Remote - Fall 2013 - (Page 30)
Applications - Feature
Best of Both Worlds: City Uses Hybrid Wireless Technology
System to Automate Remote Pump System
Mariam Gallegos, Product Marketing Specialist,
Networking and Security, Phoenix Contact
The city of Glens Falls is located in upstate New York, at the border
of the Adirondack Mountains. The Glens Falls Water System provides the
city’s 14,000 residents with 775 million gallons of water annually.
Challenge
Several remote reservoirs, located within a 100-square-mile area surrounding the city, supply the city with its water supply. The Glens Falls Water System sewer department also operates multiple wastewater lift stations
located at various sites within the city. Until recently, monitoring the water
levels at these reservoirs and lift stations was a manual process.
The city was updating their SCADA to monitor the lift stations and
reservoir water levels. This would help them significantly reduce the man
hours associated with manual monitoring. It would also help them address
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for monitoring water
level alarms at their remote sites. Due to the long distances between the
reservoirs, lift stations and SCADA host, it was not possible to network
the system using traditional hardware methods. Additionally, the reservoirs
were located outside the city, within the dense forests where no power or
network infrastructure was available.
Solution
Glens Falls contracted
with Siemens Building
Technology Division and,
with the help of Phoenix Contact, designed a
wireless network system.
The team came up with a
hybrid solution, combining two different kinds
of wireless Ethernet
Because the lift stations were closer to the central control
technologies to meet the
location, they used TWE 900MHz radios.
requirements of the various locations.
The city’s water reservoirs are located several miles from the control
center. Because of the dense foliage on the trees and the hilly terrain, the
signal from a traditional Trusted Wireless Ethernet radio would not travel
the required distance. To overcome this challenge, the city installed cellular
Ethernet modems at the reservoirs, which could communicate over the cellular network.
At each of the reservoir
locations, solar power was used
because no other power source
was available. The solar system
powered the RTU (Remote Terminal Unit), which used local ILC
controllers to monitor water levels,
reporting any unusual conditions
via the modem over the cellular network. The modem sends
updated level alarm information to
In locations with no line power, solar panels power
the central SCADA system at the
facility’s headquarters. The master the radios.
control system activates the necessary process control systems. The second phase of the installation involved
the city’s wastewater lift stations. These lift stations are closer to the master
treatment facility. This closer proximity made it possible to use Phoenix
Contact’s Trusted Wireless Ethernet (TWE) radio to transmit status levels.
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At the lift stations, no networked control was available or required.
Therefore, the TWE’s I/O bus was used to collect the remote analog and
digital data points. This data was converted to MODBUS and sent over the
wireless network back to the central treatment facility. The TWE radios
utilize the 900 MHz ISM frequency band for license-free operation at 1
watt of power, allowing the data to be transmitted over several miles despite
obstructions. At the treatment facility, the Phoenix Contact ILC series
controller receives the data from the TWE radio network and provides this
information via OPC to the Wonderware SCADA system. Technicians at the
control center can keep track of all of the data in one location.
Phoenix Contact’s FL mGuard
enhances the system’s security. It
provides a stateful firewall that filters
layers 2 through 4 in the OSI model,
both incoming and outgoing traffic,
to protect the city’s critical infrastructure. Additionally, it provides
Layer 3 routing, which allows the
cellular modem network for the reservoir data and for the Ethernet TWE GSM/GPRS modems and ILC 150 controllers
radio pump station to share sensitive communicate data from the distant reservoirs.
information with one another. Meanwhile, they keep their networks as
isolated zones, regulating the traffic that is passing through. The mGuard
line also has an optional VPN for an additional layer of secure connectivity
for remote reservoirs, lift stations, machines and plants. All data is authenticated and encrypted according to the secure IPsec standard. This system
of secure and easy remote maintenance enables the city of Glens Falls to
save costs and shorten downtime, as well as improve service quality and
customer satisfaction.
Results
Collecting reliable diagnostic and alarm data across miles of distance
presented many challenges. Phoenix Contact offered system design support
and technical expertise in wireless and industrial networking technologies
by using a diverse range of RF and networking products. The end result was
a secure Phoenix Contact wireless hybrid solution that provided a secure,
reliable, efficient VPN interface link into their SCADA process system.
Tom Albon from Siemens Building Tech said, “This entire process was
quite involved, and Phoenix Contact provided thorough support throughout.
They brought in their technical engineers to help with the coding, installation and networking situations we ran across during this project.”
Phoenix Contact develops and manufactures industrial electrical and
electronic technology products that power, protect, connect and automate
systems and equipment for a wide range of industries. Phoenix Contact
GmbH & Co. KG, Blomberg, Germany, operates 50 international subsidiaries, including Phoenix Contact USA in Middletown, Penn.
For more information about Phoenix Contact or its products, visit
www.phoenixcontact.com.
Attend Phoenix Contact’s Presentation at Remote 2013:
Cyber Security in the Global Hydrocarbon Process Industry
Visit www.RemoteMagazine.com/Conferences for more information
http://www.phoenixcontact.com
http://www.RemoteMagazine.com/conferences
http://www.RemoteMagazine.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - Fall 2013
Editor's Choice
Instrumentation for Produced Water Applications
Multi-touch SCADA Technology: Intuitive Functionality Advances Automation
The Use of Machine-to-Machine Communication in Environmental Impact Monitoring
Monitoring Electrical Properties of Pumps and Water Treatment Systems
Combining Sensors for Efficient Perimeter Protection
Building Flexibility
SCADA
Remote Conference Update
Networking
Security
Onsite Power
Industry News
Application Feature
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