Fuji Electric Review
Vol.69-No.1,2023
Instrumentation, Control, and Information Systems Contributing to Automation and Energy Saving
Instrumentation, Control, and Information Systems Contributing to Automation and Energy Saving
The landscape surrounding industry and daily life has changed signify cantly due to the rise in demand for environmental measures related to decarbonization and in labor shortages. As digitalization and IoT solutions evolve, our customers increasingly require advancements in automation and energy saving, which contribute to their digital transformation(DX). Fuji Electric provides system solutions that combine engineering and services with fi eld devices such as measuring instruments and controllers. This special feature introduces instrumentation, control, and information systems that contribute to automation and energy saving, as well as the components (equipment), technologies, and the associated engineering work and services that support these systems.
FUNATSU, Kimito
TETSUTANI, Hiroshi; MATSUMOTO, Yasushi
Fuji Electric provides its system solutions that combine field devices, such as measuring instruments and controllers, with engineering and services, to help our customers achieve DX through increasing automation and energy saving For plant monitoring and control systems, we offer optimal monitoring and control systems according to the field of application and scale, as well as pressure transmitters, flowmeters, and analyzers that support these systems. For factory automation systems, we offer manufacturing execution systems and motion control systems that contribute to the DX efforts of our customers. We have also provided ship IoT systems, radiation control solutions, and service for smart industrial safety, utilizing measurement and control technologies cultivated in various industrial fields.
WAKAI, Daisuke; SATO, Yoshikuni; YOSHIHARA, Daisuke
In recent years, the engineering function of plant monitoring and control systems have been required to support the entire plant lifecycle. To meet the requirement, Fuji Electric has developed the “MICREX-VieW FOCUS Evolution” global monitoring and control system to improve the efficiency of plant system engineering. The MICREX-VieW FOCUS Evolution enables users to build flexible monitoring and control systems tailored to the scale and application they require by offering both easy customization and high versatility, as well as supporting OPC UA, which is used as a standard multi-vendor communication protocol.
TANAKA, Masaki; KATO, Taisuke; MURAKAMI, Kenya
In recent years, an increasing number of companies have been promoting DX initiatives in industrial processes in order to improve productivity. Fuji Electric has been developing technology for soft sensors that can estimate quality in real time using temperature, pressure, and other process data. Our newly implemented soft sensor design tool enables efficient building and deployment of highly accurate mathematical models that were challenging in the past. The performance of the soft sensors was verified with a process simulator. The new soft sensor designed with our tool is able to estimate quality values that have been difficult to measure in real-time and improve plant control, resulting
in reduced specific consumption and lower costs.
KITAMURA, Sumio; YOSHINO, Minoru; ABE, Yuta
Conventionally, engineering work involved in new construction, expansion, and renewal of plants and facilities required a considerable amount of manual work. This resulted in significant variations in lead time and quality. The engineering support tool “HEART” accelerates DX by supporting the innovation in engineering operations, work flows, and business processes through automation and the use of data and digital technologies. It contributes to reducing lead time and improving quality by efficiently creating function specifications and project completion documents and automating the generation of control programs, the visualization of changes in various specifications and drawings, and the recording of test results in the control function specifications.
NAKAJIMA, Takahiro; KITAMURA, Takashi
In recent years, the manufacturing industry has been accelerating the introduction of manufacturing execution systems (MES) to improve the efficiency of manufacturing processes and enhance productivity and quality through DX. MES can be interfaced with various systems to help improve product traceability and to quickly detect and solve problems in production processes. Fuji Electric has developed a MES that can be used for various applications such as food manufacturing by digitally twinning manufacturing floors as information models and systematically managing them. The MES can share information models among model users, use information identifiers, and link manufacturing information models with quality management information, allowing it to contribute to high productivity and quality.
KUBOSUMI, Hajime
Motion controllers are being increasingly required to increase the speed and precision of industrial machinery and equipment and improve the efficiency of equipment design, debugging, and start-up. To meet these customer needs, we have developed the “MICREX-SX Series” CPU module. By executing sequence control and motion control in parallel, this module can improve application execution performance by a factor of four compared with conventional products. It also supports EtherCAT, which is becoming increasingly popular as an open network, to enable faster and more accurate machines. In addition, it can utilize motion control FBs and logging functions to dramatically improve program development, debugging efficiency, and system reliability.
