In all major industrial companies, the values of electrical parameters such as voltage, current, electrical power and energy are good indicators for the electricity grid’s safe operation and the economy of the entire plant. The biggest problem is not only the measurement of these parameters, as modern smart measuring devices are already quite advanced and very accurate, but the monitoring, overview and arrangement of these data in one place in real time. In addition, these data must be presented in a sufficiently simple and appropriate manner so that operators in production are able to observe the data without any difficulty and, on the basis of them, distinguish whether it is normal operation or possibly a fault.
For this purpose, in the company Kolektor Sisteh, d.o.o., for one of the clients, we have automated the measuring system of electrical parameters and control of power distribution cabinets in production for the mineral raw materials enrichment, more precisely limestone. We used Siemens Sentron PAC-3200 power monitoring devices, which can measure up to 131 different electrical parameters. In order to observe the results on the computer, the power monitoring devices had to be connected via the Scalance XC224 Industrial Ethernet switch to the network, which also housed the programmable logic controller Siemens Simatic S7-1200, which was used to capture all necessary measurements for the client.
A significant part of the automation of measuring electrical parameters in our project was – in addition to the controller – the software environment iFIX, which is one of the SCADA systems (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition), which nowadays replace analog control panels in production. In order to ensure that the automated system itself worked flawlessly, a properly configured S7A driver ensured constant transfer of data from controller’s Data Blocks and interconnection between controller and desktop computer.
By automating the measuring system, we gain time and transparency of data, and it will also be possible to compare momentary electricity consumption with consumption in previous time intervals. The automation of the entire system itself is a demanding matter and inevitably calls for the client’s engagement with their requirements and wishes. This is in the end compensated by a simple control system of the data, which can lead to a reduction in production costs through appropriate processing and knowledge of employees.
With the completed part of the project, which also included analog measurements and digital statuses for the control of power distribution cabinets in the client's premises, the appropriate capture of results, their display and control over the observed electrical elements were taken care of. This gave the client the transparency of the system, the time needed to resolve faults and archive the process for later use.
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