Remote - August 2011 - (Page 4)

Editor’s Choice When the Red River crested in May 2010, Clarksville, Tenn. experienced unprecedented flooding. At the river’s highest, Clarksville’s wastewater treatment plant, which treats an average of 12 to 15 million gallons per day (MGD), was submerged in 20 feet of standing water. The flood caused damage to the entire facility, and the roof atop the wastewater treatment plant’s main office became detached when an air bubble was trapped inside the building by the rising water. During the flood, the plant suffered flows in excess of 70 MGD, the maximum rate able to be registered by the facility’s flow meter. Bill Summers, City Councilman in Clarksville, estimated that the cleanup and restoration of this facility may cost $20 to 30 million and take at least 18 months to complete. This extensive process required that all motors, pipes and other facility equipment be disassembled, cleaned and reassembled; storage containers must be cleaned and decontaminated; 15,000 air diffusers must be replaced; and secondary clarifiers must be cleaned, purged and introduced to new bacteria. Cleanup efforts also include removing, decontaminating, disinfecting, flushing, reinstalling and inspecting all transformers, switch boxes, power cables and generator lines while the wastewater treatment plant’s power is temporarily supplied by generators. One of the companies involved in restoring Clarkesville’s wastewater treatment plant, Allied Technical Services, Inc., installed a temporary primary sludge conditioning tank and pumps to allow the treatment plant to continue some aspects of its normal wastewater treatment process. Banner Engineering Wireless Network Devices Assist in Cleanup and Restoration of Tennessee Wastewater Plant Providing flexibility and easy installation, a wireless solution from Banner Engineering was picked for this project, as the wireless devices would be used for monitoring the levels in the permanent sludge tanks and controlling the feed pumps. After Allied determined the Banner SureCross Wireless Network devices was appropriate for data acquisition and monitoring in this application, a wireless solution was installed and working within two hours. Float switches inside the temporary sludge tanks monitor the sludge levels and are connected to a 900 MHz battery-powered wireless Node. The Node transmits data back to a wireless Gateway, as well as an HMI by Red Lion Controls, which is installed in the primary clarifier pump house a quarter mile away. Tank level data is displayed graphically and pumps are automatically cycled on or off based on the sludge tank levels. With this wireless data collection solution, personnel were not required to monitor each sludge tank on-site 24 hours a day. Additionally, automating the transfer process using wireless technology allows all tank data to be sent to a centralized location, which only requires one employee to monitor multiple processes. A second wireless application was identified to assist in drying out buildings using large dehumidifiers. A FlexPower Node and temperature/ humidity sensor monitored the humidity levels inside buildings during the restoration process. As one building was dried, the easy-to-install FlexPower Node and temperature/humidity sensor was moved to another building. A third wireless Node was used to send GBT (gravity belt thickened) sludge to the temporary blending tank. “Due to the length of time the plant was submerged, all electrical wiring was removed. During this process and after it would have been almost impossible to have maintained a hardwired data highway system,” said Doug Sayre of Allied. “The Banner wireless system is capable of up to 56 nodes, which will allow me to provide almost any imaginable process or data point needed as we bring the plant back online. With the Administration building being condemned and torn down, plus a new sludge treatment process in use, hard wiring was not practical.” The Usnap Alliance and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have jointly developed of a single modular interface specification combining elements of the EPRI Demand Response Socket Interface Specification and the USNAP Alliance 2.0 specification. This effort was prompted by a request from the NIST Home-to-Grid Domain Expert Working Group (H2G DEWG) to harmonize the two bodies of work, in preparation for delivery to a standards development organization. Research indicates that it is in the public’s best interest to have a standard physical interface that allows smart appliances, energy management consoles and other consumer products to support a variety of user-installable communication modules. Such an interface could provide consumers and manufacturers with reduced risk of end device obsolescence due to evolving communication technologies. It would also provide flexibility for utilities, allowing the communication systems used for load management to be selected and evolved based on individual needs and circumstances. The EPRI collaborative research project developed a socket interface specification for residential devices that support simple demand response commands and pass-through messages from a utility or load controlling entity. The Usnap Alliance published its 2.0 specification in 2010 defining a low-cost physical interface enabling products to share energy related information from utilities and service providers. Using the SPI communication port found in most integrated circuits, the Usnap Specification facilitates connectivity between smart grid devices and UCMs installed in various types of networks. USNAP Alliance and EPRI Combine Specifications Join the USNAP Alliance and EPRI at Remote Monitoring and Control 2011 www.RemoteExpo.com 4 www.RemoteMagazine.com http://www.pribusin.com http://www.RemoteExpo.com http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - August 2011

Remote - August/September
Contents
Banner Engineering Wireless Network Devices Assist in Cleanup and Restoration of Tennessee Wastewater Plant
Sirius and Solar Stik Team to Offer the New Solar Stik PRO-Cell
M2M Networks - When You Need Them and Key Considerations for Selecting One
New SCADA Technology Saves City Energy Costs
BGAN-Based SCADA Networks are Latest Solution for Remote Site Monitoring and Control
SCADA Security for Critical Infrastructure
Remote Monitoring & Control 2011 Conference Preview
Web-Enabled Ultrasonic Sensors Deliver Affordable Remote Tank or Vessel Monitoring
Telit Wireless Releases EV-DO M2M Module
Industrial Video Debuts Rapid Deploy Video System
ReliOn E-2500 Fuel Cell Offers Reliability in Small Package
New Data Loggers with Infrared Communications
Industry News
Calendar of Events

Remote - August 2011