Strangers in the Night—Smart Process Sensors in Our Current Automation Landscape

• Main Authors: Michael Maiwald, Patrick Gräßer, Lukas Wander, Nicolai Zientek, Svetlana Guhl, Klas Meyer, Simon Kern
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-08-01
• Series: Proceedings
• Subjects: smart sensors; intensified processes; sustainable production; reaction monitoring; NMR spectroscopy; Industry 4.0; Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT); continuous manufacturing
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/1/4/628

The departure from the current automation landscape to next generation automation concepts for the process industry has already begun. Smart functions of sensors simplify their use and enable plug-and-play integration, even though they may appear to be more complex at first sight. Smart sensors enable concepts like self-diagnostics, self-calibration, and self-configuration/parameterization whenever our current automation landscape allows it. Here we summarize the currently discussed general requirements for process sensors 4.0 and introduce a smart online NMR sensor module as example, which was developed for an intensified industrial process funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (www.consens-spire.eu).