One of the most highly anticipated sessions at the Emerson Exchange conference is the DeltaV Platform product roadmap session. While I can’t share some of the further-out innovations to come, I can share some of the near-term advancements.
DeltaV VP of Technology Claudio Fayad led this roadmap session and included DeltaV product managers Mariana Dionisio and Camilo Fadul and DeltaV product marketing director Sesh Natarajan.
Claudio opened by sharing how updates have changed from large version releases to more frequent feature pack releases to provide additional capabilities sooner. Much work has gone into redesigning to mitigate the supply chain issues in getting electronic components for DeltaV hardware.
Mariana came up to discuss DeltaV Live, released in DeltaV v14. It was built from scratch based on HTML5. The displays resize to accommodate different screen sizes, from mobile devices to large displays. Since its initial release, the technology team has driven performance and robustness improvements.
DeltaV Live enables a cohesive window for the operations staff. Web content can be directly embedded in the operator display—camera feeds, advanced applications such as those from AspenTech, and more. The vision is to continue to expand this single cohesive view into what’s required for safe, reliable, and sustainable operations.
Sesh discussed ways to future-proof DeltaV investments. Virtualization continues to play a growing role. Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) increases scalability and improves performance. DeltaV IO.CONNECT reduces DCS modernization cost, complexity, and time. It helps reduce capital spending by up to 40% and installation schedules by up to 90%.
DeltaV Spectral Process Analytical Technology (PAT) enables continuous manufacturing in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical processes. It has a simplified closed-loop architecture based on Aspen MVA and SIMCA-Q to provide real-time process verification and control.
The Module Type Package (MTP)-based integration decreases cost and complexity when connecting OEM skids into the DeltaV control architecture. More connectivity options are available with remote I/O, simulation capabilities have been extended and enabled in the cloud, and more flexibility in licensing is available.
DeltaV ISASecure certification provides a strong base for cybersecurity programs. Next-generation intelligent firewalls and switches are available. The DeltaV PK controllers will have Ethernet-based industrial protocol support.
Claudio described how technology advancements on many fronts—wireless, cloud, edge, artificial intelligence, mobility are fundamentally changing the direction of automation and control architecture. It’s moving toward a software-defined architecture in a hyper-converged architecture.
Camilo came up to explain how this architecture will change over time. You’ll have to find an attendee at the conference to get the inside scoop on this part!
Visit the links above for more on the DeltaV distributed control system applications.
