Every city facing infrastructure or operational challenges or concerns about maintaining quality of life in the face of population growth or a changing environment has benefits to gain from a unified smart-city approach. Here are some concepts for promoting understanding and acceptance among utility and government decision-makers, plus several examples of benefits already being garnered by smart cities large and small.
There’s a lot to be said for the old adage, “Use the right tool for the job.” When it comes to flow meters for municipal or industrial water treatment plant (WTP) and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operations, however, the sheer number of choices can be overwhelming. That is where using a process of elimination to winnow out styles that don’t fit the performance criteria of an application can make it easier to compare the few remaining options. Here is a checklist of considerations to accelerate that process.
Having created a custom tag type, you may want to use it in another application. By far the best way to do this is through the use of application layers, where one application is built on another, thereby inheriting all of the custom features of the first (OEM) layer.
In water and wastewater operations, optimizing energy use plays a huge role in cost efficiency, but how can you know if pumping equipment and other motors are running as efficiently as possible? Analytics systems that interpret performance from a variety of data points — pump curves, run time, flow rates, vibration, temperature, energy consumption, etc. — can quantify pump operation to keep performance efficiency on an upward track.
Serving an area from eastern San Marcos to northwest Seguin, Crystal Clear Water Supply Corporation (CCWSC) recently commissioned their integrator, Central Texas Water Maintenance (CTWM) to replace their Wonderware and WIN-911 systems with VTScada software from Trihedral.
For many years, the Miami-Dade Stormwater Utility has been using Bristol Babcock controllers and proprietary HMI software to monitor and control a dozen remote sites across the county. By Chris Little
Accurately measuring the flow and level of the various liquids and gases that travel through a process industry plant is a critical function for effective and efficient plant operations. Read more to learn ten important industrial process plant functions that can benefit from accurate, repeatable and reliable electronic flow or level measurement.
In 2008, the public utility manager in Ogden City, Utah sent out a request for proposal on a system-wide changeout of its meters, absolute encoders, and radio frequency meter interface units (RF MIUs), with a goal of eliminating estimating and replacing all their meters with AMR technology to read year-round. Read the full case study to learn more.
There have been many publications lately that claim universal appeal of the ORP sensors and their applicability across the board. This concerns me, because the authors sometimes forget to mention some well-known practical limitations of the method, let alone the realities of water treatment applications potentially influencing the sensor performance.
Integrating controls from an equipment supplier successfully within a Plant SCADA or DCS system requires communication on multiple levels. These levels include process of design, mechanical fit up and installation, as well as the coordination to get the equipment to work in concert with the plant’s other control systems. Simply looking after mechanical/electrical details are not enough. To be successful, the plant’s System Integrator and the equipment supplier’s PLC programmer must work with each other throughout the entire project’s development. By Todd Nydam, JWC Environmental LLC & Graham Nasby, Eramosa Engineering Inc.
There are many facets to industrial processes — raw materials, skilled labor, well-designed equipment, and sound methodologies. Optimizing those manufacturing processes requires consistent, reliable feedback on performance efficiency and output quality. Here are several guidelines for implementing continuous monitoring to keep process integrity at optimum levels.
Siemens offers to our customers the ability to both make process measurements and to remotely monitor the activity and health of that instrumentation without the need for SCADA systems or other expensive process control room products. By utilizing Siemens’ ability to offer unparalleled flow, level, pressure, temperature, and weight measurement as well as valve control, we can provide a broad range of process measurements and offer unequaled monitoring of the health and performance of those products.
One of the most common processes in wastewater treatment is the activated sludge method, which biologically treats the wastewater through the use of large aeration basins. This process requires the pumping of compressed air into the aeration basins where a diffuser system ensures the air is distributed evenly for optimum treatment. The energy needed to provide compressed air is a significant cost in the operation of a wastewater treatment plant.
Facility administrators will find the advanced ST100 Series Thermal Mass Air/Gas Flow Meter from Fluid Components International (FCI) helps them improve the accuracy of specialty gas point of use and sub-metering operations to achieve accurate billing in their labs for better cost tracking and control.