YAMASHITA, Shinichiro; SAKAUE, Satoru
Since its release in 1989, Fuji Electric’s “FCX Series” of pressure transmitters have been used to monitor and control plants in various industries. The “FCX-A IV Series,” the latest model developed to meet new needs, utilizes a capacitive pressure sensor to achieve high measurement accuracy and long-term stability, as well as fast response, high visibility, and better operability. Its unique structure allows this series to be used for hydrogen permeation resistance applications, and its use of optimal materials enables it to be utilized for corrosion resistance applications. Furthermore, the series uses piezo pressure sensors for applications that require ultra-high pressure resistance beyond the application range of capacitive pressure sensors.
OTAKE, Katsutomo; MIHARU, Tsutomu; MIYAMOTO, Hiroyoshi
The electrification of automobiles has been progressing rapidly today in the face of global emissions regulations and decarbonization. As electric vehicles (EVs) especially use complex control, the labor-hours for testing can significantly increase to develop them and demand has been increasing for EV test equipment. In response to this demand, Fuji Electric has developed an EV drive component performance test system. The system can simulate the load during actual road driving and actual environmental testing factors of temperature and humidity to improve test efficiency and reliability.
YASUNOBU, Tomohiro
Recent stricter international environmental regulations in the maritime industry have been encouraging the installation of exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) to purify the exhaust gas emitted from ships. As part of this effort, Fuji Electric has developed a ship IoT system that utilizes increasingly popular ship-to-shore broadband communications. This IoT system is able to monitor EGCS measurement log data and alarms by utilizing a cloud server. It also provides a diagnostic function to predict abnormalities and facilitates timely maintenance before equipment malfunctions in order to shorten equipment downtime and reduce the work costs required for troubleshooting.
MAEKAWA, Osamu; ABE, Yohei
Fuji Electric provides facilities and local governments that handle radioactive materials with radiation management solutions to contribute to safety and security. In environmental radiation monitors, which were proved useful to support the recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake, we have developed monitoring posts that use diversified communication functions to improve continuous monitoring capability during disaster and real-time dosimeters with improved detection accuracy and stability. For environmental radiation monitoring telemetering systems, which collect measurement data, including radiation doses, and display them on the screen, we have developed a platform that can be expanded to meet customer needs. In addition, we have developed the detector for alpha-ray aerosol monitors that improves alpha-ray measurement performance by reducing noise and improving resolution.
SUNAGA, Yugo; FUKUSHIMA, Soji
Utilities of industry and energy infrastructures such as power distribution equipment are faced with urgent challenges to overcome issues of aged deterioration of equipment, long-term shortages and aging of workers for repair and maintenance, and capability degradation to pass down technologies and skills. Demand is thus increasing for smart maintenance, improved inspection efficiency, and predictive maintenance. Fuji Electric offers “Comprehensive Service for Smart Industrial Safety,” in which we collect and analyze a variety of information from the equipment to plan maintenance planning, monitor equipment, and suggest maintenance management measures, optimizing equipment maintenance. We are expanding the application of these services by adding new services, such as equipment operating condition and trend monitoring and rotating machine vibration monitoring.
HORIE, Shunta; KODAIRA, Yoshihiro; Zheng, Mao
Power conversion devices, especially insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules, are widely used as core devices in power conversion system that convert electrical energy between AC and DC or vice versa. IGBT modules are required to have not only high performance and high reliability, but also features contributing to simplified equipment design work and equipment downsizing. In addition, they must also have characteristics that are suitable for circuit systems of various applications. This paper describes a newly developed 1,700-V/ 75- to 200-A 4-in-1 module optimized for the circuit
configuration of medium-voltage inverters.
ISHIDO, Hideki
Molded-case circuit breakers and earth leakage circuit breakers (hereinafter “circuit breakers”) mounted on the control panels of electrical and mechanical equipment widely use optional accessories such as external operating handles used for turning ON and OFF the devices from outside the panel, as well as terminal covers that cover the live part of terminals to prevent electric shock. In recent years, the diversification of usage environments has been progressing. As such, control panels are required to deliver better waterproof performance, improved safety for in-panel equipment maintenance, ease of installation, and maintainability. In response to these needs, we simultaneously developed N-shaped external operating handles (directlyattached to the circuit breaker) and terminal covers for the “G-TWIN Series” of 32 to 100 ampere frames (AF). Launched in December 2021, these accessories provide latest protection structure for electrical safety (see Fig.1).