Technews Guide to Wireless

Last year, in July 2015, the Journal South African Instrumentation & Control, published by Technews.co.za, released a new title in their ‘Industry Guide’ series, this time covering wireless applications of instruments in control systems. With 44 pages of ideas and applications, and background to the application of wireless comms for the instrument engineer, this gave a really useful source document – in the long tradition of these industry guides on relevant topics. This wireless guide is still available as a pdf on-line from Technews.

I was lucky enough to be asked to submit a review article covering some of the more recent applications of wireless that had caught my attention at the time. All of these are still topical, and relevant, so the review is now published here, with thanks to Technews. The reason for resurrecting the article is mainly because more information has just emerged about the application for the vibration powered sensors originating from Cambridge University research, now in use on the Forth Road Bridge. The new info, from a recent article in The Engineer is added at the end.

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The Forth Road Bridge, in Scotland, with the suspension cables being monitored by wireless vibration sensors, powered by harvesting energy from those same bridge vibrations! 

Industrial wireless communications for sensor data and plant information is now available, proven on site, and built into Internationally accepted standards. Wireless links should now be seen as just another family of techniques for the plant manager or engineer to consider alongside 4-20mA loops, fieldbus networks, and data links. Most would accept that plant data can be ‘monitored’ over wireless as effectively as from these other networks: but the action resulting from the monitoring can also create a control loop.

To those who say that wireless links should never be used within control loops, it is appropriate to remind them that sludge blanket levels on settlement tanks have been monitored, and the data transmitted over a wireless link to control the de-sludging operations, for well over 30 years. Add to that a comment about the latest North Sea offshore gas platforms, where Fire and Gas Shutdown systems are now offered by Yokogawa, using wireless gas detectors, with a dual redundant wireless network to reliably transmit all crucial alarm data back to the logic system, alongside sensor health and battery status information.

So how else can the phrase ‘wireless sensor network’ cause a misapprehension?

That internet hype and Process Plants…?

The adoption of wireless as a plant tool has probably even been held back…. by the apparent hype and emphasis on the Internet, the ‘Internet of Things’, and ‘Big data’ networks monitoring lots of sensors – Sensors Everywhere. Financial Directors suddenly see enormous expenditure, hundreds of USD1000 sensors, mushrooming recruitment for expanded IT departments – and then they pick up the latest management articles forecasting major impacts from hacking and data breaches. No wonder they are sceptical even before starting to read a proposal.

From reports about many of the application examples quoted by the enthusiastic suppliers over the last few years, it appears that success in the application of a wireless based system has come to plant engineers who had a specific and defined requirement, a problem for which the engineer’s assessment showed that a wireless system provided the most logical and cost effective answer. But then, would you expect anything less from an engineer? The typical number of wireless sensors installed initially might be quite low, say a dozen or less: usually the cost justification is based on the problems of new wiring to these extra sensors on an existing plant.

Plant networks from the major suppliers

Inevitably in this competitive field, with many vested interests, it is difficult to find a non-partisan authoritative spokesman: so Ted Masters, President and CEO of the HART Communications Foundation, says (in a video shown on the Emerson website, entitled “WirelessHART: An Executive Perspective”)

“WirelessHART ….. gives users the opportunity to bring in valuable data that can be used in systems to help decision support, particularly in plants that are already installed and already wired. Now the ability to put a point anywhere and bring it easily into the system …… will ultimately yield better performing plants for users”

The video quoted above also features Peter Zornio, Chief Strategic Officer from Emerson Process Management, who paints their stance as totally devoted to ‘Pervasive Sensors’, ie sensors everywhere, monitoring the standard process plant parameters, but also gas leaks, steam leaks, corrosion/erosion, vibration, flames and valve activation, for example on safety showers. This is logical, from a sensor manufacturing company: and Emerson has been collecting a whole range of new sensors to create a family of, typically, add-on plant monitoring sensors. The clue then is in the name, WirelessHART: the network provides all the data you would get from a 4-20mA HART sensor, plus the battery status in the ‘wire-less’ sensor. Other suppliers have joined Emerson as WirelessHART enthusiasts and promoters: these are mainly from the wired-HART sensor manufacturers – like Endress+Hauser, Pepperl+Fuchs – but also include ABB and Siemens.

