Wireless

Systems

Make Non-traditional
Measurements Possible
Sponsored by

From Process and Environmental

Monitoring to Asset Management and
Safety, Apprions Wireless Solutions
Can Save Lives, Increase Security and
Help Make Your Plant Sustainable.

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systems, asset owners are looking for systems that can interoperate and backbone systems like Apprions ION System
that is designed to be capable of working with any wireless
protocol, now or in the future.
The choice of applications the surveys report include
process monitoring, environmental monitoring applications, both real-time and reporting, as well as personnel
safety systems. According to the surveys, process monitoring leads, followed by environmental monitoring,
asset and machine health monitoring, and employee
health and safety monitoring. The surveys report that
there is also some demand for process control as people
get more use time with wireless sensors.
Looking to the future, companies will need umbrella
systems that are essentially infinitely expandable and
provide backbone data service from the sensor to the
control and monitoring systems. Safety, environmental
and process monitoring applications may use more than
one protocol, and it is essential that there be an integrated system to handle that data. One of the most used
is the Apprion ION System.

he traditional measurements in a process

plant are pressure, temperature, level and flow.
There are more, but the expense of installing
and wiring sensors means that we monitor only the process variables of extreme interest. Many more variables
throughout the plant can be monitored using wireless
sensor technologies.

Whos Using Wireless Sensor

Networks, and For What?

Studies by ONWorld, Global Automation Research and

Control magazine have shown rapidly increasing penetration of the automation market by wireless sensing systems
over the past few years. Up to a third of the respondents to
these surveys have indicated that theyve installed wireless
sensor networks, some with up to 100 devices, and that the
majority choice for those networks has been IEC62591WirelessHARTTM. Other networks, including several proprietary systems, such as IEEE802.11s, ISA100.11a and
ZigBee, make up close to half the installed network sensors. Since there are multiple standards and proprietary

Asset owners are looking for systems that can

interoperate and backbone systems like Apprions ION
System that is designed to be capable of working with any
wireless protocol, now or in the future.
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Figure 1. Solutions CenterRemote Operations

Process Monitoring:
Tank Gauging for
Critical Monitoring

the tank berm). Like all ION applications, it integrates

into the ION System and extends ION System Monitoring applications for Condition Monitoring, Network
Monitoring and Emission Monitoring. The ION System
streams real-time intelligence from all of these applications into a common dashboard view for plant operators
in industrial process plants. The operator can not only
view real-time data, but also effectively process that data
for reporting and compliance.

Tanks in remote tank farm areas of the plant have been

difficult to monitor effectively from central control rooms
due to distance and the expense of running wires to the
tanks. The ION Tank Gauging Application can remotely
monitor tank level, vapor pressure, temperature, hazardous conditions and standing water (for example, inside

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Figure 2. Leak Detection Solution

Environmental Monitoring:
Fugitive Emissions Monitoring
and Leak Detection

Monitoring Energy Saving:

Steam Trap Monitoring

One of the two largest energy losses in any plant is from

steam leaks. The most common leak is from a failed steam
trap. Studies have shown that at least 15% to 20% of your
steam traps will fail in a given year, with an average cost of
$5000 per failure. Steam traps are located all over the facility and without wireless sensors, they have been expensive
and nearly impossible to instrument or alarm. But with the
ION Steam Trap Monitoring Application, a non-invasive
wireless monitor can be installed that will immediately detect faults and leaks. This application integrates within the
ION System, so the data is easily available for visualization
or action. The application integrates easily and seamlessly
with video, tank gauging or location tracking in the same
dashboard the user refers to for a complete view of all activities and all data in one snapshot. Steam trap monitoring can reduce steam costs by as much as 25% or more
in less than a year. This is a true sustainability measure,
and not greenwash. Like all sustainability measures, steam
trap monitoring saves energy, saves money and improves
production.

Process plants are notorious for releasing fugitive

emissions. Those are the small leaks from gaskets and seals that, if left unrepaired, turn into
large leaks and hazardous and abnormal situations. The ION Emissions Monitoring Application monitors a whole network of gas sensors,
weather reports and weather sensors to provide
rapid updates and visualizations, showing gas
concentrations at any point, dosage and/or building infiltration. The ION System dashboard lets
operators view the real-time, color-coded status
of all monitors, displayed in green, yellow or red.
The system automatically triggers alarms if a gas
sensor detects a chemical release, and the color
coding shows the exact location and extent of
the problem, displayed on a facility map or topographic photo, allowing immediate, pinpoint response, as well as accurate reporting and postevent analysis.

