NE190 Working with mobile devices in the process environment has been newly published

The NAMUR Recommendation NE 190 has been released and may now be obtained from the NAMUR Office.

Abstract to NE 190 "Working with mobile devices in the process environment"

Just as in the consumer goods sector working with mobile devices has become more and more common in the process industry, whereby increased demands such as explosion protection, security, and access rights must be observed.

This NAMUR recommendation offers an overview of mobile working use cases in the process industry environment and describes the respective technical and organizational requirements which need to be met. The uses cases comprise examples from maintenance, remote support, and mobile operation of the DCS. The NE presents general as well as use case specific technical specifications for mobile devices to ease the selection of suitable devices. Typically used mobile devices are smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices.

In the following it is described how secure access to the respective devices can be ensured and which technical measures such as geo-fencing can be applied for this purpose. A focus of the NE is put on mobile operation, i.e., operating the DCS by means of a mobile device. Thereby, an approach to avoid simultaneous operation of units by mobile and control room operators is presented.

Organizational aspects such as training and life cycle considerations for the mobile devices conclude this NAMUR recommendation.