The ISA100 viewpoint

The alternative wireless sensor data network for process plants, primarily on offer from Yokogawa and Honeywell Process Solutions, is built according to the ISA100 US standard. Suffice it to say that the ISA100 and WirelessHART systems are incompatible, but very much the same as each other, same frequency 2400MHz, similar principles of networking between sensors. Yokogawa concentrate on collecting process sensor information, in the same way as WirelessHART, and have made their ISA100 sensor interface electronics available for any other manufacturer who wishes to incorporate it into their own sensors.

ISA100 has additional capabilities, in that systems can be configured to have a defined time response, and the network messaging can also “package” up electronic message data from the sensor, transmit it over the network, and reconstitute it in the original format at the control room end. So this is useful for sending rotating equipment vibration signatures, and other waveforms from sensor systems for analysis by proprietary electronic units. Yokogawa has progressed this so that they can attach an ISA100 transmitter to a standard HART sensor, even power it from their wireless transmitter battery if needed, and send the HART data back over the ISA100 system: a similar RS485 Modbus unit is also planned.

The Honeywell approach does seem to be defined by their wireless product family tradename, “OneWireless”: it presents a wireless network infrastructure for a process plant that can deal with all potential requirements, using ISA100 for sensors, wifi systems for on plant access and control by laptop type systems, phones and tablets, and the capability to incorporate security cameras and video streaming from engineer’s devices.

After understanding all this diversity, the whole lot, WirelessHART, ISA100, wifi and video transmission, all seems to go through on-site wireless access points and aerials that use Cisco hardware and technology.

The second wireless project

The first wireless project is a major step, and is likely to be driven by a pressing need, which justifies the initial investment – or is restricted in plant area coverage so is cost effective.

Possibly the plant engineer’s subsequent enthusiasm for any further wireless network technology comes when he then discovers that the wireless infrastructure created makes the next project easier, and more cost effective. However, this only happens when the network used suits the developing requirements for data collection and wireless communications on the plant, so hopefully the choice of the network adopted took this into account.

It does seem that many engineers who try wireless once are then converted, and go on to invest in further, expanded installations!

On-plant network examples

The amazing thing is, the examples quoted are all unique, driven by specific site requirements. Straight sensor monitoring is typically via WirelessHART. A simple justification project where the network avoided new hard wired connections across the plant for Health and Safety rule updates that required alarm monitoring of safety shower usage was maybe the first of many new applications. Leak detection on storage tank farms using sensors for hydrocarbons within bund walls was justified in a similar way, to meet environmental legislation. Other areas where hard-wired links are a hassle are rotating and transportable equipment, and construction sites: temperature sensors in rotating lime/cement kilns are ideal for wireless monitoring.

An application in the UK from Emerson Process Management illustrates the progressive adoption success with wireless techniques in an existing plant that initially appeared to present installation challenges. Barking Power is a relatively mature 1000MW CCGT power station near London, suffering from steam losses. A wireless project used Rosemount wireless acoustic transmitters to monitor steam traps for leakage, on a rolling basis round the plant. Quickly, a leak from a high pressure super heater steam trap was identified, which itself could have wasted GBP1400 of steam a day. A further 15 acoustic detectors were added to monitor vent valves that can stick during start-up, and also for relief valves that may not seat correctly. There were few problems with wireless communications even in the enclosed environment around the turbine hall. The battery powered wireless devices were easy to move around the plant to test new locations.

Emerson WirelessHART acoustic monitor installed on a relatively inaccessible steam trap discharge line at Barking Power

Then, high vibration levels were observed manually on the gas turbine starter motor, indicating a major problem. New parts were ordered but the motor needed constant monitoring to nurse the plant through to the next maintenance window. A motor failure would have caused damage in excess of GBP200,000, but keeping the plant running for a further two days could accrue revenue of over GBP50,000. So an Emerson CSI 9420 wireless vibration transmitter was added to the network, and the motor instantly monitored for potential failure. Travis Culham, a Rotating Machinery Engineer at Barking Power, commented: “We concluded that if Emerson’s Smart Wireless Technology could be successfully applied on this challenging application, then it could be applied pretty much anywhere on the plant”.