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Asset Management:
Monitoring the Health of
Your Systems Themselves

Your critical systems are more than the sum of their

parts. These critical systems are usually managed
by a collection of equipment health and condition
monitoring applications that focus on specific performance parameters. Usually, monitoring these systems is done on an ad-hoc basis, catch as catch can,
without an integrated system to monitor the overall
health of your critical systems themselves. Apprions
ION System Health Monitoring application provides
integrated real-time analysis and visualization of the
health of any or all your operational systems. It provides a single unified view into all system activity
that is easy for operational personnel to understand,
since it is designed to mimic physical annunciator
panels.

IONosphere Integrated
Applications Make
Monitoring Easy

The ION Emissions Monitoring application allows the

operator to remotely monitor all tanks and containers
for emissions and condition levels. With remote wireless, there is no need to send personnel into dangerous
areas to gather emission data, thus improving worker
safety and freeing up personnel for other critical tasks.
And since the data is already digital and in a usable format, the data doesnt sit stranded on some clipboard until after the incident.
With ION location and tracking services, the operator can instantly find a containers location via IONospheres dashboard and regional map functionality, or
alternatively, view a list or summary of all tagged containers or railcars in a particular location. Use photos and drawings of your plant to easily locate specific
HAZMAT containers immediately and view real-time
status information on temperature, pressure, maintenance, schedules and other condition status.
The threats and dangers are very real: product tampering or contamination, spills and explosions that can
result in environmental damage, injury and even death.
Remote wireless cameras and centralized monitoring
equip plants with a secure, reliable, low-cost way to significantly increase productivity, safely monitor hazardous, remote locations and satisfy regulatory mandates,
and video monitoring data integrates easily with other
data from the IONosphere.

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Figure 3. Energy-Efficient Nested

Annunciator For Asset Health
Monitoring

Figure 4. Emissions Monitoring Dashboard

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Figure 5. The Apprion ION System

Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) compliance requirements, as well as safety and security
regulations such as the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism (CFAT) standards, U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security (MARSEC) levels and the North
American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical
Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) standards.
Regulatory agencies require that industrial facilities must adequately notify all employees of hazardous incidents. The main loss prevention measure
that facilities can take to avoid fines and lawsuits is
implementing a communications system with several layers of notification for personnel safety such

Industrial facilities need to have a solid plan in

place to address mandated safety requirements.
Wireless enables easy, economic compliance with
safety standards. Many industrial facilities have already realized the benefits of wireless applications,
and case studies show that wireless systems can
be installed in less than 10% of the time of wired
systemswith only about 5% to 10% of the operational impact on the organization. Satisfy compliance and reporting requirements through ION
Emergency Notifications automated alerts, realtime confirmations and extensive audit trail reporting. ION Emergency Notification addresses

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Case studies show that wireless systems can

be installed in less than 10% of the time of
wired systemswith only about 5% to 10% of the
operational impact on the organization.
The Apprion Industrial
Safety Solution

as the ION Emergency Notification Application. Insurance and underwriting costs are reduced when
efficient notification systems are employed and
maintained. Comply, and the plants insurance rates
will be lower than plants that do not. Moreover, personal injury and workmans compensation lawsuits
are far less likely to be filed against a company with
an effective and reliable employee alerting system.
ION Emergency Notification promotes good communication and corporate citizenship. Not only does
the investment in a reliable, effective communication
system pay dividends in lower insurance rates and less
scrutiny from industry regulation agencies, but more
importantly, it indicates that your facility values the
lives of your employees, contractors and visitors. This
will help foster stronger collaboration within and outside your organization.
IONosphere is the only third-party plant wireless
backbone designed specifically for the needs of industrial manufacturing and process plants. Used in conjunction with Apprions family of applications, Apprion
ION Systems provide numerous levels of affordable
reassurance and security for you, your employees and
even your community.

Apprions total plant monitoring offering includes the

IONosphere and ION Applications providing an integrated industrial safety solution. With an industrial network appliance and integrated dashboard, plus advanced
wireless applications, the Apprion Industrial Safety Solution provides personnel and hazardous material tracking, controlled access to restricted areas, improved
emergency response time, perimeter monitoring and
protection, emissions monitoring, effective communications, remote monitoring and many other critical safety
functions to ensure that your facility is operating at the
highest safety level. Apprions ION Emergency Notification Application provides cost-effective, plant-wide notification and reliable, rapid communication via alarms
and voice information, effectively directing personnel to
take appropriate action and promoting faster incident response. The ION Emergency Notification Application
is a wireless, cost-effective means to easily comply with
safety and security mandates. If your emergency system is
no longer reliable or has aged beyond the point of reasonable repair, your employees and facility are at risk.
Apprions ION Emergency Application leverages multiple wireless communication technologies and a suite of
industry-leading third-party devices from vendors such
as Federal Signal and Motorola that are seamlessly integrated with existing operational applications for emergency warnings, plant evacuations, start and dismissal
notices, public address and process control signaling.
Apprions ION Applications for improved personnel
and asset safety include plant-wide communications,
equipment safety, personnel monitoring and mustering.
Possibly the most important safety measure plants need is

Apprion ION Solutions

Offer a Complete Picture

The Apprion IONosphere Applications allow you

to monitor parameters that would be impossible in
a wired environment because of cost, complexity or
movement. Process monitoring applications, environmental monitoring applications, asset management
applications and safety can integrate into the IONosphere simply and seamlessly.

