Product category:
Plant services equipment
News Release from: Mitsubishi Electric Automation Systems | Subject: SCADA control package
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 19 December 2003
Control system minimises heating fuel
consumption
Overlaying a SCADA control package onto a half-installed control system produced an energy management system that is minimising heating fuel consumption at a huge warehousing complex.
Overlaying a SCADA control package onto a half-installed control system, has allowed Rowan Control Systems of Rotherham to create an energy management system that is minimising heating fuel consumption at a huge warehousing complex "We were asked to step into the breach when the existing systems integrator unexpectedly passed away," recalls Rowan's Managing Director, Ian Morris
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 8 May 2000 at 8.00am (UK)
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"There were added complexities in that the brief was changed significantly because the buildings' patterns of used had evolved quite markedly, plus the integrator was already reusing some elements from the previous system!" The system controls the space heating in the complex, which comprises several discrete buildings, some of which are anything but regular shapes.
Had he been starting from scratch with a generous budget Morris says that the space could have been divided into clearly delineated climate control zones, which along with field bus communications could have lead to straightforward and elegant system architecture.
"But it's never like that with retrofit-type projects.
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You are always starting from an awkward position and trying to save costs by reusing existing equipment wherever you can." Morris was pleased to see that the controllers already installed were PLCs (programmable logic controllers) from the FX range by Mitsubishi.
There were four units networked around the complex, each performing local control.
Each PLC's area was split into four-six independently controlled zones.
"This seemed fairly rational and straightforward, but as we investigated further we realised that some temperature monitors, fans and other field devices were not being controlled by their zone's PLC, but by a more distant one in a seemingly pointless complication of the system architecture." Morris explains that this is usually symptomatic of reuse of a previous system and that he knows from experience that there are two workable solutions.
"You either rip out the lot and start again, or accept what is there and work with it.
If you tinker with the existing system, trying to patch over what you perceive as shortcoming, you invariably open a can of worms and end up with more and more patches needed right across the system - what is technically called a pig's ear!" Closer investigation revealed that the PLCs were being used as little more than remote i/o, so Morris decided to exploit their full potential and given them intelligent processing functions.
This meant he could junk the existing central controller, which he describes as superannuated, and replace it with a modern high performance SCADA system.
It wasn't a difficult choice to go for a Mitsubishi MX SCADA package, which would be fully compatible with the FX PLCs and would be supported by Mitsubishi's team of field engineers.
This sits on a PC in the site's facilities manager's office and optimises control against which constantly changing criteria, such as whether it is day or night, ambient weather conditions and which zones have people working in them.
"In big spaces like warehouses, temperature develops an almost unstoppable dynamic of its own," says Morris.
"Heat stratifies though the height of the building, we have destratification fans up near the roof, which in winter pull the heat back down to recycle it and in summer vent it before it builds up to untenable levels.
"This is a common climate control strategy that most SCADA systems could cope with.
But in this case we had 18 fans covering 20 zones; with some zones having more than one fan. Request a free brochure from Mitsubishi Electric Automation Systems ...
Rather than try to unravel the dynamics of the air movements, we put in a series of temperature sensors at high level, and leave it up to the MX SCADA to work out which fans to activate for optimum control.".
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