SCADA Systems
Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition Systems
EREDI S.A. offers full services in Automation Control applied but not limited to the following categories:
- Industrial machines
- Waste Filtration Systems
- Power SCADA Design, Development & Commissioning
- Automation of Robotic Arms
The services include test plans, test specifications, test cases, test reports, commissioning, and handover processes.
EREDI S.A. has developed SCADA systems in order to implement its own green technology development projects and for a client in the UK.
Specifically, EREDI S.A. has developed the following SCADA systems:
SCADA Project 1: SCADA development for Biomass Combustor Units
|
Project description
EREDI S.A. is professionally active in research and innovations, targeting the development of commercial systems, utilizing fluidized bed reactors as the fundamental technology towards energy production. Currently, a pilot biomass combustion plant has been developed for the production of thermal energy and electrical power. This system configuration is accomplished utilizing a series of tailor made CFB (circulating fluidized beds) in order to couple with a cluster of Stirling electrical power generators specially designed for this purpose. Based on this technology and following modular configuration as combination of CFBs and Stirling power generators, small scale and flexible industrial power units of 0.5 MWel (Green Energy) can be build and operate efficiently directly connected to the grid. The Biomass Combustor Unit is suitable for Biomass Power Plants, Biological Treatment Plants & Central Heating. The project was co-funded by 50% by the Hellenic State in the frame of a Greek National Research & Development program.
SCADA description
A SCADA system has been created for the automation of the operation of the Biomass Combustion Unit with National Instruments technology. The functionalities of the SCADA are listed below:
-
Control of the air compressors & the valves
The principal operation of the biomass combustor is the circulation of the fluidized bed. The calculation of the correct parameters for the steady state is done dynamically with algorithms. -
Control of the biomass injection into the 1st combustion zone
The amount of biomass that is inserted into the combustor is calculated according to the desired output power of the unit and the current state of the fluidized bed. -
Data acquisition, logging, analysis & plotting
The majority of the sensors are thermocouples and pressure meters. These indications are captures from several parts of the unit. The data is stored in files, it is analyzed and it can be plotted. -
Alarms monitoring & logging
The logging of several types of alarms is very important for troubleshooting and for informing the operators for any potential incidents. -
Steady state control with algorithms
The most important functionality of the SCADA is the automatic operation of the unit. According to the sensors readings and the dynamic calculation of several parameters, the software can control the unit autonomously.
SCADA Project 2: SCADA development for Heat Treatments Units
|
Project description
EREDI S.A. created a Heat Treatments Unit that consists of three electrical furnaces that heat bubbling fluidized beds up to 1100 ºC. The project was co- funded by 50% by the Hellenic State in the frame of a National Research & Development program. The manual usage of the system proved the necessity to develop a SCADA system in order to automate the system with a robotic arm and control the environment of the fluidized beds. The Figure 20 shows a part of the constructions.
SCADA description
The purpose of the SCADA is the automation of the process of importing and exporting the baskets which store the metal objects that need heat treatment, inside the furnaces and the cooling system. This is done with the help of a robotic arm which is moving in three dimensions and it has the accuracy of a CNC. The SCADA controls also the temperature of the furnaces and the cooling system and it keeps the fluidized bed environment inert by controlling the amount of gas that needs to be inserted. These functionalities are presented in the Figure 22- Figure 26. Another functionality is the certificate that is created at the end of the process. It is presented at the Figure 21. This includes the temperature chart of the heat treatment in order to ensure the correct treatment of the metal objects. The technology that has been selected is National Instruments.
Screenshots of the SCADA HMI
SCADA Projects 3 & 4: SCADA development for Advanced Waste Filtration systems
|
Additionally, EREDI S.A. acted as a sub-contractor in the time period Jan 2014 – Jun 2016 for the automation control of two Department of Energy & Climate (DECC) sponsored projects of the Bristol based environmental technology company Future Environmental Technologies Engineering Limited (FET-E). The projects were related to advanced industrial waste filtration and they are presented in the Figure 27.
Company profile of “Future Environmental Technologies Engineering Limited”
Future Environmental Technologies Group develops green technology solutions designed to help organizations engaged in industrial and agricultural activities with a high pollution potential, to meet their regulatory obligations by keeping within agreed emissions limits, and to profit from environmental over-performance.
Projects description
Project POLYP:
A £5.2 million, 3-Year Carbon Capture project which had the primary objective of delivering a cost/tonne of CO2 abated at a level significantly lower than current competing carbon remediation technologies – principally Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS)/Amine-based processes. This project was hosted and developed on at a chemical site in Newport, South Wales. FET-E’s Cx – Carbon eXchange – technology successfully abated 95% of the CO2 captured from a natural gas boiler generated flue gas stream.
Project PURESTREAM:
The second was a £1.4 million 9-month R&D project which evolved into the development & deployment of FET-E’s carbon conversion technology. In this project carbon dioxide was converted into high grade formic acid with a process and at a cost which makes the technology commercially viable.
SCADA description
The SCADA systems were created using National Instruments technology. The services included also test plans, test specifications, test cases & test reports, commissioning, and handover processes. The SCADA systems included the following functionalities:
-
Pumps & valves control
The SCADA was responsible for the operation and the rotation speed of several heavy duty pumps through inverters. The automatic control of the valves was also a critical point of the autonomous operation of the system. -
Data acquisition, logging, analysis & plotting
The majority of the sensors were thermocouples, conductivity sensors, PH meters, pressure meters, humidity meters and gas analysers. The readings of all these sensors were saved in files, analysed for further information and plotted. -
Alarms monitoring & logging
This is an important aspect of the SCADA, capable of informing the operators of any malfunction of the system or incident. -
Steady state control with algorithms
The aim of the projects was to achieve the steady state control so as the system can work autonomously. -
Communication with industrial protocols
The National Instruments PLCs had to communicate with the PLCs and instruments of other subsystems.