The Fieldbus Center at Lee College is offering a Foundation fieldbus training course for power and wire installers. The two-day course covers installation and testing of fieldbus physical layer components. “Fieldbus for Power and Wire Installers” was developed to meet process industry requirements for instrumentation personnel trained in Foundation fieldbus installation techniques. From commissioning to startup, it provides a vendor-neutral perspective on the wiring, isolation, shielding, and grounding of fieldbus device segments.

The new course allows up to 12 students at a time to receive instruction in laying out, securing, terminating, and testing wiring used for Foundation device networks. Students also learn about construction and testing practices needed to verify that installed fieldbus segments support system quality. Specific course topics include wire characteristics, polarities, shielding topologies, grounding topologies, power supplies, conditioners, terminators, termination techniques, surge protection, safety barriers and repeaters.

During the first day of training, hands-on exercises involve testing unpowered and powered fieldbus segments with traditional and specialized test equipment. In addition, students study a variety of segment documentation techniques. The second, optional day of instruction goes in-depth into Intrinsic Safety (IS) barriers, Fieldbus Intrinsically Safe Concept (FISCO), Fieldbus Non-incendive Concept (FNICO), repeaters and specialized diagnostics.