Variable area flowmeter is now available with Foundation Fieldbus ITK 6.3

KROHNE recently launched the H250 M40 flowmeter now with Foundation Fieldbus ITK 6.3. The functionality of the Foundation Fieldbus (FF) module for H250 M40 variable area flowmeter has been updated from Interoperability Test Kit 5.2 (ITK 5.2) to ITK 6.3. The new version has been tested and registered with the FieldComm Group, and has also passed the stress test on a DeltaV control system.

Since the introduction of the FF interface in 2012, several thousand devices have been put into operation. Customers who would like to update existing H250 M40 FF devices to ITK 6.3 can do so by ordering a new ITK 6.3 module and simply change it in the field without removing the device from the pipeline. As it is only a new firmware, all 32 international Ex approvals of H250 M40 are still applicable.

With ITK 6.3, NE107 compliant diagnostic messages have been implemented, and execution times of the function blocks have been significantly improved so that more devices can be polled for a given schedule (total cycle time of the bus system). It is possible to operate FF ITK 5.2 and ITK 6.3 devices simultaneously in one system. Each version requires its own driver (CFF/ DD/ DTM), which must be installed once per device type.