Remote - Spring 2014 - (Page 14)

Applications - Feature 100 Tunnels Under Control Valerio Alessandroni, Mepax Italy Due to its mountainous topography, Italy is a country rich in road tunnels. In the Lombardy region, a new supervision and remote control system has been designed and implemented by Gemmo S.p.A. Based on the PcVue SCADA system from ARC Informatique. It ensures the comfort and safety of users along more than 90 miles of tunnels. $200 Million Project Financing The application falls within a project concerning the technological requalification and safety management of approximately 100 tunnels on state roads managed by ANAS S.p.A. The scope includes the technological requalification of the tunnels and standardization or renovation of power, lighting, ventilation, video-safety and data transmission plants. The single or dual 'pipe' tunnels have lengths ranging from 1/8 mile to three miles. The estimated value of the work is approximately $200 million, 50 percent financed by ANAS and 50 percent by the private sector. Tunnel Gest will be responsible for the management of the realized project for the next 17 years, when the three year construction and requalification period completed. This timeframe, which was defined in the financial plan at the start of the project, will allow the company to make a return through the provision of services such as plant maintenance. The road management will remain ANAS's responsibility. "The first stage, nearing completion, scheduled the technological requalification of the tunnels according to ANAS guidelines, which adopt the main European standards in terms of tunnel safety," said Ing. Ciro Ascione, systems business unit manager, Gemmo S.p.A. "Depending on their length, the tunnels are provided with plant of different complexity: from simple lighting, to equipment for ventilation, pollution analysis, heat detection, video-surveillance and image analysis, SOS management, audio for emergency situations, variable-message display panels and radio communication to support rescue organizations." Each tunnel is provided with its own PLC-based automation system and is connected for supervision and control to the ANAS operations center, located in Bellano (Lecco), through a communication network (WAN) using both fiber optic and microwave technology. For the integration of local systems with the WAN the Modbus TCP/IP protocol has been widely used because it allows direct and reliable control of peripherals and relevant data. Supervision and Remote Control The supervision and remote control system configured by Gemmo S.p.A., a certified OEM partner of ARC Informatique, is based on a customized application of PcVue SCADA. Approximately 50,000 data points, 800 network nodes and over 500 graphical pages are managed. From the main page, which offers a system overview, it is possible to access the various tunnel subpages listed on the display. When a subpage is accessed an information window opens, which aids navigation within the subpage. At the same time, when a particular system is selected (the lighting system for instance) it is possible to visualize its status in any or all of the tunnels. Finally, by opening the information window of a particular piece of equipment it is possible to visualize several aspects of its operational status, set alarm limits, visualize alarm notifications and by-pass the local control logic to remotely control the equipment. 14 www.RemoteMagazine.com In fact, all represented objects can operate in either automated or remote manual mode. In the case of a problem (like fire risk or high pollution) the relevant automated procedures take over, but the operator can manually intervene for better management of the situation. For instance, when an alarm procedure due to an excessive pollution in a tunnel is started automatically, the operator can watch the situation through the video system (composed of approximately 1,500 cameras) and perhaps override fan settings and variable-message display panels to facilitate the outflow of the vehicles from the tunnel before the tunnel access is inhibited. The hardware includes two servers in a hot backup configuration with a further server devoted to database management, two clients for ANAS, two clients for Tunnel Gest and one client for the traffic police. Two maintenance clients are used by the Gemmo team. Each workstation at the control center has two 42 inch monitors side-by-side, which can be used independently. This allows management of the SOS system in a tunnel and simultaneous monitoring of the complete system. "We centralized all the tunnel plant monitoring at the ANAS operating center of Bellano," Ing. Ascione said. "The SCADA shows the operator a series of video graphic maps that supply the status of all equipment in real-time." Thanks to the network connection, it is possible to connect through the web to the individual controllers. Locally, using a portable PC, it is also possible to connect as a PcVue client and query a controller, or to navigate with a browser to the network server. Starting from the graphical pages displayed by the supervision system the operator can instantly know where an alarm was triggered or if a user is calling from inside a tunnel. Maximum Safety The whole system is characterized by several safety levels. In every tunnel there is a redundant LAN connected to the general WAN, to which all automation peripherals and subsystems refer. The automation system of every tunnel is independent of the center and therefore all the subsystems interact through the tunnel LAN. "When an SOS is triggered from any tunnel, a general alarm procedure is activated," said Ing. Ascione. "From the main page, with a maximum of two steps, the operator is guided to the point indicated by the alarm." The historical data is stored for approximately two months, depending on the number of recorded alarm events. In case of over-pollution the ventilation is activated with an intensity that is a function of the detected pollution level, increasing until the potential closure of the tunnel. At the same time, user warnings are shown on the variable message display panels and possibly the audio system is activated, inviting the users to abandon vehicles. All this information is monitored by the SCADA system, giving the operator the opportunity of overriding the automatic system to directly interact with the involved systems by remote control. Tunnels have mainly axial ventilation, but some also have cross or halfcross ventilation. Substantially, they have a ventilation central unit with ducts. In the SCADA main page the most important information is collected: the ventilation level, the status of the sign system and the pollution with different settable thresholds. The status of every object is shown. In the simulation mode it is possible to change the alarm thresholds.Special algorithms are incorporated. For instance, in the ventilation system, algorithms prevent oscillations by taking into account the dilution power of the air. Moreover, http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - Spring 2014

Editor's Choice
Top 10 Security Tech Trends for 2014
Facility Realities: An Inevitable Trend - Centralized Facility Management (CFM)
Unified Push-to-Talk: The Future of Remote Site Communications
Using PAS 55 to Manage Oil & Gas Assets
Wireless Field Area Communication Networks for Digital Oil & Gas Fields
100 Tunnels Under Control
Unique Spacer Cable System Powers Renewable Energy Plant Pipeline
Internet of Things North America
SCADA
Networking
Security
Onsite Power
Industry News

Remote - Spring 2014