An Emerson wireless acoustic monitor on a vent valve at Barking Power

A major application for wireless sensors from Honeywell Process Solutions will be the new Shah Gas project near Abu Dhabi. Because of a high percentage of hydrogen sulphide (23.5%), the project is unique, and needs significant worker protection and monitoring of this poisonous gas. This has led to the development of wireless H2S monitoring sensors by Honeywell Analytics, which will incorporate a ‘worker’ location and communication system: this actually uses a triangulation system on the wifi network to provide location data. At the perimeter of the plant there was a requirement for further H2S detectors to protect the local offices, and provide a klaxon warning in the event of a gas escape. Again wireless communication was specified for each gas detection pole, with a 1 second response time guaranteed. Here by choosing star topology for the network communications and with the time determinism defined within the messaging, only the ISA100 system was able to meet this specification.

Wireless Data links

Data links to connect typically a single remote outstation unit back to a control centre offer a different set of applications for wireless. Many are associated with the oil industry, in terms of oil and gas fields, and pipeline monitoring. Others are for agriculture, or environmental monitoring, or water resource management. Founded in 1993, Freewave Technologies in Boulder, Colorado, claim to be a specialist in reliable wireless machine to machine (M2M) and IOT communications solutions, now having supplied over a million systems. It does appear that they have developed the industrial side of this US based business in parallel with a lot of defence/military work on UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) data transmission, and now have 2400MHz systems available for markets which cannot use the US 900MHz frequency band systems. The product range can replace wired systems for Ethernet or serial data transmission, or collection, transmission and repeating of SCADA system data, or multiple I/O circuits, over a wireless link.

In agriculture, the use of unmanned autonomous machinery is growing for practices such as harvesting, mowing and spraying. In a citrus fruit grove in Florida, Freewave M2M systems allowed an operator to supervise several autonomous mowing and spraying machines, only intervening when the machine meets an obstacle it cannot handle. Transmitted images show the operator what the machine is doing, and hopefully what the problem is: he can then use the wireless link to take control and direct the tractor around and away, presumably re-programming the route to be used in future. In this test the tractor used GPS Real-Time Kinetics location systems to provide the basic navigation (with centimetric accuracy) of the orchard, and one base wireless tower enabled reasonable coverage of a 3000 acre site: small repeater towers were used to provide coverage behind areas of denser foliage and trees.  Simpler Freewave wireless SCADA transmission for a wide-spread water supply and sewage network has been installed for Parker Water and Sanitation across parts of Colorado. Here the major advantage is that the remote outstation can be re-programmed remotely, over the wireless link, avoiding the need for and delay caused by a site visit.

The use of wireless around the site on remote oil and gas well systems is quoted by Emerson and Honeywell, to save on site wiring, complexity and power. These use the WirelessHART or ISA100 systems quoted previously. But there are also packages for collecting data from such remote operation sites, supplied by Honeywell and others, with integrated solar panels trickle charging battery systems, then providing remote wireless data links.

The Big Battery question

What about the power supply for these wireless sensors? That has been the biggest question, and the current batteries are big too, making a fairly large sensor housing necessary. But this is the main area where technology is moving fast to catch up.

After five years of operation in Emerson sensors, the answer to this question is still that they are not seeing a significant demand for replacement battery packs. Yokogawa offer a two cell battery pack that is suitable for exchange in the field, even in a hazardous area. The pack, with enclosed lithium/thionyl chloride batteries that are available from standard suppliers, allows cell replacement by the user. But battery packs still seem to have a 7-10 year life expectancy: the life actually depends on the sensor response time the user requires. By the time the battery pack needs replacement, the current growth of battery technology will have provided a better cell.

Commercial batteries for an intrinsically safe battery pack, which can be fitted on site to a Yokogawa DP cell

There are also some really interesting developments in energy scavenging power sources already. In the UK, Perpetuum developed an energy harvester that could power an integrated wireless vibration monitoring sensor, creating the power from a moving magnet within a coil. Subsequently, the company have split their vibration-generator unit from the harvesting electronics, so that the latter can replace, for example, the battery in an Emerson wireless pressure transmitter, and the Harvester part is mounted on an adjacent motor or similar -that creates some vibration. Then the harvesting electronics can also be used to collect other inputs, for example from solar cells.

