTech magazine at https://isa.org/intech.

Jack Smith, Contributing Editor

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By Benson Hougland, Opto 22

ALTA Refrigeration achieves faster, easier product development

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Figure 1. Each EXPERT follows a standard,

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A good problem to have

A more robust solution

This approach was an improvement in some

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Building a better fridge

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The coolest service around

ALTA has built a nationwide HMI

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“When we used to do centralized

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Figure 7. ALTA’s nationwide network

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But can it get even cooler?

All images courtesy of Opto 22.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Get the process detail you need from your

Connect up to 64 Smart HART devices and

Exploring Local, Remote,

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Remote I/O characteristics

Communication was no longer along a

Distributed I/O characteristics

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using industry open or standardized protocols such

With its diverse capabilities, distributed I/O can be

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Entry-level control High-end control

CPU: ARM Cortex™-A8 CPU: AMD-Ryzen™

CPU: Intel Atom® multi-core

CX5230: Intel Atom® processor, CX5240: Intel Atom® processor,

By Jack Smith, Automation.com and InTech

Explosion protection methods include exclusion, containment, and ener-

Figure 1. An explosion cannot occur if one of these three

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