Are SMART Transmitters (temp. flow, pressure) always with HART protocol? Or is it possible to have SMART Transmitter without HART protocol? Thanks in advance.

 

The consequences of living in a postmodern era filter down even to field instrumentation...

"Smart" is a marketing term, not a technical definition. Hence, smart means whatever the speaker attempts to define it as, but you as the listener, are not obliged to accept the speaker's definition.

Over the past 20 odd years, I have had people tell me smart is:

1) the ability to have the transmitter's output ranged without applying an input

2) the ability to zero/range the transmitter output by applying a process input and pressing a button

3) the ability to configure an elevation offset on a GP/DP transmitter without applying a pressure.

4) the presence of a digital indicating readout on a transmitter, as opposed to an analog indicator.

5) the compensation for temperature drift on pressure transmitters by measuring the temperature and making compensation for it.

6) the ability to change engineering units for the digital indicator.

7) the presence of any digital interface, whether it be HART, foundation fieldbus, Profibus, or even Modbus.

8) the ability to get more than one variable from a transmitter.

9) the presence of 'meaningful diagnostics'. The repeated assertion of the value of 'meaningful diagnostics'. The failure to show a 'meaningful diagnostic' or be able to explain what any specific 'meaningful diagnostic' might be meaningful.

10) The ability to configure a transmitter remotely from the control room, over the wiring to the transmitter, with a handheld gizmo.

11) That newer transmitters are, in fact, smarter than older transmitters because the handheld gizmo has 2 LCD lines in the display, instead of one.

12) The absence of screw adjustment pots

13) Not drawing to an inside straight.

I believe only the last definition. You are entitled to believe whatever you heart desires. Even a former US president didn't know the definition of 'is', so who's to define "smart"?

Carl