A Pepetuum Intelligent Power Module designed to fit the Emerson 3051S pressure transmitter

This could be the next area where further developments in technology will impact the design of wireless sensors. From ABB, the TSP300-W wireless temperature sensor has a micro-thermal electric generator (micro-TEG, a form of thermopile) that can generate power from the temperature difference (>20⁰C) between the ambient temperature, and that of the process being monitored, whether hot or cold. This is used to trickle charge a Lithium battery, which will operate for ten years at least.

A power module for a sensor chip, from Illinois

Research is coming up with even more novel power ideas like this. At the other end of the size spectrum, researchers at the University of Illinois have produced a lithium-ion micro-battery suitable for ‘on-chip’ integration, using 3D holographic lithography. New lighter batteries using sodium-ion technology are being developed by Faradion to replace conventional lithium-ion cells. Cambridge University researchers have taken the energy harvesting vibration sensor further, in order to produce small self-powered wireless sensors that can be stuck onto the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland, to monitor the effects of traffic vibrations in the suspension cables.

The next step

The recent big consumer technology changes have enabled the technology, with mobile phones producing the economically priced components, aerials etc. Better capacitors, energy scavenging, batteries will all emerge to make the sensors longer lasting. Standards and customers are making the suppliers work together, and they are chasing to satisfy the significant new market demand.

Probably the major limitation to further adoption of these wireless systems in any industry will be in terms of expertise – the knowledge and understanding needed to design and put the systems together. There will be a lot of opportunity for installers and engineers to develop expertise in these new and niche applications, and there should be plenty of new applications emerging! But for once, some of the easiest applications are on process plants, even in hazardous areas, as the products and packages available for these jobs are now established.

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2016 Update on the Forth Road Bridge:

The above text was written in July 2015. Since then new applications have been reported here on ProcessingTalk.info. But this month’s story in The Engineer gives more information on the Forth Road Bridge application: Jason Ford reported:

“Cambridge start-up 8power has signed a contract with Innovate UK to support the development of its vibration energy harvesting (VEH) technology, an advance with a range of money-saving sensor applications.

The contract funds a collaborative project led by 8power and supported by Costain and the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at Cambridge University. It aims to develop a sustainable, scalable business case for the deployment of sensors in a range of industrial, infrastructure and construction applications.

According to 8power, VEH employs parametric resonance to facilitate power generation from a variety of vibration sources including motors, moving vehicles, or traffic-induced movement in structures such as bridges.

In October 2016 8Power was named the winner of the 7^th Discovering Start-ups competition, which is organised by Cambridge Wireless.

Speaking at the event, Dr Antony Rix, 8Power CEO said that advances in wireless technology are making it easier to monitor a range of variables but that the acquisition of data requires large batteries or regular battery replacement.

“Our team solved this problem by developing a fundamental, patented innovation and a technique called vibration energy harvesting, “ he said. “What we do is take vibration energy that’s naturally there in the environment and turn it into electrical power.”

He added that the conventional – and inefficient – way of doing this is to swing a mechanical resonator from side to side, moving a magnet through a coil to generate electricity.

“What we do instead is move the anchor point up and down and this creates massively more energy and that means much more power, about 10 times more than our competitors…as a result the 8Power technology can enable this technology to power sensors in a much wider range of applications where the batteries of our competitors simply can’t compete,” he said.

“Trials of the technology on the Forth Road Bridge have demonstrated that the solution works in live conditions.”

Yokogawa invests in IIOT cybersecurity

Yokogawa has made some significant investments in the resources needed to develop future techniques for IIOT cybersecurity, first with a new engineering centre to be established in California, and second, by investing US$900,000 into Bayshore Networks, as a partner in a current round of venture capital funding.

