Editor’s choice
pressure sensor may be situated hundreds of metres from its controller.
What is ABB’s involvement in the development of Ethernet-APL? In today’s era of Internet 4.0 and the Internet of Things, manufacturing companies are seeking new possibilities to digitalise industrial processes and drive improvements in their operational effi- ciency. Fundamental to this is the realisation of a new physical layer standard that extends the familiar benefits of Ethernet communications to field instrumentation level in hazardous as well as non-hazardous environments. As a leading vendor of instrumentation devices as well as the automation systems that control their operation, ABB has been a key collaborator in the development of Ethernet-APL (Advanced Physical Layer). This initiative repre- sents the successful cooperation of twelve major process automation industry suppliers and four international standardisation organisations. Formally released in 2020, Ethernet-APL is intentionally built around robust open industry standards. Helping to promote inter-vendor operability, this open approach expands the ecosystem of Ethernet-APL compliant products and solutions on the market from ABB and other vendors. This encourages innovation while driving down hardware, integration and support costs to industrial end users.
perspective of the process industries? A major advantage of Ethernet-APL for process plant owners is its intrinsic safety that has been developed
Ethernet has been a networking mainstay in the IT world and area of discrete automation for decades. What has restricted its popularity in the process industries?
Ethernet is no stranger to the process indus- tries. For many years the IT world’s de facto networking standard has been used as the phys- ical layer in industrial applications for carrying instrumentation data between field devices and controllers, using protocols like PROFINET and Modbus. Until recently, however, Ethernet has been effectively off-limits in hazardous environments like chemical, oil and gas and pharmaceuticals plants, distilleries, and new hydrogen applications.
A big issue with ‘ordinary’ Ethernet is the risk of sparking in flammable and explosive atmospheres that can have catastrophic conse- quences. The further limitation of relatively short cable runs between devices – 100m at best – also restricts Ethernet’s appeal in large-scale process plants where a temperature, flow or
Continued on page 14... Instrumentation Monthly January 2025 13
with hazardous environments in mind. In particular the standard features an operating profile that limits voltage and current. This effectively eliminates the danger of electrical sparking that occurs when a standard Ethernet cable lands on a device in flam- mable or explosive atmospheres such as in an oil & gas or chemical facility.
Carrying bi-directional (full duplex) data at up to 10 Mbit/sec, Ethernet-APL is orders of magni- tude faster than earlier generations of low-speed HART and Fieldbus communication protocols. That is advantageous for today’s process plant oper- ators, allowing them to transport huge amounts of process and engineering data between field devices, controllers and automation systems. This deluge of instrumentation information can be harnessed in a number of ways. It can be used to surface valuable operational insights that allow plant owners to optimise process quality and effi- ciency. It can also be used for remote monitoring of device health and execution of data-driven preventative maintenance strategies. Another big attraction of Ethernet-APL is its ability to simultaneously carry large amounts of instrumentation, control, configuration and diag- nostic data – as well as device power – over a single twisted pair in a shielded cable. Long cable runs of up to 1,000m are supported: that is ten times greater than regular Ethernet. Adding to its appeal in process automation environments, Ethernet-APL is ‘protocol agnostic’, playing nicely with many common industrial communication protocols including PROF- INET, OPC UA, and Ethernet/IP. It also offers the appeal of simple, robust installation. Field devices such as flowmeters and sensors can be connected through point-to-point links with the
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