News COMMENT
Welcome to the October issue of Instrumentation Monthly. The Instrumentation & Electronics Awards have taken place, and this year’s winners
have been announced. Celebrating standout products, companies and individuals, the awards recognise innovation and achievement across the industry. With new categories recognising industrial AI, passive components, and academic support, this year’s awards attracted more nominations than ever before. Discover who took home the honours and read more about the winners on page 10 of this issue.
- Victoria White, Editor A N
BB and Boliden have successfully deployed Ethernet-APL instrumentation at the Kokkola zinc plant in Finland. The project connects next-generation field devices with the existing ABB Ability System 800xA distributed control system (DCS) and is among the first installations of its kind in the country. Process plants increasingly need access to more detailed field-device and process information to improve maintenance, troubleshooting and opera- tional decision-making, while continuing to protect production availability, safety and existing technology investments. At Kokkola, Ethernet-APL provides a way to introduce this additional connectivity progressively rather than requiring wholesale replacement of the plant’s established automation infrastructure. By extending Ethernet communications to field- level instrumentation, Ethernet-APL enables richer device diagnostics and easier access to process data from the control environment. This helps main- tenance teams identify emerging issues earlier, reduces the need for manual field intervention and provides a stronger foundation for remote opera- tions and future automation initiatives.
BNOVATE LAUNCHES BACTOSENSE ID
ear-real-time microbial monitoring of wastewater discharge and bathing waters is now possible thanks to the BactoSense ID solution created by
Swiss-based bNovate Technologies. Built on flow cytometry technology already trusted across drinking water, pharma, and food and beverage sectors, BactoSense ID is a continuous, automated water quality monitoring solution that rapidly quantifies and identifies critical and commonly regulated bacteria, such as coliforms, enterococci and E. coli, in under 60 minutes, compared with the 18 to 72 hours traditional lab tests take.
The ability to rapidly detect, identify and count bacteria complements traditional lab-based testing while allowing faster responses to changing cell counts that threaten compliance, for example, in water reuse applications and regulations covering recreational bathing water areas such as public beaches and lakes.
BactoSense ID detects bacteria using reagents packed into cartridges that can be swapped depending on what needs to be tested. Unlike manual, offline testing, the solution delivers online, automated measurements and faster results, without sacrificing ease of use.
bNovate Technologies
www.bnovate.com BOLIDEN KOKKOLA ADVANCES AUTOMATION WITH ABB
The latest milestone builds on a long-standing automation partnership between ABB and Boliden Kokkola, which began in 2014 with the deploy- ment of System 800xA at a new silver recovery plant. Since then, the platform has expanded across the zinc production facility, creating a scalable automation environment that can support evolving operational requirements and the adop- tion of new digital technologies. System 800xA supports a wide range of communication protocols, including PROFIBUS and PROFINET, as well as third-party systems, enabling existing and emerging technologies to coexist within a single automation environment. “Working with ABB has enabled us to develop our automation platform in a controlled and practical way while ensuring compatibility with existing systems,” said Matti Karjula, automation specialist at Boliden Kokkola. “The introduction of Ethernet-APL provides an opportunity to eval- uate the suitability of this new technology in a production environment and to explore how more detailed device information can be utilised for maintenance and diagnostics.” The project was delivered in collaboration with Pepperl+Fuchs, a global industrial automa- tion specialist with expertise in electronic sensors, intrinsic safety and explosion protection technol- ogies for process applications. The architecture allows Ethernet-APL devices to be deployed along- side existing PROFIBUS PA instrumentation, giving Boliden Kokkola the flexibility to introduce new technologies at its own pace.
The implementation also includes a pilot of ABB Ability Field Information Manager (FIM), which provides centralised monitoring, configuration and
Instrumentation Monthly October 2026
diagnostics for field devices across multiple networks. Integrated with the Ethernet-APL infrastructure and System 800xA, FIM provides a unified view of field devices across both existing and emerging communi- cation technologies.
The project reflects ABB’s ongoing work to support Ethernet-APL adoption in process industries and demonstrates the value of automation systems designed for long-term lifecycle management. “Ethernet-APL gives process operators a practical way to bring more field-level information into the automation environment without having to replace technology that continues to perform effectively,” said Petri Vuolukka, industry segment manager for battery, metals and mining in ABB’s Process Industries division in Finland. “At Kokkola, Boliden can evaluate the technology under real production conditions while maintaining compatibility with its existing infrastructure. It is a measured approach to modernisation that can support better maintenance decisions today and create the foundation for further automation over time.”
ABB
www.abb.com 5
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