New IIOT Division

The new Yokogawa Architecture Development Division in California will pursue the development of the core technologies needed to establish the robust and flexible architecture required to improve operational efficiency and productivity when using the IIoT. The new division will function as a unit of the Yokogawa Marketing Headquarters Business Development Centre, and will keep up with the new technologies being developed every day in the IIoT sector – as well as facilitate close co-ordination with partner companies. The West Coast of the USA is therefore the correct location for this work. The division will be staffed by engineers from Yokogawa who have an extensive knowledge of Yokogawa systems and services, and locally recruited engineers who are conversant in a range of IT fields. The first employees of the division have been located at the local engineering office of a partner company since November 2016, but their own offices are scheduled to open in April 2017. Subsequently, the division will add functions for planning services that use the IIoT and cloud computing, and it is expected that the number of staff will be increased to around 50 over the next five years.

Investment in Bayshore

A parallel press release from Yokogawa explains that there has also been a $900k strategic equity investment into Bayshore Networks, a company established in 2012 that has gained rapid recognition for its expertise in cybersecurity.

Mike Dager, CEO of Bayshore, commented “Yokogawa shares our vision for a secure industrial internet of things enabling new applications that will increase safety, optimize processes, and drive efficiencies. We are proud and excited to partner with such a renowned global leader in industrial controls.”

This Yokogawa investment is part of the recent US$6.6M Series A funding for Bayshore, arranged by Trident Capital Cybersecurity, and its existing angel investors.

Trident Capital

Trident Capital Cybersecurity is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies leveraging emerging technologies in cybersecurity. The firm is a spinout of (or maybe the successor to) Trident Capital, which in 1998 became one of the pioneers of cybersecurity venture capital investing. Renowned as the venture capital firm with the most valuable network of cybersecurity relationships, Trident Capital Cybersecurity also relies on input from a 40–person Cybersecurity Advisory Council, consisting of industry CEOs, customers and former top-level government leaders.

“We led the Series A Investment because Bayshore has been recognized as an innovator and early leader in an emerging cybersecurity segment that is largely untapped to date,” said J. Alberto Yépez, managing director of Trident Capital Cybersecurity. “We are honoured to have Yokogawa join us in supporting the development of the cutting-edge Bayshore technology and business.”

The Trident Capital Cybersecurity website claims 28 cybersecurity investments and 16 successful exits. These have included the Solera acquisition by BlueCoat in 2013, the Qualys IPO in 2012, the acquisition of Accertify by American Express in 2010, the Sygate acquisition by Symantec in 2006 and the Signio acquisition by VeriSign in 2000.

The Bayshore technology

The Bayshore cloud-based software, called the Bayshore IT/OT Gateway, provides IT departments with visibility into OT (Operational Technology) infrastructure, networks, applications, machines and workers.  These OT networks are undergoing transformation and require services traditionally available for IT networks, such as secure remote access and analytics. Bayshore provides immediate value by preventing OT process disruptions and enhancing operational efficiency and business continuity.   The software is distinguished by extremely granular inspection and filtering of network flows – all the way down to machine sensor values – and the ability to provide security enforcement and application segmentation and isolation via flexible, rapidly deployed policies.  The Bayshore policy engine is capable of supporting common industrial protocols and quickly adapting to new and proprietary protocols.

These capabilities are built from the ground up for Industrial Internet and provide Bayshore customers with future-proof, cloud-based solutions that are complementary to legacy hardware-based industrial firewalls. Designed for IT perimeter security, firewalls look for IP addresses and ports, which means they block attacks according to standard Internet parameters.  Because industrial cyber-attacks are typically based on granular machine instructions that alter sensor values, the unique Bayshore technology is well positioned to detect industrial attacks that are often overlooked by other security technologies.

Bayshore has strategic alliances with leading technology companies including AT&T, BAE Systems, Cisco Systems, and VMware. It is currently based in New York, but intends to relocate the HQ to Bethesda, Maryland. No engineering base is quoted as existing in California.

2017 Business plan comes together

Earlier, Yokogawa had announced the completion of the acquisition of Soteica Visual Mesa (SVM), the leading energy management technology provider, which will be integrated into KBC Advanced Technologies (acquired in April 2016) alongside “Data as a Service” (DaaS) provider Industrial Knowledge (acquired December 2015). Satoru Kurosu, executive vice president and head of Yokogawa’s Solutions Service Business Headquarters, commented that these moves delivered on a number of the key objectives of the Yokogawa Transformation 2017 mid-term business plan: “Key strategic objectives of Yokogawa’s Transformation 2017 plan are to expand the solution service business, focus on customers, and co-create new value with customers through innovative technologies and services.”