Coriolis measurement has been adopted as a default technology in many application scenarios due to its high accuracy and immunity to process variables (temperature, pressure and flow profile). However, Coriolis wasn't always widely accepted. Two applications, in particular, helped what was once a nascent flow measurement technology gain a foothold in the marketplace.
Fox Thermal Flow Meters use a constant temperature differential (constant Δ T) technology to measure mass flow rate of air and gases.
Dosing of the precipitant was adjusted manually based on the laboratory measurement value of the daily composite sample and so was unable to respond to possible peaks. Although being compliant with the effluent limits, the values observed fluctuate between 0.2 and 0.8 mg/L.
Hach LDO® technology improves the efficiency of pharmaceutical plant’s wastewater treatment process, helping to protect the environment and the community.
Levels of phosphorus, a chemical element that promotes organic growth, must be controlled in wastewater coming from beverage, food and dairy processing plants. Failure to control phosphorus accurately has a negative impact on water quality and can lead to large fines.
Compliance and consistent high quality are two of the key goals within the beverage industry. Hach® provides support for these goals through comprehensive analyses of water and beer.
There are several basic methods for reducing harmonic voltage and current distortion from nonlinear distribution loads such as adjustable frequency drives (AFDs). Following is a description of each method, along with each method’s advantages and disadvantages.
The OPTISONIC 7300 is a universal 2-path ultrasonic gas flowmeter for process and utility gas measurements in oil and gas refineries or the chemical or petrochemical industries. It is also suitable for non-custody transfer natural gas applications or applications with (compressed) air, mixed or flue gases (up to +180°C / +356°F). Using the transit time differential measuring principle, the OPTISONIC 7300 delivers high performance over a wide flow range (up to DN600 / 24", turndown ratio: 100:1). Its patented titanium transducers are perfectly focused, equalizing process fluctuations and avoiding acoustic feedback.
The OPTISONIC 6300 is an ultrasonic clamp-on flowmeter for permanent mount installation. It is particularly suitable for flow measurement of (non-)conductive liquids at any location where inline measurement is not possible or desirable. The flowmeter consists of a combination of one or two clamp-on sensors and one ultrasonic signal converter. Its robust clamp-on rail is highly flexible and can be very easily attached to virtually any pipe up to DN4000 / 160".
The OPTISONIC 6300 P is a portable, battery-powered ultrasonic clamp-on flowmeter for temporary flow measurement of (non-)conductive liquids. It can be used at virtually any location and without process interruption or need to cut pipes. Due to its flexibility, the meter is equally suited for comparative measurements on stationary measuring equipment (e.g. pumps, flowmeters etc.) or for use as a short-term replacement of faulty devices. As standard the clamp-on flowmeter is also provided with a measurement option for thermal energy applications.
The OPTISONIC 3400 is a 3-path ultrasonic inline flowmeter designed for a wide range of standard or more demanding process applications with homogeneous, non-viscous aqueous liquids as well as viscous fluids of up to over 1000 cSt. It is also the perfect choice for applications with cryogenic products (as low as -200°C / -328°F), media with extended temperature ranges (up to +250°C / +482°F) as well as low or extreme pressure ratings. The OPTISONIC 3400 offers a broad range of diameters – from DN25 / 1" for dosing purposes to DN3000 / 120" for water transportation pipelines.
The OPTIBATCH 4011 is the standard Coriolis mass flowmeter for process batching of conductive and non-conductive liquids. It is a highly accurate and specialised meter for linear and rotating filling machines. The fully welded maintenance-free device with twin U-shape is particularly suitable for hygienic applications in the pharmaceutical or food and beverage industries. It can be equipped with DIN11864-2 hygienic flange connections, hygienic clamp connections or many other bespoke fittings according to customer specifications.
The OPTIMASS 1010 is a cost-effective twin straight tube Coriolis mass flowmeter for a wide range of universal and hygienic applications with liquids and gases (up to 170,000 kg/h or 6,235 lb/min and +130°C / +266°F). It features an integrated Modbus converter. This makes the flowmeter an ideal solution where a DCS or a PLC is already in use and extensive communication options and control functions are not necessary. By way of its Modbus interface the flowmeter integrates easily into existing controller systems. There is no need for a conventional signal converter. Purchase costs can be saved.
