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Ethernet-APL launched at Electra Mining Africa

“ thernet-APL is the key to a new for the process industry. The Namur Open Architecture (NOA), on the other hand,
type of flat communication was looking for ways to make process data from the automation system usable for the
Einfrastructure in the process purposes of plant maintenance and optimisation without affecting the ongoing process
area”, Mark Van der Pelt, managing flow.
director of Pepperl+Fuchs said at the The vision of both initiatives included a solution that would not require any gateways
launch of Ethernet-APL at Electra Mining between individual networks or fieldbuses. In addition, the process and status data
Africa yesterday. Van der Pelt was joined provided by the individual field devices should be always openly accessible. On the one
by Charl McAllister, head of marketing at hand, a new generation of field devices should enable the use of different protocols to
industry partner Endress+Hauser South suit the respective application. On the other hand, it was about transmission paths with
Africa. high bandwidths that allow fast access to the field devices, thus opening completely new
The suffix APL stands for Advanced applications.
Physical Layer and describes a physical The path to Ethernet-APL began in 2011 with a conference of leading suppliers
layer for the transmission of data and of components and systems for the process industry. It soon became clear that all
electrical energy via 2-wire cables and participants were driven by the same vision. The declared goal was an open solution
distances of up to 1000 metres. that guaranteed full interoperability and put an end to the complexity and limitations of
“Ethernet-APL stands in contrast the existing system environments. It was all about nothing less than a new standard that
to the hierarchically structured system not only offered unrestricted transparency, but also enabled high transmission rates. In
environments of today’s plants and allows addition, Intrinsic Safety ignition protection for hazardous areas was to be made possible
unhindered access to all process data and the proven principle of transmitting both data and the energy for operating the field
down to each individual field device. devices over long distances was to be retained.
In addition, Ethernet-APL field devices A first demonstrator was presented in 2015. With this setup it was proven that
and other infrastructure components Ethernet-APL was indeed capable of transmitting data and electrical energy over 2-wire
allow data access fully independent of cables and long distances.
the running process and are also able to In 2018, the three leading user organisations in the process sector demonstrated that
communicate directly with each other. they were fully behind Ethernet-APL. A joint presentation by Profibus International, ODVA
Process data are therefore available and the FieldComm Group presented practical solutions for the first time to demonstrate
without restriction. Big Data applications the capabilities of Ethernet-APL and position the new technology as the future standard
can draw on the full potential and no in process automation. In addition, migration paths were shown that enabled an easy
longer fail due to insufficient availability transition from the current heterogeneous system world to the digital future.
of data”, he said. Until now, process plants have been isolated solutions that offer only a few interfaces
The impetus for the development to the information technology of the company that operates them. This results in
of Ethernet-APL was essentially given numerous restrictions, which are removed by Ethernet-APL.
by two organisations. The Open Process Ethernet-APL will thus become an integrated component of a uniform and universal
Automation Forum was focused on a communication landscape, making the principles of Industry 4.0 a reality for the process
completely new system architecture industry as well. After all, Ethernet is just as much behind the Internet of Things as it is

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