(c) ProcessingTalk

Yokogawa offers ISA100 vibration sensor

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced the development and release of an ISA100 field wireless vibration sensor, which combines a fast data update rate with a long battery life. By providing real-time updates of the vibration levels in plant facilities, the new sensor helps users quickly detect equipment anomalies, enabling predictive maintenance.

Development background

With a field wireless system, plant field devices and analysers are able to communicate wirelessly with host-level monitoring and control systems. The rising need to improve productivity and enhance safety by collecting more data on plant operations is driving the demand for field wireless devices, which can be installed even in difficult to access locations. Field wireless devices have the added advantage of reducing installation costs.

Vibration sensors are used for the condition monitoring and predictive maintenance of plant machinery such as compressors, pumps, and motors. Conventional methods for monitoring vibration include the use of vibration sensors that rely on wired communications with a host system, supplemented by patrols by maintenance staff to collect vibration data. Wireless vibration sensors offer the same capabilities, with a much reduced installation cost and improved versatility: plus with the increasing adoption of ISA100 wireless technology across process plants, these sensors are a simple addition to such standard systems.

Since releasing the world’s first ISA100 Wireless-based field wireless devices and wireless systems, Yokogawa has expanded its line-up of field wireless devices that measure temperature, pressure, flow rate, and the like. This new vibration sensor will meet the  customer requirement for a device that can provide the fast updates on vibration levels needed to detect anomalies at an early stage.

Product features

ISA100 Wireless is a technology that is based on the ISA100.11a standard. It includes ISA100.11a-2011 communications, an application layer with process control industry standard objects, device descriptions and capabilities, a gateway interface, infrared provisioning, and a backbone router.

The principal components of this field wireless vibration sensor are the FN510 field wireless multifunction module, the LN01 piezoelectric type acceleration sensor, and the FN110 field wireless communication module. Via a gateway device, the FN510 uses the ISA100 Wireless communications protocol to exchange data with a host-level system such as the existing plant DCS. The data collected with this vibration sensor enables plant operators and maintenance staff to monitor vibration levels in real time. Both standard industrial and explosion-proof/intrinsically safe sensor types are available, with approvals to FM, CSA (cFM), ATEX and IECEx.

The LN01 sensor is the small item at the bottom of the picture, presumably! The box provides the plant mounted protection for the FN510

The LN01 sensor monitors vibration in the frequency range 10Hz to 10kHz, with an update rate of 10 seconds minimum. Measurements are provided of vibration velocity up to 160mm/sec (6″/ sec), and acceleration up to 300m/sec² (1 ft/sec/sec). On site the sensor has a cable connection to the FN510 free-standing field wireless multifunction module, the cable is typically up to 10m long. Battery life can be as long as 10 years, if the update rate is set at once per minute.

The Yokogawa approach to field wireless sensors

Yokogawa says they will continue to expand their lineup of ISA100 Wireless transmitters and other devices such as adaptors to develop best-in-class solutions that provide higher value to customers, and promote the use of field wireless technologies.

Their current ISA100 presentation includes their own pressure, temperature and flow sensors, plus other sensors from third parties, for example the Draeger GasSecure flammable gas detector, and the Spirax Sarco STAPS steam trap monitoring system. They have also previously featured products from the Bently Nevada vibration monitoring systems, which also use ISA100 wireless communications: the ISA100 system does permit the frequency spectrum from such devices to be transmitted to dedicated monitoring analysers. The Yokogawa development of the LN01 accelerometer sensor will effectively complement such systems.

(c) ProcessingTalk.info

Rules for Xmas drones

Drones: the UK CAA has issued a revised “Dronecode” to help millions getting a drone this year to fly safely and responsibly, and clarify the legal requirements.

This new Dronecode gives a simple set of rules and guidelines established in legislation which outline how to fly drones safely and within the law in the UK: it is hosted on a new dedicated website, www.dronesafe.uk. The code, created by the Civil Aviation Authority, has been agreed and is backed by wide range of leading aviation players, drone retailers and manufacturers, plus also the Department for Transport.

