Home - SMAR International Corporation

We cover Demanding Applications

Longtime providers for the NAVY

Tested for Vibe and Shock

Also used in Nuclear Plants

Devices for the Best Producers

More than 45 years in the business

Legendary field proven instrumentation

Safe and trusted by thousands

Open Minds in Process Control

4-20 mA, HART

PROFIBUS or FOUNDATION Fieldbus

Get more built-in function blocks

Full Industrial Coverage

Bio-Fuel, Sugar, Water, and Wastewater

Oil & Gas, Chemical, Pharmaceutical

Pulp and Paper, Mining, Food and Beverage

Field Proven for Years

We meet tough industrial demands

High-Quality Products

Explosion Proof and Intrinsically safe

Measurement & Control

Established in 1978 to support the ethanol industry, SMAR has expanded its focus to include energy generation, oil and gas, water treatment, food processing, chemical, and other sectors. Our products' reliability and robustness have enabled us to provide solutions for various applications, including nuclear plants and military projects. SMAR offers a broad range of products for industrial automation, covering devices from the control room to field instrumentation. Our products and third-party devices can be integrated using our System-302 (a truly distributed control system).

History of Innovations

SMAR has a long history of innovation in industrial process control and automation. We were the first to introduce a powerful stand-alone multi-loop PID controller that was block-configurable using a rich graphical user interface (GUI) app for PCs. Our library of function blocks was also highly sophisticated.

In addition, we were pioneers in implementing the HART® and FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocols for field transmitters. Furthermore, we introduced field pressure transmitters that are capable of measuring, totalizing flow, and controlling valves using an internal PID control, all in a single unit. This innovation eliminates the need for an external PID controller in many applications.

Freedom and Safe Cloud

SMAR gives customers freedom of choice by offering a variety of technological alternatives. For instance, with our line of field transmitters, controllers, and positioners, you can select the most convenient communication protocol for your plant. Choose from 4-20 mA, HART®, FOUNDATION® Fieldbus, PROFIBUS®, Modbus, EtherNet/IP™, DeviceNet™, and others. SMAR devices are available with a large variety of measuring ranges, materials, certificates, accessories, painting types, and network connectivity.
Additionally, we offer highly secure cloud storage for your data, and the SMAR System-302 manage all connectivity for seamless integration across your entire plant with a safe backup.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Others Are Saying

How tough are SMAR field transmitters?

Should I eliminate the 250 Ohm resistor in some cases while working with HART transmitters?

Answer: Even if you know that the load added by the devices in the loop totalizes more than 250 Ohm (that is the minimum load needed to communicate HART). It is NOT recommended to eliminate the classic 250 Ohm resistor from the current loop.

Consider this.

Let's say you are going to do maintenance on one device in the loop. When you remove this device from the loop and take it to the workshop. Let assume that you shorted the 2 points where this device was installed, so the loop keeps closed. In this situation, the total load now could get lower than 250 Ohm based on what was left on the loop. If this happens, the HART communication in the line is compromise and may not work anymore.

On the other way, put in mind that too much load in the line may require a higher voltage power supply for the loop.

Does SMAR have standalone PID controllers?

Answer: SMAR carries many devices with built-in PIDs and other control algorithms. These controllers are present in dedicated controllers, transmitters, PLCs, and in or modern DCS (Distributed Control System), the System-302.

However, I believe that your question is in reference to PID controller units for panel installation, with its own display and buttons interface to interact directly with the user.

For this case I should recommend you to look at the CD600Plus.

The CD600Plus is a stand-alone multi-loop controller that can resolve up to 8 PID controls. It is block configured in an easy to use Windows graphical interface.

See more on the CD600Plus

Are smart HART transmitters better than the 4-20 mA analog ones?

Answer: Let me start by saying that a smart HART® transmitter can also provide the 4-20 mA as an old good analog transmitter.

A HART transmitter can directly replace an old analog transmitter that you already have installed and running in the plant.

You can literally remove the old analog transmitter and replace it with a HART one. Yes, it is compatible with your power supply and the twisted pair of wires used before. Just a brief and important point. You will need to add a 250 Ohm resistor in the loop to be able to communicate with the transmitter.

There are many advantages that a HART transmitter can bring to your plant and operations.

When we understand those added features, we can say that they are a better asset to the plant!

Some immediate benefits are:

Configuration can be done remotely using a HART interface to communicate with the transmitter through a computer or using a hand-held.
Now users have a digital access to the signal and other internal parameters
Considering they are microprocessor-based (smart), they can make internal calculations as PID control, Square Root, Totalization, linearization, filtering, …
Better and easier for diagnostic and routine maintenance
Manufacturers add troubleshooting information
Better integration with a DCS (Distributed Control System)

FAQs

“After several months of operating Smar Density Transmitters on the
fermentation tanks, we experienced an improvement in the quality of
our production process as well as improving product quality through
the continuous measurement of Plato Degree.
The continuous measurement of Plato Degree enabled to precisely
trigger when we start our maturation process and consequently,
significantly reduce our power costs.
We were also able to increase production, as we no longer needed to
sample offline, which we had found contributed to added time, labor
and waste to our production process”.

"We have many visitors in our plant that show a kind of reluctance when they see the amount of SMAR transmitters that we use in our processes. Need to say that we are using them for more than 12 years now and they proved to be very reliable and easy to work, even when you compare them with other well-known brands.

We use their differential pressure transmitters, gauge transmitters, temperature transmitters, and their valve positioners. They are easy to maintain and if installed properly and into the specs they will deliver a great performance to the plant. All we do is to take care of our maintenance schedule accordingly."

"It is sad to know that still many people are not familiar with SMAR line of products. We keep recommending them due to their great performance and durability"

"Our guys are impressed with Smar valve positioner. The FY301 has no mechanical contact with the valve stem. No gear or mechanical parts in the way! Everything works with a magnet connected to the stem and a hall-effect sensor built-in in the positioner. We have never seen a solution that clean!

This positioner can be adapted to rotary or linear stems. They also offer brackets to fix the positioner to different types of valves, besides the fact that they also have a universal bracket that is very handy for many types of valves.

After installation, all you need to do is run what they call "a one-touch setup". Fast and brilliant!!"

"We remember when the first companies were implementing FOUNDATION Fieldbus devices, they were announcing a very limited among of Function Blocks in the field device internal library.

It is clear to see that SMAR has been way ahead on implementing FOUNDATION Fieldbus devices. Since the beginning they were offering the largest amount of Functions Blocks. Plus, the fact that their Function Blocks could be instantiated as needed by the application. Other manufacturers were accustomed to charge accordingly to the amount of unlocked Function Blocks.

You don't have this type concern with SMAR transmitters!"

"What I like about SMAR is the high-quality technical implementation. You can see that on their products. They are full of features, well made, and extremely durable.

It is also notorious when it comes to system integration. They have most of their products in HART, FOUNDATION, or PROFIBUS protocol."