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HMI, FROM THE WEB TO THE CLOUD CONTENTS 02

Cloud Computing: Is It Time to Move Plant Data Outside the Plant?

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iPads and Automation

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Small-Scale Hydroelectric Plant Promises Profit

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Cloud Computing: Is It Time to Move Plant Data Outside the Plant?

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While advantages are clear, it looks like successful implementation will require a battle to win the hearts and minds of manufacturing. By Jim Chrzan, Publisher

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re manufacturers ready for plant data and software to be stored “in the cloud”? Conventional wisdom says no, and at least one roomful of manufacturing industry executives at the ARC World Industry Forum, held in Orlando in February, seemed to concur. A case in point is a friction welder that the builder of assembly, testing and material handling machinery developed for suppliers to the appliance industry. The welder joins the two halves of a doughnut-shaped plastic ring designed to be filled with fluid to balance the load in a washing machine. While holding one half of the ring stationary, the machine spins the other half while pressing it into its mate. This melts the plastic along the seam and creates a leak-proof weld in

several seconds. The spinning must stop within 1 degree of rotation to align slots and holes. But presentations and a panel of industrial information technology (IT) heavyweights—including AT&T, Microsoft, SAP and Invensys—did their best to identify roadblocks and address concerns in a session called “Plant Software in the Cloud: Fact vs. Myth.” Peter Reynolds, senior analyst for research and consulting firm ARC, began by asking the packed room, “Who here is contemplating a move to the cloud?” I did not see one hand

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Cloud Computing: Is It Time to Move Plant Data Outside the Plant?

go up. I might have missed a few people behind me, and it’s hard to tell at ARC who are end users and who are suppliers, but despite all that has been written about cloud computing, the audience appeared skeptical. Reynolds summed up the technology challenges facing manufacturers: high cost of IT services, distracted IT teams, slow IT project delivery, the need to hire and train more IT resources, and security and availability of applications. Reynolds contends that “the manufacturing and supply chains” are core competencies, and where manufacturing IT organizations should focus. He said IT should not focus on “data infrastructure,” by which he means the physical servers and communications devices used to store the ever-growing amounts of corporate data. That mushrooming mound of data is what’s driving interest in cloud computing, Reynolds contends. He said ARC’s consulting clients are saying, “We’re running out of space onpremises. We are spending too much on overhead. IT is not a core competency, and my IT staff is not adequately trained. If I can get it cheaper and more safely by outsourcing, then I will.”

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Dan Miller, director of the Industry Solutions Practice of AT&T, reported his company is investing a ton of money to support cloud computing in 38 data centers. He mentioned many customer relationship management (CRM) applications are in the cloud already. The entire panel stressed that realtime process control applications should be excluded from the cloud but that all else—manufacturing and operations support (MES), plant business operations (ERP), and other software and data—“can live safely and securely on the cloud.” Reynolds said cloud computing today is “a risk management discussion” and told the audience, “There is no zero risk for deploying IT solutions—in your plant or outside. Ownership of IT infrastructure does not mean your equipment is protected.”

Security concerns

When it came time for the panel discussion, it seemed the main roadblock was clear. In a word: security. People in the audience were not comfortable letting go of critical data, no matter how secure the panelists assured them it would be.

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Do more with C-more! Practical & Powerful

As one audience member commented, “It’s not my computer I’m worried about. Or the cloud, for that matter. But how can you secure my data in transit?” I really did not hear a clear answer to that question. Panelist Maryanne Steidinger, director of product marketing for automation supplier Invensys, mentioned that industrial users are “both nervous and tentative” about the cloud computing, and that Invensys was there to “demystify” the topic. The cloud computing model could be problematic for some software vendors too, according to panelist Paul Boris, global vice president of enterprise operations management for enterprise software vendor SAP. That’s because vendors will no longer be selling site licenses, but rather users will be paying as they go for what they use. As it turns out, that’s a major financial incentive for manufacturers to find out what portion of data could be moved to the cloud. The fact is, if cloud computing can deliver financial benefits, it deserves to be considered. It may be crazy to keep investing in server hardware, and data center space limitations do become a factor. Software as a service is a successful innovation that is already proven. And while data security is a major issue, cloud service providers may have more resources and expertise to address the rapidly changing nature of cyber attacks. So where does that leave us in our cloud discussion? I honestly wonder if they had called it “the vault” instead of “the cloud,” we might not be having this discussion. It remains to be seen how providers of cloud computing services can address the data security issue once and for all. '

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5/12

iPads and Automation Apps are springing up for all kinds of automation uses, ranging from remote monitoring to test and measurement. Are iPads and other tablet PCs destined to become part of the automation engineer’s toolbox? By David Greenfield, Media & Events Director

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f you do any traveling at all, the sight of iPads and other tablet PCs in airports and at conferences is fast becoming commonplace. A trend that many thought would take years to develop in terms adoption seems to be taking place much faster than anticipated.

