Rigorous Multi-Vendor Ethernet-APL Testing Confirms Readiness for Broad Adoption
July 15, 2025
A new round of testing by Endress+Hauser of a multi-vendor Ethernet-APL setup has wrapped up successfully, further validating the technology’s readiness for widespread deployment. Ethernet-APL is becoming a must-have tool for advancing the digitalization of process plant operations for optimized performance and other major benefits.
The recent load tests were tailored to meet customer-specific requirements, the test customer being chemical giant BASF. The tests demonstrated that components from various manufacturers can work together seamlessly to build a robust and reliable system based on PROFINET over Ethernet-APL. Requirements were defined from BASF’s perspective. On the supplier side, devices from Endress+Hauser, Pepperl+Fuchs, R. Stahl, Phoenix Contact, and Samson were integrated into an Emerson control system and their interoperability was confirmed.
The test scenarios were performed on a network with the maximum number of devices, and successfully verified both performance and reliability with the Pepperl+Fuchs switches. Key performance metrics — such as total net load and redundancy switchover times — met and even surpassed the required standards.
Some 240 Endress+Hauser measuring devices were employed, including flow, pressure, temperature and level sensors, as well as positioners from Samson. They were tested in a ring topology consisting of Ethernet-APL field switches from Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact and R. Stahl. Emerson provided the control system DeltaV DCS including PROFINET System Redundancy (S2) support as well as the AMS Device Manager System.
Phoenix Contact field switches were subsequently subjected to similar tests and were able to demonstrate their performance as were switches from R. Stahl.
Gerd Niedermayer, Senior Expert Emerging Automation Technologies at BASF, extended his thanks to Endress+Hauser for conducting the scalability tests. “With the help of their digital field devices, we are able to optimize diverse topics centering around engineering, commissioning and lifecycle in BASF plants and save CAPEX and OPEX costs.”
Digitalization requires a constant data flow between field level systems and higher level management systems to optimize processes. High speed, full duplex connectivity over a single, unified network is essential. Legacy networking technologies are an obstacle to digitalization because of their slow speed, limited bandwidth and the need for defined protocol conversions, all overcome by Ethernet-APL. It provides data and power to field level devices, even in hazardous zones with intrinsic safety, via 2-wire cable at speeds of 10 Mbit/s, full duplex.
“With the success of this recent scalability test program, the cooperating companies have again proven that the multi-vendor (Ethernet-APL) infrastructure is open, future-proof and ready for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)”, says Harald Müller, technical lead of Ethernet-APL and director of technology at Endress+Hauser Temperature+System Products. Planners and end users have further evidence that Ethernet-APL provides a pathway to more flexible, efficient and cost-effective industrial automation systems.
Since 2023, Endress+Hauser has been providing instrumentation for Ethernet-APL projects worldwide, a product portfolio which continues to expand.
Endress+Hauser’s PROFINET support for the company’s proprietary Netilion cloud-based IIoT eco-system can help users maximize the benefits of Ethernet-based communication. For example, it provides remote access to process values and health diagnostics for all native and PROFINET-APL devices, ensuring high plant availability.
Find out more at www.endress.com/APL
About Endress+Hauser
Endress+Hauser is a global leader in measurement instrumentation, services and solutions for industrial process engineering. Our products – sensors, instruments, systems and services for level, flow, pressure and temperature measurement as well as analytics and data acquisition – set standards in quality and technology. The company further supports its customers with automation engineering, logistics and IT services and solutions. Founded in 1953 by Georg H Endress and Ludwig Hauser, the Endress+Hauser Group has been solely owned by the Endress family since 1975.
Today, the Group is managed and coordinated by a holding company based in Reinach, Switzerland, employing 17,046 personnel across the globe at year end. In 2024, the Group generated net sales of 3.744 euros (C$5.80 billion). Endress+Hauser’s production centres in 12 countries meet customers’ needs and requirements quickly and effectively, while its dedicated sales centres and strong partner network guarantee competent worldwide support.
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Ethernet-APL is Ready, Endress+Hauser to Begin Rollout of Compatible Devices
Following on the success of a multi-partner load-testing program, Endress+Hauser is launching a full portfolio of Ethernet-APL measuring devices based on the PROFINET protocol. Expectations in the process sector for this new advanced physical layer are enormous, and the load testing results confirm the technology’s potential as a game-changer in industrial communication.
Ethernet-APL makes possible fast, digital data transmission with high bandwidth over long distances and in explosive atmospheres. Such easy access to data from field instruments can lift process automation to a new level of efficiency and professionalism, even enabling field-to-cloud data networking to optimize processes and entire plant operations.
