Honeywell's Ultra-High Definition Display Technology for Plant Operators

CR Team | Thursday, 12 June 2014, 06:03 IST

Bangalore: Honeywell recently launched the Process Solutions, an advanced ultra-high definition display technology which is largely flexible. The Console meets the changing needs of the increasingly mobile plant operator by providing clear status assessments of process operations. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader.

Current with a market cap of $75.03 billion, Honeywell emerged with this flagship Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) control platform, which enabled an improved ergonomic design of the display. This platform resulted in simplifying control system management, reducing operators’ weariness and improving situational awareness. The console’s design was based on operators’ input assembled from numerous visits to plant control rooms from both the newer and older plants. The design is a result of the behavior observations and insight collected from these plants.

“Operators need more than just process data to make a decision like that; they need an environment that helps keep them alert, allows them to move about more freely, and presents information more intuitively. The Experion Orion Console was designed with all of those factors in mind,” says Jason Urso, Chief Technology Officer, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Plants must be designed and built according to a company’s specific production needs, but the control rooms themselves should be built around the operators’ needs,” he adds. “If you meet the operators’ needs, they can manage the plant more effectively and at optimum levels, which ultimately impacts plant safety, reliability and efficiency more than anything else”.

The console customizes the displays for context-specific process issues, and incorporates advanced alarm management and zoom capabilities. Limits and targets are directly integrated into overview displays hence, allowing operation of the process closer to the optimum. Touch panel displays that enable operators to quickly and accurately respond to changing condition and thus prevents situation that could lead to plant incidents.

The console also has a mobile tablet that minimizes operator weariness by allowing personnel to move about the control room more freely than before. When paired with wireless-enabled mobile technologies, the system also allows operators to view the same displays on hand-held devices from anywhere in the plant.