This paper describes recent technical and market trends as well as Fuji Electric's status and prospects for information and control systems, networks, and measuring instruments. New series of integrated information and control systems have been added. The frequent use of personal computers and general-purpose packages from independent software venders and the progress in networks have given rise to the age of right sizing and right selection. With further improvement in intelligent instruments and standardized Fieldbus, we can expect open, integrated, self-regulative, distributed systems, covering high-level production systems to local instruments.

On the basis of the popular FCX series put on the market in 1989, Fuji Electric has developed two additional series, FCX-A and FCX-C. The new series improve the performance and functions of the FCX series and meet the customer demands minutely with two types, i.e. the high performance type, attaching importance to the performance and functions, and the popular type, pursuing small size, light weight, and easy handling. This paper describes the features, construction, detection principle, major specifications, and test results of these new series.

Fuji Electric put the portable ultrasonic flowmeter "PORTAFLOW" on the market first in the world in 1982, which gained popularity as a simple flow tester. Now the latest type "PORTAFLOW-X" has been developed and on sale. The converter is a handy type and easy to use by utilizing up-to-date electronics and digital signal processing. The sensor is light-weight and high-reliability, and new series for small bore connection and for high temperature have been added to the small and large sensor series. The use of new measuring systems, i.e. the new sound velocity and advanced anti-bubble measurement has led to high accuracy and high endurance against bubbles.

This paper describes the expansion of the MICREX-IX series and its development to the other fields out of measurement. In regard to large-scale systems, we mainly pushed function preparedness such as adding process input and output units and internal-instrument-types and increasing the number of user tags. With regard to MICREX-IX2000 series for medium-scale plants which importance is increasing, we made compactness compatible with high performance. In the field of utilities, we developed the high-resolution CRT and the FAINS-IX that realizes optimum operation for the supervision of water treatment plants.

Recently, the personal computer (PC) has remarkably improved in its functions and performance and has become indispensable for enterprises in structuring all information processing systems. Particularly the client-server system (CSS) utilizing PCs and workstations has begun to get excellent results. This paper introduces Fuji Electric's CSS mainly using PCs in the instrumentation and control field.

This paper outlines Fuji Electric's activities in connection with the international standardization and manufacture of Fieldbus. Fuji Electric recommended standards for low-power signaling and optical Fieldbus. Now the company participates in the Fieldbus Foundation as an executive member and is in charge of the manufacture. With regard to optical Fieldbus, Fuji Electric is developing the next generation fiber-optic field instrumentation (FFI) system that meets the international optical Fieldbus specification.

To meet the yearly increasing demand for air transportation, Kansai International Airport was opened on September 4, 1994. The aircraft fueling system in a large airport like this requires advanced-function, high-reliability control system to supply fuel to a large number of airplanes safely and surely. This is the first airport operational 24 hours in Japan and the instrumentation system also must be operated and monitored day and night throughout the year. This paper introduces an outline of the airport as well as the system configuration and functions of the instrumentation and control system for the aircraft fueling system.

Recent incineration plants have become large-scale and complex, equipped with pollution control equipment, exhaust heat utilization equipment, and an ash furnace. To operate and control these facilities efficiently and safely, the distributed control system has been positively introduced into the instrumentation and control system. This paper outlines recent incineration plants and introduces the lineup of Fuji Electric's incinerator instrumentation and control system (IICS) corresponding to the plants.

This paper focuses on the electrical and instrumentation control system among the electric instrumentation and computer control systems supplied to the 4th Steel Making Plant of Kawasaki Steel Corp. Chiba Works which started operation in July 1994. These days when domestic crude steel production of 100 million ton is difficult to maintain, this new plant, the last in the 20th century, was required to aim at competitive quality and price even in the 21st century, and the control system to perform flexible operation and be a highly automated system. This system meets these needs through a large number of new trials.

Energy consumption for the steel industry accounts for about 12 % of the total of domestic consumption. This paper examines the trend and future of energy centers in the steel industry that consumes a large-quantity of energy in various forms. In addition, it introduces recent measures taken mainly for rationalization and labor saving as well as Fuji Electric's activities on this matter.

Recent thermal power stations have been required to have higher load control capability for the adjustment of demand and supply. Instrumentation and control systems for this purpose have become technically sophisticated to meet the expansion of automated scopes and improvements in control performance, operational facility, and maintainability. This paper introduces an outline of recently supplied automatic power plant control (APC) and automatic burner control (ABS) systems, citing existing thermal stations as an example.

Under the influence of the bubble economy collapse and the imported cheap cement, the cement industry is tackling the radical reform of management and the review of cement production equipment. To meet these needs, Fuji Electric has offered the latest distributed control system, which is characterized by the optimum system for cement plants, including connection to the computer system and to motor control. This paper gives an outline of the latest system.

Scheduled maintenance for safe operation, early fault detection and measures, and danger prediction are the essential subjects for oil refineries. Particularly the efficient inspection and maintenance of rotary machines, including pumps and mixers, is expected to have a great effect on these subjects. Fuji Electric newly developed an unprecedented system which can perform the figh-grade trend control of 1,000 rotary machines maximum by always monitoring their maintenance signals. The system was supplied to Tohoku Oil Co., Ltd. via Mitsubishi Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. This paper gives an outline of the system.

This paper introduces examples of point of production (POP) systems introduced into carpet and vinyl chloride goods production plants that aim to improve the precision of production control (stock control and progress control) and equipment control (fault records). The features are:
(1)open system based on IBM-PC/AT compatible machines
(2)terminal equipment resistant to the environment
(3)simple operation with touch panel
(4)software structure easy to revise or modify.

The Fuji video sensor FAY-400 is a small-size, high-speed appearance inspection device with an LSI circuit for gray scale image processing. It can detect defects with high accuracy because it inspects almost independently of the gray scale deviation of the image. The maximum processing speed is 1,800 judgments per minute with the standard type, 3,000 judgments per minute with the high-sped type. There is an option with which you can change the 4 cameras maximum to inspect more than one side or divided portions of the object. Besides, setting support functions, such as changing judgment conditions during inspection and automated binary code threshold setting are installed.