I worked directly with the client to educate them on what was available. We
settled on an MDS iNET 900 Ethernet radio network, SCADAPack PLC’s and a Panel
Mount PC at the Booster Station with G.E. Proficy HMI - iFIX and Historian
installed. I also installed a remote node at the City Building.
The radio network was designed to link their booster station, a remote tank
and the city building. I designed the system to be able to expand to
incorporate their other wells and any new ones they were planning to drill.
I ran into problem when trying to connect the booster station with the
remote tank. The distance between the tank and the booster station was not
that great but there was a hill between them. I did a Radio Site Survey
using 900MHz radio and was able to ‘bend’ the radio signal around the hill, but I
did not use the iNET to perform the test. The signal was not strong enough
for the iNET to get a link and be able to transfer at the needed data rate.
We ended up having to put in a UHF link between the Booster Station and the
Tank. I learned that just because one radio with work doesn’t mean they all
will. Only use the proposed radio to perform Radio Site Surveys.
The client wanted ‘impressive’ screens. So I created a drawing of their
Booster Station
in AutoCAD using 3D, rendered it and exported the view to a Bitmap. I then imported
the picture into iFIX and placed my controls over and under the picture. If
you were to click the pump itself it would pop-up a Hand-Off-Auto switch
like you would see in the field. These screens are impressive but I would
not recommend this detailed of a screen for most HMI screens. The client
wanted to accessed
the HMI computer via Remote Desktop and it took a considerable amount time for the
screens to transfer across the radio network. If
this had been a hardwired network verse the radio the speeds would have been
fine.
I has also part of the Electrical Design of the Booster Station. I also had
to inspect the electrical installation.
