SCADA & Process Control: Integrating PROFIBUS into the Changi Water Reclamation Plant

On the diamond-shaped island of Singapore, Schneider Electric was chosen as the main plant PLC provider for its Changi Water Reclamation Plant - because of certain mandatory connectivity requirements - and now uses 160 ProSoft Technology PROFIBUS DP V1 modules to help run and monitor end devices in its PROFIBUS network.

The main ingredient to ProSoft Technology’s involvement is PROFIBUS. Tied to over 1,000 members in the PROFIBUS Trade Organization, PROFIBUS integration into the plant’s overall system architecture now provides high-speed communication (DP) as well as power to devices over the bus (PA), making it possible to have large networks. Not to mention, the monumental project needed low maintenance cost, remote diagnostics and integration with an asset management system, fast and reliable real-time communication, and standard integration into Siemens and Schneider Electric PLC’s, Allen Bradley PLC, and PC-based solutions.

Software implementation

The Changi plant is the cornerstone to the Singapore Deep Water Sewerage System. ProSoft Technology’s involvement isn’t just being in the right place at the right time. The real trick is intelligent field device management FDT/DTM, PROFIBUS DP V1, Hot Standby and the ability to work with Schneider’s UNITY and Concept processors.

When ProSoft Technology embarked in creating its ProTalk brand for Schneider Electric’s Quantum/Unity platforms there would soon come dreams of launching into the PROFIBUS protocol market. Why not? Helping Schneider connect to the world of industrial automation has certainly opened ProSoft to new global markets. It has supported the PROFIBUS protocol in the Quantum line, which in turn has helped Schneider open up an avenue for new horizon.

“Schneider Electric is very strong in the process industry but not so in their experience with PROFIBUS and FDT/DTM technology integration,” said Wally Gastreich, ProSoft lead engineer. “We were able to help them expedite time-to-market and get the customer acceptance and final buy-in.”

Singapore’s Deep Tunnel Sewerage System which brings industrial and other wastewater to the Changi Water Reclamation Plant for further clarification and bio-treatment, then sends it to a new water plant to produce clean water that’s healthy and safe for direct consumption. The sludge goes through a drying process and is transformed into biologically stable products that can be used as fertilizers for plants.

The Changi plant is equipped with 160 ProSoft Technology PROFIBUS DP V1 Master modules that get data moving and end devices powered. The Changi project has a long list of field devices in a wide-ranging PROFIBUS Network that harbors thousands of different type of measuring instruments like magnetic flow meters, thermal mass flow meters, pressure and differential pressure level transmitters, radar/ultrasonic transmitters, DO analyzers, temperature transmitters and electric actuators together.

The PROFIBUS DP slave devices mainly came from vendors like Siemens (ET200M I/O’s), Yokogawa (flow transmitter and differential pressure sensor), Vega (ultrasonic sensors, level sensors, etc), ABB (VSD), Schneider Electric (VSD & DOL starters) and Siemens (VSD). With Intelligent Field Device Management (FDT/DTM), ProSoft as a third party has helped Schneider to integrate PROFIBUS device level to its PLC.

The PTQ-PDPMV1 is a newly developed ProSoft module that functions as a PROFIBUS DP V1 Master. Developed upon Quantum backplane transfer technology the protocol module sends information back and forth through the Quantum processor. It collects all the necessary information on the configured PROFIBUS DP network. Built on Siemens ASIC ASPC2 Step E with Infineon C165 Microprocessor, the module’s Firmware is flash-upgradeable, and allows for slave messaging, extended diagnostics and alarm handling, and notification, and more.

About the Author: ProSoft Technology’s Nick Belardes authors the Bakersfield, CA-based company’s Industrial Automation blog (www.prosoftblog.com). Contact: 661-716-5100 or www.prosoft-technology.com