Mobile SCADA solution monitors power distribution for chemical company

31 July 2012

Speciality chemical manufacturer, Allessa Chemie, has selected the EXTEND7000 mobile SCADA solution from SCHAD, for a manufacturing operation to more effectively monitor the consistency of energy distribution levels within its main 400V plant power supply right around the clock, seven days a week.

Changes to power distribution in the plant can cause losses to production levels and compromises health and safety levels. Gaining the ability to have immediate notifications, delivered directly into the hands of plant engineers, offers the company some important benefits including reduced downtime.

EXTEND7000 has been configured to trigger the use of switching devices and to observe the value of individual busbars, both of which previously needed to be activated via the control room, which could cause delays to production schedules.

Currently, SCHAD's mobile SCADA solution has been configured to monitor 540 parameters - 400 switch positions and 150 alarms - which are recorded and controlled by a Siemens Simatic S7-400 controller using PCS7 and monitored by its existing WinCC SCADA system from a fixed control room. Now, within seconds of a problem occurring, a notification is sent directly to an appropriate member of the engineering team, ensuring that downtime is kept to a minimum.

Allessa Chemie integrated EXTEND7000 with its existing WinCC SCADA system to enable the system to be easily extended in the future. The company has indicated that one of the most likely additional applications for EXTEND7000 Mobile SCADA will be within its wastewater treatment plant and plans to implement there shortly.

"We are running a large continuous manufacturing operation 24/7 and needed to identify a way to improve the existing fixed monitoring capabilities," said Klaus Knahl, head of EMR operations and responsible for the use of electrical instrumentation and control technology at Allessa Chemie. "EXTEND7000 allowed us to continue using our existing SCADA system simply enhancing it to suit a more mobile way of working."