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Safety Showers
and Eye Washes

to address the safety of plant personnel. An incident puts

the lives of many at risk of injury or possible death. Many
ION Safety applications drastically increase personnel
safety at industrial sites: Personnel Monitoring, Mustering, Safety Shower Monitoring, Video Monitoring and
Audio all enable a safe environment and ensure that personnel safety is at the highest level.

Even the most careful workers and companies occasionally have safety challenges, but the right safety system
can prevent permanent damage to your people and your
company. Real-time safety shower and eye-wash station
monitoring provides improved industrial working environment safety. Apprions ION Safety Shower Application monitors safety shower and eye-wash station activation, alerting your emergency team when an employee
who has been exposed to hazardous materials activates
a safety shower or eye wash station.
The ION Safety Shower Application uses wireless sensors to monitor all shower and eye-wash switches in real
time and provides alerts, alarms and continuous monitoring to control room personnel. They will be kept on top
of emergencies immediately, wasting no time and remediating the situation before it escalates. A switch on the
shower or eye wash activates the wireless sensor attached
to the shower, sending the alert to managers for immediate help.
Installing an ION Safety Shower and Eye-Wash Solution puts in place a cost-effective, real-time solution that
greatly increases the safety of all your field personnel.
When someone working in the field comes into contact
with hazardous materials, the ION Safety Shower Application makes sure that critical, first-line emergency treatment is immediate.
ION Safety Shower helps your control room personnel
stay on top of the situation by monitoring and reporting
the status and health of the communication links themselves, as well as the health of the entire safety system.
Finding the triggered shower and getting help there in
time can be a daunting task in huge industrial situations
with many safety showers. Your control team can view
the specific activated shower and the exact location on a
regional map shown on the ION dashboard.

Integrated Safety Systems

Wireless safety applications are dollar savers usually

costing less than half the price of wired alternatives.
In addition, wireless systems can provide a 60% or
greater reduction in installation time with a similar
reduction in organizational disruption. Therefore,
you can save money, time and, very importantly,
stress and frustration in these tough economic times
with wireless sensor applications for safety and environmental monitoring, providing less risk and more
reward at lower costs.
When the inevitable problem occurs and chaos happensas it will in even the best run plantthen the
best protection against the worst possible scenarios will
be powerful communication. Strong, nimble communication is the only thing that can improve safety and
reduce injuries and fatalities. The Apprion ION System
can ensure your employees lives and your companys
future with a wide variety of wireless solutions that can
keep you ahead of escalating chaos.
Apprion wireless safety solutions can reliably help
you deliver the safe, efficient working environment you
need for your employees and the community. From integrated safety solutions to simple Safety Shower and
Eye-Wash applications, Apprions ION Wireless Network has your employees safety covered, with a cost
that management can approve.
Here are a few of the safety solutions Apprion can
provide to protect your employees and corporate future.

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Figure 6. The Apprion ION Safety Shower Solution

Wired monitoring means running wires to

the switches in the field. Lots of wires and
switches through treacherous areas escalate
the implementation costs to sometimes as much
as $4000 per point. With wireless, the cost of
running the field wiring is completely eliminated,
providing a 75% cost-savings using wireless
sensors compared to wired solutions.
completely eliminated, providing a 75% cost-savings
using wireless sensors compared to wired solutions.
You can save money and lives by going wireless.

The wireless ION Safety Shower Solution helps injured employees by making sure your control room
personnel know that the worker needs help, even if the
worker is unable to call for assistance. Wired solutions
try to provide support for safety shower and eye-wash
stations, but often the injured employee cannot move
once the safety shower or eye wash is triggered, or if
no one is monitoring the triggered safety equipment
at the critical time. This means crucial time could
be lost, and employees suffer further harm or even
death. Plus, wired monitoring means running wires to
the switches in the field. Lots of wires and switches
through treacherous areas escalate the implementation costs to sometimes as much as $4000 per point.
With wireless, the cost of running the field wiring is

Apprion is the First Name in

Wireless Plant Monitoring

The ION System and ION Applications provide a completely integrated way to collect and visualize all of a
plants critical data in a way that can reduce maintenance costs and improve plant safety significantly. Using a combination of protocol-agnostic systems, sensor
technologies and a complete umbrella backbone that is
designed specifically for the industrial plant environment, the Apprion ION System is a strong addition to
the plant.

for more information contact Apprion www.apprion.com

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