According to respondents, 49% of them already own an iPad, Blackberry, Android or other kind of tablet PC. When asked about plans to purchase a tablet PC, the number rose to 78%. Only 22% said they did not plan to purchase a tablet PC within the next 12 months.

Automation World conducted research earlier this year to find out what its subscribers thought about the application of tablet PCs in industry. The results shed a great deal of light on how fast the tablet PC adoption trend is accelerating.

Of course, you may be thinking that tablets are mostly used for visiting Web sites and playing Angry Birds. But what about using them for work? Do they have any applicability for business beyond presentations?

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iPads and Automation

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Remote C-more touch panel access and control from an iPad , iPhone or iPod touch ®

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Respondents to the Automation World survey who currently own a tablet PC confirmed that tablet PCs do play a role in their work-related interests. Seventytwo percent said that they read work-related digital publications on their tablet PCs. In addition, more than 50% said they read work-related newsletters and Web sites on their tablets several times each week. » This C-more remote HMI application (App) is available on the App StoreSM for $4.99 and provides remote access and control to mobile users who have a wi-fi or cellular connection. A C-more panel with remote connectivity is required, and unlike similar apps in the market, the C-more Remote HMI app does not require 3rd party remote desktop VNC type applications. Multilevel Logon Security is provided for up to three remote access user accounts that are configured and stored in the panel project.

We’re interest in hearing more about what our audience thinks about tablet PCs and their application in automation. You can weigh in with your thoughts in a discussion we’ve started on the Automation World LinkedIn group at http://linkd. in/q63A3m.

Automation Tablet Applications

When it comes to viewing work-related information on tablet PCs, the evidence is clear that engineers see the tablet PC as a potentially useful tool. But what about actually using it for work? Several applications I have heard about or seen demonstrated include:

• Data monitoring on a tablet PC to view SCADA system info for monitoring equipment and system performance as well as decision-making.

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iPads and Automation

• Accessing automated work order systems on a tablet PC so

that operators can scan a machine to access bills of material for an order in process or access maintenance procedures for a particular piece of equipment.

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Have the tablet PC function as a portable human machine interface to operate terminal services applications at multiple machines throughout a facility. Another example I saw recently involved the use of a tablet PC for test and measurement applications. At NI Week (National Instruments’ annual event), I had a chance to speak with Chris Delvizis, product marketing manager for data acquisition at NI. He demonstrated how to develop portable measurement applications using LabVIEW on an HP Slate Windows 7 tablet PC.  '

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Small-Scale Hydroelectric Plant Promises Profit Micro Brick PLC and C-more touch panel with built-in Web server provide all that’s needed for comprehensive control and remote plant management. By Joel Froese, Red Bank Hydro

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f there’s access to a stream, the only requirements to generate electricity are a 2 ft. drop in water level and two gallons of flow per minute. A hydroelectric system isn’t overly complicated, it isn’t difficult to operate and maintain, it has longevity and it’s often more cost-effective than other forms of renewable power. Some experts say a successful micro hydroelectric plant will pay for itself in 15 years. At Red Bank Hydro in West Columbia, South Carolina, we implemented our own micro hydro system and expect to see a complete return on the investment after only eight years. After that, it will be money in the bank.

Although we’d never built such a system before, we were able to do so by using low-cost components and free technical support, both supplied by AutomationDirect.

Building a Hydroelectric Plant

The land is situated near the dam of a 64-acre communal lake, allowing access to the 10 ft. height differential between the lake and the tail water on the other side of the dam. The amount of water flows over the spillway at an average of 40 cubic feet of water per second, making it a marginally feasible hydroelectric project. SPONSORED BY

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Small-Scale Hydroelectric Plant Promises Profit

Excavation began on March 4, 2004. By the end of 2006, the underwater portions of the plant had been built, a four-foot aluminum pipe through the back of the dam was in place, the dam was restored, and the temporary cofferdam was removed. On December 2, 2006, a refurbished 50 horsepower Francis turbine was purchased and installed. The turbine was tested and it was determined that the optimal speed would be 150 rpm. The next step was sizing the electrical generation equipment and designing the automation system.

