Emerson sells over one million Fisher® digital valve controllers
FIELDVUE™ instrument delivers diagnostics, improves plant performance, and earns praise for its innovation and reliability
Emerson Process Management has sold over one million Fisher® FIELDVUE™ digital valve controllers worldwide. First introduced in 1994, the product and its digital communication and diagnostic capabilities changed the way process control manufacturers monitor control valves and accelerated the process industry’s move to digital instrumentation. A process control plant, regardless of industry, makes money based on its ability to minimise or eliminate variability and maximise uptime. By monitoring valves and enabling predictive maintenance, FIELDVUE instruments support both of these goals – with a market-leading level of precision.
Danny Nelson, vice president of instruments for the Fisher division, was a mechanical test engineer in the mid-1990s, supporting the new FIELDVUE instrument design. “From the early inception of the product, we focused on Fisher core product values – reliability and performance.” he said. “Because the FIELDVUE instrument was the first communicating, loop-powered digital positioner, several new tests were developed to verify technologies deployed in the product. These were never done before in prior valve mounted instrument products.”
With its introduction, the FIELDVUE instrument platform not only received several industry awards, but also resulted in more than 50 patents for its innovation and reliability. By 1999, the installed base of 100,000 FIELDVUE DVC5000 instruments had delivered one billion hours of run-time in process plant environments.
Over the past decade, the global development team has added numerous enhancements and application options for FIELDVUE instruments, from online diagnostics to remote mounting. Emerson personnel developed a stainless steel version for use in harsh, off-shore environments as well as a remote mount option that can withstand temperatures up to 120°C (250°F).
Ken Hall, FIELDVUE product marketing manager, said, “The more capability we built into the instrument, the greater the application flexibility and customer interest we generated.”
The increasing capability is demonstrated by the latest version, the FIELDVUE DVC6000 Series instrument. The diagnostic capabilities in this version monitor valve performance so well that plants can operate for five to seven years between maintenance shutdowns. That is a vast improvement in the traditional schedule of 12 to 18 months between shutdowns. The partial stroke testing capabilities of the DVC6000 ensure the readiness of shutdown valves and give users more peace of mind. The partial stroke test technology alone earned two patents, as well as Exida, TÜV (Germany), and SIL-3 certification and approval. The instrument may also be installed via “hot cutover,” which facilitates the conversion from analogue to digital without interrupting the production process.
FIELDVUE is part of Emerson’s broad range of intelligent, digital field devices that power the PlantWeb® architecture to improve plant efficiency by 2 per cent and more through delivering asset optimisation, process automation, and management execution.
FIELDVUE™ instrument delivers diagnostics, improves plant performance, and earns praise for its innovation and reliability