The launch of the new code, follows an industry-first report into user behaviour, attitudes towards, and responsible use of drones; findings led to the new website and the revised and updated Dronecode.

Drone owners and those looking to purchase one should familiarise themselves with this revised Dronecode, which gives a simple set of rules around safe and responsible use:

• Don’t fly near airports or airfields
• Remember to stay below 400ft (120m) and at least 150ft (50m) away from buildings and people
• Observe your drone at all times
• Never fly near aircraft
• Enjoy responsibly

Adherence to the Dronecode will address initial public concern identified in the research and help the wider industries that can harness the power of drones for good to grow. These are certainly front of mind with high expectations among the public for agriculture, medical and healthcare use.

Tim Johnson, Policy Director at the CAA said, “Consumer research on this scale into drone use has never been done before and there was a real need from the aviation and drone industries to find out more about this growing sector. The research shows that the public have understandable concerns about reported drone misuse to date, and demonstrate clearly why the current education program is underway, backed by legal action when appropriate.

“Drones have significant potential and the new Dronecode, which forms the basis of establishing a responsible attitude toward drone flight amongst consumers, will help to protect the safety of the wider aviation industry. It will also help those expected to use drones to improve current operations, from farming to traffic, from healthcare to logistics. Ultimately, people must use their drones safely, and responsibly.”

The new Dronecode and the consumer research is available to download at www.dronesafe.uk, a new website created by the CAA and air traffic control body NATS, and supported by a range of key players in the drone and aviation industries and the Department for Transport.

This Dronecode is for consumer drone use: those using a drone commercially must be licensed and undergo an approved course. Drone users must also remember that if they don’t follow the simple rules they could be prosecuted and go to prison.

This item published with acknowledgement to DPAonthenet.net, who first highlighted this news.

30 years on, and Chernobyl is covered

There are many old physicists who would remember the day of the Chernobyl accident back in 1986. I remember the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, when driving home and hearing that the radiation detectors on the Swedish (or maybe Finnish?) nuclear reactor power stations had gone into alarm, because of the incoming radiation fall-out detected.

Then there were the radio-active reindeer, after eating the moss on rocks in Scandinavia, and worse still, Welsh lamb with green dye marks to indicate ‘unfit for human consumption’. Working on a lot of development projects for sensors to be used in the BNFL Sellafield site, it was interesting to see how sheep with green dye marks seemed to be collected and placed in the fields near that site…… nothing if not a subtle comment by the local farmers.

European Reconstruction

The latest news this last month was that the “Chernobyl Arch”, a containment structure designed to enclose the damaged reactor and upgrade the site finally into an environmentally safe and secure state, was moved into position in November. The structure was built on site as part of an international programme, led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and moved to its final position along a 327 meter track, to cover the previous makeshift shelter placed over the exposed core soon after 1986. No mean feat with a weight of 36,000 tonnes. A video of the move and installation is visible on http://www.ebrd.com/news/video/timelapse-video-of-chernobyl-arch-sliding.html

The constructors

EBRD advise that the structure was built by Novarka, a consortium of the French construction firms VINCI Construction and Bouygues Construction. Work started in 2010, and the cost was Euro 1.5Bn. The arch itself is the largest moveable land-based structure ever built, with a span of 257 metres, length of 162 metres, height of 108 metres. With the sealed installation due for completion by November 2017, it will make the accident site safe, with a lifetime of 100 years; allow for the eventual dismantling of the makeshift Russian built 1986 shelter, and allow the management of the radioactive waste inside. (All assuming no local conflicts blow the place up!)

EBRD manages the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, and is the major contributor to the Euro 2.1Bn programme: more than Euro 1.5 billion has been contributed from 45 donors to date. This is presumably a good example of International and European co-operation and common sense. With Euro 600m still required, one hopes that the neighbouring countries affected can spare a little more? Chernobyl is in the Ukraine, but the original reactor was of Russian design.

A personal opinion is that this is the sort of project that European and International co-operation should be all about, and being one major build, it probably has not resulted in excessive syphoning off of the funds into dubious pockets!

PS: I’m also old enough to remember the expressions on the faces of my Mum and Dad when they heard that John Kennedy had been assassinated!