Designing the Automation System

The hydroelectric system is powered by water draining from the lake and through a turbine which drives three generators via a belt and pulley system. The generators are actually three 15hp single-phase induction motors. When an induction motor is driven at greater than normal speed, it generates electricity. Output from the three motors was tied into the local electric grid via the same transformer that formerly only provided power to the property. The utility’s

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meter now turns backwards when the plant is supplying more power than consumed by the home and office. The turbine has an integral control gate that is used to adjust how much water flows through, from 0 to 100%. This control gate was designed to be opened and closed by a 12-inch double-acting hydraulic cylinder, so the first piece of automation equipment installed was a 24 VDC hydraulic reversible pump to operate the gate. We realized that as a grid-tied induction-based generation system, the generator/motors would freewheel if the excitation current from the grid was lost. We therefore needed to be able to automatically shut down our hydro plant in case of a grid power failure. When a shutdown signal from the control panel or a fault condition occurs, the shutdown procedure is simply to run the pump in the “close” direction for 60 seconds and to open the contactor to the generators. The hydraulic pump has a built-in pressure relief valve that allows it to safely run a minute or two after maximum extension or retraction of the cylinder.

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And, C-more Micro-Graphic Panels Too! It was crucial that the system also monitor rpm and shut down based on either over-speed (caused by a disengaged generator or broken belt) or under-speed (insufficient power generation) conditions, so it was time to purchase and install a controller. I decided a DirectLogic 05 Micro Brick PLC would be sufficient for this purpose. I placed our first order with AutomationDirect for the PLC, a proximity sensor to count shaft revolutions, a NEMA 1 enclosure, and various pushbuttons, terminals, DIN rail and wire ducting. After a couple of weeks of learning ladder logic, I began to install the basic automation system.

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A local bearing distributor determined what belts, sheaves and shafts were needed to transfer rotation of the turbine to the three induction motors. In early February 2008, the first kilowatts of power were generated. Using only the demo version of the DirectSOFT 5 programming software, which limited me to 100 instructions, I programmed the DL05 for the following operations:

• an always-running “monitoring” stage that counts revolutions and calculates rpm •

a startup stage that activates upon pushing the startup button, opens the turbine, and engages the motors at the prescribed RPM

• a shutdown stage which fully closes the turbine and disengages the motors.

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Small-Scale Hydroelectric Plant Promises Profit

The shutdown stage was triggered by any one of three conditions: the shutdown button being pushed, an auxiliary contact on the motor contactors opening (meaning ac control power was interrupted), or RPM out of normal operating range.

Making, Measuring and Monitoring Power

In May 2008, we signed an interconnection agreement with Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative (MCEC) and its supplier, Central Electric Power (CEP). In June 2008 we began feeding power into the grid. Throughout the summer, we started and shut down the plant manually, taking into account the lake level and the utility time-of-use tariffs.

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device was wired into an AutomationDirect 4-channel analog current input module which we added to the DL-05 PLC. We also bought the full version of DirectSOFT 5 software to add needed capacity and programming capabilities. I was now able to program the system to automatically shut down when the lake level fell below a certain point. I also added an auto-start function that started generation whenever the level rose above the spillway in the dam. Again, this arrangement worked well, but we also needed to know how much power we were producing.

The utility paid us nearly twice as much for power generated during the peak demand summer hours from noon until 10pm, a financial incentive that remains to this day.

To do that, we purchased an AccuEnergy Acuvim II panel-mounted power meter. By installing the meter and an AutomationDirect RS-232/RS-485 converter, I was now able to poll the power meter over Modbus to determine not only volts and amps but also instantaneous kW, cumulative kWh produced, the power factor, frequency and other relevant power parameters.

Later that summer, we bought and installed a submersible water level sensor to monitor the lake level. This 4-20mA

However, all this time I was only able to see these operating parameters by remotely logging into the computer and looking

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at the “data view” window of the DirectSOFT 5 programming software. I was also able to do some rudimentary remote control such as starting or shutting down the plant, but it certainly wasn’t user friendly.

comprehensive, and well-written documentation for each item in their catalog, which helped me design the automation system and select the components.

At about this time, AutomationDirect announced that the C-more touch panels had IP-based remote operation capability and a built-in Web server. I purchased a C-more panel, installed it, and began learning how to program it with the C-more programming software. By April 2010, I had four screens of valuable information and graphs that could be accessed not only in the power plant, but also computer via a web browser.

Return on Investment

To avoid running an Ethernet connection 100 feet between the power plant and house, I installed an inexpensive Asus WL220gE portable wireless adapter (powered from a USB port on the C-more panel) in the window of the hydro plant building. AutomationDirect proved to be a valuable asset to this project in many ways. Their easy-to-use Web site has free,

Depending on rain and how much electricity is used by our home and office, we make between $30 and $300 per month in direct revenue from the power company. This does not include the savings on the power bill, which has gone down from almost $1,000 to around $300 each month. With the micro hydroelectric plant making about $900/ month, this means that in three years, we’ve recovered about $30,000 of our $70,000 investment. Only five more years are needed to completely pay back the investment. Beyond the financial benefits, we now have the satisfaction of owning and operating our own hydroelectric power plant, as well as the pride of knowing we’re contributing to a sustainable environment.  '

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