Full Description

Due to vast improvements in technology, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems haveevolved to provide high levels of automation, data management and reporting that improve the operationand maintenance of water and wastewater facilities. As utilities spend large sums of money to implementstate-of-the-art SCADA systems, the life of the system is always a concern. This is especially true forSCADA projects whose construction phases occur over a long period of time and over multiple constructioncontracts. Key components of the SCADA system such as PLCs, HMI software and other hardwarecomponents can become obsolete by the time the project is brought to successful completion. The openconcept and compatibility of many of the software and hardware components used in SCADA technologyhave led to a furious competition between manufacturers, thereby resulting in new and improvedcomponents that appear and disappear in the market at a very rapid rate.This paper addresses the steps and methodologies in which the race against obsolescence can be won, andhow to achieve a state of the art SCADA system at the completion of a long term project. Five SCADA components are discussed and include: instrumentation; programmable logic controller (PLC); networks; reporting (information processing/archiving; and, security. Includes 2 references, figure.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 04/01/2005 Number of Pages: 6File Size: 1 file , 1.5 MB