The OPTIMASS 3010 is a cost-effective Coriolis mass flowmeter for low flow and dosing applications with liquids and gases (from 0.3 kg/h or 0.01 lb/min upwards). The flowmeter features an integrated Modbus converter. This makes it the ideal solution for applications where a DCS or a PLC is already in use and extensive communication options and control functions are not necessary. By way of its Modbus interface the flowmeter integrates easily into existing controller systems. There is no need for a conventional signal converter. Purchase costs can be saved.
The OPTIMASS 7010 is a high-end single straight tube Coriolis mass flowmeter. It is particularly suitable for demanding process and dosing applications involving gases and shear-sensitive or viscous liquids, slurries, very aggressive media or media with a low flow velocity. The Coriolis meter features an integrated Modbus converter. This makes it the ideal solution for applications where a DCS or a PLC is already in use and extensive communication options and control functions are not necessary. By way of its Modbus interface the flowmeter integrates easily into existing controller systems. There is no need for a conventional signal converter. Purchase costs can be saved.
Ammonia removal is a key metric for assessing wastewater treatment facility performance. This is because ammonia contributes to aquatic life toxicity. Furthermore, nitrogen, along with phosphorus, is a driver of receiving water eutrophication. Eutrophication, which simply is an over-enrichment of nutrients, can be detrimental to environmental and public health. It can result in harmful algae blooms, dissolved oxygen depletion, fish kills, and other damaging impacts.
Water utilities with highly successful monitoring programs tend to share a common trait: they have a well-defined plan for calibration that emphasizes frequency and tracking. However, when done properly, this process is time-consuming and often leads to unnecessary labor and downtime. The good news is that advanced metering technology is available for plants to get a better handle on the instrument’s performance with significantly less effort.
When water and wastewater plant operators can’t get accurate flow measurements or analytical readings — or lack confidence in their instruments’ readings — it creates challenges with the process. When substandard water goes to homes and causes a boil order, or discharge pollutes a lake or reservoir, the resulting bad press, fines, and potential lawsuits erode public confidence. Avoiding these kinds of problems is rooted in good preventive maintenance habits.
Water and wastewater utility operators work diligently to operate within strict guidelines, ensuring their facilities are producing the best drinking water and highest quality effluent possible. Despite all their efforts, however, it can be easy to fall outside of regulatory compliance without even being aware. The key to avoiding problems like these is to understand how silent noncompliance can happen and knowing when to raise a red flag.
As digitalization continues to grow in the water and wastewater industry, cybersecurity becomes an increasingly important responsibility.
Water. It’s vital to human life, our economy, and ecosystem - the very survival of our planet. But water challenges are growing more intense than ever before. Increasing volatile weather patterns fueled by climate change, crumbling infrastructure, pollution, and over population that is causing a surge in the demand for water. This means the world’s supply of clean water is rapidly declining putting our future at risk.
The intrinsically safe AWT210 two-wire modular transmitter is a single-channel device for the measurement and control of pH, ORP or conductivity in hazardous and non-hazardous area applications.
The ability to continuously and accurately measure water quality is a key requirement in many processes. ABB’s continuous water analyzers help their customers' precious water resources go further around the world. Their trusted range of water analysis solutions provide real-time data on process conditions that can be used to improve efficiency, tighten performance and safeguard quality.
This video focuses on leading water and wastewater utilities use cases that have embraced and leveraged digital technologies such as smart sensors/devices, IoT, better connectivity, and software. You'll see examples from utilities that have created a data strategy and are using real-time data that is driving smarter decisions to reduce opex and capex, increase asset life, meet environmental compliance, etc. while reducing risk.
This video focuses on leading water and wastewater utilities who have embraced and leveraged digital technologies such as smart sensors/devices, IoT, better connectivity, and software. You'll discover that by creating a data strategy and using real-time data your water utility will drive smarter decisions to reduce opex and capex, increase asset life, meet environmental compliance, etc. while reducing risk.
