Not down to the wire

An Emerson view of how wireless technology could be applied in a power plant.

“If I’m running a power plant in the Middle East, and I have to check on things in 43 degree heat, isn’t it easier to sit at my desk rather than you having to go outside and find out if there is a problem,” asks Baird.

Wireless devices rely on the erection of a so-called wireless mesh network (WMN). First developed by the military, these networks are robust, as they spread communication between several nodes, or connection points.

The stability of the network, and its ability to cope with the tough conditions in the Middle East, thus is not something that concerns the wireless companies.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

They do, however, have some convincing to do when speaking to potential clients. “We get asked: ‘What about sandstorms? Can the wireless deal with the high temperatures?’” says Mols. “The answer is: yes. Although there is some deterioration in the signal, it will just continue perfectly.”

Mols is also keen to allay concerns about the battery life of wireless devices.

“The batteries in Honeywell applications are designed for ultra long life. We are talking about eight years and up, even in this hot region.”

Utility projects in the Middle East, and the GCC in particular, often take on massive proportions. Yet this does not perturb wireless providers such as Honeywell, with Mols stressing that wireless networks are not only robust, but also scalable.

“You’re not limited to 200 applications but you can really talk about thousands of applications per network, and we can run networks over each other – that is also a key point for investment protection.”

Investment protection
For utilities considering whether to adopt wireless, investment protection is of course an important issue. In this context, it helps that the industry has adopted an official standard, the ISA 100.11a.

The standard was adopted in 2009, after representatives from vendors, end users and technology institutes had developed it for over three years.

The standard was crucial for wireless to get out of the blocks, says Mols.

“Once the standard was official, that was a starting point and peace of mind for end user.” A common standard protects the investment made by the end user because the technology is not proprietary, and the client is not locked into one supplier.

“When you invest millions of dollars, you want to make sure that you get support in 10 to 20 years from now, and that you are not locked in with one supplier.”