Back to Issue 30

NORWAY / TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS: Scandisign, a member of Norway’s SafeRoad Group, is one of the leading suppliers of LED-based traffic signs and energy-effective illuminated signs for multi-storey car parks and airports. Customers often require products which ‘communicate’ and 'time to market' is very important for Scandisign.

So, when the need came up for a lane-closing sign with PROFIBUS communications, for the ‘Festningstunnelen’ tunnel project in central Oslo, Scandisign had to find a solution quickly. Scandisign initiated a co-operation with AD Elektronikk, who developed a solution based on the Anybus-IC solution from HMS. All elements were integrated onto an existing printed circuit board which was sent to Scandisign’s own manufacturer for production. More than 500 circuit boards using Anybus-IC and PROFIBUS have now been deployed in the tunnel.

few months later Scandisign had a new request from their customer: it now needed connectivity over Ethernet/Modbus TCP as well as PROFIBUS! AD Elektronikk achieved this by designing a second circuit board that was placed on top of the existing board - a so-called ‘piggy back’ carrier solution - again using Anybus-IC. It, and the Ethernet RJ45 connector, were placed on the carrier and then connected to the main board. AD also made minor firmware updates to handle both PROFIBUS and Ethernet so the same main board can be used for both requirements.

Anybus-IC is a family of interchangeable single chip interfaces for industrial networks, optimized for small size and multiple network connectivity. Everything required by Anybus-IC is integrated into a standard DIL32 chip socket. Ethernet versions contain industrial IT functions, including a dynamic embedded web server, FTP server and Email client. HMS INDUSTRIAL NETWORKS

Top

AUSTRALIA / WATER DESALINATION: Sydney Water’s new desalination plant at Kurnell, south east of Sydney, has recently been commissioned. All automation and control is based on PROFIBUS, and Endress+Hauser was selected to supply all general instrumentation.

The plant provides Sydney-siders with 250 million liters of water a day, satisfying 15% of daily consumption. It is designed to have minimal environmental impact and has the option to be expanded to a capacity of 500 million liters later.

The project is a joint venture between Veolia and John Holland - jointly known as the Bluewater Consortium - and has already recorded a number of engineering ‘world firsts’. It has been heralded as one of the largest, ‘smartest’ and most sophisticated desalination plants in the world.

Bluewater’s Electrical, Instruments & Control Manager, Charles Markotter, was responsible for the installation and commissioning of everything electrical, including the facility’s automation and instrumentation systems. A seasoned project manager and engineer, with over 30 years of international experience on projects of this size, Charles says: “I have only seen this level of automation on oil refineries, never on a water plant. Every single thing around here is monitored: it’s unique!”

Endress+Hauser supplied 1400 instruments for deployment plant-wide, from the intake of sea water to the final dispatch of fresh water to the consumer. Critical process measurements include water level, pressure, temperature, pH, ORP, turbidity, conductivity and the concentration of minerals such as nitrates. Ultimately, the instrumentation is there to make sure that the plant is as safe as possible, and that it supplies high quality drinking water.

Automation and instrumentation plays a vital role in the plant’s day to day operations. An important consideration was the interoperability of the plant’s 8500 field devices within the system’s communication networks.

Working closely with Bluewater and the control system supplier, Schneider Electric, Endress+Hauser were able to prove the compatibility of all of their instruments with the PROFIBUS networks during the bidding process. Knowing that communications would work from the start, Charles said, “just took a lot of stress off everyone from the beginning.”

Endress+Hauser worked with the electrical contracting firm Heyday Electrical to ensure the correct installation of all system components. The plant was built and commissioned exactly according to its pipe and instrumentation diagrams. These show the process measurement points as numbered ‘tags’, representing anything from a single instrument to a complex measuring system. With limited storage on-site, Endress+Hauser consolidated the equipment required for every tag at their own storage facility and then delivered them in either kit form or as pre-assembled analysis panels, just in time for installation.

The plant is run by eight permanent operators, supported by key service providers who are able to diagnose problems off site via secure web interfaces.

Using real time data from the instruments and other assets in the plant collected by Endress+Hauser’s asset management software, Fieldcare, Sydney Water’s IBM Maximo ERP system can also schedule maintenance procedures, and even manage spare part inventories. All of this is possible due to intelligent field instruments and their ability to communicate seamlessly across the networks of the plant. Now that’s what you call a ‘smart’ plant! ENDRESS + HAUSER