TECO - Automation - Detail

 

Control and visualization system of Nicosia and Larnaca (Cyprus) water stations and distribution network

Reference

The vision of the customer was to create modern monitoring network with maximum in time information for controlling the water distribution system. Teco company as a member of WaterSCADA consortium delivered 67 control units Tecomat Foxtrot.

System operator level

Every city has its own central server communicating wirelessly with all stations under its management. For the connection GSM network and GPRS technology is used. The basis of the user application is SCADA Reliance4 including several licences of thin clients. The thin client allows to view a monitoring windows to registered users through standard WEB browser.

Even there is a possibility to view every single station, statement of its device and all present quantities in standard visualization windows, the core of the sollution is in generating 105 analythic reports generated by dynamic queries to SQL database where are continuously stored data from all stations. In this case graphs and tables are more important.

So the Water Board Management do not operate the standard monitoring panel with dispatcher but is oriented on short time periods and long time period trends of inflow and flow off the reservoirs and stations of water supply network. Important or exceptionall information are distributed to staff by e-mails or SMS messages. These are sent out by monitoring level of SCADA as well as Foxtrot units in the landscape.

Alarms

The system takes care about a lot of alarms. These are grouped into few groups for easy view. Each group may be easily set by user with rules who and how may get the messages about alarms and how to work with them.  The rules for sending out the SMS messages, e-mails. Setting the time of sending and the recipients.The alarms may be grouped and they may assing the rules ones for the whole group.  

Reporting

The application contains scripts for automatic genereting of 105 reports like dynamic SQL queries. It means daily. Monthly, annual reports, ballance reports per book keeping period, a summary of alarms.The analysis of inflow and flow off summary and analysis of night flow trends may analyse the outflows in water supply network.

Telemetric station

The telemetric station contains from Foxtrot basic module with few expansion modules. It measure basic water industry values water flow, water pressure in front of and behind the valve. The station is placed in switchboard above grand closed to shafts, where are placed the equipments bellow the grand. Some of them are independent with no dependence of electric supply and have its own solar power system.

Together with GPRS/EDGE router ER75i from Conel company it makes local LAN network, that is like a tunnel by internet network connected  with the central sevrer in Virtual Privat Network.  

Every station has in Foxtrot its own comfortable maintenance web pages that allow technicians of Water Board Managent Access for all parameters and servise messages through standard web broker. There is no need to use software Mosaic. 

Reservoirs

There are 10 reservoirs monitored in Nicosia and one in Larnaca with pipeline dimension from 70 to 80 cm.

Transmission network, the communication system

Due to the extensive monitored territories we choosen for communication the GPRS network of Cypriot mobile operator. GPRS technology allows continuous connectivity to all stations.
Although all stations are connected via the Internet to a virtual private network, created by tunnel between the corporate LAN in headquarters and the LAN at each station it is necessary to minimize the data flow at every step. The price for the connection is determined by the amount of transmitted data.


To minimize the data flow into the Foxtrot as well as into  Reliance was implemented IEC870-5-104 protocol, which transmits only the changes greater than the preset value. Foxtrot preprocesses data and also has a memory that store the information even if there is a interruption of communication from any cause. After the restoration of communication the database automatically fills the missing data. So they captured all the changes in the minimum number o ftransmitted data.

Virtual Private Network also provides insight into each station through its service websites. But then the volume of traffic data increases significantly.

Power supply

Two thirds of water stations are supplied by 230 V power. One third of station sis powered by solar panels.

Value Measurement

1) Number of impulses per 20 s
2)Analog Flowmeter 
3) Pressure by analog Pressure gauge

Maintenance

Each station has its own Web site allowing the settings without Mosaic software running.

Just connect the laptop and run the web browser. It can also calibrate the analog inputs.

In case of uploading the new versions of application software the stations may by ketp from the center. With the Loader program it is possible to upgrade the Master PC without a need to travel physically around the stations.

Utilities